AMARI, MICHELE (1806-1889), Italian orientalist and patriot,

was born at Palermo. From his earliest youth he imbibed

liberal principles from his relatives, especially from his

grandfather, and although at the age of fourteen he was

appointed clerk in the Bourbon civil service, he joined

the Carbonari like many other young Sicilians and actively

sympathized with the revolution of 1820. The movement, which

was separatist in its tendencies, was quickly suppressed, but

the conspiracies continued, and Amari's father, implicated

in that of 1822, was arrested and condemned to death

together with many others; but his sentence was commuted to

imprisonment, and in 1834 he was liberated. Michele Amari

still held his clerkship, but he regarded the Neapolitan

government with increasing hatred, and he led a life of

active physical exercise to train himself for the day of

revolution. He devoted much of his time to the study

of English and of history; his first literary essay was a

translation of Sir Walter Scott's Marmion (1832), and in

1839 he published a work on the Sicilian Vespers, entitled

Hn Periodo delle storie Siciliane del XIII. secolo,

filled with political allusions reflecting unfavourably on the

government. The book had an immediate success and went

through many editions, but it brought the author under the

suspicion of the authorities, and in 1842 he escaped from

a boat just as he was about to be arrested. He settled in

Paris, where he came in contact with a number of literary

men, such as Michelet and Thierry, as well as with the Italian

exiles. Having no private means he had to earn a precarious

livelihood by literature. He was much struck with certain

French translations of Arabic works on Sicily,which awoke

in him a desire to read the authors in the original. With

the assistance of Prof. Reinaud and Baron de Slane he soon

acquired great proficiency in Arabic, and his translations

and editions of oriental texts, as well as his historical

essays, made him a reputation. In 1844 he began his great

work La Storia dei Musulmani in Sicilia, but the revolution

of 1848 plunged him into politics once more. His pamphlet,

Quelques Observations sur le droit public de la Sicile,

advocating the revival of the 1812 constitution for the

island, met with great success, and on arriving at Palermo,

whence the Bourbon government had been expelled, he was chosen

member of the war committee and appointed professor of public

law at the university. At the general elections Amari was

returned for Palermo and became minister of finance in the

Stabile cabinet. On its fall he was sent to Paris and London

to try to obtain help for the struggling island; having failed

in his mission he returned to Sicily in 1849, hoping to

fight. But the Neapolitan troops had re-occupied the island,

the Liberals were in disagreement among themselves, and

Amari with several other notables with difficulty escaped to

Malta. Characteristic of his scholarly nature is the

fact that he delayed his flight to take the impress of an

important Arabic inscription. He returned to Paris, sad and

dejected at the collapse of the movement, and devoted himself

once more to his Arabic studies. He published a work on

the chronology of the Koran, for which he received a prize

from the Academie des Inscriptions, edited the Solwan el

Mota by Ibn Zafer (a curious collection of philosophical

thoughts) and Ibn Haukal's Description og Palermo, and in

1854 the first volume of his history of the Mahommedans in

Sicily appeared. He received a meagre stipend for cataloguing

the Arabic MSS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale, and he

contributed many articles to the reviews. Although a firm

friend of Mazzini, he discouraged the latter's premature

conspiracies. In 1859, after the expulsion of the central

Italian despots, Amari was appointed professor of Arabic at

Pisa and afterwards at Florence. But when Garibaldi and his

thousand had conquered Sicily, Amari returned to his native

island, and was given an appointment in the government.

Although intensely Sicilian in sentiment, he became one of

the staunchest advocates of the union of Sicily with Italy,

and was subsequently made senator of the kingdom at Cavour's

instance. He was minister of education in the Farini and

Minghetti cabinets, but on the fall of the latter in 1864, he

resumed his professorship at Florence and spent the rest of

his life in study. His circle of acquaintances, both in Italy

and abroad, was very large, and his sound scholarship was

appreciated in all countries. He died in 1889, loaded with

honours. The last volume of his Storia dei Musulmani

appeared in 1873, and in addition to the above-mentioned

works he published many others on oriental and historical

subjects. His work on the Sicilian Vespers was re-written

as La Guerra dei Vespro (9th ed., Milan, 1886). He was

the pioneer of Arabic studies in modern Italy, and he still

remains the standard authority on the Mussulman domination

in Sicily, though his judgment on religious questions

is sometimes warped by a violently anti-clerical bias.

