Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/110

 104 LAGOMYS which drains the lake of Lugano; its great outlet is the Ticino, which issues from its S. extremity at the town of Sesto. Near the entrance of the gulf of Tosa, on the W. side, lie the Borromean islands, remarkable for their picturesque beauty. The Swiss portion of this lake is termed lake of Locarno. The surround- ing mountains are covered with forests, the timber of which gives rise to a considerable traffic, and employs numerous vessels. Steam- ers ply regularly between Magadino, near the N extremity, and Sesto. The lake abounds in fish, particularly trout. There _are valuable quarries of fine white marble on its shores. LAGOMYS. SeePiKA. LAGOS, a seaport town of Portugal, m the province of Algarve, 110 m. S. S. E. of Lisbon, on the N. W. shore of Lagos bay ; pop. about 8,000. It is well built, and contains three churches, three convents, a civil and military hospital, an almshouse, a grammar school, and a handsome aqueduct. Its inhabitants are chief- ly engaged in the tunny and sardine fishery. The harbor, which is only navigable for small vessels, is defended by four forts. In the bay of Lagos, Aug. 17, 1759, a British fleet un- der Boscawen obtained a decisive victory over a French squadron under De la Clue. LAGOS, a British settlement on the coast of Dahomey, W. Africa, comprising the island of Lagos, called Eko by the natives, and the coast from the river Yerewa, near Badagry, to Ode, about Ion. 4 10' E. ; pop. in 1871, 60,221, of whom only 92 were whites. Within these bounds are the fortified trading posts of Ba- dagry, Lagos, Palma, a'nd Leckie, and a few native villages. The station at Ode is now abandoned. A strip of country back of these forts, from 5 to 12 m. wide, is considered to be under the protection of Great Britain. The coast is low and sandy, with outlying bars and lagoons inland. The island of Lagos is at the mouth of Ikorodu lagoon, which opens into the sea through a narrow channel. Large vessels do not pass in, but land their cargoes on the outer beach, whence they are carried by canoes to the inner lagoon. A narrow arm of this lagoon stretches westward parallel to the coast about 60 m. to Denham lagoon. Badagry is on the inner side of this strait. Palma and Leckie are on the outer coast, 70 or 80 m. further E. The chief rivers which empty into the lagoon are the Yerewa, the Ogun or Lagos, and the Ona. The trade at these settlements was once flourishing, and previous to the troubles on the Gold coast the revenue amounted to 45,000. The principal exports are palm oil and kernels, shea butter, ground nuts, cotton, and indigo. In 1872 the value of the imports was 366,256 ; exports, 444,848. The revenue for the same year was 41,346; expenditure, 41,346; public debt, 18,628. The town of Lagos had in 1871 a population of 36,005, of whom 82 were white. The church (of England) missionary society, the Wesleyan society, and the Eoman Catholics LAGOTIS have churches and schools there. The hospital, built originally as a barrack for troops, is the principal public building. Lagos was formerly the capital of a small territory tributary to Da- homey. It was one of the chief slave-trading stations on the coast, and was strongly fortified. In November, 1851, a British consul was fired on while negotiating a treaty for the abolition of the slave trade, and a small force from the steamer Bloodhound, which attempted to avenge the insult, was driven off. In December following an organized attack was made, and it was captured, although defended by 5,000 men and more than 50 guns. It was formally ceded to Great Britain in 1861. LAGOSTOMl S, a genus of mammals of the chin- ihilla family, inhabiting the vast plains east of the Andes. There is but one species, L. tricho- dactylus, the viscacha or biscacho. The anterior feet are four-toed, with small falcular nails for digging ; the posterior three-toed, with strong Lagostomus (L. trichodactylus). straight nails ; ears and tail moderate. Tl dwell in burrows, which are near the surfg and so numerous that in many places it is gerous to ride rapidly over the plains or pas inhabited by them. Like the prairie d< of North America, this animal has companion burrowing owls, which sit at the mouth of the holes during the daytime ; as in the case of the American rodent, it is not likely that the owl lives in the same hole, but it makes use of these burrows which it finds ready dug, dri- ving out the viscacha, and perhaps occasional- ly making a meal on the unprotected young ; from the absence of shrubs and trees on the great prairies and pampas, the owls, unable to burrow themselves, occupy the holes of the rodents as habitations and breeding places. LAGOTIS (Bennett), or Lagidinm, a genus of the chinchilla family, having the following dental formula : incisors f ; molars if- = 20. The incisors are sharpened, and each molar con-