Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/722

 702 PONT-A-MOUSSON PONTIAO side by the castle of Sao Braz, and about 3 m. E. by the forts of Sao Pedro and Rosto de Cao. The harbor is so shallow that vessels require to be loaded outside by means of lighters. Wheat, maize, and oranges are the chief exports. PONT-A-MOUSSOtf, a town of France, in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle (before 1871 in that of Meurthe), on the left bank of the Moselle, here spanned by a stone bridge, 16 in. N. N. W. of Nancy ; pop. in 1872, 8,211. The town has large cavalry barracks, and trades in grain, wine, coal, and timber. Beet sugar, pottery, woollens, and other goods are manu- factured. From 1572 till the latter part of the 18th century it had a university. The bulk of the second German army under Prince Fred- erick Charles crossed the Moselle at Pont-a Mousson Aug. 14, 1870, and the king arrived two days later. Extensive lazarettos existed here during the war. The Germans evacuated the place Aug. 2, 1873. PONTCHARTRAIN, a salt-water lake in the S. E. part of Louisiana, so called in honor of Count Pontchartrain, a minister of Louis XIV. The lake is about 40 m. long from E. to W., and 24 m. wide from N". to S. It is connected with Lake Borgne on the east by the Rigolets, a narrow winding strait, and with Lake Mau- repas on the west by the bayou Manchac. Its S. shore borders on New Orleans; and the bayou St. John, a small tributary, extends into that city. The lake is nowhere more than about 20 ft. deep, yet through it is carried on most of the coasting trade between New Or- leans and the eastern gulf ports. Steamboats and small vessels pass from the lake to the heart of the city through two canals, each ter- minating in an artificial basin. The northern shores of the lake are more elevated than the southern, and afford sites for country seats and summer resorts. Among these are the villages of Madisonville and Mandeville. P01VTE, Da. See BASSANO, and DA PONTE. POXTE CORVO, a town of S. Italy, in the province of Caserta, on the Garigliano, 50 m. N. W. of Napl.es ; pop. of the commune about 11,000. It was acquired by Pope Julius II., and with a small territory formed a princi- pality, which belonged to the papal see till 1860. From 1806 to 1810 it was held by Ber- nadotte with the title of prince of Ponte Corvo. The town is the seat of a bishop. PONTEFRACT, or Pomfret, a town of England, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 160 m. N. W. of London ; pop. in 1871, 5,372. The re- stored church of All Saints has a fine tower. There are a subscription and a mechanics' library, a fine market hall opened in 1860, and a large workhouse built in 1864. In the vicin- ity are celebrated gardens and nurseries, coal mines, and flour mills. Liquorice is largely produced. Earthenware, iron and brass cast- ings, hats, and other articles are manufactured. Remains exist of the ancient castle, the scene of the murder of Richard II. and of other remarkable events. PONTIAC, the N. W. county of Quebec, Can- ada, separated from Ontario on the southwest by the Ottawa river ; area, 20,798 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 16,547, of whom 8,649 were of Irish, 3,530 of French, 1,981 of Scotch, and 964 of English origin or descent, and 1,217 were In- dians. The surface is covered with extensive forests, and lumbering is the chief business. Capital, Bryson. PONTIAC, a city and the county seat of Oak- land co., Michigan, on the Clinton river, and on the Detroit and Milwaukee railroad, 26 m. N. W. of Detroit ; pop. in 1870, 4,867 ; in 1875, about 5,000. It contains several fine residences, and has a handsome union school building, which cost $70,000. Its trade and manufac- tures are important. The principal establish- ments are two founderies, two breweries, three carriage factories, five flouring mills, two mar- ble works, three planing mills, a plaster mill, a pump factory, a tannery, three wagon fac- tories, a manufactory of turbine water wheels, and a woollen mill. There are five grain ele- vators, three banks, seven hotels, graded pub- lic schools, two weekly newspapers, and sev- en churches. Pontiac was settled in 1818, in- corporated as a village in 1857, and as a city in 1861. A new state insane asylum is now in process of construction at Pontiac; $400,000 have been appropriated for the purpose, and it will be one of the finest edifices in the state. ' PONTIAC, a North American Indian, chief of the Ottawas, an Algonquin tribe, born about 1712, killed in 1769. He was first known as an ally of the French. In 1746, at the head of a body of Indians, mostly Ottawas, he suc- cessfully defended Detroit, then a French pos- session, against the attacks of some hostile northern tribes. He is believed to have led several hundred Ottawas at Braddock's defeat in 1755. The Indians at that time were fond of the French, and hated the English; their discontent was increased by injudicious usage, and trivial conspiracies began to be formed. Pontiac finally determined to concentrate the hatred of all the western tribes in one great effort to drive out the English. At the end of 1762 he sent messengers to the different na- tions, proposing that in May, 1763, they should rise, massacre the English garrisons, and fall upon the frontier settlements. The plot was generally successful. Pontiac had reserved for himself the attack upon Detroit, but before it was made his intention was discovered. He then regularly besieged the place, and neglect- ed no expedient that savage warfare could sug- gest to take it. To obtain food for his war- riors he issued promissory notes, drawn upon birch bark and signed with the figure of an ot- ter, which were all redeemed. After the siege had continued several months it was raised, and the tribes generally sued for peace. Bu1 Pontiac was not yet subdued. He endeavoi to stir up the Indians on the Miami and 11 other parts of the west, and applied for aid, though in vain, to the French commander