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 SVERTCHKOFF SWAINSON 497 )roaches to which it defends, and under its municipal authority; pop. about 4,000. It is built upon seven granitic islands forming an ellipse, all of them strongly fortified, and con- nected either by causeways or bridges of boats. The principal fort is on Vargo island, on the south, and comprises a strong castle and bar- racks, and magazines excavated in the rock. The total number of cannon is 2,000, but it generally mounts 800 ; and the usual garrison of the fortress varies from 6,000 to 8,000 men, though the casemates have accommodations for 12,000. The harbor within, to which there is but one entrance, has room for 70 ships of the line. The fortress was erected between 1749 and 1758 by Count Ehrenswerd, field marshal of Sweden (who is buried within it), as a defence against Russia. In 1808 it was besieged by the Russians, and after two months the Swedish commandant and admiral Oronstedt, though amply supplied with the means of defence, capitulated (April 7). Left in the possession of the conquerors by the peace of Sept. 17, 1809, it was called the "Gib- raltar of the North," and has since been re- garded as the strongest fortress of Russia on the Baltic. In August, 1855, it was severely but unsuccessfully bombarded by the allied fleet. SVERTCHKOFF, Mkolai, a Russian artist, born in St. Petersburg in 1818. He spent several years in Paris, and in 1852 became a member of the academy of St. Petersburg, and in 1855 a professor there. He excels in painting horses, costumes, and figures, and also as a sculptor. His principal works include " The Czar Alex- ander reviewing his Troops," "A Russian Team of three Horses," "A Russian Horse Market," and " A Relay of Post Horses." SWABIA, or Snabia (Ger. Schwdberi), a duchy of the German empire during its earlier period, and subsequently one of its ten great circles or divisions. The circle was bounded N. by the Palatinate of the Rhine and Franconia, E. by Bavaria, S. by Switzerland, and W. by France, the Rhine flowing on the borders of the two latter. It had an area of 13,000 sq. m., and was conterminous with the present kingdom of Wiirtemberg, the S. part of Baden, and the dis- trict of Swabia and Neuburg in Bavaria. It is one of the most beautiful and fertile tracts in Germany, and is traversed by the Danube from S. W. to 1ST. E., and diversified by the mountain scenery of the Black Forest on the west and the Alps on the south. It was originally called Alemannia, and received the name of Swabia (from the Suevi, who inhabited parts of it) when the Alemanni were conquered by Clovis in 496. St. Commbanus introduced Christianity in the 7th century. Toward the end of the llth cen- tury it was in a very flourishing condition, and in 1080 the emperor Henry IV. made the duchy of Swabia hereditary in the family of Frederick of Hohenstaufen. It subsequently became one of the most powerful and most civilized coun- tries of Germany. In the Italian wars the reigning house of Swabia stood at the head of the Ghibelline party, and when Conradin was executed at Naples in 1268 the line became extinct. (See HOHENSTAUFEN.) The various cities, prelates, and counts then made them- selves independent, and since that time Swabia has not formed a separate state. Various con- federacies, however, were formed at different periods, known in history under the name of Swabian leagues. The principal of these was the ' ' great Swabian league " of 1488. The Swa- bian circle was definitely organized in 1563. SWAIN, a S. W. county of North Carolina, separated from Tennessee on the north by the Great Smoky mountains ; area, about 500 sq. m. It has been formed since the census of 1870 from Jackson co. The surface is generally ele- vated and mountainous ; the soil is good and the county well adapted to stock raising. Cap- ital, Charleston. SWAIN, Charles, an English poet, born in Man- chester in 1803, died near there, Sept. 22, 1874. He learned the business of dyeing, but at the age of 30 became an engraver. In 1828 he pub- lished "Metrical Essays," followed by "Beau- ties of the Mind " (1831) and " Dryburgh Ab- bey" (1832), an elegy on Sir Walter Scott. His subsequent publications -comprise "A Me- moir of Henry Liversedge " (1835) ; " Rhymes for Childhood" (1846); "Dramatic Chapters, Poems, and Songs" (1847); "English Melo- dies " (1849) ; " Letters from Laura d'Au- verne " (1853) ; and " Art and Fashion " (1863). Swain was known as the "Manchester poet." A collection of his poems has appeared in the United States (Boston, 1858; new ed., 1872). SWAINSON, William, an English naturalist, born in Liverpool, Oct. 8, 1789. He served in the Mediterranean in the army commissariat de- partment from 1807 to 1815, then travelled in South America with Koster, the German naturalist, and on his return settled in London. In 1820 he commenced the publication of "Zoological Illustrations, or original Figures and Descriptions of new, rare, or interesting Animals," since republished in 6 vols. 8vo; and in 1821 of "Exotic Conchology" (4to; new ed., edited by S. Hawley, 1841). He has also produced a "Naturalist's Guide for col- lecting and preserving all Subjects of Natural History and Botany," &c. (1822); 12 volumes on natural history in Lardner's " Cabinet Cyclo- pasdia;" two volumes on the "Birds of West- ern Africa" and one on the "Fly Catchers," in Jardine's "Naturalist's Library" (1837-'8) ; "A Treatise on Malacology, or the Natural Classification of Shells and Shell Fish" (1840); and a series of "Ornithological Drawings," being selections of Brazilian and Mexican birds (1834-'41). He assisted Sir John Richardson in the preparation of that part of his "Fauna Boreali-Americana " which relates .to North American birds, and in connection with Mr. Shuckard prepared in 1840 "The History and Natural Arrangement of Insects." In 1841 he emigrated to New Zealand, and since his resi- dence there he has published several works on