Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/755

 s u s s u s 723 washed Oriental -looking walls. The Kasr al-Ribdt, a square building flanked by seven bastions, was probably either a Roman or Byzantine fortress, and a Byzantine chapel is now transformed into the Kahwat al-Kubba or Cafe of the Dome. Since the French annexation the citadel, built on the highest point within the town, has been entirely restored and serves as the headquarters of the general commanding a division ; and a camp of tile- roofed brick buildings has been erected in the neighbour- hood. The space within the Avails is proving too limited for the growth of the population, and houses already extend along the shore to north and south for about a mile. Susa is the ancient seaport of Kairwan (45 miles inland), with which it is connected by a horse-tramway, and it has a rapidly increasing commerce. In 1864 the port was visited by about 195 vessels, in 1885 by 701, of which 532 were Italian. The exports in 1885 were valued at 1,371,510 (oil, to Genoa and Leghorn, 232,530; grain, largely to Sicily, 397,760 ; sansa or olive refuse, to France, 13,715; esparto, a comparatively recent article for this port, 17,935), and the imports (including build- ing-stone from Sicily and Malta, brick, lime, marble, and timber) amounted to 660,135. The population, which numbered 8000 in 1872 (2000 Jews, 1000 Christians), had increased to upwards of 10,000 in 1886. Susa is the ancient HADRUMETUM (5-. v.). In 1537 it -was besieged by the marquis of Terra Nova, in the service of Charles V., and in 1539 was captured for the emperor by Andrea Doria. But as soon as the imperial forces were withdrawn it became again the seat of Turkish piracy. The town was attacked by the French and the Knights of St John in 1770, and by the Venetians in 1764. SUSANNA ("Lily"), the heroineof one of the apocryphal additions to the Greek text of the book of Daniel, the othejs being the Sony of the Three Children and the story of Bel and the Dragon. In the English version the story of the virtuous Susanna the false accusation brought against her by the elders and her deliverance by the judg- ment of Daniel is put as a separate book. Jerome, in his Preface to Daniel, points out that it had been observed both by Jews and Christians that this story was certainly written by a Greek, and not translated from Hebrew, since Daniel makes a series of Greek puns on the names of trees. Plate XI. SUSSEX, a maritime county in the south of England, lying between 50 43' and 51 9' N. lat, and 49' E. and 58' W. long. It is 76 miles from Lady Holt Park to Kent Ditch, and 28 miles from Tunbridge Wells to Beachy Head, and adjoins Kent on the N.E., Surrey on the N., Hampshire on the W., and the English Channel on the S. Its total area is 933,269 acres or 1458 square miles. Hills. The range of chalk hills known as the South Downs divides the county into two districts that of the coast and that of the Wealden which are of unequal extent and possess very different characteristics. In the west- ern part of the county the South Downs are about 10 miles distant from the sea; they continue eastwards for about 45 miles, and terminate in the bold headland of Beachy Head. Their average height is about 500 feet, though some of the summits reach 700 (Ditchling Beacon, 813 feet; Chanctonbury Ring, 783; Firle Beacon, 700; and the Devil's Dyke, 697). The Forest Ridge extends through the northern part of the county from Petworth to Crowborough, reaching the coast in Fairlight Down. The principal summits are Crowborough Beacon (796 feet), Brightling Hill (647), and Fairlight Down (528). The county has suffered greatly from incursions of the sea. The site of the ancient cathedral of Selsey is now a mile out at sea. Between 1292 and 1340 upwards of 5500 acres were submerged. In the early part of the 14th cen- tury Pagham harbour was formed by a sudden irruption of the sea, devastating 2700 acres. Recently all this land has been reclaimed and again brought under cultivation. There is considerable reason for believing that the whole coast-line of the county has been slightly raised in the last 800 years (possibly by earthquake shock), as the large estuaries at the river mouths no longer exist, and the archipelago round Pevensey (eye signifies "island") has only a slight elevation above the neighbouring marsh land. The rivers are small and unimportant. The principal Rivers. are the Rother, the Cuckmere, the Ouse, the Adur, the Arun, and the Lavant. The Rother rises in the Forest Ridge, in the parish of Rotherfield, and enters the sea near Rye, its course having been diverted by a great storm on 12th October 1250, before which date its exit was 12 miles to the east, beyond Dungeness. The Cuckmere also rises in the Forest Ridge, near Heathfield, and empties itself into the sea a little to the east of Seaford. The Ouse rises in St Leonards Forest, to the north-west of Lindfield, and, passing through Isfield and Lewes, enters the sea at New- haven, now the principal port in the county. The former outlet was at Seaford, but in the reign of Elizabeth the sea broke through the beach bank at some warehouses just below Bishopstone and formed what is now called the old harbour, which was in use until the Newhaven one was made a safer exit. The Adur has three sources, all in the neighbourhood of St Leonards Forest, and flows southwards, entering the sea at Southwick. The mouth of the river formerly shifted from year to year, ranging both east and west over a distance of 2 miles. The Arun rises in St Leonards Forest, in the parish of Slinfold, flows through Amberley and Arundel, and enters the sea at Ldttlehampton. The Lavant has its source in Charlton Forest and encircles Chichester on all sides except the north, entering the sea through creeks in the extreme south-west corner of the county. The portion of the county to the north of the South Forests. Downs is called the Weald ; it formerly formed part of the forest of Andredsweald (" the wood or forest without habit- ations"), which was 120 miles in length and about 30 in breadth. The total area of forests in 1885 was 113,043 acres, being the greatest of any county in England. About 1660 the total was estimated at over 200,000 acres. The chief remains of the ancient forests are Tilgate, Ashdown, and St Leonards, but the names in many parts indicate their former wooded character, as Hurstpierpoint (hurst meaning "wood"), Midhurst, Fernhurst, Billingshurst, Ashurst, and several others. The forests were interspersed with lagoons, and the rainfall being very great caused marshes and the large river estuaries ; the rainfall, how- ever, abated in consequence of the cutting down of the Wealden forests for fuel in the extensive ironworks that formerly existed in that district. The Avood was exported in the reign of Edward VI. The greater portion of the county is occupied by the Geology. Chalk formation, of which the South Downs are almost entirely composed. Firestone is found in the west, and Steyning is built upon it. At the base of the Downs the Greensand crops up, but is of small extent. The Wealden formations occupy nearly all the inland district of the county, and in these was found the ironstone from which iron was extracted. Sussex was at one time the centre of the English iron manufacture; before 1653 there were 42 iron-forges or mills (reduced to 18 before 1667) and 27 furnaces (reduced to 11 before 1664), which employed 50,000 men l and furnished the main supply of ordnance for the national defence. The last forge at Ashburnham was not extinguished until 1809. Between 1872 and 1876 boring was carried on at Netherfield, near Battle, with the object of discovering what beds were below the Wealden, and if possible of reaching the Paleozoic rocks, which at 1 Suss. Arch. Coll., xxxii. pp. 22-25