Eger

Eger (Ay'ger; g hard), a Bohemian town, on the river Eger, 66 miles NW. of Pilsen by rail. It was formerly a border fortress of some importance, but its fortifications were razed in 1809; it is now a great railway centre. The ruins of the imperial burg consist of a square black tower, a chapel, and part of the great hall. The industries include weaving, brewing, shoemaking, etc. In the town-house Wallenstein was murdered (1634). Eger was taken by the Swedes in 1631 and 1647, and by the French in 1742. Pop. 27,148. - The river Eger rises 12 miles NW. of the town, in the Fichtelgebirge, at an altitude of 2362 feet and flows 190 miles ENE. to the Elbe opposite Leitmeritz. See also Erlau.

Egerdir

Egerdir, a small town of Konieh vilayet, Asia Minor, gives name to a beautiful fresh-water lake, 30 miles long, between the Sultan Dagh and northern offshoots of the Taurus Mountains.

Egg

Egg. See Eigg.

Egga

Egga, an African trading town on the Niger, in Gando, since 1900 part of (British) Northern Nigeria. Pop. 15,500.

Egham

Egham, a Surrey village on the Thames, 1 1/2 mile W. by S. of Staines. Pop. of parish (1861) 4864; (1901) 11,895.

Egilshay

Egilshay, an Orkney island, 11 miles N. of Kirkwall. Area, 2 1/2 sq. m.; pop. 142.

Eglinton Castle

Eglinton Castle, the seat (1798) of the Earl of Eglinton, in Ayrshire, 2 1/2 miles N. of Irvine. Here was held the Eglinton Tournament (1839).

Egremont

Egremont (Eg're-mont), a Cumberland market-town, on the Ehen, 6 miles SE. of Whitehaven, whither it sends by rail the iron ore mined in the neighbourhood. On an eminence to the west stands the ruined castle, the legend of whose horn was sung by Wordsworth. Pop. of parish, 6105. - (2) A NW. suburb of Birkenhead.

Egripo

Egripo. See EubŒa.

Ehrenfeld

Ehrenfeld, a busy town of Prussia, since 1888 incorporated with Cologne, manufactures glasswares, railway fittings, chemicals, bricks, etc. Pop. about 30,000.

Eibenstock

Eibenstock, a town of Saxony, 41 miles SSW. of Chemnitz by rail. It has since 1775 become a centre of lace-making industry. Pop. 7913.

Eichstatt

Eichstatt (Ihh-statt), a town of Bavaria, in a deep valley on the left bank of the Altmuhl, 67 miles NNW. of Munich. Here are the palace of the Dukes of Leuchtenberg, the cathedral (1259), the town-house (1444), and, on a neighbouring eminence, the ruined Wilibaldsburg. Pop. 7631.

Eider

Eider (I'der), a river of N. Germany, forming the boundary line between Sleswick on the north and Holstein on the south, rises south-west of Kiel, and winds 117 miles westward to the North Sea at Tonning. It is navigable to Rendsburg, whence the Eider Canal (constructed 1777-84) stretches east to Kiel Harbour in the Baltic.

Eifel

Eifel, The (I'fel), a bleak plateau of Rhenish Prussia, between the Rhine, Moselle, and Rore.

Its surface, 1500 to 2494 feet in altitude, is for the most part broadly undulating, and diversified by crater-like depressions and volcanic peaks and ridges, whilst towards its edges it is seamed by deep, wooded, rocky ravines.