Patos. The city was occupied by the national forces in the ten years' war which began in 1835, and in 1894 it was unsuccessfully besieged by a small insurgent force that had attempted to overthrow the governrnent at Rio de Janeiro.
RIOJA, LA, an Andine province of Argentina, bounded N. by
Catamarca, E. by. Catamarca and Cordoba, S. by San Luis and San
Juan and. W. by San Juan and Chile. Area, 34,546 sq. m.
Pop. (1895) 69,502; (1902, estimate) 82,099. The province is
traversed from N. to S. by eastern ranges of the Andes and is
separated from Chile by the Cordillera itself. The western part
of the province is drained by the Bermejo, which fiowssouthward
into the closed lacustrine basinof Mendoza. The eastern
side of the province is arid, but in the extreme N. some small
streams flow northward into Catamarca. The scanty waters
of these streams are used for irrigation purposes. The principal
industry of the province is that of mining, its mineral resources
including gold, silver, copper, nickel, tin, cobalt, coal, alum and
salt. Its best known mines are those of the Sierra de Famatina,
16,400 ft. above sea-level, where an aerial wire line is used for
transportation to Chilecito in the valley below. The development
of mining industries is seriously hindered by lack of water.
For the same reason, agriculture is in a very backward condition.
The climate is hot and dry, and there is no cultivation of the soil
except in the valleys of the Cordillera and a few other places
where irrigation is possible. Under these conditions; there are
grown wheat (a limited extent), grapes, oranges, olives and
tobacco. Alfalfa is grown to a considerable extent and is used for
feeding the herds of cattle driven across country to Chile. The
capital of the province is La Rioja (pop., 1904, about 6000), on the
eastern flank of the Sierra de Velasco, about 1770 ft. above sea-level
and near the gorge of Sanagasta, through which a small
stream, also called Rioja, flows northward and affords water for
the gardens, vineyards and orchards that surround it. The
wines of Rioja are highly esteemed and are an important source
of income for the district. The town is connected by rail with
Cordoba and Catamarca. It was founded in 1591 by Velasco
and in 1894 was destroyed by an earthquake from which it has
only partially recovered. The most important town in the
province is the mining centre of Chilecito, or Villa Argentina
(pop., 1904, about 4000), about 2950 ft. above sea-level near the
Famatina mines.
RIOM, a town of central France, capital of an arrondissement
in the department of Puy-de-Dôme, 8 m. N. by E. of Clermont-Ferrand
by rail. Poo., town, 7839; commune, 10,627. Riom is
situated on the left bank of the Ambène, on an eminence rising
above the fertile plain of Limagne. It is surrounded with boulevards
and has wide streets, but the houses, being built of black
lava, have a sombre appearance. Some belong to the 15th and
16th centuries, and have turrets and carved stonework. The
church of St Amable, of Romanesque and early Gothic architecture,
datm from the 12th century, but has been restored
in modern times. It has time carved woodwork of the
17th century. The church of Notre-Dame du Marthuret (15th
century) has a well-known statue of the Virgin at its western
entrance. The Sainte-Chapelle of the 14th and 15th centuries
is a relic of the palace of Jean de Berry, duke of Auvergne, and
contains fine stained glass. Near it stands a statue of the
chancellor Michel de l'Hôpita1, who was born near Riom. The
rest of the site of the palace is occupied by the law courts.
Other interesting buildings are the belfry of the 16th century
and a mansion of the same period known as the Maison des
Consuls. The town possesses numerous fountains, some of which
are of the Renaissance period.
Riom is the seat of a court of appeal, a court of assizes and a sub-prefect, and has tribunals of first instance and commerce and a communal college. It has a state manufactory of tobacco, and carries on the preparation of fruit preserves. Trade is in grain, wine, vegetables, fruit, nut-oil and Volvic stone.
Riom (Ricomagus or Ricomum of the Romans) was long the rival of Clermont. Along with Auvergne it was seized for the crown by Philip Augustus, and it was the capital of this province under the dukes of Berry and Bourbon.
