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SIERRA MADRE

1754

SIGISMUND

Loaf Mountain. The climate is hot and moist, and the lowlands malarious, giving it the name of the White Man's Grave. The people, numbering 76,655, are nearly all negroes, the white population numbering only 350. Agriculture and trading occupy about one fifth of the population, but the resources are not fully developed. Coffee, cocoa, tapioca, ginger, maize and cotton are grown, and there are a little boat-building, mat-making and cloth-weaving. The chief exports are kola-nuts, palm-oil and nuts and rubber; the chief imports, cotton-goods, tobacco and spirits. Freetown, the capital, the most important seaport in West Africa, is a fortified naval depot and a coaling-station. There are a university, founded by the Church Missionary Society, a savings-bank, a lunatic asylum and 65 schools, with an average attendance of 5,583 pupils. Sierra Leone (Lion Mountain) was discovered by Cintra, a Portuguese navigator, in 1462, and named from the heavy thunder roaring on its mountains. Attempts were made to colonize it with freed slaves in 1787 and 1791; the second effort being made under the Sierra Leone Company and supported by the arrival of 1,200 freed slaves from North America. In 1807 it was ceded by the company to the British crown. A railroad from Freetown extends 226 miles to Baiima near the Liberian frontier. Freetown has a telephone system; there are 221 miles of telegraph; and millions of dollars are being spent on railway extension and port works. The Sierra Leone protectorate, inland, covers 30,000 square miles and has nearly 1,000,000 inhabitants.

Sierra Madre (se-er'ra mafdra), meaning Main Chain, a range of mountains in Mexico, stretching north into Arizona. The name sometimes includes the Cordilleras.

Sierra Morena (md-rd'na), a mountain ridge in the south of Spain, ranging from 2,000 to 5,500 feet in height. It has valuable mines of lead, silver, lignite and quicksilver; and is the scene of many of the incidents in Don Quixote.

Sierra Nevada (ne-vafdd), Snowy Range, a moxmtain-range in southern Spain, crossing the province of Granada, about 60 miles long; Mulahacen, 11,600 feet high, is the highest point of the Spanish peninsula.

Sierra Nevada, a range of mountains in California 450 miles long, merging into the Coast Range. Mt. Whitney (14,886), Mt. Shasta (14,440) and Mt. Tyndall (14,386) are the highest peaks. The mountains are covered with forests, and gold and silver are found in large quantities.

Sierra Nevada, the name of two ranges in South America, both thought to be parts of the Andes. The mountains are wooded on the northern slopes, and naked rocks tower 6,300 feet on the southern side. Cop-

per, silver, gold and coal are found. The highest peaks are from 15,000 to 17,500 feet high.

Sieve- (sfo) Vessels (in plants), often called sieve-tubes, the peculiar vessels characteristic of the bast or phloem portion of the vascular bundle. They usually are more or less elongated, and the name refers to the fact that their walls contain certain areas, known as sieve-plates, which are perforated by numerous openings, like the lid of a pepper-box. The sieve-vessels are prominently associated with the transfer of food.

Sieye*s (se-d'yas'), EmanueUoseph, Count, known as Abb6 Sieyes, a prominent figure in the French Revolution, was born at Fr£jus, France, May 3, 1748. Entering the church, on account of his health, he became a canon and then chancellor and vicar-general. At the beginning of the struggles for liberty in France he published three pamphlets on political questions which made his name famous throughout France. He was elected a deputy in Paris, and it was on his motion that, when the nobles and clergy refused to join the deputies of the people, they declared themselves the National Assembly. The division of France into departments and the celebrated declaration of the Rights of Man were mainly his work. He voted for the king's death, but was opposed to a republic and to the excesses of the Revolution. Sent to Berlin, he secured the neutrality of Prussia. With Bonaparte he plotted the revolution of the i8th Brumaire (Nov. 9, 1799), ending in the consulate of Sieyes, Bonaparte and Ducos. His new ally, however, proved a master, and he resigned his consulship in disgust, though to propitiate him he was

fiven the title   of   count,  an   estate  and 120,000. He lived in Belgium during the Restoration, dying at Paris, June 20, 1836. Consult Lamartine's History of the French Revolution.

Sigel (se'gel), Franz, an American general, was born in Germany in 1824. He was in the service of the grand-duke of Baden, and became minister of war in the Revolution of 1848, but was obliged to flee and came to the United States. He entered the army as colonel in 1861 during the Civil War, and. by gallant service rose to the rank of major-general. He was elected registrar of New York City in 1871, and appointed United States pension-agent for the city in 1885. He died on Aug. 21, 1902.

Sigismund (sij'is-m&nd), Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, was born on Feb. 14, 1361. When only 19, he became king of Hungary through his wife. He was terribly defeated in an expedition against the Turks at Nicopolis in 1396. Some years later he conquered Bosnia, Herzegovina and Servia. He became Emperor in 1411. His name is known by his failure to uphold