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HUEHUETANANGO—HUESCA

by hue and cry, if he still had about him the signs of his guilt. If he resisted he could be cut down, while, if he submitted to capture, his fate was decided. Although brought before a court, he was not allowed to say anything in self-defence, nor was there any need for accusation, indictment or appeal. Although regulated from time to time by writs and statutes, the process of hue and cry continued to retain its summary method of procedure, and proof was not required of a culprit’s guilt, but merely that he had been taken red-handed by hue and cry. The various statutes relating to hue and cry were repealed in 1827 (7 and 8 Geo. IV. c. 27). The Sheriffs Act 1887, reenacting 3 Edw. I. c. 9, provides that every person in a county must be ready and apparelled at the command of the sheriff and at the cry of the county to arrest a felon, and in default shall on conviction be liable to a fine.

“Hue and cry” has, from its original meaning, come to be applied to a proclamation for the capture of an offender or for the finding of stolen goods, and to an official publication, issued for the information of the authorities interested, in which particulars are given of offenders “wanted,” offences committed, &c.

For the early history, see Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law, vol. ii.; W. Stubbs, Select Charters.


HUEHUETANANGO (i.e. in the local Indian dialect, “City of the Ancients”), the capital of the department of Huehuetanango, western Guatemala, 106 m. W.N.W. of Guatemala city, on the right bank and near the source of the river Salegua, a tributary of the Chiapas. Pop. (1905) about 12,000. Huehuetanango was built near the site of the ancient Indian city of Zakuleu, now represented by some ruins on a neighbouring ridge surrounded by deep ravines. It is the principal town of a fertile upland region, which produces coffee, cocoa and many European and tropical fruits. Chiantla, a neighbouring town mainly inhabited by Indians, was long the headquarters of a successful Dominican mission; its convent, enriched by the gifts of pilgrims and the revenues of the silver mines owned by the monks, became one of the wealthiest foundations in Central America. It was secularized in 1873, and the mines have been abandoned.


HUELVA, a maritime province of south-western Spain, formed in 1833 of districts taken from Andalusia, and bounded on the N. by Badajoz, E. by Seville, S. by the Gulf of Cadiz and W. by Portugal. Pop. (1900) 260,880; area 3913 sq. m. With the exception of its south-eastern angle, where the province merges into the flat waste lands known as Las Marismas, at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, Huelva presents throughout its entire extent an agreeably varied surface. It is traversed in a south-westerly direction by the Sierra Morena, here known, in its main ridge, as the Sierra de Aracena. The principal streams are the navigable lower reaches of the Guadalquivir and Guadiana, which respectively form for some distance the south-eastern and south-western boundaries; the Odiel and the Tinto, which both fall into the Atlantic by navigable rias or estuaries; the Malagon, Chanza, Alcalaboza and Murtiga, which belong to the Guadiana system; and the Huelva, belonging to that of the Guadalquivir. Huelva has a mild and equable climate, with abundant moisture and a fertile soil. Among the mountains there are many valuable woodlands, in which oaks, pines, beeches, cork-trees and chestnuts predominate, while the lowlands afford excellent pasturage. But agriculture and stock-breeding are here less important than in most Spanish provinces, although the exports comprise large quantities of fruit, oil and wine, besides cork and esparto grass. The headquarters of the fishing trades, which include the drying and salting of fish, are at Huelva, the capital, and Ayamonte on the Guadiana. There are numerous brandy distilleries; and bricks, pottery, soap, candles and flour are also manufactured; but the great local industry is mining. In 1903 no fewer than 470 mines were at work; and their output, consisting chiefly of copper with smaller quantities of manganese and iron, exceeded £1,500,000 in value. The celebrated Rio Tinto copper mines, near the sources of the Tinto, were, like those of Tharsis, 30 m. N.N.W. of Huelva, exploited long before the Christian era, probably by the Carthaginians, and certainly by the Romans. They are still among the most important copper mines in the world (see Rio Tinto). Saline and other mineral springs are common throughout the province. Huelva is the principal seaport, and is connected with Seville on the east and Mérida on the north by direct railways; while a network of narrow-gauge railways gives access to the chief mining centres. The principal towns, besides Huelva (21,359) and Rio Tinto (11,603), which are described in separate articles, are Alosno (8187), Ayamonte (7530), Bollullos (7922), Moguer (8455), Nerva (7908) and Zalamea la Real (7335). The state and municipal roads are better engineered and maintained than those of the neighbouring provinces. See also Andalusia.


HUELVA (the ancient Onuba, Onoba, or Onuba Aestuaria), the capital of the Spanish province of Huelva, about 10 m. from the Atlantic Ocean, on the left bank of the river Odiel, and on the Seville-Huelva, Mérida-Huelva and Rio Tinto-Huelva railways, the last-named being a narrow-gauge line. Pop. (1900) 21,357. Huelva is built on the western shore of a triangular peninsula formed by the estuaries of the Odiel and Tinto, which meet below the town. It is wholly modern in character and appearance, and owes its prosperity to an ever-increasing transit trade in copper and other ores, for which it is the port of shipment. After 1872, when the famous Rio Tinto copper mines were for the first time properly exploited, it progressed rapidly in size and wealth. Dredging operations removed a great part of the sandbanks lining the navigable main channel of the Odiel, and deepened the water over the bar at its mouth; new railways were opened, and port works were undertaken on a large scale, including the construction of extensive quays and two piers, and the installation of modern appliances for handling cargo. Many of these improvements were added after 1900. Besides exporting copper, manganese and other minerals, which in 1903 reached 2,750,000 tons, valued at more than £1,500,000, Huelva is the headquarters of profitable sardine, tunny and bonito fisheries, and of a trade in grain, grapes, olives and cork. The copper and cork industries are mainly in British hands, and the bulk of the imports, which consist chiefly of coal, iron and steel and machinery, comes from Great Britain. Foodstuffs and Australian hardwood are also imported.

Huelva was originally a Carthaginian trading-station, and afterwards a Roman colony; but it retains few memorials of its past, except the Roman aqueduct, repaired in modern times, and the colossal statue of Columbus. This was erected in 1892 to commemorate the fourth centenary of his voyage to the new world in 1492–1493, which began and ended in the village of San Pálos de la Frontera on the Tinto. Columbus resided in the neighbouring monastery of Santa Maria la Rabida after his original plans for the voyage had been rejected by King John II. of Portugal in 1484. An exact reproduction of this monastery was erected in 1893 at the World’s Fair, Chicago, U.S.A., and was afterwards converted into a sanatorium. Higher up the Tinto, above San Pálos, is the town of Moguer (pop. 8455), which exports large quantities of oil and wine.


HUÉRCAL OVERA, a town of south-eastern Spain, in the province of Almería, on the Lorca-Baza railway, and between two branches of the river Almanzora. Pop. (1900) 15,763. Huércal Overa is the chief town of a thriving agricultural district, largely dependent for its prosperity on the lead mining carried on among the surrounding highlands.


HUESCA, a frontier province of northern Spain, formed in 1833 of districts previously belonging to Aragon; and bounded on the N. by France, E. and S.E. by Lérida, S.W. and W. by Saragossa, and N.W. by Navarre. Pop. (1900) 244,867; area 5848 sq. m. The entire northern half of Huesca belongs to the mountain system of the Pyrenees, which here attain their greatest altitudes in Aneto, the highest point of the Maladetta ridge (11,168 ft.), and in Monte Perdido (10,997 ft.). The southern half forms part of the rugged and high-lying plateau of Aragon. Its only conspicuous range of hills is the Sierra de Alcubierre on the south-western border. The whole province is included in