This section is from the book "Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World", by David Patrick. Also available from Amazon: Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World.
Paxo, an Ionian island, has with Antipaxo an area of 8 1/2 sq. m. and a pop. of 4000.
Paysandu, the chief town of a Uruguayan department (pop. 38,507), on the Uruguay River, 280 miles by rail NW. of Montevideo. It exports tinned meat. Pop. 24,000.
Payta, or Paita, a good port in the north of Peru, only 370 miles distant from the point on the Maranon to which steamers from the Atlantic come. Pop. 5000.
Paz, La. See La Paz.
Pea'body, a town of Massachusetts, 16 miles NNE. of Boston. Formerly called South Danvers, it was in 1S68 named after the philanthropist Peabody, who was born here. Pop. 15,000.
Peace River, a large river of Canada, rises in two branches in the Rocky Mountains, in British Columbia, and, flowing 1100 miles north-east, joins the Slave River by five widely separate mouths. The delta thus formed is, with that of the Athabasca River, the most fertile part of the country. The river, which is much encumbered with rapids, was followed by Sir A. Mackenzie in his expedition of 1792-93.
Peak, the hilly district of north-west Derbyshire, having Castleton for its capital, 10 miles NE. of Buxton. Measuring some 30 by 22 miles, it is watered by the Dove, Derwent, and Wye, and culminates in Kinderscout (2082 feet), other eminences being Axe Edge (1810 feet) and Mam Tor (1710). The Peak Cavern or Devil's Hole near Castleton penetrates 750 yards; and crowning a rock above the village is Peveril Castle, so named from its first lord, a bastard of William the Conqueror's. The wonders of the Peak were celebrated early by Thomas Hobbes (1666) and Charles Cotton (1683); recent works are by Cros-ton (1862; new ed. 1889), Bradbury (1879), Jennings (1880), and Leyland (1891), besides others cited at Derbyshire.
Pe'-chi-li, Gulf of, a land-locked extension of the Yellow Sea (q.v.), between Corea and the Chinese province of Shan-tung, into which the Pei-ho (q.v.) discharges.
Pechora. See Petchora.
Peckforton Castle, the Cheshire seat (1851) of Lord Tollemache, 4 miles SSW. of Tarperley.
Pecos, a river of New Mexico and Texas, flowing 800 miles SSE. to the Rio Grande.
Pedrotallagalla. See Ceylon.
Peebles, the pleasant county town, stands on the Tweed, 22 miles S. of Edinburgh. It has a new parish church (1887) and five other modern churches; the Chambers Institution (1859), with library, museum, etc, in the old house of the Yester and Queensberry families; a hydropathic (1881); a public park (1887); tweed-manufactures; and the tower of St Andrew's Church (1196), restored in 1882 by Dr William Chambers, who rests beneath its shadow, and who, like his brother Robert, was a native. Mungo Park was a surgeon here. Peebles was made a royal burgh in 1367, and till 1832 returned one member. Pop. 5500.
See Dr A. Pennicuik's Description of Tweeddale (3d ed. 1875), Dr W. Chambers's History of Peeblesshire (1864), Dr John Brown's Minchmoor (1864), and Charters of Peebles (1873).
 
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