from the top of the cliff to the summit of the arch is about 30 ft., and from the latter to the water at mean tide about 60 ft. Broken columns form the causeway on the E. side, and conceal the lower parts of the front columns, so that these seem to be only 18 ft. high, while the W. pillars are twice as high. The length is more than 200 ft. The sides are columnar like the front, and nearly perpendicular, but the irregular grouping and the fragmentary condition of the columns impair the symmetry of their appearance. There are several other remarkable caves in the island of Staffa.
FINISTÈRE, or Finisterre (Lat. finis terræ, land's end), the extreme W. department of France, in Brittany, surrounded on three sides by the ocean and the English channel, and bounded E. by the departments of Côtes-du-Nord and Morbihan; area, 2,595 sq. in.; pop. in 1872, 642,693. The coasts, generally steep and deeply indented, are about 400 m. in length, and present many excellent bays and harbors. The most important ports are Brest, Morlaix, Landerneau, Quimper, and Douarnenez. Of numerous rivers only the Aulne, the Elorn, and the Odet are navigable. Two hill chains, that of Arès in the north and that of the Black mountains in the south, run through this department E. and W. The climate is mild, but humid; fogs are common; W. winds are most prevalent, and violent storms often occur. The soil of some parts is good, and the pasturage is excellent; but heath or waste land covers no less than a third of the area, and agriculture is in a backward state. The wealth of the department consists especially in its mines of argentiferous lead; those of Poullaouen and Huelgoat are perhaps the largest in France. Iron, zinc, coal, and bitumen are also mined. The fisheries are very important. There are manufactories of linen and woollen fabrics, paper mills, rope yards, and sailcloth and earthenware factories. The department is divided into the arrondissements of Quimper, Brest, Morlaix, Châteaulin, and Quimperlé. Capital, Quimper.
FINK, or Finck, Friedrich August von, a Prussian soldier, born at Strelitz in 1718, died in Copenhagen, Feb. 24, 1766. He had gained experience in the Austrian and Russian service previous to entering the Prussian army as major in 1743. He was advanced by Frederick the Great to the rank of lieutenant general, and was employed in 1759 to coöperate with the king's brother in Saxony, the chief command being subsequently intrusted to him. After the capitulation of Dresden to the Austrians (Sept. 4), Fink was ordered by the king to Maxen to cut off the enemy's retreat, but was surrounded and overwhelmed by vastly superior forces, and obliged to surrender (Nov. 20). On his return from Austrian captivity he was court-martialled, and, though he had anticipated the Maxen disaster by representing to the king the inadequacy of his resources, was sentenced to a year's imprisonment in the fortress of Spandau. After his release he begged to be dismissed from the Prussian service, and in 1764 became general of infantry in the Danish army. But he felt wronged by the Prussian king's inexorable rigor, and died broken-hearted.
FINLAND (Fin. Suomema, region of lakes), a
grand duchy in the northwest of the Russian
empire, lying between lat. 59° 45′ and 70° N.,
and lon. 20° 50′ and 32° 50°′ E., bounded N. by
the Norwegian province of Tromsö, E. by the
Russian provinces of Archangel and Olonetz,
S. by the gulf of Finland, and W. by the gulf
of Bothnia and Sweden; area, 134,830 sq. m.
The name of Finland was given to it by the
Swedes. The läns or governments and their
population in 1867 were as follows:
| Nyland | 174,388 |
| Abo-Björneborg | 319,784 |
| Tavastehuus | 170,264 |
| Viborg | 279,944 |
| St. Michael | 161,936 |
| Kuopio | 226,670 |
| Vasa | 313,109 |
| Uleaborg | 184,758 |
| Total | 1,830,853 |
The population comprises 125,000 Swedish Finns, 8,000 Russians, 1,000 Lapps, 1,000 gypsies, and 400 Germans, the rest being Finns proper. In December, 1870, the population amounted to only 1,732,621, showing a considerable decrease since 1867; as in several years, in consequence of famine and epidemics, the number of deaths largely exceeded that of births. There are 34 towns with an aggregate population of 135,000, constituting only 7.5 per cent. of the total population, a smaller percentage than is found in any other country of Europe. The most populous districts are along the coast; there are some tracts in the interior wholly uninhabited. The population of the whole country is about 13 to the square mile.—The S. coast of Finland is bordered with rocky islets, between which and the mainland are narrow and intricate channels difficult of navigation. The W. coast is generally low, but becomes very rocky near the Quarken, and in some parts is not less dangerous than the southern. Some of the islands, as those of Sveaborg, which command the entrance to the harbor of Helsingfors, are strongly fortified. The rivers are few and unimportant; the principal is the Kymmene, which flows into the gulf of Finland, and is broad and deep, but owing to cataracts is not navigable. The lakes, however, constitute a prominent feature in the geography of the country, being very numerous and occupying a large proportion of the territory. Independently of Lake Ladoga, which lies partly in Finland, the largest of these sheets of water are Lakes Saima and Enare. The communication between the various watersheds and the Finnish gulf has been established since 1854 by the lake of Saima. The surface is table land from 400 to 600 ft. above the level of the sea, with occasional higher elevations. The Maan Selkä mountains, which with their
