Pultusk

Pultusk (Pool-toosk'), a town of Poland, 32 miles N. of Warsaw. Here Charles XII. of Sweden defeated the Saxons in 1703, and here in 1806 the French defeated the Russians. The town was destroyed by fire in 1875. Pop. 15,946.

Punchestown

Punchestown, a racecourse close to Naas, 20 miles SW. of Dublin by rail.

Pungwe

Pungwe, a river of Portuguese East Africa, forming the principal waterway to Manicaland and Mashonaland; its mouth is situated some 25 miles NE. of Sofala and 130 SW. of the Zambesi delta. After some diplomatic difficulties between Britain and Portugal, it was agreed (1891) by Portugal that British commerce should have unimpeded access by this route to the British sphere in the interior, the Pungwe being made freely navigable for British vessels. The Pungwe Massi Kesse Railway to the Mashonaland frontier was partially opened in October 1893.

Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas (Poonta Aray'nas), (1) the chief port of Costa Rica on the Pacific, stands on a 'sandy point' jutting into the Gulf of Nicoya, 14 miles by rail WSW. of Esparza. Pop. 7000. - (2) A town in Patagonia (q.v.).

Purbeck

Purbeck, Isle of, a peninsular district of Dorsetshire, 12 miles long and 5 to 9 broad, is bounded N. by the river Frome and Poole Harbour, E. and S. by the English Channel, and W. by the little stream of Luckford Lake, which runs from Lulworth Park to the Frome. The coast is bold and precipitous, with St Albans Head, 360 feet high; inland a range of chalk downs curves east and west, attaining a maximum height of 655 feet. The Purbeck Marble is a fresh-water limestone, composed almost wholly of shells. Nearly a hundred quarries are worked; the quarrymen still form a curious kind of trade's guild. Of old the 'isle' was a royal deer-forest. Swanage and Corfe Castle are the chief places. See works by Robinson (1882), and J. Braye (1890).

Purfleet

Purfleet, a village of Essex, on the north bank of the Thames, 15 miles by rail E. by S. of London and 8 miles E. of Woolwich, contains government powder-magazines, built in 1781.

Puri

Puri. See Juggernaut.

Purley House

Purley House, Surrey, 2 1/2 miles S. of Croydon, the property of the regicide Bradshaw, and the residence afterwards of Horne-Tooke, who hence named his Diversions of Purley.

Purmerend

Purmerend, a town of Holland, 10 miles N. of Amsterdam. Pop. 4960.

Purniah

Purniah (Poor'ne-ah), a town of Bengal, 230 miles NNW. of Calcutta. Pop. 15,016.

Pusey

Pusey, a Berks parish, 5 miles E. by N. of Faringdon. Dr Pusey was born here.

Puteaux

Puteaux (Pu-to'), a town 2 miles from the western boundary of Paris, on the Seine's left bank, opposite the Bois de Boulogne. Pop. 24,300.

Puteoli

Pute'oli. See Pozzuoli.

Putnam

Putnam, a town of Connecticut, on the Quinne-bang River, 56 miles ENE. of Hartford. Pop. 6712.

Putney

Putney, a suburb of London, in Surrey, 6 miles WSW. of Waterloo, on the south side of the tidal Thames, which, here nearly 300 yards broad, is crossed by a new granite bridge (1884-86), leading to Fulham. It is a great rowing place, the starting-point of the Oxford and Cambridge boat-race; and from its ready access to town, the river, Putney Heath, and Wimbledon Common, has grown rapidly of recent years. The parish church, with a 15th-century tower, was mainly rebuilt in 1836; in the churchyard is Toland's grave. Putney is the birthplace of Thomas Cromwell and Gibbon, and the deathplace of Pitt, Fuseli, and Leigh Hunt. From Putney's old bridge Mary Wollstonecraft tried to drown herself; and on Putney Heath Pitt fought his duel with Tierney (1798), Castlereagh his with Canning (1809). Pop. (1851) 5280; (1901) 24,140.