tures within sight of New York, but running short of coal was obliged to give up this somewhat daring scheme and te for a coaling-station. When the pursuit after her behot on the Amer. coast she sailed for the Cape of d Hope and cruised in the Eastern seas. Returning to ope she arrived in the English Channel in June, 1864, on June 11 entered the French port of Cherbourg to refit I supply herself with stores. She had been nearly two at sea, and had got into bad condition; her speed and ing qualities were considerably impaired. Permission to ke the necessary repairs was given by the authorities of port of Cherbourg. But within a few days the U. S. amer Kearsarge, commanded by Admiral John A. nslow, a former shipmate of Capt. Semmes, arrived at erbourg, and she made a demonstration which the offis and crew of the A. regarded and resented as a chalige. Capt. Semmes knew and probably shared their lings, and determined to gratify them; he sent notice to e U. S. consul that he would sail out and fight the Kearrge. The fight took place on Sunday, June 19, outside e port of Cherbourg, all Cherbourg gazing at it from the ighboring heights. The Kearsarge, having the superiority sailing, was able to keep at a distance of about 500 rds from her enemy. Before the fight had lasted an hour apt. Semmes found his ship was sinking, and gave orders pull down his flag. The boats were got out, and the ounded placed in them; but before the Kearsarge could >me to the rescue the A. went to the bottom. The boats of he Kearsarge saved many of the crew. The "Alabama question" was first raised in the winter of 1862-63, when Ir. Seward in his diplomatic correspondence declared that he Union held itself entitled at a suitable time to demand ull compensation for the damages inflicted on Amer. proprty by the Anglo-Confederate vessels, and the question never eised to be a source of irritation between the two peoples ill its final settlement by special tribunal of arbitration. This court, consisting of the representatives of England and the U. S., and of three other members, appointed by the King of Italy, the President of the Swiss Confederation, and the Emperor of Brazil, met at Geneva, Dec. 15, 1871, and, the claim for indirect damages to Amer, commerce having been allowed to drop, gave its final award Sept. 14, 1872. It was decreed that Great Britain should pay a sum of $15,500,000, which was done.

Al'abaster. This name is given to two kinds of white stone, chemically distinct, but resembling each other in appearance, and both used for ornamental purposes. A. proper is a white, granular, semi-transparent variety of gypsum or sulphate of lime. It occurs in various countries, but the finest is found near Volterra, in Tuscany, where it is worked into a variety of the smaller objects of sculpture, vases, time-piece stands, etc. Alago'as, a maritime prov. of Brazil, which formed at one time a district of the prov. of Pernambuco. It is bounded on the N. and W. by Pernambuco, and on the S. is divided from the prov. of Sergipe by the navigable river San Francisco; pop. 459,371. The chief productions are the sugar-cane, cottonplant, manioc or cassava, maize, rice, etc., and also timber and dye-woods. The cap., A., is situated on Lake Manguaba. Alain de Lille, philosopher, writer, and divine of France, known as "the Universal Doctor;" b. 1114, d. 1200.

Alais, a town of the Dept. of Gard, France, which embraced the Protestant cause in the religious wars of France. Louis XIII. in person, accompanied by the Cardinal de Richelien, besieged it, and having taken it in 1629, demolished its walls. Three yrs. later, the Baron of A. having taken part in the rebellion of Montmorency, the castle was destroyed; pop. 22,514.

Alajuela, a city of Cent. Am.; pop. of city, 9,000; of prov. of the same name, 55,000.

Alaman'ni, or Aleman'ni, (LUIGI,) a distinguished Ital. poet, b. at Florence 1495, d. at Amboise 1536. He wrote epics, dramas, and minor poems, and disputes with Trissino the claim of first introducing blank verse into Italian poetry. Alame'da, a town of Alameda Co., Calif., noted for its pleasant location and as a health resort; pop. 11,165.

Al'amo, a fort at which a small body of Texans resisted a Mexican force ten times their number in 1836. Only six were finally left to surrender, and all were murdered by the Mexicans. Henceforth the Amer. soldiers' cry was "Remember the Alamo!"

Al'amos, Los, ("The Poplars,") a town of Mexico, in the State of Sonora; pop. 10,000.

