DESMOULINS. 164 DE SOTO. and tlic lireiicli between the Daiitonists and ultra- Jacobins grew wi.ler. After beiny Iwue uceused before the Jacobin Club, where he was defended bv Kobesi.icrre, Desnioulius was at length ar- rested, along with Danton and others of the party The merest formality of a trial took place," and they were all executed, April 5. 17i)4. Desnionlins seems to have foreseen his fate, but he did not face death with the unllinchiiig eour- a-e of Dantou. His beautiful young wife. I ucilc Dlildessis, sought in every way to rescue l.im, but was herself arrested and guillotmed a fort- night later. Consult: (Kiiins dc <imilU- Dts- moiiliiis. avec iinc 110/ ire fcioflio/f/uV/iic. eil. by :Mat- ton (Paris, 183S) ; Claretie, Caiiiillc Ihsmoiiliiif:. Lucie Dtsmouliiis, clinle sur hs n(iiitoiust,.i (Paris, 1875); Eng. trans., Camillc Dc!imuiilni.<, and His Wife, by Mrs. C'ashel lloey (London, 187(1 ) : Aulard, /.<.•! onilcurs de la Legislative el dr In roiirrnlion (Paris, 1885-8G). DESNA, das'nA. A river of Russia, rising in the Government of Smolensk. 72 miles southeast of the town of that name (.Map: Russia. 1) 4). It flows southeast through the Covernment of Smolensk until it reaches Bryansk, in Orel, where it makes a sharp bend. and. after a southwestern course through the governments of Orel and Tchcrnigov, joins the Dniejier nearly opposite Kiev. The Desna is 6'JO miles in length, and is naviaable for steamers as far as Bryansk. Its chief affluents are the Seim. from the left, and the Snov. from the right. The Desna has a large number of ports, and is of considerable im- porlance in the inland trade of Russia. DESNOmESTEBRES, da'nwiir'tilr', Cvs- TAM-. 1.1. r.uisoYS (1S17'.I2). A French author, born at Baveu.x. He is the author of a number of poems and novels, but his principal works have been historical studies of the eighteenth century. The most noted of these are: Voltaire et la xociHe franQuisr an XVIIItme sii'rle (1807- 70) which was crowned by the Academy; Le cou'rs fialant (1859-G4); La comt'die satirique ail XVlJleme siiclc (1884); and Le chevalier Dorat et Ics podtcs Ifgers ati XVIIIcme siiele (1887). DESNOYERS, da'nwa'v:'i'. Arr.fSTE f4ASi>ARn I,oris BoiciiKU, Bar.m (1770-18.17). A French en"rav<'r, bom in Paris. He became a member of the Institute in 181C. in 182.5 was made engraver to the King, and three years later received the title of baron. He is especially known for his cn>Tavin"S after Raphael, whose works he inter- preted wTth pcciliar svmi>athy. Among the best of his plates arc R:i>hacl's "T.a belle jardmure^^ (isni); the "Madonna della Casa d'Alba (1827): "The Sistine Madonna" (1846); and especially "The Transfiguration." DESNOYEBS, Loii.s Claide .Tosepii Plo- KENfE (180.>-(i8). A French author, bom at Re- plonges (Ain). He contributed largely to the Buccess of the Journal des Enfants. in which his ^^('.•inrt•lllurcs de Jean Paul f'hoppart (1830) was published. This and the following story. .Irrii- fiircs de l{olirrlTtohrrl et de son ami Tounxaint- Lareiiettr (1840). are considered to he among the chis^i's of tlic litiTnlure of education. DESOLATION LAND, also called DESOLA- TION ISLAND. .
island of f'bile. on the
south side of the west end <if the Strait of Magfd- Ian. It is 70 miles long by l-> ""'t'* broad. lU westernmost point is Cape Pillar. DESOB, dc-zor', Edolaki) (1811-82). A ticrnian-Swiss geologist, born at Friedrichsdorf, near liomburg. He studied at the universities of tiiessen and Heidelberg, and in cousciiuence of the part taken by him in political allairs was compelled to escape to Paris. Thence he went 1- Xeuchfttel, where he became ae.iuainlcd Willi .gassiz. whom in 1847 he accompanied to .Amer- ica. He subsc.|ueiitly became professor of geol- ogj- in the Acadcmie of Neuchatel. lb- was ele'cted a member of the Federal Grand (.'ouneil, and in 1873 became its president. His piiblirj. tions, dealing chielly with the geology of Switz. 1 land, include: Uihirgshau dtr Alpeii (ISlio): Lcs iiaUi/itles du lac de Xeuchulel (18()5) ; Lchi- nologie liehitiqut- ( 18l!!»-72) : and Lc pagsagr morainique (1875). DE SO'TO. A city in .JelTerson County, Mo., 43 iiiilc> >outh by west of Saint Louis; oil the Saint Louis, Iron" Mountain and Southern Rail- road (Map: ilissouri, F 3). It is in the centre of a lead and zinc mining region, which exports also grain. Hour, produce, and live stock. Among the industrial eslablishmenls are llouring and jilan- ing mills, and railroad machine shops. Popula- tion, in ISiM). 3!M>0; in l!lt)0, oliU. DE SOTO, d: so'tA, Hernando, or Fernanou (c.1500-42). A Spanish adventurer and explorer in America, horn at .Tcrcz de los Caballeros, Es- trcmaduia. In l.')14 he accompanied Pedrarias de .vila, his patron, to the Isthmus of Parien, and distinguished himself by his daring and inde- pendence. In 1524 he joined Cordoba in the expe- dition to comiucr Nicaragua, but rcniaincd loyal to Pedrarias when Cordoba leljelled. Leaving the service of Pedrarias in 1528. he explored the coast of Guatemala and Yucatan, seeking for a sujjposed water communication between the .tlantii' and the Pacific. In 1532 he was in Pizarro's expedi- tion for the conquest of Peru, and used all his inlluence to prevent the murder of the Peruvian Inca. Having amassed a fortune, De Soto re- turned to Spain, and married the daughter of his former ]>atron. Pedrarias. This was in 1530; soon afterwards. De Soto was appointed (ioveraor of Cuba and Florida, by Charles V., to whom he had advanced a sum of money. Florida so far had not been thoroughly explored. On May 12, 153!1. De Soto sailed from Havana with nearlv six hundred men. Landing at Tamp.-i Iiay,"Mav 25. 1530, he set out on his inland ioiir'ney on .Tiily 15. For nearly three years the little army of Spaniards explored the wild coun- try to the north and west, first penctialing na far north as the two Carolinas. then moving down the Alabama River, then north again, crossing the 'Mississijipi at Chickasaw BlntT. and finally ^rct liming' soullnvard to where the Red River joins thcMississippi. The Indians were evervwhere brutallv treateil and made slaves of, the "result being ' con-^tant warfare. Several bloodv battles were fou'.'ht. the most important occurring near Mobile Bay. October. 1540. and, thoush the Spiiniiird-i were uniformly sui'cessfnl, vet over two hundred of De Soto's men pi-rished. He himself, worn out and discourageil. sue. cumbed to a fever on the banks of the Missis- sippi, ^lay 21, 1542. His body was secretly sunk in the river, lest the hostih- Indians should get
