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480 NOOTKA SOUND NORDHAUSEN United States, that he cannot be nonsuited except by his own consent, provided he has offered pertinent, even though it was the slight- est, evidence in support of his claims. In some of the states, however, where this rule is maintained, the presiding judge recommends a nonsuit subject to the opinion of the full court. But in New York and other states, it is held to be within the power, and even duty, of the court to nonsuit the plaintiff, if in its opinion the testimony which he has offered will not authorize the jury to find a verdict for him, or if the court would set aside such a ver- dict as being contrary to the evidence. Yet in such a case of involuntary nonsuit the plaintiff may, upon a case made or upon a bill of excep- tions, move to have the nonsuit set aside. A nonsuit is a mere default. It does not, like judgment following upon a verdict, change the face of the matter in controversy. It leaves the parties in the same position toward each other as if no action had been brought. In submitting to it, the plaintiff does not admit that he has no cause of action; and, subject only to the probable order 1 of court that further proceedings be stayed until the costs of the former suit are paid, the plaintiff is entitled to institute a new action at his pleasure. NOOTKA SOUND, an inlet on the W. coast of Vancouver island, British North America, in lat. 49 85' N., Ion. 126 35' W. It extends 10 m. in a N. N. E. direction, and forms a number of smaller bays and coves. In the mid- dle is a large wooded island, and the greatest breadth of water is not more than 500 yards. The shores are rocky, and the anchorage good. The sound was discovered by Oapt. Cook in 1778, and in 1780 a British fur station was es- tablished there. In 1789 the Spanish captured two British vessels and took possession of the settlement; but in 1791 the British right to the sound and territory was recognized, and in April, 1792, Vancouver was sent there to re- ceive the restitution. NOOTKAS, or Ahts, a family of tribes on Van- couver island and the mainland near it, embra- cing the Ahts proper (of whom the Moouchaht are the tribe called Nootkas by Oapt. Cook and others since), on the W. side of the island, num- bering 3,500; the Quackewlth, embracing 16 or 17 tribes on the W. and E. sides of the island and on the mainland, also estimated at 3,500 ; and the Cowichans on the E. side of the island, numbering 7,000. The Ahts proper revere Quawteaht as their deity and progenitor, wor- ship the sun and moon, and believe in a mighty supernatural bird, Totooch. They are divided into clans, and a man cannot marry in his own, or invite men of his own clan to a feast ; chil- dren belong to the mother's clan. They build houses 40 by 100 ft., having a row of posts in the middle and at each side with string pieces on them. These are permanent, but the cedar slabs and mats covering the sides and roof are carried as they move from one fishing station to another, laid across two canoes. Their ca- noes are long dugouts, and they are expert fish- ers, taking salmon, herring, halibut, and whales; they also hunt, and gather for food shell fish, seaweed, and camash roots. They make blank- ets of cypress bark, rain capes of white pine bark, curious hats of cedar and pine bark, and wooden dishes, dippers, and boxes ; they carve the posts of their houses, and wooden masks used in war and in their dances. They hang up their dead chiefs and children in boxes or canoes in trees, or sometimes lay them on the ground and heap sticks and stones over them. Burial is more rare. The Ahts are cruel and treacherous, and have frequently destroyed vessels, besides constantly killing traders, thus provoking repeated chastisements from the whites. The Cowichans, though allied to the Ahts, are semi-civilized, readily adopt the ways of the whites, and both men and women prove useful to the settlers as servants and laborers ; and they have made some progress in agri- culture. Among these tribes Protestant and Catholic missionaries have found encourage- ment. The most extended Aht vocabulary is in Sproat's " Scenes and Studies of Savage Life "(London, 1868). NORD, Le, the northernmost department of France, formed chiefly from the old province of Flanders, bordering on the North sea, Bel- gium, and the departments of Ardennes, Aisne, Somme, and Pas-de-Calais ; area, 2,193 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 1,447,764. The coast line is formed by a ridge of sand hillocks, and has two harbors, Dunkirk and Gravelines. The prin- cipal rivers are the Sambre, Scheldt, Scarpe, Lys, and Yser, which have been rendered nav- igable, and are connected with one another by 25 canals. The surface is flat, except in the south, where there are some low detached hills. The greater part of the soil is a rich alluvium. Coal is found in several places. Linen, woollen goods, and cottons are manu- factured ; and there are iron works, f ounderies, and glass works. The climate is damp, and not considered healthy. It is divided into the arrondissements of Avesnes, Cambrai, Douai, Dunkirk, Hazebrouck, Lille, and Valenciennes. Capital, Lille. NORDENSKjftLD, Adolf Erik, a Swedish ex- plorer, born in Helsingfors, Nov. 18, 1832. In 1858 he became professor of mineralogy in Stockholm, and between 1859 and 1868 took part in four arctic expeditions, the most im- portant of which, in 1868, resulted in thor- oughly ascertaining the situation of Spitz- bergen. From 1870 to 1872 he was a member of the second Swedish chamber, and during the summer of 1870 he explored Greenland, going further into the interior than any pre- vious scientific traveller. He has written nar- ratives of his third arctic expedition of 1864, and of his Greenland expedition of 1870. In July, 1872, he was placed in command of an antarctic expedition. NORDHAUSEN, a town of Prussia, in the province of Saxony, 38 m. N. W. of Erfurt, at