Vasa

I. A W. LäN Or Government Of Finland

Russia A W. LäN Or Government Of Finland, bordering on the gulf of Bothnia; area, 16,146 sq. m.; pop. in 1872, 310,937. The surface is level, and there are fewer lakes than in any other part of Finland.

II. A Town, Capital Of The Ian

Capital Of The Ian A Town, on a small bay of the Baltic, 230 m. N. W. of Helsingfors; pop. in 1867,4,551. Its port has become greatly obstructed by sand.

Vasarhely

Vasarhely, also called Hod-Mezo-Yasarhely, a town of S. Hungary, in the county of Csongrad, near the E. bank of the Theiss, 14 m. N. E. of Szegedin, with which it is connected by rail: pop. in 1870, 49,153, mostly Protestapts. It has a Protestant gymnasium and well attended fairs. The inhabitants are nearly all agriculturists of Magyar or Slavic race. (For Vásárhely in Transylvania see Maros-Yasae- Hely).

Vasco Da Gama

See Gama.

Vasili Vasilievitch Kapnist

Vasili Vasilievitch Kapnist, a Russian poet, born in 1756, died Oct. 28, 1823. He was a councillor of state, and a member of the academy of St. Petersburg; translated Horace into Russian; wrote in that language and in French ingenious though not profound criticisms of the Odyssey; and exposed official corruption in his comedy Yabedy (1799). His lyric poems appeared in 1806, and his tragedy "Antigone" in 1815. - His granddaughter, the countess Salias, has published stories under the name of Eugenia Tur (4 vols., Moscow, 1859).

Vaudeville

See Drama, vol. vi., p. 244.

Vaudois

See Waldenses.

Vaunrs

See Cape River.

Vegetable Ivory Tree

See Phytelephas.

Vegnne

Vegnne, a W. department of France, formed chiefly from the old province of Poitou, bordering on the departments of Maine-et-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, Indre, Haute-Vienne, Charente, and Deux-Sevres; area, 2,691 sq. m.; pop. in 1872, 320,598. It is level, excepting in the south. The principal rivers are the Vienne, Charente, Gartempe, and Creuse. About one third of the area is arable, one eighth covered with forests, and the remainder waste. The vine is extensively cultivated, but yields only inferior wines. Chestnuts form an important part of the food of the peasantry. Sand of a superior quality for making glass and imitation diamonds is procured from Vienne, and there are excellent quarries of lithographic stone and mill stones, and iron mines. Lace, woollen goods, iron ware, saddlery, firearms, and cutlery are made. It is divided into the arrondissements of Châtellerault, Civray, Loudun, Montmorillon, and Poitiers. Capital, Poitiers.

Veii

Veii, one of the 12 cities of the Etruscan confederation, the largest and most powerful of all, on the Cremera, a small affluent of the Tiber, near the present town of Isola Farnese, about 10 m. N. N". W. of Rome. Its territory seems to have extended from the mouth of the Oremera to the Oiminian forest, and from Mt. Soracte to the Tyrrhenian sea. Veii was a great city long before the foundation of Rome, and was for centuries her rival in power, until it was destroyed about 396 B. 0. by the Romans under Camillus. When soon after Rome was destroyed by the Gauls under Brennus, the Roman people were prevented by Camillus from removing to Veii and rebuilding it instead of their own city. It was repeopled under Augustus, but relapsed into decay, and disappeared from history.