Dawley

Dawley, a Shropshire township, 4 miles SE. of Wellington, with mineral industries. Pop. 7996. Dawlish, a pleasant watering-place of SE.

Devon

Devon, 12 miles SE. of Exeter, and backed by the Great Haldon (818 feet). Pop. 5000.

Dawson

Dawson, at the confluence of the Klondike with the Yukon, 1500 miles from its mouth, is the capital of the Yukon territory of Canada, since 1896 the centre of the Klondike gold-mining industry. Pop. 12,000.

Dax

Dax, a town in the French dep. of Landes, on the Adour, 93 miles S. by W. of Bordeaux by rail, with a 14th-century castle, now a barrack, remains of Roman walls, a cathedral, etc. Its hot sulphur-springs (77°-144° F.) were known to the Romans, who called the place Aquœ Tarbellai; in the middle ages it was called Acqs. Pop. 9716.

Daylesford

Daylesford, a Worcestershire estate, 3 1/2 miles E. of Stow-on-the-Wold, repurchased in 1788 by Warren Hastings, who died and was buried here.

Dayton

Dayton, capital of Montgomery county, Ohio, on the Great Miami, at the mouth of the Mad River, 60 miles NNE. of Cincinnati by rail. The public buildings include a court-house of white marble and a large jail. Standing on the line of the Miami Canal (opened 1829), the city is the terminus of eight railroads, and the water of the Mad River is brought through its streets by an hydraulic canal, supplying abundant water-power. It manufactures railroad-cars, cotton, woollen, and iron goods, oil, flour, paper, and machinery. Pop. (1870) 30,473; (1890) 61,220; (1900) 85,333.

Dean

Dean, Forest of, a picturesque hilly tract, 34 sq. m. in extent, in the west of Gloucestershire, between the Severn and the Wye. An ancient royal forest, it was almost entirely disafforested by Charles I., on a sale to Sir John Wintour, but was re-afforested very shortly after the Restoration. The greater part still remains crown property; and about one-half is appropriated for the growth of timber for the navy. It is divided into six 'walks,' which contain woods of oak, beech, etc. There are coal and iron mines, and quarries of stone suitable for building and making grindstones, troughs, and rollers. The deer were exterminated in 1854.

Deanston

Deanston. See Doune.

Death Valley

Death Valley, a peculiarly sterile depression in the Mohave Desert (q.v.) in California.

Debateable Land

Debateable Land, a Border tract between the Esk and Sark, long a bone of contention between England and Scotland.

Deben

Deben, a Suffolk river, rising near Debenham, flows 30 miles SE. to the German Ocean. It is tidal and navigable from Woodbridge (8 1/2 miles).

Debenham

Debenham, a small Suffolk town, 8 miles NNE. of Needham Market. Pop. of parish, 1219.

Debreczen

De'breczen, a town of Hungary, in the midst of a wide plain, 130 miles E. of Pesth by rail. It is a large straggling place, indeed really a collection of villages. It has, however, a fine town-hall, a large Protestant college, a theatre, etc. The inhabitants are largely dependent on agriculture; enormous herds of cattle graze on the fertile stretches of plain. There are also manufactures of soap, saltpetre, flour, sausages, hams, and tobacco-pipes. Population, 73,500, nearly all Protestants. The ' Rome of the Calvinists,' Debreczen was long the headquarters of the Reformed faith, and suffered much therefor. It took a prominent part in the revolution of 1849.