WALES (1,519), one of three divisions of Great Britain; is 135 m. in length and from 37 to 95 m. in breadth, and bounded on the NW. and S. by the sea; it is divided into 12 counties, of which 6 form North Wales and 6 South Wales; is a mountainous country, intersected by beautiful valleys, which are traversed by a number of streams; it is largely agricultural; has mines of coal and iron, lead and copper, as well as large slate-quarries, which are extensively wrought; the Church of England is the church established, but the majority of the people are Nonconformists; it is represented in Parliament by 30 members; the natives are Celts, and the native language Celtic, which is still the language of a goodly number of the people.

WALES, PRINCE OF, title borne by eldest son of the English monarch; first conferred in 1301 on eldest son of Edward I. after subjugation of Wales (1282); since 1901 borne by Prince George, formerly Duke of York; entered the navy in 1877, and attained the post of commander in 1890; became heir of the throne on death of his brother, Duke of Clarence (1892); married Princess Mary of Teck (1893), and has by this marriage four sons and a daughter; b. 1865.

WALFISH BAY, a dependency of Cape Colony, in the middle of the coast-line of German South-West Africa.

WALKER, GEORGE, defender of Londonderry against the army of James II., born in co.  Tyrone, of English parents; was in holy orders, and by his sermons encouraged the town’s-people during the siege, which lasted 105 days; he afterwards fought in command of his Derry men at the battle of the Boyne, where he lost his life.

WALLACE, ALFRED RUSSEL, English naturalist, born at Usk, in Monmouthshire; was devoted to the study of natural history, in the interest of which he spent four years (1848-52) in the valley of the Amazon, and eight years after (1854-62) in the East India Archipelago, from the latter of which expedition especially he returned with thousands of specimens of natural objects, particularly insects and birds, and during his absence he wrought out a theory in the main coincident with Darwin’s natural selection in corroboration thereof; he has since devoted much of his time to the study of spiritualism, and in spite of himself has come to be convinced of its claims to scientific regard; he has written on his travels, “Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection,” “Miracles and Modern Spiritualism,” &c.; b. 1823.

WALLACE, SIR WILLIAM, the champion of Scottish independence, born in Renfrewshire, second son of Sir Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie; was early seized with a desire to free his country from foreign oppressors, and ere long began to figure as chief of a band of outlaws combined to defy the authority of Edward I., who had declared himself Lord of Scotland, till at length the sense of the oppression became wide-spread, and he was appointed to lead in a general revolt, while many of the nobles