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426 NICARAGUA NICE in its widest part, its general form being an el- lipse, whose greater axis lies nearly N. W. and S. E. It has an elevation of 129 ft. above low tide in the Pacific, from which it is separated by a range of low hills, which at one place are only about 48 ft. above the lake level. The distance between it and the Pacific, at the nearest point, is about llm.; between it and the Atlantic, 65 m. It is 28 ft. lower than Lake Managua, with which it is connected by the Rio Tipitapa or Ester o de Panaloya. Many streams empty into it. On the east the principal of these are the Tule, Camastro, Tepenaguasapa, Oyate, Ojucuapa, Acoyapa, Mayales, Tecolostote, and Malacatoya; on the west, the Ochomogo, Gil Gonzales, Las Lajas, and Sapoa ; on the south, the Tortuga, Negro, Vie jo, Zapotero, Niflo, and Frio. The largest is the Rio Frio, which rises in the Guatuzos mountains in Costa Rica. The sole outlet of the lake is the San Juan, which leaves it at its S. E. extremity and flows into the Atlan- tic. It has numerous islands, the principal of which are Ometepe and Zapotera. Ometepe, which belongs to the department of Rivas, is 20 m. long, and consists of two parts con- nected by a narrow isthmus. On the N. part are the volcano of Ometepe and the Indian vil- lages of Alta Gracia and Moyogalpa ; on the S. part, the volcano of Madera. The island of Zapotera, which belongs to the department of Granada, is nearly 6 m. long, and is the base of the volcano of Zapotera. It is not now in- habited, but numerous ruins show that it was peopled in ancient times. At the S. end of the lake is the archipelago of Solentiname, now deserted, but susceptible of cultivation. Other smaller groups are the San Bernardo and Nan- zital, on the E. coast, and Las Isletas or Los Corales, near Granada on the W. coast. There are more than 100 of the latter, which lie at the foot of the volcano of Mombacho. The principal harbors on the lake are Granada and the Charco Muerto, the latter a fine bay be- tween the island of Zapotera and the coast. Other ports are San Jorge and La Virgen on the W. coast, and San Carlos, San Miguelito, San Ubaldo, Los Cocos, and several smaller ones, on the E. coast. In its deepest part Lake Nica- ragua has about 45 fathoms of water, but its depth is very variable, and near its outlet it does not exceed from 5 to 10 ft. ; at a proper distance from the coasts and islands its depth is ample for all purposes of navigation. It has currents, but they are weak ; their general direction is not known. When the N. E. trade winds blow from the Caribbean sea, the waves roll high, and the water is piled up on the S. shore, sometimes overflowing the low lands. These trade winds are intermittent, and the waters rise with them in the evening and fall with them in the morning, which gave rise to the notion entertained by the early chroniclers that the lake had a tide. Lake Nicaragua forms a part of the course of the proposed interoce- anic canal, via the San Juan river and Lake Managua, and its waters are amply sufficient to supply the summit levels of a canal of any dimensions demanded by the exigencies of commerce. The lake, which was called Coci- bolca by the natives, was discovered in 1521 by the Spaniards, who called it Nicarao agua, after an Indian cacique whose village stood on its western shore. NICARAGUA WOOD. See BRAZIL WOOD. NICCOLINI, Giovanni Battista, an Italian poet, born at San Giuliano, near Pisa, Oct. 31, 1785, died in Florence, Sept. 20, 1861. He studied at the university of Pisa, and in 1807 was made librarian and professor of history and mythology in the academy of fine arts in Flor- ence. His dramatic works are Polissena, Ino e Temisto, Medea, Edipo, Matilda, Nabucco, and Antonio Foscarini. His "Lessons on Mythology" was published in 1855. He left an unfinished " History of the House of Swa- bia " and a large number of poems. An edi- tion of his works was published in Florence in 1847, but did not include two of his most celebrated plays, Arnaldo da Brescia and Fi- lippo Strozzi. The publication of a new edi- tion was commenced at Turin in 1862. NldXA. See NICE, in Bithynia. MCE (Ital. Nizza). I. A former adminis- trative division of the kingdom of Sardinia, bounded N. and E. by Piedmont, S. E. by the Mediterranean, and W. and S. W. by the French departments of Basses- Alpes and Var. In 1860 the larger part of Nice was ceded by Italy to France. That part of it retained by Italy now forms the province of Porto Maurizio. The part ceded to France, together with a small por- tion of the department of Var, was united into a new department called Alpes-Maritimes. IL A seaport town of France, capital of the de- partment of Alpes-Maritimes, on a narrow plain between the Alps and the Mediterranean, and on both sides of the mouth of the river Paillon or Paglione, 98 m. S. S. W. of Turin, in lat. 43 42' N., Ion. 70 17' E. ; pop. in 1872, 52,377. The port is small, but admits vessels drawing 15 ft. of water, and is protected by two moles, one of which is surmounted by a battery and a lighthouse. The oldest part of the town lies on the E. side of the river. It has narrow streets, but from its centre rises a hill 800 ft. high, the summit of which, formerly occupied by a castle, is now laid out in public plea- sure grounds. Parts of the old town have been greatly improved of late years. The W. division is called the "quarter of the marble cross," from a monument commemorative of the reconciliation of Charles V. and Francis I. in 1538 through the intervention of Pope Paul III. It is inhabited chiefly by English, who have here a chapel and two cemeteries. The houses are neat and encompassed by gardens ; and there are two public squares, one of which is surrounded by colonnades. The town con- tains a cathedral of the 17th century, a na- tional college with a botanical garden attached to it, a public library, a zoological museum, a