(half way between the Ogeechee and Altamaha rivers), their settlement soon developing into St John’s Parish (see Georgia: History). It was the fortification of Dorchester Heights, under orders from General Washington, on the night of the 4th and 5th of March 1776, that forced the British to evacuate Boston. At one time Dorchester extended from Boston nearly to the Rhode Island line; but its territory was gradually reduced by the creation of new townships and additions to old ones. Dorchester Neck was annexed to Boston in 1804, Thompson’s Island in 1834, and the remaining portions in 1855 and 1870.
See W. D. Orcutt, Good Old Dorchester (Cambridge, 1893).
DORDOGNE, a river of central and south-western France, rising at a height of 5640 ft. on the Puy-de-Sancy, a mountain of the department of Puy-de-Dôme, and flowing to the Garonne with which it unites at Bec d’Ambès to form the Gironde estuary. It has a length of 295 m. and the area of its basin is 9214 sq. m. Descending rapidly from its source, sometimes over cascades, the river soon enters deep gorges through which it flows as far as Beaulieu (department of Corrèze) where it debouches into a wide and fertile valley and is shortly after joined by the Cère. Entering the department of Lot, it abandons a south-westerly for a westerly course and flowing in a sinuous channel traverses the department of Dordogne, where it receives the waters of the Vézère. Below the town of Bergerac it enters the department of Gironde, where at Libourne it is joined by the Isle and widens out, attaining at its union with the Garonne 45 m. from the sea a width of nearly 3300 yds. A few miles above this point the river is spanned by the magnificent bridges of Cubzac-les-Ponts, which carry a road and railway. Below its confluence with the Vézère, over the last 112 m. of its course, the river carries considerable navigation. The influence of the highest tides is felt at Pessac, a distance of 100 m. from the ocean.
DORDOGNE, an inland department of south-western France, formed in 1790 from nearly the whole of Périgord, a part of Agenais, and small portions of Limousin and of Angoumois. Area 3560 sq. m. Pop. (1906) 447,052. It is bounded N. by Haute-Vienne, W. by Charente, Charente-Inférieure and Gironde, S. by Lot-et-Garonne, and E. by Lot and Corrèze. Situated on the western slopes of the Massif Central, Dordogne consists in the north-east and centre of sterile plateaus sloping towards the west, where they end in a region of pine forests known as the Double. The greatest altitudes are found in the highlands of the north, where many points exceed 1300 ft. in height. The department is intersected by many fertile and beautiful river valleys, which converge from its northern and eastern borders towards the south-west. The Dordogne is the principal river of the department and its chief affluent is the Isle, which crosses the centre of the department and flows into the Dordogne at Libourne, in the neighbouring department of Gironde. The Dronne and the Auvézère, both tributaries of the Isle, are the other main rivers. The climate is generally agreeable and healthy, but rather humid, especially in the north-east. Agriculture flourishes in the south and south-west of the department, especially in the valleys of the Dordogne and Isle, the rest of its surface being covered to a great extent by woods and heath. Pasture and forage amply suffice for the raising of large flocks and herds. The vine, cultivated mainly in the neighbourhood of Bergerac, and tobacco are important sources of profit. Wheat and maize are the chief cereals and potatoes are largely grown. The truffles of Périgord are famous for their abundance and quality. The plum and cider-apple yield good crops. In the forests the prevailing trees are the oak and chestnut. The fruit of the latter is much used both as food by the people and for fattening hogs, which are reared in large numbers. The walnut is extensively grown for its oil. The department has mines of lignite, and produces freestone, lime, cement, mill-stone, peat, potter’s clay and fireclay. The leather industry and the preparation of preserved foods are important, and there are flour-mills, brick and tile works, earthenware manufactories, printing works, chemical works and a few iron foundries. Exports consist of truffles, wine, chestnuts and other fruit, live stock, poultry, and minerals of various kinds. Dordogne is served by the Orléans railway; the Dordogne, the Isle and the Vézère furnish nearly 200 m. of navigable waterway. It is divided into the arrondissements of Périgueux, Bergerac, Nontron, Ribérac and Sarlat, with 47 cantons and 587 communes, and belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Bordeaux, to the académie (educational division) of Bordeaux and to the region of the XII. army corps, which has its headquarters at Limoges. Its court of appeal is at Bordeaux.
