Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/904

 874 TRIPOLITZA TRITON other fruit trees ; but the ground in the neigh- borhood is marshy, and the climate is unhealth- ful at certain seasons. It exports silk, wool, cotton, tobacco, wax, oil, cochineal, galls, soap, and especially sponges, the fishery of which occupies a largo number of the inhabitants. The direct imports into Tripoli in 1869 were valued at $61,050, and in 1872 at $154,900; the direct exports, $292,425 in 1869, and $62,- 959 in 1872. The commerce is chiefly in the hands of Greeks. French steamers touch here four times a month. It is the see of a Greek bishop, and the residence of several consuls. Tripolis was an important maritime town of Phoenicia, and derived its name from being the colony of the three cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus, each holding a separate quarter of it. Having been taken by the crusaders, it was in 1109 erected into a county for Ray- mond of Toulouse. TRIPOLITZA, or Tripolis, a town of Greece, in the Morea, capital of the nomarchy of Arcadia, 22 m. S. W. of Argos ; pop. of the demus in 1870, 11,477. It is in a plain about 2,000 ft. above the sea, and owes its name to its being the modern representative of the three cities of Mantinea, Tegea, and Pallantium, which occu- pied the same plain. Before the revolution it was the residence of a Turkish pasha and capital of the Morea, and had 20,000 inhabi- tants. The Greeks took it in 1821 and put the inhabitants to the sword ; 8,000 male Turks perished, besides women and children. In re- venge, Ibrahim Pasha in 1825 destroyed every house in the place. It has been partially re- built. The ruins of Mantinea may be seen at Paleopoli, about 6 m. N., and of Tegea at Piali, nearly the same distance S. TRIPP, a S. county of Dakota, bordering on Nebraska, recently formed and not included in the census of 1870; area, about 1,500 sq. m. It is intersected in the south by the Keya Paha, and watered in the north by Dog's Ears creek, an affluent of White river. In the S. part is Turtle hill, 2,340 ft. high. It consists mostly of undulating prairies. TRIPTOLEMUS, in Greek mythology, a son of Celeus, king of Attica, and Nesera, also called Metanira or Polymnia (according to an- other account, of Oceanus and Ge). He was born at Eleusis, and while still young was cured of a dangerous illness by Ceres, who had been hospitably entertained by his father, and attempted to render his brother Demo- phon (according to others, himself) immortal by burning out whatever particles of mortal- ity he had derived from his parents. (See CERES.) The goddess taught him agriculture, and gave him her dragon chariot, in which he rode over the earth, spreading knowledge of the art. He afterward reigned at Eleusis, and was the hero of the Eleusinian mysteries. TRIQCETI, Henri de, baron, a French sculptor, born at Conflans in 1802, died in Paris in May, 1874. His earliest works consisted of genre and historical paintings, but in 1831 he ex- hibited a fine group of " The Death of Charles the Bold," and henceforth devoted himself to sculpture. His works include " Petrarch read- ing his Poetry to Laura," " Sir Thomas More preparing to die," " Dante in the Elysian Fields," and many busts and bass reliefs. I KISMKUSTIS. See HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. TRISTAN DA ll.MI, a cluster of three volca- nic islands in the S. Atlantic. Tristan, the lar- gest island, lies in lat. 37 3' S., Ion. 12 19' W., about 1,500 m. S. by W. of St. Helena; area, about 40 sq. m. It is nearly circular, and rises abruptly on the N. side to an elevation of 1,000 ft. From the summit of the cliffs the land rises to a conical peak 8,326 ft. high. The surface consists of abrupt ridges covered with bushes, with deep ravines and chasms between. The summit is a crater about 500 yards in diameter, filled with water. On the N. W. side of the island is a narrow plain 100 to 150 ft. above the sea, with an excellent soil in a high state of cultivation. Near the N. extremity of this plain is a settlement which in 1870 contained 60 inhabitants, 35 of whom were children under 10 years. Nearly all are native born, the descendants of Europeans and Hottentots, with fine physique and dark skin, and are intelligent and hospitable. They have no government, disputes being settled by fisti- cuffs, with by-standers to secure fair play. They own a small vessel, which runs to Cape Town to exchange seal skins and oil for cloth- ing, groceries, &c. Seals, sea lions, sea ele- phants, and whales frequent the group, and sea birds and edible fish abound. Heavy masses of kelp surround the shores. There are no large trees, but an abundance of shrubbery, which with sea weed and drift wood furnish- es ample supplies of fuel. There is an abun- dance of excellent water. The climate is eqiia- ble and healthy. The temperature rarely rises above 70 F. or falls below the freezing point. The only anchorage is off the N. W. point, and is very insecure. Inacessible island lies 17$ m. S. W., and Nightingale 20 m. S. S. W. of Tristan. The former is elliptical, 4 m. in length and 2 m. in breadth, and rises abrupt- ly about 500 ft., the surface being flat and bar- ren. Nightingale island is round, about 1 m. in diameter, and 200 ft. in height. Both are uninhabited. The group was discovered by the Portuguese navigator Tristan da Cunha in 1506, and explored by the Dutch in 1643, and by the French in 1767. Tristan was inhabited by John Patten, an American whaling master, with his crew, from August, 1790, to April, 1791, to collect seal skins. During the captiv- ity of Napoleon at St. Helena it was occupied by British troops from Cape Town. The pres- ent inhabitants are chiefly descendants of one of these, a corporal named Glass. TRITON, in Greek and Roman mythology, a marine deity, the son of Poseidon or Nep- tune and Amphitrite or Celseno. He had the form of a man above and that of a fish below, and bore a conch-shell trumpet.