Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/165

 F I Q F I J 155 tion. Recently the practice of preserving fresh undried figs in tins has been adopted, but the amount used in that form is as yet insignificant compared with the quantities preserved by drying. Of the dried and pressed fruit the import into Great Britain alone averages from six to seven thousand tons annually, the following being the official returns for the five years ended 1876: Cwts. Value. Duty. 1372 141,847 231,571 38,885 1873 120,347 220,413 35,021 1874 74,1G3 149,089 23,685 1875 124,609 252,022 32,749 1870 103,103 318,717 39,925 The greater part (about four-fifths) of these imports comes from Asia Minor, the remainder being produced in various Mediterranean countries. (c. r. j.) FIGARO, a famous dramatic character first introduced on the stage by Beaumarchais in the Barbier de Seville, the Manage de Figaro, and the Folle Journce. The name is said to be an old Spanish and Italian word for a wigmaker, connected with the verb cigarrar, to roll in paper. Many of the traits of the character are to be found in earlier comic types of the Roman and Italian stage, but as a whole the conception was marked by great originality ; and Figaro soon seized the popular imagination, and became the recognized representative of daring, clever, and nonchalant roguery and intrigue. Almost immediately after its appearance, Mozart chose the Marriage of Figaro as the subject of an opera, and the Barber of Seville was treated first by Parsiello, and afterwards in 1816 by Rossini. In 182G the name of the witty rogue was taken by a journal which continued till 1833 to be one of the principal Parisian periodicals, numbering among its contributors such men as Jules Janin, Paul Lacroix, Leon Gozlan, Alphonse Karr, Dr Veron, Jules Sandean, and George Sand. Various abortive attempts were made to restore the Figaro during the next twenty years ; and at length in 1854 the efforts of M. Villemessant were crowned with success. The new journal not only still exists, but has attained unusual popularity. See Marc Monnier, Lcs Aicux de Figaro, 1S6S; II. de Yille- messant, Mlmoircs cTun Journaliate, 1867. FIGEAC, a town of France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Lot, is situated on the right bank of the Selle, 32 miles N.E. of Cahors. It is inclosed by an amphitheatre of wooded and vine-clad hills, but is ill- built, and its streets are narrow and dirty. Many of the buildings are remarkable for their antique style. It was formerly surrounded by ramparts and ditches, but these were demolished in 1622, though remains of them still exist. Figeac has linen and cotton manufactures, dyewurks, and tanneries, arid also a considerable trade in cattle and wine. Among the public edifices worthy of notice are the communal college, the hospital, the abbey church of St Sauveur, the church of Notre Dame du Puy, and the Chateau de la Baleine, now transformed into a law court, but still retaining its feudal exterior. At the south and west extremities of the town are two obelisks called les aiguilles, octagonal in form, and upwards of 50 feet in height, which were used in former times as fire beacons to guide travellers by night. Champollion the archaeologist was bora at Figeac in 1790, and an obelisk has been erected to his memory near the river. The town owes its origin to a Benedictine abbey founded by Pepin the Short in 755. It was besieged by the Huguenots in 1568 without success, but was conquered by them in 1576, and remained one of their chief fortresses till 1622. The population in 1876 was 5660. FIGUERAS, a frontier town of Spain, in the province of Gerona, and 20 miles W.N.W. of the town of that name. It is a straggling town, situated in a rich plain of olives and rice. It possesses a beautiful parish church, two monasteries, and a hospital. The principal manufactures are leather and paper, and it has some trade with France. The citadel, an irregular pentagonal structure on the principles of Vauban, is considered one of the strongest fortresses in Europe. It was built by Ferdinand VI., and its situation renders it the key to the frontier. Its cost amounted to 285,000, and it contains accommodation for 16,000 men and 500 horses. The buildings inside the walls are all bomb-proof, and the natural adaptation of its .situation has been so taken advantage of that trenches can scarcely be opened on any side, the ground being every where rocky. In 1794 it was surrendered to the French, but it was retaken in 1795. It was again captured by the French in 1 808, and though they were forced to vacate it in 1811, they recaptured it on the 19th August of the same year. In 1813 they were again driven out, but it again capitulated to them in 1823. The population of Figueras is about 10,000. FIJI ISLANDS. The Fiji, or more correctly Viti, archipelago (Fiji being the pronunciation in the eastern part of the group frequented by the Tongans) is one of the most important in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbours are the Samoan group 300 miles to the N.E., and the Tongan or Friendly rather nearer to the S.E. Lying between 177 E. and 178 W. long., and between 15 40 and 20 S. lat., it is beyond the limits of the perpetual S.E. trades, while not within the range of the N.W. monsoons. From April to November the winds are steady between S.E. and E.N.E., after which the weather becomes un- Map of Fiji Islands. certain and the winds often northerly. In February and March heavy gales arc frequent, and hurricanes sometimes occur, causing scarcity by destroying the crops. The rain fall is much greater on the windward than on the lee sides of the islands (108 inches at Levuka), but the mean tem perature is much the same, viz., about 80 F. The greatest rise and fall of the tide is six feet. The islands cover an area of some 7400 square miles, or about that of Wales. Excluding the two large islands, they are classed by the natives in three groups, viz., the &quot;Lau&quot; or Windward Islands, mostly small, but many of them very fertile, of which Lakemba is the most important ; &quot; Loma-i-Viti,&quot; or Inner Fiji, i.f., the islands inclosed between the Lau and the two great islands Viti Levu (Great Viti) and Vanua Levu (Great Land) ; and the &quot; Ra &quot; or Leeward Islands, a chain of numerous small islands bounding the group to the westward. Scenery. There is not much level country, except in the small coral islets, and certain rich tracts along the coasts of the two large islands, especially near the mouths of rivers. Elsewhere hill and valley, peak and precipice, assume the most romantic forms, clothed almost always