ant naval coaling
station and depot, with spacious harbour, docks, etc.

SINOLOGY, the science treating of the language, literature, laws,
and history of the Chinese.

SINON, a wily Greek who beguiled the Trojans and persuaded them to
admit the Wooden Horse into the city, to its ruin.

SINOPE (8), a seaport of Turkey in Asia, situated on a narrow
isthmus connecting with the mainland the rocky headland of Cape Sinope
which projects into the Black Sea, 350 m. NE. of Constantinople;
possesses two fine harbours, naval arsenal, Byzantine ruins, etc.; an
ancient Greek town, the birthplace of Diogenes, and capital of
Mithridates; it was captured by the Turks in 1461, who themselves in 1853
suffered a disastrous naval defeat in the Bay of Sinope at the hands of
the Russians.

SION, capital of the Swiss canton of Valais, on the Rhine, 42 m. E.
of Lausanne; is a mediaeval town, with an old Gothic cathedral, and in the
neighbourhood ruined castles.

SIOUT or ASIOOT (32), capital of Upper Egypt; commands a fine
view near the Nile, 200 m. S. of Cairo; has a few imposing mosques and a
government palace; is a caravan station, and noted for its red and black
pottery; occupies the site of the ancient city of Lycopolis.

SIOUX or DAKOTA INDIANS, a North American Indian tribe, once
spread over the territory lying between Lake Winnipeg (N.) and the
Arkansas River (S.), but now confined chiefly to South Dakota and
Nebraska. Failure on the part of the United States Government to observe
certain treaty conditions led to a great uprising of the Sioux in 1862,
which was only put down at a great cost of blood and treasure; conflicts
also took place in 1876 and 1890, the Indians finding in their chief,
Sitting Bull, a determined and skilful leader.

SIRDAR, a name given to a native chief in India.

SIREN, an instrument for measuring the number of aerial vibrations
per second, and thereby the pitch of a given note.

SIRENS, in the Greek mythology a class of nymphs who were fabled to
lure the passing sailor to his ruin by the fascination of their music;
Ulysses, when he passed the beach where they were sitting, had his ears
stuffed with wax and himself lashed to the mast till he was at a safe
distance from the influence of their charm. Orpheus, however, as he
passed them in the Argonautic expedition so surpassed their music by his
melodious notes, that in very shame they flung themselves into the sea
and were changed in