Périgueux, the capital, Bergerac, Sarlat and Brantôme are the principal towns (see separate articles). There are several other places of interest. Bourdeilles has two finely preserved châteaux, one of the 14th century, with an imposing keep, the other in the Renaissance style of the 16th century. Both buildings are contained within the same fortified enceinte. The celebrated château of Biron, founded in the 11th century, preserves examples of many subsequent architectural styles, among them a beautiful chapel of late Gothic and early Renaissance workmanship. The château of Jumilhac-le-Grand belongs to the 15th century. Dordogne possesses several medieval bastides, the most perfect of which is Monpazier. At Cadouin there are the remains of a Cistercian abbey. Its church is a fine cruciform building in the Romanesque style, while the cloister is an excellent example of Flamboyant architecture. St Jean-de-Côle has an interesting Romanesque church and a château of the 15th, 16th and 18th centuries. In the rocks of the valley of the lower Vézère there are prehistoric caves of great archaeological importance, in which have been found tools, and carvings on bone, flint and ivory. Troglodytic dwellings are to be found in many other places in Dordogne (see Cave).
DORDRECHT (abbreviated Dordt, or Dort), a town and river-port of Holland, in the province of South Holland, on the south side of the Merwede, and a junction station 1212 m. by rail S.E. of Rotterdam. Steam ferries connect it with Papendrecht and Zwyndrecht on the opposite shore, and it has excellent communication by water in every direction. Pop. (1900) 38,386. Dordrecht presents a picturesque appearance with its busy quays and numerous canals and windmills, its quaint streets and curiously gabled houses. The Groote Kerk, of Our Lady, whose massive tower forms a conspicuous object in the views of the town, dates from the 14th century and contains some finely carved stalls (1540) by Jan Terween Aertsz, a remarkable pulpit (1759), many old monuments and a set of gold communion plate. In the town museum is an interesting collection of paintings, chiefly by modern artists, but including also pictures by some of the older masters, among whom Ferdinand Bol, the two Cuyps, Nicolas Maes, Godefried Schalcken, and in later times Ary Scheffer, were all natives of Dordrecht. The celebrated 17th-century statesman John de Witt was also a native of the town. Close to the museum is one of the old city gates, rebuilt in 1618, and now containing a collection of antiquities belonging to the Oud-Dordrecht Society. The South African Museum (1902) contains memorials of the Boer War of 1899–1902. The harbour of Dordrecht still has a large trade, but much has been diverted to Rotterdam. Large quantities of wood are imported from Germany, Scandinavia and America. There are numerous saw-mills, shipbuilding yards, engineering works, distilleries, sugar refineries, tobacco factories, linen bleacheries and stained glass, salt and white lead works.
Dordrecht was founded by Count Dirk III. of Holland in 1018, becoming a town about 1200. One of the first towns in the Netherlands to embrace the reformed religion and to throw off the yoke of Spain, it was in 1572 the meeting-place of the deputies who asserted the independence of the United Provinces. In 1618 and 1619 it was the seat of the synod of Dort (q.v.).
DORÉ, LOUIS AUGUSTE GUSTAVE (1832–1883), French artist, the son of a civil engineer, was born at Strassburg on the 6th of January 1832. In 1848 he came to Paris and secured a three years’ engagement on the Journal pour rire. His facility as a draughtsman was extraordinary, and among the books he illustrated in rapid succession were Balzac’s Contes drolatiques (1855), Dante’s Inferno (1861), Don Quixote (1863), The Bible (1866), Paradise Lost (1866), and the works of Rabelais (1873). He painted also many large and ambitious compositions of a
