Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/515

Rh M A N M A N 491 fertile plains of Manitoba begin a district resting on Silurian limestones. For 100 or 150 miles these rocks continue. This is the first prairie steppe. At very few points does an outcrop of limestone occur. A range of hills running from south-east to north-west bounds this region on the west. These are Pembina Mountains, Riding Mountains, and Duck Mountain, varying from 200 to 700 feet in height. Before the Riding Mountains are reached, on the shores and islands of Lakes Manitoba and Winni- pegoosis are found a few buff-coloured Devonian limestones. From this line of hills westward spreads out the second prairie steppe, extending some 400 or 500 miles. Beyond this for an equal distance, at a still higher elevation, is the third prairie steppe, till the Rocky Mountains are reached. From the Pembina and Riding Mountains to the Rocky Mountains, say 1000 miles, Cretaceous beds underlie the plains and crop out at long intervals. The most striking feature of this formation, of which only the eastern 100 or 150 miles are within Manitoba, is the presence of coal, j It is, like most of the Tertiary varieties, a lignite : a specimen analysed gives water 7 82 per cent,, volatile combustible matter 31 35 per cent., fixed carbon 54 97 per cent., and ash 5 86 per cent. The supply of this coal is, according to Professor Selwyn, practically inexhaustible. Mr G. M. Dawson, Government explorer, has figured exposures of lignite 1 foot, 7 feet, and even 18 feet in thickness in the Souris valley, 250 miles south-west of Winnipeg. As a fuel for domestic purposes, this coal in general answers very well. The drift deposit on the first and second prairie levels varies from 20 to 100 feet, and consists of clay and boulders. A clay lying near the surface is used for making the white brick of which Winnipeg is built. The most recent geologic deposit is a rich vegetable mould, sometimes 4 feet in thickness. It is this that gives the reputation for fertility which the soil of the province enjoys. The surface of Manitoba is somewhat level and mono tonous. It is chiefly a prairie region ? with treeless plains of from 5 to 40 miles extent, covered in summer with an exuberant vegetable growth, which dies every year. The river banks are, however, fringed with trees, and in the more undulating lands the timber belts vary from a few hundreds of yards to 5 or 10 miles in width, forming at times forests of no inconsiderable size. The chief trees of the country are the aspen (Populus tremuloides), the ash-leaved maple (Negundo aceroidea), oak (Quercus cdbo) } elm (Ulmus americano), and many varieties of willow. The strawberry, raspberry, currant, plum, cherry, and grape are indigenous. The climate of Manitoba, being that of a region of wide extent and of similar conditions, is not subject to frequent variations. Winter, with cold but clear and bracing weather, usually sets in about the middle of November, and ends with March. In April and May the rivers have opened, the snow has disappeared, and the opportunity has been afforded the farmer of sowing his grain. The month of June is often wet, but most favourable for the springing crops ; July and August are warm, but, excepting two or three days at a time, not uncomfortably so; while the autumn months of August and September are very pleasant. Harvest generally extends from the middle of August to near the end of September. The chief crops of the farmer are wheat (which from its flinty hardness and full kernel is the specialty of the Canadian north-west), oats, barley, and pease. Hay is made of the native prairie grasses, which grow luxuriantly. From the richness and mellowness of the soil potatoes and all tap-roots reach a great size. Heavy dews in summer give the needed moisture after the rains of June have ceased. The traveller and farmer are at times annoyed by the mosquito. This troublesome insect is chiefly found near swampy ground or on the uncultivated prairie. It usually continues through June and July. The population of the province is very mixed. In 1870 there were 2000 whites and 10,000 Indian half-breed;?. Of the latter, one half are of English-speaking parentage, and chiefly of Orkney origin ; the remainder are known as Metis or Bois-briiles, and are descended from French-Canadian voyageurs. In 1875 a number of Russian Mennonites (descendants of the Anabaptists of the Reformation) came to the country. Some fifty years ago they originally emigrated from Germany to the plains of southern Russia, but came over to Manitoba to escape the conscription. They num ber nearly 8000. About 4000 French Canadians, who had emigrated from Quebec to the United States, have also made the province their home, as well as a number of Icelanders. The remainder of the population is chiefly made up of English-speaking people from the other provinces of the Dominion, from the United States, from England and Scotland and the north of Ireland. Though some what difficult to estimate, the population of Manitoba is estimated by competent authorities at upwards of 120,000 in 1882. In 1881 the religious opinions of the people were as follows : Episcopalians, 22 per cent ; Presbyterians, 22 ; Roman Catholics, 19; Methodists, 14; Baptists, 2| ; Lutherans, 1J per cent. There is a system of primary and secondary free school education for Protestants, and another for Roman Catholics. For the higher education there are the three colleges of St Boniface (Roman Catho lic), St John s (Episcopalian), and Manitoba College (Presbyterian). These are affiliated to the university of Manitoba, which is an ex amining and degree-conferring body. Like other provinces of the Dominion, Manitoba is under a lieutenant-governor, with a council of five ministers responsible to the local legislature, which again is composed of thirty-one members. The province is represented by three senators in the Dominion senate, and by five members in the Dominion house of commons. There are three judges of the superior court, and a number of county court judges. The whole province is divided into municipalities, each of which chooses a warden and six councillors annually. The city of Winnipeg, the provincial centre of government, law, education, and religion, had in 1882 upwards of 20,000 inhabitants. The trade of the country has chiefly grown up since Winnipeg was connected in 1878 with the United States railroad system, and it has received a further impulse from the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which traverses the territory. (G. BR.) MANITOWOC, a city of the United States, the county seat of Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, is situated on the west side of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of Manitowoc river, 77 miles north of Milwaukee by the Milwaukee, Lake Shore, and Western Railway. It has a good harbour, and is the seat of an active trade in lumber, leather, and wheat. Shipbuilding is also extensively carried on. Population in 1870, 3059 ; in 1880, 6367. MANKATO, a city of the United States, the county seat of Blue Earth county, Minnesota,, is situated in the midst of a good agricultural district on the right bank of the Minnesota river, and is a station on the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St Paul, the Chicago and North Western, and the Chicago, St Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha railways. From St Paul it is distant 86 miles. Besides carrying on an extensive trade Mankato manufactures woollen goods, linseed oil, flour, beer, carriages and waggons, iron wares, and furniture. It has a fine park and fair ground, three public halls, a public library, and a State normal school. The population increased from 3482 in 1870 to 5550 in 1880. MANLEY, MARY DE LA RIVIER (1672-1 724), dramatist, political writer, and novelist, the most eminent female &quot; wit &quot; of the reign of Queen Anne, was the daughter of a studious and literary royalist, Sir Roger Manley, governor of the Channel Islands, part author of The Turkish Spy, and author of several military histories. Mrs Manley is herself the chief authority for such particulars of her private life as are known. Towards the close of Anne s reign, finding that Curll had announced The Adventures of Rivella, or the History of the Author of Atalantis, and suspecting this to be the work of an enemy, she contrived with dexterous tact to supplant Curll s author, and wrote her own biography under the announced title. Her mother die:l when she was a child, her father when she was a girl