SIKE or SIECKE, HENRY, an Oriental scholar off ed; leaves lanceolate, lower ones obtuse; calyx very villous, some repute, who lived in the latter half of the seventeenth with short teeth; petals roundish, entire, with toothed apand the beginning of the eighteenth centuries. He was a pendages. The petals of this plant are of a deep crimson native of Bremen, and a professor of Oriental languages at with pale edges, giving them the appearance of having Utrecht, and afterwards at Cambridge. It appears that been stained with blood in the centre; hence their specific owing to some misdemeanor he was to be subjected to name. It is a native of Spain, France, and Italy, and has punishment; and in order to escape from this disgrace, he been found in the county of Kent in Great Britain. It is put an end to his life by hanging himself in 1712. The only frequent in gardens, but loses by cultivation much of the work of any note which he published is the 'Evangelium colour of its flowers. Infantiæ Christi, adscriptum Thomæ,' 1697, 8vo., a very curious apocryphal gospel. It is reprinted in Fabricius's 'Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti,' tom. i., pp. 127-212. Sike also founded with L. Küster, at Utrecht, the literary periodical called 'Bibliotheca Novorum Librorum,' to which he contributed several papers.

This theory is made still further to interpret the connection between Silenus and Bacchus, and the various modes in which he is represented on antient monuments: the arguments on which it rests are however too numerous and intricate to be here entered upon.

The distinction between Sileni and Satyrs does not appear very clearly made out. According to authorities quoted by Creuzer, the Sileni are the older of the two. The terms were certainly not co-extensive; that of Satyr may be considered as the genus. They were mostly represented in the same manner, with beards, tails, and pricked ears like beasts. In the procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus (Athen., v. 197) they were dressed differently from each other, and the Sileni have sometimes a more human form. See Creuzer's 'Symbolik,' and Grüber's Worterbuch der Mythologie,' for representations of Silenus; Millin's Galérie Mythologique, and the various works on gems, sculpture, vases, and other monuments of classical antiquity.

SILESIA. This country, which is now divided between
Prussia and Austria, was once inhabited by the Lygii and
Quadi, who, in the sixth century, were forced to yield to the
pressure of a Slavonian tribe from Poland, by which event
Silesia became subject to that country. Under the do-
minion of Poland, the Polish language and manners, which
still remain in the eastern parts of the province, and the
Christian religion, were introduced. To promote the latter
a bishopric was founded in 906, at Schmogor, which was
afterwards transferred to Breslau. The country being in
course of time divided and subdivided among the descen-
dants of Boleslaus III., king of Poland, numerous small
principalities arose. Being weakened by these divisions,
and by the dissensions between the princes, it was subdued
by the king of Bohemia in the fourteenth century. Under
the dominion of Bohemia the doctrines of Huss, Luther,
and Calvin gained ground, and their adherents obtained
the partial exercise of their religion. With the Polish
princes Polish manners and customs disappeared; every-
thing was placed on the same footing as in Germany;
trade, manufactures, arts, and sciences flourished. The
prosperity of the country would have been greater in
former times, had not the Protestants been so much op-
pressed under the Austrian government. Austria, which ob-
tained possession of Silesia, together with Bohemia, in the
early part of the sixteenth century, retained it undisturbed
till the death of the emperor Charles VI. in 1740, on which
Frederic II. of Prussia revived a dormant claim to the
western part of Silesia, which he immediately invaded; and
the greater part was ceded to him in 1742, and confirmed to
him by the treaties of Dresden, in 1745, and of Hubertsburg,
in 1763. Austria retained the smaller portion.

| 4950 feet above the level of the sea, the Glatz Mountains, &c. In the interior there are some ranges unconnected with the great chain-the principal of which is the Zobtengebirge, 2318 feet above the level of the sea. On the right side of the Oder, from the part where its course is to the northward, the high land disappears, and those immense plains begin which characterise this part of Europe. The Oder, called by the common people the Ader, that is, the vein,' comes from Moravia, and receives all its rivers, with the exception of some on the frontiers. The principal are the Elsa, the Klodnitz, the Slober, and the Bartsch, on the right side; the Oppa, the Neisse, the Ohlau, and the Katzbach, on the left. There are few lakes, and those which are so called are rather large ponds. The largest are the Koschnitz, Moswitz, and Schlawer lakes. The last is however four miles in length, but nowhere above a mile in breadth. The climate varies very much in the different parts of the province. The air on the whole is very mild, except in the mountainous tracts; but in proportion as we approach the southern frontier, the temperature becomes lower, and the winter longer and more severe, which is owing to the elevation of the country, to the extensive forests, and partly to the lofty Carpathians and the winds that come from them.

