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TORQUEMADA 443 TORREY govia, and succeeded in persuading Fer- dinand and Isabella to crave from the Pope the appointment of the "Holy Of- fice" of the Inquisition. Torquemada was appointed its head, and began in 1483 that infamous work which has left his name a byword for pitiless cruelty. He has given a subject to Longfellow and to Hugo. He died in Avila, Spain, Sept. 16, 1498. TORRE DEL GRECO, a town in Italy, situated on the Bay of Naples, 7 miles S. E. of Naples. Its industries are fishing and coral working. It has been several times destroyed by earth- quakes and eruptions from Mount Vesu- vius. Pop. about 36,000. TORRENS LAKE, a large shallow salt lake of South Australia, about 40 miles N. of Spencer's Gulf. In the dry season it is merely a salt marsh. TORRENS' LAND SYSTEM, a plan of land transfer drawn up by Sir Robert Torrens, and by him put in opera- tion in Australia. It is now used in all the Australian provinces, in Tasmania and New Zealand, and in British Co- lumbia and Ontario, and has been at- tempted in various parts of the United States (Minnesota, Colorado, Washing- ton, New York, North Carolina, Missis- sippi, etc.). Its object is to make the transfer of land as simple as that of bank stock, and render the title of the holder thereof as free from danger or difficulty as ordinarily the title of the holder of bank stock is to the shares he holds. A land registry is established under the control of an officer known as the master of titles, by whom all land transactions are registered. A title may be registered as absolute or possessory; if absolute, the title must be approved by the master of titles before the owner- ship can be registered in fee simple. The first registration of a person as owner with absolute title will vest in that per- son an estate in fee simple in the land, subject to any incumbrances that may be entered on the register. If a posses- sory title is required, the applicant is registered as owner on giving such evi- dence of title as may be prescribed. The registration of any person as first owner, with a possessory title only, will not in- terfere with the enforcement of any es- tate, right, or interest adverse to the title that may then exist or arise at a later date. Should it appear to the mas- ter of titles that an absolute title to any land can only be held for a limited period or subject to reservations, he may except from the effect of registration any estate, right, or interest arising be- fore a specified date, or arising under a special instrument or otherwise particu- larly described in the register. A title granted under such conditions is to be called a qualified title. The master of titles must give to the first registered owner a "land certificate," and this cer- tificate must say whether the title of the owner is "absolute," "qualified," or "pos- sessory." An insurance fund is created to indemnify persons who may suffer loss through misdescription, omission, or other error in any certificate of title, or in any entry on the register. This fund is provided by laying a tax of one- fourth of one per cent, on the value of the land on the first certificate of title being granted, in addition to registration fees. The master of titles settles all questions as to the liability of the fund for compensation. TORRES STRAIT, the strait which separates Australia from New Guinea, being about 80 miles across. It is crowd- ed with islands, shoals, and reefs, ren- dering its navigation difficult. TORRES VEDRAS, a town of Portu- gal in the province of Estremadura; on the Sizandro, 30 miles N. of Lisbon; cele- brated in connection with the famous lines of defense behind which Wellington retired after the vain effort to hold the Portuguese frontier against the French. The outermost of the line stretched 29 miles from Alhambra on the Tagus to the sea at the mouth of the Sizandro; the second, from 6 to 10 miles behind, from Quintella on the Tagus to the mouth of the St. Lorenza, a distance of 24 miles. The third, much shorter, lay S. W. of Lisbon, at the very mouth of the Tagus, and was meant as a cover if embarka- tion were necessary. The whole lines consisted of 152 redoubts, with 534 pieces of ordnance and 34,125 men. The "great work at Monte Agraca" had a perimeter of 2,435 feet, an armament of 25 guns, and a garrison of 1,590 infantry. The allies entered the retreat which the fore- sight of Wellington had provided in Oc- tober, 1810, and held the French at Bay till March, 1811. The enemy then re- tired, and Wellington issued on his career as the liberator of the peninsula, TORREY, BRADFORD, an American author; born in Weymouth, Mass., Oct. 9, 1843. He was educated in the public schools, taught two years, then entered business in Boston. In 1886 he became assistant editor of the "Youth's Com- panion." He was a close student of birds, and wrote largely on this subject for the magazines. His essays have been collected into the following volumes: