Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/504

 484 8URAJAH DOWLAH SUKETY on the S. shore, the Tequamenon, Sturgeon, Ontonagon, Montreal, and Bad. The coast of the lake is for the most part rocky, and on the N. side is much indented by deep bays surrounded with high rocky cliffs, back of which the country soon rises in bleak and dreary mountains. Numerous islands are scat- tered about this portion of the coast, many rising precipitously to great heights directly up from the deep water. Some present cas- tellated walls of basalt, and some rise in gra- nitic peaks to various elevations up to 1,300 ft. above the lake. Nowhere upon the inland waters of North America is the scenery so bold and grand as on the N. shore of Lake Superior. The irregularities of the coast with the gen- eral depth of water here afford numerous good harbors, which however in this unfrequented region are as yet of little service, while on the opposite coast such places of refuge are much wanted. The determination of the coast lines by the wearing action of the waters upon rocks of different degrees of hardness is remarkably exemplified everywhere along the shores of Lake Superior, particularly in the precipitous walls of red sandstone on the S. coast, famous in all the earlier accounts of the lake as the " Pictured Rocks." They stand opposite the greatest width of the lake and exposed to the greatest force of the heavy storms from the north. The effect of the waves upon them is not only seen in their irregular shapes, but the sand derived from their disintegration is swept down the coast below and raised by the winds into long lines of sandy cliffs. At the place called the Grand Sable these are from 100 to 300 ft. high, and the region around consists of hills of drifting sand. The principal bays are Thunder, Black, and Nipigon on the north, Tequamenon at the outlet, Keweenaw on the south, and Fond du Lac at the head. The largest islands are Isle Royale and Michipico- ten. The most important places on the shores of the lake are Marquette, Mich., and Duluth, Minn. There are many varieties of excellent fish, the most valuable being white fish, stur- geon, and trout. For the mineral productions of the Lake Superior region, see COPPER MINES, vol. v., p. 323; IRON ORES, vol. ix., p. 407; MICHIGAN, vol. xi., p. 497 ; ONTARIO, vol. xii., p. 635 ; and SILVER, vol. xv., p. 57. silt .l 111 DOWLAH. See OLIVE, and INDIA, vol. ix., p. 210. SI K AT, a walled town of British India, in the northern division of Bombay, in a collectorate of the same name (pop. in 1872, 554,000), on the left bank of the river Taptee, 20 m. from its mouth in the gulf of Cambay, and 150 m. N. of Bombay ; pop. about 70,000. It contains an English church, several handsome mosques and temples, numerous Hindoo and other schools, and the Banian hospital, founded and richly endowed by the Jains for the treatment and cure of diseased animals. The city is an organized municipality, with a revenue of nearly 50,000. Surat is of great antiquity, and is mentioned in the ancient Sanskrit poem, the Ramayana. When the Mohammedans ruled Hindostan it was their chief port of em- barkation on their pilgrimage to Mecca. The Portuguese sacked Surat in 1530. In 1613 the English obtained commercial privileges from the emperor Jehanghir, and established a fac- tory here which became their chief station on the W. coast of India, and remained so till 1686, when it was removed to Bombay. In 1796 the population was estimated at 600,000, and it had then greatly declined in conse- quence of the loss of its trade. In 1800 the administration of the government was perma- nently assumed by the British. SURETY, in law, a person who binds himself to fulfil, either wholly or in part, the engage- ment of the principal obligor. For those cases in which the surety expressly assumes the ob- ligation technically known as a guaranty, see GUARANTY. When two parties join in making a purchase, or in giving a promissory note, each is in law equally liable to the party with whom the contract was made ; but as between themselves, it is always competent for one to show that the transaction was wholly for the benefit and at the request of his co-obligor, and that he became bound as surety merely for his associate. If in such case the surety in face be compelled (as, according to the tenor of his obligation, he obviously may be) to pay the whole, equity declares that he is entitled to complete reimbursement from the principal, and that, in order to secure this reimbursement, the surety is entitled to the benefit of all the security which either the rules of law or the express acts of the parties have given to the obligee or creditor ; and if, by any negligence or other acts, the obligee defeat these rights of the surety, he forfeits his right of action against him. If the creditor or pbligee is fair- ly informed of the relation of principal and surety existing between the parties, he is bound to take care that no act of his shall destroy or lessen the surety's right of indemnity from the principal debtor. If therefore he declare that he will look solely to the principal for pay- ment, so that the surety is induced to omit taking security from the latter ; or if he tell the surety that the debt has been paid so that he relinquish to the principal his security ; the surety will be in both cases discharged from his obligation to the obligee. But the mere inaction of the creditor to pursue his reme- dies against the principal will not discharge the surety, nor will positive indulgence to the principal have this effect ; but if the delay be granted in pursuance of any binding agree- ment with the principal, so that the surety cannot pay the debt and then proceed at once for indemnity against the principal, the credi- tor's act releases the surety. And as the surety is entitled to the benefit of all securities given by the principal, he is discharged if the cred- itor's inaction or negligence have renderedi these securities valueless. In short, though the!