See A. D'Ancona, Carteggio di Michele Amari coll' elogio

di lui (Turin, 1896); and Oreste Tommasini's essay in his

Scritti di storial e critica (Rome, 189I). (L. V.n)

AMARYLLIS (the name of a girl in classical pastoral poetry), in

botany, a genus of the natural order Amaryllidaceae, containing

the belladonna lily (Amaryllis Belladonna), a native of South

Africa, which was introduced into cultivation at the beginning

of the 18th century. This is a half-hardy bulbous plant,

producing in the spring a number of strap-shaped, dull green

leaves, 1-1 1/2 ft. long, arranged in two rows, and in autumn a

solid stem, bearing at the top a cluster of 6-12 funnel-shaped

flowers, of a rose colour and very fragrant. Several forms

are known in cultivation. Most of the so-called Amaryllis

of gardens belong to the allied genus Hippeastrum (q.v.).

AMASIA (anc. Amasia), the chief town of a sanjak in the

Sivas vilayet of Asia Minor and an important trade centre

on the Samsun-Sivas road, beautifully situated on the Yeshil

Irmak (Iris). Pop. 30,000; Moslems about 20,000, of

whom a large proportion are Kizilbash (Shia); Christians

(mostly Armenians), 10,000. It was one of the chief towns

of the kingdom of Trebizond and of the Seljuks, one of whose

sultans, Kaikobad I., enriched it with fine buildings and

restored the castle, which was thus enabled to stand a

seven months' siege by Timur. It was also much favoured by

the early Osmanli sultans, one of whom, Sclim I., was born

there. Bayezid II. built a fine mosque. The place was

modernized about a generation ago by Zia Pasha, the poet,

when governor, and is now an unusually well built Turkish

town with good bazaar and khans and a fine clock-tower.

The Americans and the Jesuits have missionary schools for

the Armenian population. Amasia has extensive orchards and

fruit gardens still, as in Ibn Batuta's time, irrigated by

water wheels turned by the current of the river; and there

are steam flourmills. Wheat, flour and silk are exported.

Ancient Amasia has left little trace of itself except

on the castle rock, on the left of the river, where the

acropolis walls and a number of splendid rock-cut tombs,

described by Strabo as those of the kings of Pontus, can be

seen. The cliff is cut away all round these immense

sepulchres so that they stand free. The finest, known from

its polished surfaces as the ``Mirror Tomb,'' is about 2 m.

from the modern city. Amasia rose into historical importance

after the time of Alexander as the cradle of the power

of Pontus; but the last king to reign there was the father

of Mithradates Eupator ``The Great.'' The latter, however,

made it the base of his operations against the Romans in

89, 72 and 67 B.C. Pompey made it a free city in 65, after

Mithradates' fall. It was the birthplace of Strabo. (D. G. H.)

AMASIS, or AMOSIS (the Greek forms of the Egyptian name

Ahmase, Ahmosi, ``the moon is born,'' often written Aahmes or

Ahmes in modern works), the name of two kings of ancient Egypt.

AMASIS I., the founder of the XVIIIth dynasty, is famous for

his successful wars against the Hyksos princes who still ruled in

the north-east of the Delta (see EGYPT: History, sect. 1.)

AMASIS II. was the last great ruler of Egypt before the

Persian conquest, 570-526 B.C. Most of our information

about him is derived from Herodotus (ii. 161 et seq.) and

can only be imperfectly controlled by monumental evidence.

According to the Greek historian he was of mean origin.

A revolt of the native soldiers gave him his opportunity.

