a neat and small modern town in the parish of Kilbride, lordship of Lorn, and county of Argyle, ninety-two miles from Glasgow, and 136 from Edinburgh. The situation of the town is well chosen, both as regards the picturesque scenery amidst which it is placed, the convenient station which its bay affords for national purposes, as the depot for the trade of the Hebrides and the western coast of the Highlands, and as being admirably designed for a fishing station. The bay of Oban, at the head of which the town lies, is semicircular, being formed by the island of Kerrera in front, and, backed by the huge ranges of the Argyllshire mountains; it is well sheltered from the western winds by the island of Kerrera, varies from twelve to twenty-four fathoms in depth, and is capable of containing from three to five hundred sail of merchantmen. The steamers from Glasgow and Liverpool, which visit the western coast and Inverness by the Crinan and Caledonian Canals, generally stop at Oban; and, from the salubrity of the air, and moderate rate of the markets, it is much resorted to as bathing quarters during the summer months, and many respectable families have now made it their permanent place of residence. The territory of the burgh consists of the lands of Oban and Glenshellich, with the ferry-house, miller's croft, and loch, and the lands of Glencrutton. This territory, however, extends considerably beyond the parliamentary bounds assigned to the town by the burgh reform act. The town is divided by a small river into two divisions, called the eastern and western. In the eastern a handsome church was erected in the year 1821 as a chapel of ease to the parish church, which is at a distance of four miles from the town. It was constituted a port of customs in the year 1763; and the custom-house is pleasantly placed upon a rising situation, so as to command a view of Obdorsk the bay. The superiors and proprietors of the burgh are the Duke of Argyll and Mr Campbell of Combie. These proprietors and their predecessors, as soon as they observed that some trade had begun to be carried on, granted building leases of portions of their lands upon the most liberal terms, and under this system it rapidly increased. Oban was first erected into a burgh of barony in 1811 by the Duke of Argyll, with the consent of Mr Campbell. This charter was, however, laid aside, on grounds arising out of the titles of the Argyll estates; and Mr Campbell having in the mean time acquired the superiority of his lands, a new charter was granted in the year 1820. There are no public buildings belonging to the burgh, nor public institutions of any kind; neither is it possessed of any property or annual revenue, nor encumbered with any amount of debt. The magistrates and council have no power to tax or assess the inhabitants, and no taxes have been imposed; neither have they the right of appointment to any office, civil or ecclesiastical. The exports to Glasgow and Liverpool are cattle, wool, fish, pig iron, and slates brought from the district of Easdale. A weekly market is held in the town, and two annual fairs. The municipal government of the burgh is vested in two bailies and four councillors; and by its charter the burgesses annually elect a dean of guild, a nominal treasurer, and the different officers connected with a burgh court. The burgh returns, with Ayr, Irvine, Campbellton, and Inverary, a member to parliament. The population of Oban amounted in 1831 to 1480.

OBORSK, a name which is given to that part of Asiatic Russia which extends along the northern part of the course of the Obi to the Frozen Ocean. It is also the name of a small palisadoed fort, the most northerly of any maintained by Russia, being garrisoned by an officer, with twenty-five Cossacks, who exercise a species of sovereign control over the scattered tribes of Ostiaks and Samoyedes.