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80 of them are inhabited. The inhabitants are of Swedish origin, skillful sailors, fishermen, and seal-hunters. The total population is about 18,500. The largest of the islands is about 18 m. 1. by 14 w., and contains above 9,000 inhab itants. These islands belonged formerly to Sweden, but were seized by Russia in 1809. The importance of the islands as a military position led to the construction of strong fortifications at Bomarsund, which in Aug., 1854, were destroyed by the Anglo-French force commanded by Sir Charles Napier and Baraguay d'Hilliers.

Alangia'ceæ, a natural order of dicotyledonous plants, allied to Myrtaceae, and containing only about eight known species, trees and large shrubs, of which the greater number belong to the Amer. genus Nyssa, differing from the rest of the order in the absence of petals.

Ala'ni, one of the barbarian tribes who overran the Roman Empire, invaded Asia Minor in the reign of Aurelian, and Gaul in conjunction with the Vandals, 406.

Alapayevsk', a Russian town in the Govt. of Perm, 200 m. E. of the city of Perm. It has important iron works; pop. 5,447.

Alar'con y Mendoʻza, de, (JUAN RUIZ,) an eminent Span. dramatist, b. at the town of Tasco, in Mexico, about the end of the 16th c., d. 1639. Some of the best critics rank him next to Calderon and Lope de Vega as a dramatic writer.

Al'aric I. belonged to one of the noblest families of the Visigoths. He made his first appearance in history in 394 A.D., as leader of the Gothic auxiliaries of Theodosius in his war with Eugenius; but after the death of the former he took advantage of the dissensions and weakness that prevailed in the Roman Empire to invade Thrace, Macedon, Thessaly, and Illyria, devastating the country and threatening Constantinople itself. Athens was obliged to secure its safety by ransom. A. proceeded to plunder and devastate the Peloponnesus, but was interrupted by the landing of Stillicho in Elis with the troops of the West. A. broke through his lines and escaped with his prisoners and booty to Illyria, of which he was ap pointed governor by the Emperor Arcadius, who was frightened by his successes, and hoped by conferring this dignity on him to make him a peaceful subject instead of a lawless enemy, (396.) In 402 he invaded Upper Italy, and in 410 his army entered Rome and plundered it for six days. A. quitted Rome to prosecute the conquest of Sicily; the occurrence of a storm which his vessels were not able to resist obliged him to abandon the project for the time, and his death, which took place at Cosenza, in Calabria, soon after, (410,) prevented his resuming it. A. himself was much less barbarous than his followers. He checked the excesses of his fierce soldiery, and at times gave indications that the lessons of Christianity which he had learned from the Arian missionaries had not been altogether forgotten. Yet through him the Goths learned the way to Rome.

Al'aric II., eighth king of the West Goths, or Visigoths, succeeded his father in 484 A.D. He was of a peaceful disposition, and wished to live on friendly terms with the Franks, but he came into collision with the Frankish monarch, Clovis, An excuse was found for breaking the peace which existed between the two nations in the fact that A. was a zealous Arian. This circumstance had given great offense to many of his subjects, who were orthodox Catholics; and, ostensibly to vindicate the true doctrine, the newly converted barbarian, Clovis, declared war against him. The result was fatal to A. He was slain by the hand of Clovis at Vouillé, near Poitiers, 510. Alarm'. In military matters the word A. has a more defined meaning than mere terror or fright. An A. among soldiers in an army is not so much a danger as a warning against danger. An A., signified by the firing of a gun or the beating of a drum, denotes to an army or camp that the enemy is suspected of intending a sudden surprise, or that the surprise has actually been made.

Alas'co, (JOHN,) was successively a Protestant of Poland, a Romish bishop of Vesprim, and a Protestant preacher in London, retiring when Mary ascended the throne, 1553; b. 1499, d. 1560.

Alashehr', ("the Exalted City," anc. Philadelphia,) a city of Asia Minor, in the pashalic of Anatolia. It was founded by Attalus Philadelphus, King of Pergamos, about 200 B.C., and is famous as the seat of one of the seven churches of Asia; pop. about 15,000.