Natural Productions.-The animals are-horses, horned cattle, sheep, goats, swine, game, fish, bees, and domestic poultry. Wolves are found on the Zobtengebirge, otters in the Bober, and sometimes beavers in the Oder. The vegetable products are-corn, pulse, garden vegetables, fruit, flax, tobacco, hops, madder, woad, teazle, and timber. The minerals are copper, lead, cobalt, arsenic, iron, and zinc. This last metal is found in Silesia and in the adjoining republic of Cracow in far greater quantities than in any other country in Europe. Other mineral products are sulphur, marble, alum, lime, and, above all, coal, of which from two millions to two millions and a half tons are annually obtained, which are worth from 100,000l. to 130,000l. sterling.

Though Silesia is on the whole one of the most fertile and best-cultivated provinces of the Prussian monarchy, and produces much corn, so that in good years it can export a portion to Bohemia, yet, as it is very densely populated, it has not sufficient in unfavourable years for its own consumption, and is obliged to import. The cultivation of potatoes has become much more general of late years.

The manufactures of Silesia are of the greatest importance, and that of linen has existed from a very remote time. It is carried on with little aid from machinery, and chiefly by the country-people, though this branch of industry affords them but a scanty subsistence; it is however their chief occupation. Dieterici says:- A third part of all the looms at work in the Prussian dominions, viz. 12,799 out of 36,879, is in Silesia. The linen annually manufactured in Silesia is estimated at between eight and nine millions of dollars (1,333,000l. to 1,500,000Z.). Uncertain as such estimates are, the quantity exported may be assumed to be worth between three and four millions of dollars. Woollen cloths are manufactured in some towns, and cottons at Reichenbach. There are sugar-houses in several places; tanneries at Breslau and Schweidnitz, and breweries and brandy-distilleries in most of the towns. With respect to spinning and weaving, we may observe that machinery is beginning to be introduced into some larger manufactories. The population of the province, which at the end of 1837 was stated at 2,679,473, had increased, at the end of 1840, to 2,868,820. They are mostly Germans, and some Slavonians of Polish origin. About half the inhabitants are Protestants, and the remainder Roman Catholics, besides about 18,000 Jews: all have the free exercise of their religion. The province is divided into the three governments of Breslau, Oppeln, and Liegnitz; and has twenty towns with above 5000 inhabitants, as noted in the statistical table in the article PRUSSIA. All the most important of these towns are described under their respective heads.

SILESIA (in German, Schlesien), the Prussian Province of, is situated between 49° 40′ and 52° 8'′ N. lat., and between 14° 25' and 19° 15′E. long. It is bounded on the north-west by Brandenburg; on the north-east by Posen; on the east by Poland; on the south-east by Cracow and Galicia; on the south by Austrian Silesia; and on the south-west by Bohemia. Including the county of Glatz, and the Prussian part of Upper Lusatia, its area is 15,600 square miles. The province is 210 miles in length from north-east to south-west, and from 70 to 80 miles in breadth from east to west. The river Oder, which becomes navigable soon after entering the Prussian boundary, divides the province in its whole length into two nearly equal parts, which are very different from each other. That on the left bank, which is called the German side, is mountainous, but has a very fertile soil, which amply rewards the labour of the husbandman, and supplies almost the whole province. That on the right bank, called the Polish side, is very different; it consists chiefly of a sandy and not very fruitful soil. There are however some sandy tracts on the German side, and some rich and productive spots on the Polish side. The country is highest on the south-eastern frontier, and declines more towards the north-western frontier, where it is the lowest.

Where the frontiers of Silesia and Bohemia meet, a mountain-chain rises, which extends southwards to the sources of the Breswa and the Ostrawitza, where it joins the Carpathians, divides the basin of the Oder on the one side from those of the Elbe and Danube on the other, and forms the natural boundary between Silesia and Bohemia and Moravia. This chain, called by the general name of the Sudetic chain, is divided into different parts, bearing different names, as the Isergebirge, the Riesengebirge, the loftiest and wildest part of the whole chain, the Schneekoppe, which is

AUSTRIAN SILESIA is that part of the province which was
retained by Austria in the treaty of Hubertsburg in 1763
It is united with Moravia, with which it forms one province.
It is bounded on the north-west, north, and north-east by
Prussian Silesia, on the east by Galicia, on the south by
Hungary and Moravia, and on the south-west by Moravia.
The area is about 1750 square miles, with 430,000 inhabi
tants, who are partly of German and partly of Slavonian
origin. Next to the kingdoms of Lombardy and Venice, it
is the most densely peopled part of the Austrian dominions

B 2

The country is mountainous, and on the south-east are the Carpathians (of which the Sigula is 4300 feet high), and on the north-west the Moravian-Silesian chain, a branch of the Sudetes. Near the Carpathians, and about the source of the Oppa and the Mohra, the climate is cold, and the mountains are partly covered with snow till the middle of June. The southern part of the circle of Teschen is not fruitful, the soil being stony; in other parts it is better. The principal rivers are the Oder, with its tributaries the Oelsa and the Oppa; the Vistula (in German, the Weichsel) rises on the north side of the Carpathians from three sources, called the Little, the White, and the Black Vistula; this last rises in the village of Weichsel, at the foot of the Tankowberg, which village gives its name (Weichsel) to the whole river.

The inhabitants have a very good breed of horses, and of oxen, and especially a very improved breed of sheep. They are very skilful and industrious farmers. The manufactures, especially those of linen and woollen cloth, are very important. The exports are linen, thread, woollen cloth, wire, paper, earthenware, cheese, flax, rosoglio, &c. The transit trade is very profitable: the chief articles are Hungarian and Austrian wines, Russia leather, tallow, linseed, and furs; Galician rock-salt, Moldavian_oxen, Vienna fancygoods, &c. [MORAVIA; TESCHEN; TROPPAU.]

SILEX. [SILICIUM.]

SILHET, or SYLHET, is a district of Bengal, lying along its eastern border, on the east side of the Megna, as the lower course of the Brahmapootra is called. Up to the year 1830 it consisted only of what must now be called Silhet Proper, or a country situated between 24° and 25° N. lat., and 91° and 92° 30′ E. long., which, according to the most recent information, contained about 4500 square miles, and a population of 1,083,120, which gives 241 to the square mile. It is about 1300 square miles less than Yorkshire, but more populous, as Yorkshire, in 1831, did not contain more than 235 persons to the square mile. In 1830 the royal family of Kashar, a country east of Silhet, became extinct; and a few years later the raja or sovereign of Jyntea, a country north of Silhet, was obliged to give up his territory to the British, and both countries were annexed to Silhet. These two countries taken together are at least three times as large as Silhet Proper, and the district at present contains about 18,000 square miles, or two-thirds of the area of Ireland. Silhet, in this extent, lies between 24° 10′ and 26° 20′ N. lat., and between 90° and 94° E. long. On the west it borders on Bengal, on the district of Mymansing, and on the mountain-region of the Garrows; on the north on Asam, on the east on Muneepoor, and on the south it is bounded by the unknown region called the Tiperah Mountains or Wilderness. It is only towards Muneepoor that it has a natural boundary, which is formed by the course of the river Barak, where it runs from south to north, east of 93° E. long., and by two of its confluents, the Jeeree, which joins it from the north, and the Tooyaee, or Chikoo, which falls into it from the south.

