Elbing

Elbing, a town of West Prussia, 48 miles by rail ESE. of Danzig, on the navigable Elbing, which enters the Frisches Haff 5 miles to the north. Founded in the 13th century by colonists from Lubeck and Bremen, it has a 14th-century church, and a public library with over 25,000 volumes. A canal connects it with the Dreventz, a tributary of the Vistula, and in 1877-84 a mole was constructed in the harbour, 3500 yards long and 5 1/2 wide. Steamships and torpedo-boats are built here; and there are large iron and brass rolling-mills, and tinware, machine, and cigar factories, etc. The linen industry and the export of lampreys are also of importance. Pop. (1875) 33,572; (1900) 52,520.

Elburz

Elburz (El-boorz') a mountain-range of Persia, running for 450 miles along the southern border of the Caspian Sea, and culminating in Mount Demavend (q.v.). - Elburz is also the name of the loftiest summit of the Caucasus (q.v.).

Elche

Elche (El'tchay) a Spanish town, 13 miles SW. of Alicante by rail, fringed by an encircling grove of nearly 100,000 palms, which gives the place an appearance half Moorish. It has a fine collegiate church, with a lofty tiled dome. Pop. 29,636.

Elchingen

Elchingen (Elhh'ing-en), a Bavarian village, near the Danube, 5 miles NE. of Ulm. Here, on 14th October 1805, Ney defeated the Austrians.

Elcho Castle

Elcho Castle, a ruin, Perthshire, on the Tay, 5 1/4 miles ESE. of Perth.

Elderslie

Elderslie, a Renfrewshire village, 2 1/4 miles W. by S. of Paisley. It is the traditional birthplace of Wallace.

Eldon

Eldon, a Durham township, 3 1/2 miles SE. of Bishop Auckland.

Elephanta

Elephanta (native Gharapuri), an island over 4 miles in circuit, in the harbour of Bombay, 6 miles E. of the city, and 4 from the mainland. It owed its European name to a large figure of an elephant near its former landing-place, which, after 1814, gradually sank into a shapeless mass. Of its far-famed Brahmanic rock-caves (9th c), four are complete, or nearly so; the most important is the Great Temple, still used by the Hindus on Sivaite festivals. It is hewn out of a hard trap-rock, and measures 130 feet either way. The most striking of its many sculptures is a three-headed bust of Siva, nearly 18 feet high and 23 feet round the eyes.

Elephantine

Elephantine (Arab. Gezirat Asxodn or Gezirat-ez-Zahr, ' isle of flowers'), a small island of the Nile, with remains of an ancient city, lying opposite to Assouan (q.v.), on the confines of Egypt and Nubia, in 24° 5' N. lat., and 32° 34' E. long. Its ruins were much demolished in 1822.

Eletz

Eletz. See Jeletz.

Eleusis

Eleusis, an ancient town of Attica, on the Bay of Eleusis, opposite Salamis. It was the seat of the worship of Ceres, whose mystic rites were performed here with great pomp. Its site is now occupied by the little village of Lefsina, 16 1/2 miles WNW. of Athens by rail.

Eleuthera

Eleu'thera, one of the Bahamas (q.v.), has an area of 238 sq. m., and a pop. of 7010.