DOMO D'OS'SOLA, a charming little t. in the extreme n. of Piedmont, at the foot of the Simplon, near the right bank of the Tosa, which flows into Lago Maggiore. Its general aspect is peculiarly Italian. It has some trade and several handsome buildings, but is chiefly noteworthy as being a starting-point for tourists who wish to make excur sions up the southern valleys of the Alps. The chief places of interest in the vicinity are the Val Anzasca, the Val Vigezzo, and the Falls of the Tosa. From D. D. the Simplon can be ascended in seven hours. Pop. 2,480.
DON (anc. Ta'nais), a river of Russia, has its source in a small lake in the govern ment of Tula, in lat. about 53° 45' n., and long. 38' 10' east. It flows at first in a south eastern direction through the governments of Tula, Riazan, Tambov, and Woronetz, and after winding s.w. through the country of the Don Cossacks, it advances to its embouchure in the sea of Azov, which it enters by three mouths, only one of which is navigable. The D. receives 80 affluents, of which the principal are the Sosna and the Donetz on the right, and on the left the Khoper, the Medvieditza, the Sal, and the Manitch. Its total length is about 1150 miles. Its course is obstructed by frequent sand-banks, which, when the water is low, render navigation impossible to any but flat bottomed boats. From April to June, however, during which months it overflows its banks, and forms unwholesome swamps on either side, it is navigable as high as Zadonsk, 600 m. from its mouth. The D. is connected by a canal with the Volga, and by this means the produce and manufactures of the interior are conveyed to the southern prov inces of Russia. The waters of the D. abound in fish, the traffic in which commodity is considerable, especially in its lower course.
DON, a river of Aberdeenshire, rising on the w. border of the county in a peat-moss, 1640 ft. above the sea. It runs n.e., then e., and lastly s.e., entering the sea a mile n.e. of Old Aberdeen. It has a total course of 78 m., but only 42 iu a straight line, and it drains a tract of 495 sq.m., chiefly composed of granite and gneiss, with a little syenite and clay-slate. In the upper part of its course, it receives,Some large mountain streams, but its chief tributary is the Ury, which comes 24 m. from the n.w. Near the junction of the Ury and D. is a curious conical gravel hillock, called the Bass, the subject of a prophecy by Thomas the rhymer. The D., at less than a mile from the sea, is crossed by the old " birg o' Balgownie," of one Gothic arch. Lord Byron, while a youth, had a superstitious dread in crossing this bridge, from an old prophecy connected with it. 'o keep this bridge in repair, sir Alexander Hay, in 1605, left an annuity of £2 5s.
which sum has now accumulated to about £19,000, in addition to about £17,000 spent 40 years ago in the erection of a new bridge over the D., a quarter of a mile lower down. • DON, or DuN, a river of the West Riding of Yorkshire, rising in the moors on the borders of Derbyshire and Cheshire. It runs 55 m., first s.e. to Sheffield, and then n.e. by Rotherham, Doncaster, and Thorne, into the Aire, which soon afterwards unites with the Ouse. Its basin consists of carboniferous and permian strata. Its chief tributaries are the Rother, Dearne, and Wente. It is navigable for the last 39 m. of its course below Sheffield, by the aid of artificial canals and cuts.