Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/243

Rh DOWLETABAD, or Deoghir (the fortunate city), a town and fortress of Hyderabad, Hindostan, about 7 m. N. W. of Aurungabad. The fortress is on a hill 500 ft. high, about 150 ft. of which is nearly perpendicular. The entrance is by a narrow passage cut through the rock. Notwithstanding its natural strength, the fortress has been taken several times, and has belonged to various masters. Near the town are the remarkable cave temples of Ellora.

 DOWN, a N. E. county of Ireland, province of Ulster, bordering on the Irish sea and the counties Antrim and Armagh; area, 956 sq. m.; pop. in 1871, 277,775. Near the middle of the county is a group of hills, and in its S. W. part are the Mourne mountains, some of whose summits are among the highest peaks in N. Ireland; but with these exceptions the surface is generally level. There are several rivers, but only the Lurgan, which flows along the northern boundary, and the Bann, are important. All the streams and the lakes, which are numerous, abound in fish. Lough Strangford in the E. part is a large inlet of the sea, with which it communicates by a deep channel. The county contains many mineral springs, and is one of the best cultivated counties of Ireland, producing grain, peas, beans, potatoes, turnips, &c. Cattle, chiefly for dairy purposes, and hogs are reared in great numbers. There are extensive quarries of limestone, sandstone, and slate; and granite, coal, and chalk also occur. The most important manufacture is that of linen, though there are also cotton and woollen mills. The climate is healthy and somewhat cold, and the people generally are in better condition than those of most Irish counties. Fishing occupies many of the inhabitants. Some interesting and very ancient remains are found, and there are ruins of abbeys and castles of the middle ages. The chief towns are Downpatrick, the capital, and Newry.  DOWNES, John, an American naval officer, born in Canton, Mass., in 1786, died in Charlestown, Aug. 11, 1855. He entered the navy as a midshipman in June, 1802, and was in the frigate New York during the war with Tripoli. In May, 1803, he distinguished himself in a boat attack upon some Tripolitan feluccas. In March, 1807, he was made lieutenant, and in the war of 1812 he served as executive officer of the frigate Essex, Capt. Porter, during her celebrated cruise in the Pacific. Among her numerous prizes was the whale ship Georgiana, which Capt. Porter fitted as a cruiser, with 16 guns, named the Essex Junior, and placed under the command of Lieut. Downes, who retained this position until the capture of the Essex and the conversion of the Essex Junior into a cartel. In 1813 he was promoted to the rank of master commandant, and in 1815 he commanded the brig Epervier in the squadron employed against Algiers under Decatur. On June 17, 1815, the Epervier assisted in the capture of the Algerine frigate Mashouda off Cape de Gatt. Two days afterward the Epervier and three of the smaller vessels of the squadron captured the Algerine brig of war Estido, 22 guns and 180 men, off Cape Palos. After the conclusion of peace with Algiers, Decatur transferred Downes to his own ship, the Guerriere. In March, 1817, he became captain, and from 1819 to 1821 commanded the frigate Macedonian in the Pacific. In 1828-'9 he commanded the Java in the Mediterranean, and from 1832 to 1834 the squadron in the Pacific. On his way to his station he attacked (Feb. 6, 1832) and nearly destroyed Quallah Batoo, on the coast of Sumatra, where an outrage had been committed on an American vessel. His sea service terminated with his cruise. From 1837 to 1842, and from 1850 to 1852, he commanded the navy yard at Boston.  DOWNING, Andrew Jackson, an American landscape gardener, born in Newburgh, N. Y., Oct. 30, 1815, drowned in the Hudson river, near Yonkers, July 28, 1852. From an early age his tastes were directed to horticulture, botany, and the natural sciences, which the occupation of his father, a nurseryman, gave him many opportunities to cultivate. His school education was acquired chiefly at an academy in the neighboring town of Montgomery. He returned home at the age of 16 to assist an elder brother in the management