These troops, returning home from a disastrous expedition to

Cyrene, suspected that they had been betrayed in order that

Apries, the reigning king, might rule more absolutely by

means of his mercenaries, and their friends in Egypt fully

sympathized with them. Amasis, sent to meet them and quell

the revolt, was proclaimed king by the rebels, and Apries,

who had now to rely entirely on his mercenaries, was defeated

and taken prisoner in the ensuing conflict at Momemphis; the

usurper treated the captive prince with great lenity, but

was eventually persuaded to give him up to the people, by

whom he was strangled and buried in his ancestral tomb at

Sais. An inscription confirms the fact of the struggle

between the native and the foreign soldiery, and proves that

Apries was killed and honourably buried in the 3rd year of

Amasis. Although Amasis thus appears first as champion of

the disparaged native, he had the good sense to cultivate

the friendship of the Greek world, and brought Egypt into

closer touch with it than ever before. Herodotus relates

that under his prudent administration Egypt reached the

highest pitch of prosperity; he adorned the temples of Lower

Egypt especially with splendid monolithic shrines and other

monuments (his activity here is proved by remains still

existing). To the Greeks Amasis assigned the commercial

colony of Naucratis on the Canopic branch of the Nile, and

when the temple of Delphi was burnt he contributed 1000

talents to the rebuilding. He also married a Greek princess

named Ladice, the daughter of Battus, king of Cyrene, and

he made alliances with Polycrates of Samos and Croesus of

Lydia. His kingdom consisted probably of Egypt only, as

far as the First Cataract, but to this he added Cyprus, and

his influence was great in Cyrene. At the beginning of his

long reign, before the death of Apries, he appears to have

sustained an attack by Nebuchadrezzar (568 B.C.). Cyrus

left Egypt unmolested; but the last years of Amasis were

disturbed by the threatened invasion of Cambyses and by

the rupture of the alliance with Polycrates of Samos. The

blow fell upon his son Psammetichus III., whom the Persian

deprived of his kingdom after a reign of only six months.

See NAUCRATIS: also W. M. Flinders Petrie, History,

vol. iii.; Breasted, History and Historical Documents,

vol. iv. p. 509; Maspero, Les Empires. (F. LL. G.)

AMATEUR (Lat. amator, lover), a person who takes part in any

art, craft, game or sport for the sake of the pleasure afforded

by the occupation itself and not for pecuniary gain. Being

thus a person for whom the pursuit in question is a recreation

and not a business, and who therefore presumably devotes to

it a portion only of his leisure and not his working hours,

the average amateur possesses less skill than the average

professional, whose livelihood and reputation depend on his

proficiency, and who therefore concentrates all his energies

on the task of attaining the greatest possible mastery in

his chosen career. In the arts, such as music, painting and

the drama, the best amateurs are outdistanced as executants

not merely by the best professionals but by professionals

far below the highest rank; and although the inferiority

of the amateur is not perhaps so pronounced or so universal

in the case of games and outdoor sports, the records of

such pastimes as horse-racing, boxing, rowing, billiards,

tennis and golf prove that here also the same contrast is

generally to be found. Hence it has come about that the term

``amateur,'' and more especially the adjectival derivative

``amateurish,'' has acquired a secondary meaning, usually

employed somewhat contemptuously, signifying inefficiency,

unskilfulness, superficial knowledge or training.

