W. of Santiago, at the head of a bay which looks
N., and where the anchorage is dangerous; is quite a commercial city;
exports ores, nitre, wheat, hides, &c., the business affairs of which are
largely in the hands of foreigners, chiefly English, American, and
Germans; it has been on various occasions visited by severe earthquakes;
was bombarded by a Spanish fleet in 1866 and suffered in the Civil War of
1891.

VAMBERY, ARMINIUS, traveller and philologist, born in Hungary, of
poor Jewish parentage; apprenticed to a costumier; took to the study of
languages; expelled from Pesth as a revolutionary in 1848, settled in
Constantinople as a teacher, travelled as a dervish in Turkestan and
elsewhere, and wrote "Travels and Adventures in Central Asia," a most
valuable and notable work; _b_. 1832.

VAMPIRE, the ghost of a dead person accursed, fabled to issue from
the grave at night and suck the blood of the living as they sleep, the
victims of whom are subject to the same fate; the belief is of Slavonic
origin, and common among the Slavs.

VAN (35), a town in the Kurdistan Highlands, on the SE. shore of
Lake Van, and 145 m. SE. of Erzerum; inhabited by Turks and Armenians.

VAN BUREN, MARTIN, the eighth President of the United States, born
in New York; devoted from early years to politics, and early made his
mark; elected President in 1835, an office which he adorned with honour,
though to the sacrifice of his popularity (1782-1862).

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. See TASMANIA.

VANADIUM, a metallic silver-white elementary body of rare
occurrence, and occurring in very small quantities; discovered first in
1801 by Del Rio.

VANBRUGH, SIR JOHN, dramatist, of uncertain birth; his dramas
adaptations from the French of Moliere and others; had been a soldier;
was Clarencieux King-at-Arms, and is noted as an architect; _d_. 1726.

VANCOUVER ISLAND (30), a rugged-coasted island on the W. of North
America; belongs to British Columbia; is separated from it by a strait of
the sea; is 278 m. long and 50 to 65 m. of average breadth; is covered
with forests, and only partially cultivated; is rich in minerals, and has
extensive fisheries.

VANDALS, a fierce nation of the Teutonic race, who, from the NE. of
Europe, invaded Rome on the E., mutilating and destroying the works of
art in the city.

VANDERBILT, CORNELIUS, American millionaire, born on Staten Island;
began life as a ferryman, acquired his fortune by enterprise i