RIO NEGRO, a territory of Argentina lying between(the
Colorado river and the 42nd parallel S. lat., within the geographical
area formerly known as Patagonia, bounded N. by the territories
of Neuquen and La Pampa, E. by the province of Buenos Aires
and the Atlantic, S by the territory of Chubut and W. by Chile
and Neuquen. Area, about 75,924 sq. m.; pop. (1895) 9241;
(1904, estimate) 18,648. That part of it lying between the
Colorado and Negro rivers has much of the formation and
characteristics of the “ sterile pampas," but with irrigation the
greater part of it can be utilized for agriculture and grazing.
South of the Negro the country is arid, barren and lies in great
shingle-covered terraces sloping eastward to the Atlantic; its
larger part is practically uninhabitable, only the river valleys
and the foot-hills of the Andes having a regular water supply.
The rivers of the territory are the Colorado, which forms a part
of its northern boundary, and the Negro, formed by the confluence
of the Limay (which forms part of the western boundary)
and Neuquen on the boundary between Rio Negro territory and
the territory of Neuquen. These rivers have no tributaries of importance
within the territory, but the Limay receives some small
streams from the Andean slopes. Lake Nahuel-Huapi lies partly
in this territory (see Neuquen, and there are several small lakes
scattered over the shingly steppes. The Atlantic coast-line
of the territory has one deep indentation—the Gulf of San
Matias—but, owing to the arid surroundings, there are no ports
or towns upon it. The only industry of importance is grazing,
cattle being raised for export to Chile, and a few sheep for their
wool. The capital is Viedma (pop. in 1895, estimate, 1500), on
the right bank of the Rio Negro, 22 m. from its mouth and
opposite Carmen de Patagones, a town and port of Buenos Aires. There are other small settlements on the Rio Negro, which is
navigable up to the Neuquen frontier (about 450 m.), but the
only place of importance is General Roca (about 2300), a military
and supply station situated a few miles below the confluence of
the Limay and Neuquen rivers and connected with Bahia Blanca
and Buenos Aires by a branch of the Great Southern railway.
RIO PARDO (formerly Villa do (Rio Pardo), at town of Brazil
in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, on the left bank of the Iacuhy
atits confluence with the Pardo. Area (of the municipality)
1737 sq. m. Pop. (1890) of the municipality, 19,346; (1908,
estimated) of the town, 3500. The town is about 80 m. due
west of Porto Alegre, with which it is connected by rail and
steamer. The Jacuhy is navigable by small steamers to this
place, which was once an important military station and
commercial centre. Its military importance has considerably
declined through railway extension. The surrounding districts
are fertile but only slightly cultivated, and stock-raising is its
chief industry. The town had its origin in a frontier fort built
at this point by the Portuguese in 1751, but did not reach the
dignity of a “ villa ” until 1809.
RIOT (O. Fr. riote, of uncertain etymology), the gravest
kind of breach of the peace, short of treason, known to the
English law., It consists in a tumultuous disturbance of the
peace by an assemblage of three or more persons who, with
intent to helpone another against any one who opposes them
in the execution of some enterprise, actually execute that
enterprise in a violent and turbulent manner, to the terror of
the people. It is not necessary that violence should be used
to any person or damage done to any property. Whether
the enterprise itself is lawful or unlawful is not material, the
gist of the offense lying in the mode in which the enterprise
is carried out (The Trafalgar Square Riots, 1888, 16 Cox. Cr.
Cas. 420, 427; Stephen, Dig. Crim. Law, 6th ed., art. 77).
Nor is it material whether the enterprise is of a private or a
public nature, though in the flatter case the rioters may also
be guilty of sedition or treason. An assembly in its inception
perfectly lawful may become a riot if the persons assembled
proceed to form and execute a common purpose in the manner
above stated, although they had no such purpose when they
first assembled. Riot differs from “ Affray ” in the number
of persons necessary to constitute the offence, from an “ Unlawful
Assembly” in that actual tumult or violence is an