The immense increase in popularity of athletic contests

and games of all kinds in modern times, and especially the

keen competition for ``records'' and championships, often

of an international character, have made it a matter of

importance to arrive at a clear and formal definition of

the amateur as distinguished from the professional. The

simple, straightforward definition of the amateur given

above has been proved to be easily evaded. Many leading

cricketers, for example, preserve their amateur status

who, although they are not paid wages for each match they

play like their professional colleagues, are provided with

an annual income by their county or club under the guise of

salary for performing the duties of ``secretary'' or some

other office, leaving them free to play the game six days a

week. Similarly, ``gentlemen riders'' are often presented

with a cash payment described as a bet, or under some other

pretext. Nor is the dividing-line between ``out-of-pocket

expenses'' allowed to the amateur and the remuneration payable

to the professional always strictly drawn. The various

associations controlling the different branches of sport have

therefore devised working regulations to be observed so far

as their jurisdiction extends. Thus the Amateur Athletic

Association of Great Britain defines an amateur as ``one who

has never competed for a money prize or staked bet, or with

or against a professional for any prize, or who has never

taught, pursued or assisted in the practice of athletic

exercises as a means of obtaining a livelihood.'' The rules of

the Amateur Rowing Association are stricter, denying amateur

status to anyone who has ever steered or rowed in a race with

a professional for any prize, or who is or has been by trade

or employment for wages a mechanic, artisan or labourer, or

engaged in any menial duty, besides insisting upon the usual

restrictions in regard to taking money and competing with

professionals. In association football the rules are much

more lax, for although amateurs are clearly distinguished

from professionals, an amateur may even become a regular

member, though unsalaried, of a professional team without

losing his amateur status. The Rugby game was, up to 1895,

entirely controlled by the Rugby Football Union, which, by the

strictness of its laws, effectually prevented the growth of

professionalism, but there had been much dissatisfaction in

the provinces with the Union's decision against reimbursing

day- working players for ``broken time,'' i.e. for that

part of their wages which they lost by playing on working

days, and this resulted in the formation (1895) of the

Northern Union, which permits remuneration for ``broken

time,'' but allows no person who works for his living to play

football unless regularly employed at his particular trade.

In America the amateur question is less complicated than in

Great Britain; but the intensely business-like character of

American ideas of sport has encouraged the modern spirit of

professionalism. All important sports in America, except

baseball, football, cricket, golf and rowing, are, however,

under the control of the Amateur Athletic Union of the

United States, the rules of which, so far as they relate to

professionalism, are as follows. No person shall be eligible

to compete in any athletic meeting, game or entertainment,

given or sanctioned by this Union, who has (1) received

or competed for compensation or reward in any form for the

display, exercise or example of his skill or knowledge of

any athletic exercise, or for rendering personal service

of any kind to any athletic organization, or for becoming

or continuing a member of any athletic organization; or (2)

has entered any competition under a name other than his own,

or from a club of which he was not at that time a member in

good standing; or (3) has knowingly entered any competition

open to any professional or professionals, or has knowingly

competed with any professional for any prize or token; or

(4) has issued or allowed to be issued in his behalf any

challenge to compete against any professional or for money;

or (5) has pawned, bartered or sold any prize won in athletic

competition. It will be seen that by rule 3 the American

Union enacts a standard for all athletes not much different

from that of the British Amateur Rowing Association. The

rules for the sports not within the Union's jurisdiction are

practically the same, except that in baseball, cricket and golf

amateurs may compete with professionals, though not for cash

prizes. In the case of open golf competitions professional

prize-winners receive cash, while amateurs are given plate

to the value of their prizes as in Great Britain. There are

practically no professional football players in America.

On both sides of the Atlantic the question of the employment

of professional coaches has occasioned much discussion. In

America it has been accepted as legal. In England the same

is almost universally true, but there are certain exceptions,

such as the decision of the Henley Regatta Committee, that

no crew entering may be coached by a professional within two

months of the race-day. Whether such a regulation be wise

or the reverse is a question that depends upon the spirit

in which games are regarded. Nobody wants to disparage

proficiency; but if a game is conducted on business methods,

the ``game'' element tends to be minimized, and if its

object is pecuniary it ceases to be ``sport'' in the old

sense, and the old idea of the ``amateur'' who indulges

in it for love of the mere enjoyment tends to disappear.

AMATHUS, an ancient city of Cyprus, on the S. coast, about 24

m. W. of Larnaka and 6 m. E. of Limassol, among sandy

hills and sand-dunes, which perhaps explain its name in

Greek (amathos, sand). The earliest remains hitherto

found on the site are tombs of the early Iron Age period

of Graeco-Phoenician influences (1000-600 B.C.). Amathus

is identified by some (E. Oberhummer, Die Insel Cypern,

i., 1902, pp. 13-14; but see CITIUM) with Kartihadasti

(Phoenician ``New-Town'') in the Cypriote tribute-list of

Esarhaddon of Assyria (668 B.C.). It certainly maintained

strong Phoenician sympathies, for it was its refusal to

join the phil-Hellene league of Onesilas of Salamis which

provoked the revolt of Cyprus from Persia in 500-494 B.C.

