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 526 NOVA ZEMBLA NOVGOROD no claim over on C, if he, A, were obliged to pay his original debt to B. NOVA ZEMBLA (Russ. Novaya, Zemlya, new land), several closely contiguous islands in the Arctic ocean, directly N". of the boundary line between Europe and Asia, and stretching N. N. E. and S. S. W. between lat. 70 30' and 77 N., and Ion. 51 30' and 67 30' E., with a total length of about 500 m. and an estimated average breadth of 60 m. The territory belongs to Russia, and is subject to the government of Archangel. Nova Zembla is separated from the island of Vaigatch, which lies close to the mainland, by the strait of Kara (more properly called Burrough's strait), and from the conti- nents of Europe and Asia by the sea of Kara. There are two, or at most three large islands, the southernmost of which is bounded N. by a navigable but narrow strait known as the Ma- totchkin Shar. Still further N., Cross bay on the W. coast has been supposed to be the en- trance to a strait between a middle island and the northern portion of Nova Zembla ; but the latest explorations indicate that this supposi- tion is incorrect, and it is probable that there are but two large islands separated by Matotch- kin strait, the northern being about twice as long as the southern island. The geological formation of Nova Zembla is a continuation of the Ural system. The rugged western coast is deeply indented by the sea, and is bordered throughout its extent by mountains which at- tain an elevation of from 1,000 to 2,000 ft. Several loftier peaks are known, two of which in the vicinity of Matotchkin strait are respec- tively 3,400 and 3,700 ft. high. In the north the heights do not approach the shore so close- ly ; the E. coast, although lower, is also fringed by highlands. The soil is barren, the only vegetation being mosses and lichens, and in some places a few stunted shrubs. The polar bear, reindeer, walrus, and fox are the animals most frequently met with. The mean summer temperature at the S. extremity is 35-51, and that of winter 3-21. It has been observed that a comparatively mild temperature pre- vails in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream islands, a barren group on the N. W. coast, occupying a locality which, as is inferred from accounts left by Barentz, was covered by 18 fathoms of water in 1596. Their name is due to the supposition that they lie within the path of the warm current which skirts the Norwegian coast. The islands have no permanent inhab- itants, but are visited by fishermen and hunters from the mainland. Nova Zembla was un- known to the navigators of western Europe prior to the voyage, in 1556, of Stephen Bur- rough, subsequently chief pilot of England, by whom the entrance to the sea of Kara was dis- covered. In 1596-'7 the Dutch navigator Wil- lem Barentz, with 16 men, wintered in a hut at Ice Haven on the N. E. coast. Although the coasts of Nova Zembla have been ex- plored by several Russian expeditions during the present century, its N. E. extremity was never rounded again from the time of Barentz till 1871, when Elling Carlsen, a Norwegian sloop captain, succeeded in reaching Ice Haven, where he found the house formerly occupied by Barentz still standing, and obtained from it many interesting relics in a remarkably good state of preservation. Oarlsen's voyage led also to the discovery that the position of the N. E. extremity of Nova Zembla had been erroneously laid down as in Ion. 73 E., the actual longitude being 67 30' E. NOVELLO. I. Vincent, an English organist and composer, of Italian descent, born in London, Sept. 6, 1781, died in Nice in September, 1861. At the age of 16 he became organist of the Portuguese chapel in London, and under his direction the music there became noted for its excellence. He was one of the original foun- ders of the philharmonic society and a member of the royal society of musicians. He com- posed largely, but without inspiration. His principal claim to distinction rests on the ser- vice he rendered to the art of music by editing and bringing to public attention a vast number of classical works of old as well as modern masters. II. Clara Anastasia, an English soprano singer, daughter of the preceding, born in Lon- don, June 15, 1818. She studied under Choron in Paris, and Moscheles and Costa in London. Her debut as a vocalist was made in 1830 at a benefit concert in Windsor, but she continued to study for the stage, and finally appeared in opera in 1841 in Milan, Bologna, and other Italian cities. In 1843 she appeared at Drury Lane in Pacini's "Sappho." Her artistic ca- reer, in which she had already attained a highly honorable position, was brought substantially to a close by her marriage in November, 1843, to Count Gigliucci of Fermo, Italy, though she subsequently appeared at times in public. She took formal leave of her profession at the crys- tal palace in Handel's "Messiah," and gave her last concert at St. James's hall, Nov. 26, 1860. NOVELS (Novella Constitutiones). See CIVIL LAW, vol. iv., p. 622. NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine), the llth month of our year, and the 9th of the Roman when their calendar was first founded. It was one of the 10 months of the year of Romulus, and consisted originally of 30 days, which number was afterward changed to 29, probably by the decemvirs. Julius Caesar again made it 30 days, and so it has remained. NOVGOROD. I. A N. W. government of Eu- ropean Russia, bordering on Olonetz, Vologda, Yaroslav, Tver, Pskov, and St. Petersburg; area, 46,312 sq. m. ; pop. in 1867, 1,016,414. The principal rivers are the Msta, which enters the government from Tver, flows N. W. and S. W., and falls into Lake Ilmen ; the Lovat and Polist, which fall into the same lake ; the Vol- khov, flowing from that lake into Lake La- doga ; and the Sheksna and Mologa, tributaries of the Volga. There are three large lakes : the Bielo Ozero (white lake) in the northeast, about 25 m. long and 20 m. broad ; Lake Ilmen in the