small town situated somewhat to the south of their southern termination. But in proceeding farther east, the mountainmass rises gradually in elevation, and occupies a greater breadth. In 90° 20′ E. long. it has attained a general elevation of more than 2000 feet above the sea-level, and occupies a width of about 50 miles. We are only acquainted with the outer border of this mountain-mass, where it consists of ridges broken by numerous watercourses, and is entirely covered with trees and dense underwood. Some isolated peaks rise 2000 feet above the general level of the mass. According to information collected from the natives, the interior of this elevated region is nearly a level tableland, destitute of trees, and covered only with grass; and this is probable, as it corresponds to the characteristic features of the mountain region farther east. Only the lower portion of the Garrow Mountains is subject to the British, and united to the three divisions of Bengal, Rangpoor, Mymansing, and Silhet. The interior, called Gonaser, or Ganeswara, is occupied by the Garrows, a mountain-tribe which has never been subjected by the princes of Bengal, as the country is only accessible by long and winding mountainpasses, which are so narrow as to be impracticable for horses or other beasts of burden: they are properly only paths over rugged crags, and along steep precipices, and through extremely narrow gorges. From these fastnesses the Garrows inake incursions into the adjacent countries, and hence several tracts of some extent along the boundary of their country have been entirely abandoned. They cultivate rice, millet, and cotton, and use as food several plants which grow wild in the forests, as different kinds of arum, caladium, and dioscurias. They cultivate capsicum, onions, and garlic. They keep cows, goats, hogs, and eat cats, dogs, foxes, and snakes. Different kinds of deer are said to be common in Gonaser.

Adjacent to Gonaser on the east, and only separated from it by the river Patli, is the mountain region of the Kasias (Cossyas), which extends eastward to the river Kopili, an affluent of the Deyung, which falls into the Brahmapootra. This mountain region runs above 100 miles east and west, be tween 91° 10' and 93° E. long.; and in proceeding eastward it gradually enlarges in breadth from 50 miles to about 70 miles. This portion of the mountain region is much better known than Gonaser, being subject to the British, who have traversed it at two places in passing from Silhet to Asam, and who have erected on it several sanatory stations, among which that of Chirra Punji is very much frequented. The western road leads from Pondua in Silhet, through Chirra Punji, Moiplong, Lombray, and Nungklao, to the banks of the river Kailasi, an affluent of the Brahmapootra, and to the low land of Asam. The traveller, passing by a steep ascent over four ridges, arrives at Chirra Punji, which is 5000 feet above the sea-level. Here begins a table-land, the surface of which is often level, but generally exhibits very gentle slopes, which continues to Nung klao. The most elevated points are at Moiplong (5942 feet) and Lombray (5914 feet). At Nungklao it is only 4550 feet. North of the last-mentioned place it sinks by three wide terraces with steep descents to the plain of Asam. The table-land is entirely destitute of trees and bushes, especially in the southern parts. This sterility, as Fisher thinks, is closely connected with the character of the sandstone-rocks of which the mountain-mass is composed, and with the disturbance of the strata, but more especially the latter; for where the strata are horizontal, there is an absence of vegetation, and where the strata are inclined, The Mountain Region, of which Silhet now comprehends symptoms of fertility begin to show themselves. Throughnearly one-half, extends along the southern border of Asam, out the ascent from the plains of Silhet to Chirra Punji, and at its most eastern extremity, near 97° E. long. and the vegetation is only dense on the slopes; and where 28° 40′ N. lat., at the sources of the Lohit river, or Brah- ledges or steppes occur, it is comparatively barren. The mapootra, it is united to the high table-land of Central table-land itself is covered with a short turf, and there Asia. Its western extremity comes close to the Brahma- occur only a few bushes, as raspberries; stunted fir-trees poutra, where this river, after leaving Asam, forms its only occur in the glens which are formed by the rivergreat bend to the south (90° E. long.). The western courses-as, for instance, in that of the Bogapani. To the portion of this extensive mountain region is called the north of this river the aspect of the country changes graGarrow Mountains, which are considered to extend east-dually; and though the elevation is greater, the vegetation ward to the river Patli, which, traversing the mountain increases, and continues to increase, until in the vicinity of region in a southern direction, joins the Soorma near the Nungklao it becomes abundant, though it does not exhibit town of Laour (91° 10' E. lat.). The most western offset that excess which prevails farther to the north, on the lower of the Garrow Mountains skirts the banks of the Brahma- descent of the table-land towards Asam. This change is attripeotra, between the mouth of the river Lalu and the village buted to the numerous large granite boulders which are scatof Mahendragandj, a distance of about twelve miles. Along tered in great abundance over the country. The disintegrathe banks of the river the mountains are merely rocks, from tion of these boulders has largely contributed to the forma 150 to 200 feet above the level of the river, rising with a tion of the soil, especially where it has been favoured by the steep ascent. They are called the Caribari Rocks, from a configuration of the surface. But in those tracts where

