in a military sense, a small number of men, horse or foot, sent upon any kind of duty; as into an enemy's country to pillage, to take prisoners, and to oblige the country to come under contribution. Parties are often sent out to view the roads and ways, get intelligence, seek forage; to reconnoitre, or amuse the enemy upon a march: they are also frequently sent upon the flanks of any army or regiment, to discover the enemy if near, and prevent surprise or ambuscade.

PÁRVICH, an island near Dalmatia, and one of the best peopled and most considerable of those which are under the jurisdiction of Sibenico. It contains a great number of fishermen, and a considerable number of persons employed in agriculture. It contains many Roman antiquities, which evidently show that it was a Roman station. It seems to be among the number of those islands which Pliny calls Celadusae, which is supposed to be an inversion of δεσποταδες, which means ill sounding or noisy. Parvich is not of large extent, but it is extremely fertile. Every product succeeds in perfection there: we mean those products of which a very shallow ground is susceptible; such as wine, oil, mulberry-trees, and fruit. The aspect of this island is also very pleasant at a distance, whereas that of the others adjacent disgusts the eye, by their too high, rocky, and bare hills. The name of Parvich seems to have been given it because it is the first one meets with on going out of the harbour of Sibenico; for the Illyric word parvi signifies first.