OTRANTO (2), a decayed seaport and fishing town of SE.  Italy, 52 m.  S. of Brindisi; founded by Greek colonists, it was in early times the chief port of trade with Greece; there is a cathedral and castle.

OTTAWA (44), capital of the Dominion of Canada, is situated 90 m. up the Ottawa River and its confluence with the St. Lawrence, between the Chaudiere and Rideau Falls.  Here are the Parliament buildings, the Governor-General’s residence, a Roman Catholic cathedral, numerous colleges and schools, and a great library.  There is some flour-milling and some iron-working, but the chief industry is lumber felling.  Half the people are French Roman Catholics.  It became the capital of the Dominion in 1856, and in ten years after the government was installed in its new buildings.

OTTAWA RIVER, the largest tributary of the St. Lawrence, and one of the largest Canadian rivers, is 700 m. long; rising in the W. of Quebec, it flows W., then S., then SE., sometimes in a narrow channel, sometimes broadening even into lakes, receiving many tributaries, and passing down rapids and falls, and joins the St. Lawrence at Montreal; down its waters are floated immense quantities of lumber.

OTTERBURN, a Northumberland village, 16 m.  S. of the border, famous as the scene of a struggle on 19th August 1388 between the Douglases and the Percies, at which the Earl of Douglas lost his life, and Hotspur was taken prisoner.  See CHEVY CHASE.

OTTO or ATTAR OF ROSES, an essential oil obtained by distilling rose leaves of certain species in water, of very strong odour, pleasant when diluted; is used for perfumery; it is made in India, Persia, Syria, and at Kezanlik, in Roumelia.

OTTOMANS, the name given to the Turks from OTHMAN (q. v.).

OTWAY, THOMAS, English dramatist, born in Sussex, intended for the Church; took to the stage, failed as an actor, and became a playwright, his chief production in that line being “Alcibiades,” “Don Carlos,” “The Orphan,” and “Venice Preserved,” the latter two especially; he led a life of dissipation, and died miserably, from choking, it is said, in greedily swallowing a piece of bread when in a state of starvation (1651-1685).

OUBLIETTE, an underground cell, perfectly dark, in which prisoners were subjected to perpetual confinement, was so called as being a “place of forgetfulness,” or where one is forgotten; they were often put secretly to death.

OUDENARDE, a town in Belgium, 15 m.  S. of Ghent, scene of Marlborough’s third victory over the French in 1708; it contains a 16th-century hotel de ville, with a fine tower, and some interesting churches.