Surface and Soil-Silhet is naturally divided into two regions. The northern part is a mountain region, which extends along the southern boundary of Asam, and divides that large vale from the valley of the Barak, which river, as far as it drains Silhet, runs through a wide valley that constitutes the low and level portion of Silhet. The mountain region comprehends about two-thirds of the country, or 12,000 square miles, and the plain about one-third.

there are no boulders, and the strata preserve their hori- to skirt the southern banks of the Sumoona, an affluent of zontal position, vegetation is deficient. The climate at the Deyung, the country north of that river constitutChirra Punji is very temperate and pleasant, especially being a portion of the plain of Asam. It is much more thickly tween November and March. Neither snow nor frost inhabited than the table land of the Kasia Mountains. Á occurs; but in December and January hoar-frost is very very large portion of it is fit for agriculture, and the small common. The sky is generally clear, but violent showers progress that both agriculture and population have made is frequently occur. The almost continual coolness of the air, mainly if not exclusively to be attributed to the unsettled and the absence of frost, has pointed out this place as a state in which the country has been for a long time, under convalescent station. Near Moiplong however frost occurs the sway of petty sovereigns, who were never able to even in November, as the thermometer then descends to 21°. defend their subjects against the incursions of the bold Nungklao has a more pleasant climate. The earlier part tribes who inhabit the mountains, especially the Angamee of the summer is not much warmer at that place than in Nagas. Some large tracts are quite uninhabited, though the London, as the thermometer ranges between 65° and 74°. vigorous growth of the trees shows the excellent quality of Cultivation appears only on the southern declivity, and the soil. But along the large rivers and in their neighbourin the neighbourhood of Nungklao, where rice is grown in hood cultivated tracts and villages are numerous, and will considerable quantity. On the southern declivity of the increase, since the British have compelled the Angameo mountain-mass many fruits are cultivated, as oranges, plan- Nagas to keep quiet. The inhabitants cultivate rice, and tains, and the areca palm; and much honey and wax is in the valleys of the hilly and mountainous part of the councollected. On the northern declivity, where fir-trees cover try several kinds of coarser grain are grown; there is also a large tracts of land, European fruit-trees grow, especially very fine-flavoured kind of purple vetch. About the vilapples, pears, and plums, and also strawberries and rasp- lages of the more elevated region there are groves of peachberries. The eastern road traverses the Kasia Mountains, be- trees in the most luxuriant state, and the apple-tree grows tween 92° and 92° 20' E. long, from the town of Jynteapoor, wild and produces a well-tasted fruit. The bay-leaf and a the capital of the former kingdom of Jyntea, to Raha very small kind of orange are also natives of these mounChoky in Asam, situated where the Deyung unites with tains. Cloth is made of a nettle, which is procurable in the river Kulung. The southern edge of the mountain great abundance. On the lower hills cotton and chillies region, which is only a few miles distant from Jynteapoor, are grown as articles of commerce, and in these parts also seems to be formed by a ridge which is considerably elevated much wax and honey is collected. The cultivation of the above the table-land farther north, and which is traversed lower and level country resembles that of Asam, being simiby the mountain-pass of Mutagul. North of this ridge lar in climate and soil, but no part of it is subject to annual lies a plain, about 2000 feet above the sea-level, whose sur- inundations. face is undulating, and in some parts hilly, but it is covered only with thick grass, without bushes or trees, except that in a few places, and at great distances from one another, small groves of firs or other trees are met with. It certainly might be used as pasture-ground, especially as the climate is very mild; but the few inhabitants say that they are prevented from keeping cattle by their neighbours, who frequently make predatory incursions into their country. This table-land occupies a width of 50 miles along the road. The northern edge is less distinctly marked, and the descent occupies about twelve miles. The nature of the table-land precludes agriculture; but in the northern districts rice is raised in considerable quantity, particularly in the small glens and on the sides of the valleys, where irrigation is practised, water being brought to the fields through narrow canals, and conveyed over hollows and up heights for short distances by means of trunks of trees and bamboos. Rice and yams are cultivated, and a kind of coarse silk called mong is collected on the trees.

