MUNSTER, a town of Prussia, and principal place of a government of the same name, is situated in a fer tile and agreeable plain on the river Aa, about six miles from the Ems. The town is tolerably built. The houses in the chief streets have colonnades, and are ge nerally lofty and irregular, with painted roofs. Munster possesses eleven churches, the principal of which are the cathedral, and the church of St. Lambert. In the former is the remarkable chapel of Bernard de Galen, and several ancient monuments ; and at the top of the tower of St. Lambert's are still seen the three iron cages in which were suspended John of Leyden, the king of the Anabaptists, and his two chief abettors. The episcopal palace is a neat building, with extensive and beautiful gardens. Munster has three schools for the education of youth, wht9 pursue their maturer studies at the uni versity of Bonn, established in 1818. A small trade is carried on in linen, woollen, wine and grain, and there are some small manufactories of coarse linen. The ramparts are flanked with trees, and form a beautiful promenade. The population was formerly 25,000, but it is now stated at 13,000. East Long. 7° 36' 2• t and Not th Lat. 58' 10".
AlURCIA, a province in Spain, on the shores of the 'editerranean, extends above 30 leagues from north west to south-east, and 20 from the south-west to the north-east. It is a dry hilly country, almost covered with mountains, which are chiefly branches of the Montes Orospedani. The most remarkable of these, in extent and elevation, is that of Carascoy, to the south east, a continuation of the Sierra de Cazoila, which stretches also into Jaen on the south, and into Granada on the north. None of these hilly regions are cultivat ed, though the soil is well suited for vines and olive trees. The mountains of the province have the ap pearance of containing many valuable mineral produc tions; and there are traces of lead, copper, alum, sul phur, and silver mir.es. Feathered alum, or false as bestos, is found near 'the village of Almanzarron ; rock crystals on two mountains near Carthagena ; a large salt pit near Villena ; and various kinds of marble, particularly on a lofty ridge towards the frontiers of Granada on the north-east. There are hot mineral springs in several places, which are used in paralytic and rheumatic disorders, especially one at Archena, four miles from 'Murcia, which was much celebrated under the Arabs, and where ruins of Roman edifices have been discovered.
There arc only two rivers in the province, the Se gura and the Guadalentin ; and the last of these is little more than a brook. The climate is remarkably tem perate, except in the neighbourhood of Murcia and Carthagena, where the heat is almost insupportable in summer. The sky is uncommonly serene and clear ; and rain falls very rarely in any part of the province.
The soil is generally dry, but a little rain has great efficacy in the more parched plains. In the watered plains, along the banks of the Segura, it is uncommonly fertile ; but, except a few olives and mulberries, there is nothing but corn raised upon them. The soil, in ge neral, requires little cultivation, and wherever irrigation can be practised, yields the most abundant returns ; but the inhabitants have no skill in agriculture, and are too indolent to avail themselves of the advantages within their reach. Except around the principal towns, where the grape is cultivated, and wine made, little else is rais ed in the province but corn, chiefly wheat, rye, and bar ley. A considerable quantity of Spart, or Spanish broom, is still cultii ated near Carthagena, for making shoes ; but in the time of the Romans, the country was so covered with it, that Pliny says it furnished the com mon people with materials for making bedding, clothes, shoes, and fire. Hemp is cultivated in the watered plains : saffron is raised in some places ; and olive oil, though of an inferior quality, is made in considerable quantity. But next to wheat, the most valuable pro duce of the province is silk, for which the white mul berry trees are every where cultivated, and of which about the value of 260,0001. is annually prepared. The whole produce of the province is estimated at 1,436,875/. There are few manufactures in the province ; and even the greater part of the raw silk prepared in the country is sold to the neighbouring provinces, while manufactur ed silk is imported from other places. It is only in the town of Murcia that a manufactory of silk and ribbons is carried on to any extent. Soap is made at Villena and Murcia ; hardware at Albacete ; brandy at Sar and Villena ; saltpetre and gunpowder at Murcia ; and spart is made in private houses into shoes, mats, bas kets, cordage, and package coverings.