[Sierra], the name given to a range of mountains with a saw-like ridge.
[Sierra Leone] (75), a British maritime colony since 1787, on the W. coast of Africa, having a foreshore of 180 m. between Rivières du Sud (N.) and Liberia (S.); includes the peninsula of Sierra Leone proper with its densely-wooded Sugar-Loaf Mountain, and a number of coast islands, and stretches back to a highland eastern frontier ill defined; the climate is hot, humid, and unhealthy; has been called "The White Man's Grave"; is fertile, but not well exploited by the indolent negro population, half of whom are descendants from freed slaves; ground-nuts, kola-nuts, ginger, hides, palm-oil, &c., are the principal exports. [Freetown] (q. v.) is the capital. The executive power is exercised by a governor and council of five.
[Sierra Madre], the main cordillera system of Mexico, extending in a northerly direction to Arizona, and forming the western buttress of a fertile plateau stretching eastwards; to the W. the States of Sinaloa and Sonora slope downwards to the sea.
[Sierra Morena], a mountain chain in South Spain, forming the watershed between the valleys of the Gaudiana (N.) and Guadalquivir (S.); has valuable deposits of lead, silver, quicksilver, and other metals.
[Sierra Nevada], 1, a mountain range in South Spain, 60 m. in length; lies for the most part in Granada, crossing the province E. and W. in bold, rugged lines, and clad on its higher parts with perpetual snow, whence the name; Mulhacen (11,660 ft.) is the highest peak. 2, A mountain system in California, stretching NW. and SE. 450 m., and forming the eastern buttress of the Great Central Valley; highest peak Mount Whitney (14,886 ft.). 3, A lofty mountain group in Colombia, South America, stretching NE. almost to the borders of Venezuela.
[Sieyès, Abbé], a conspicuous figure all through the French Revolution, the Consulate, and the Empire, who thought in his simplicity that the salvation of France and the world at large depended on sound political institutions, in the drafting of which he spent his life; was born in Frèjus, of the bourgeois class; represented Paris in the States General; sat in the Centre in the Legislative Assembly; renounced the Christian religion in favour of the Goddess of Reason; projected a constitution which was rejected; supported Napoleon; fled to Belgium on the return of the Bourbons, and returned to France in 1830, by which time he was politically defunct (1748-1836).
[Sigismund], emperor of Germany, son of the Emperor Charles IV., was markgrave of Brandenburg, king of Hungary, and palatine of the Rhine; struggled hard to suppress the Hussites; held the Council of Constance, and gave [Huss] (q. v.) a safe-conduct to his doom; he is the "Super Grammaticam" of Carlyle's "Frederick" (1362-1437).
[Sigismund] is the name of three kings of Poland, the last of whom died in 1632.
[Signorelli, Luca], the precursor of Michael Angelo in Italian art, born at Cortona; studied at Arezzo under Piero della Francesca, and became distinguished for the accurate anatomy of his figures and for the grandeur and originality of design exhibited in his admirable frescoes of religious subjects at Loretto, Orviëto, and elsewhere (1441-1525).
[Sigourney, Mrs.], American authoress, was a prolific writer; wrote tales, poems, essays, chiefly on moral and religious subjects; was called the American Hemans (1791-1863).