The Plain.-Along the southern base of the mountain region hitherto noticed there is a plain, or rather a vale, for along its southern side the mountain-system of Tiperah rises to a great height. The length of this vale may be about 120 miles, and the width in the western half about 50 miles on an average, but towards the east it narrows to 30 and even 20 miles, until it is shut up by the Keibunda range, which lies near the boundary and within the territories of Muneepoor. As to the configuration of its surface and the capacities of the soil, it may be divided into two portions. A line drawn from Chattac on the Soorma, south-west of Pondua (91° 40′ E. long.), passing in a south by west direction west of Tajpur, through Nubigunj and thence to the hills south-east of Turruf near the Tiperah Mountains, very nearly separates these two tracts. The country west of this line is very low and level, and constitutes properly a portion of the lower portion of the plain of Bengal. It is in most parts marshy, and the whole is subject, like the greater part of Lower Bengal, to periodical inundations of long duration, being in general under water from April to the middle of November. These inundations are partly the effect of the heavy rains which fall during the south-west monsoon, and partly of the immense volume of water which is brought down by the rivers during that season, especially by those which drain the mountain system of Tiperah, the Manu, Khwa-hi, and Cognati. This lower tract is called Bhatta. The towns and villages, which in some parts, especially to the south, are numerous, are built on mounds of earth; huts, temples, mosques, and sheds for cattle are huddled together. When the inundations are at their height, there are from 8 to 12 feet water on the lower grounds. As soon as they have sufficiently subsided, or in the beginning of November, such lands as are high enough for the purpose are sown with rice and millet; the crop is cut in April. The lands yield only one crop. There appear occasionally a little sursoo and hemp, with some gourds and cucumbers about the huts. The marshes are however filled with cattle, from which profit is derived sufficient to make the occupation of these desolate tracts desirable. Ghee and cheese are made from the milk of buffaloes and cows, and the upper country, which lies farther east, is furnished with young bullocks for the plough. During the inundations the cattle are confined to the sheds and feed on green fodder brought in boats from the jhils or marshy tracts.

That portion of the mountain region which lies east of the Kopili and Deyung rivers, and extends eastward to the river Dooyong and the boundary of Muneepoor, comprehends Upper Kachar, and is called the Kachar Mountains. It is likewise a table land, the southern edge of which is marked by an elevated range, which continues to run east to 93° 12′ E. long, when it turns north-east and continues in that direction till it approaches 94° E. long., where it again runs east and stretches into an unknown country. Where this range runs north-east it is called the Bura Ail Mountains, and attains a mean elevation of 6000 feet above the sea-level. It is covered with large trees and light underwood. The southern declivity of the Bura Ail Mountains is very little known, but it seems to be certain that this side of the range is intimately connected with the three ridges which traverse the western portion of Muneepoor, and by running north and south unite the mountain region which we are now noticing with the extensive mountain-system of Tiperah. The ridges are called, from west to east, the Keibunda, Kubitshing, and Muneepoor Mountains. These chains and their numerous short offsets render the western portion of Muneepoor a rapid succession of elevated ridges and deep and narrow valleys. The country which lies north of the Bura Ail Mountains, both near the range and to the distance of 10 or 12 miles, is covered with the high offsets of the range, and has an entirely mountainous character. North of this compara- From this low country a few tracts of low and level land tively narrow mountain-tract the surface of the country is extend eastward of the line above indicated. They run up billy. Most of the hills are isolated, but in some places for several miles, more especially between the courses of the they form ridges. This hilly tract occupies a width of about great rivers, where they form jhils of great depth, which 20 miles, and it is followed by a plain. Both the hilly and are uncultivable. The remainder of the eastern division has level country are almost entirely covered with forests. The a higher level, and rises gradually towards the mountains northern edge of the table-land is marked by a range of low on both sides. This country is in general dry, though there hills, and a gentle descent, the greater part of which seems are some marshes of small extent. The surface of this divi