(Herod. v. 105), when Amathus was besieged unsuccessfully

and avenged itself by the capture and execution of

Onesilas. The phil-Hellene Evagoras of Salamis was similarly

opposed by Amathus about 385-380 B.C. in conjunction

with Citium and Soli (Diod. Sic. xiv. 98); and even after

Alexander the city resisted annexation, and was bound over

to give hostages to Seleucus (Diod. Sic. xix. 62). Its

political importance now ended, but its temple of Adonis and

Aphrodite (Venus Amathusia) remained famous in Roman time.

The wealth of Amathus was derived partly from its corn

(Strabo 340, quoting Hipponax, fi. 540 B.C.), partly

from its copper mines (Ovid, Met. x. 220, 531), of

which traces can be seen inland (G. Mariti, i. 187; L.

Ross, Inselreise, iv. 195; W. H. Engel, Kypros, i. 111

ff.). Ovid also mentions its sheep (Met. x. 227); the

epithet Amathusia in Roman poetry often means little more

than ``Cypriote,'' attesting however the fame of the city.

Amathus still flourished and produced a distinguished patriarch

of Alexandria (Johannes Eleemon), as late as 606-616, and a

ruined Byzantine church marks the site; but it was already

almost deserted when Richard Coeur de Lion won Cyprus by

a victory there over Isaac Comnenus in 1191. The rich

necropolis, already partly plundered then, has yielded

valuable works of art to New York (L. P. di Cesnola, Cyprus,

1878 passim) and to the British Museum (Excavations in

Cyprus, 1894 (1899) passim); but the city has vanished,

except fragments of wall and of a great stone cistern on the

acropolis. A similar vessel was transported to the Louvre in

1867. Two small sanctuaries, with terra-cotta votive

offerings of Graeco-Phoenician age, lie not far off, but the

great shrine of Adonis and Aphrodite has not been identified

(M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros, i. ch.1). (J. L. M.)

AMATI, the name of a family of Italian violin-makers, who

flourished at Cremona from about 1550 to 1692. According

to Fetis, Andrea and Nicolo Amati, two brothers, were the

first Italians who made violins. They were succeeded by

Antonio and Geronimo, sons of Nicolo. Another Nicolo, son

of Geronimo, was born on the 3rd of September 1596 and died

on the 12th of August 1684. He was the most eminent of the

family. He improved the model adopted by the rest of the

Amatis and produced instruments capable of yielding greater

power of tone. His pattern was usually small, but he also

made the so-called ``Grand Amatis.'' Of his pupils the

most famous were Andrea Enamieri and Antonio Stradivari.

AMATITLAN, or SAN JUAN DE AMATITLAN, the capital of

a department bearing the same name in Guatemala, on Lake

Amatitlan, 15 m. S.W. of Guatemala city by the transcontinental

railway from Puerto Barrios to San Jose. Pop. (1905) about

10,000. The town consists almost entirely of one-storeyed

adobe huts inhabited by mulattoes and Indians, whose chief

industry is the production of cochineal. In 1840 only a small

Indian village marked its site, and its subsequent growth

was due to the sugar plantations established by a Jesuit

settlement. The wells of the town are strongly impregnated

with salt and alum, and in the vicinity there are several hot

springs. Lake Amatitlan, 9 m. long and 3 m. broad, lies

on the northern side of the great Guatemalan Cordillera.

Above it rises the four- cratered volcano of Pacaya (8390

ft.), which was in eruption in 1870. The outlet of the lake

is a swift river 65 m. long, which cuts a way through the

Cordillera, and enters the Pacific at Istapa, after forming

at San Pedro a fine waterfall more than 200 ft. high.

AMAUROSIS (Gr. for ``blinding,''), a term for ``deprivation of

sight,'' limited chiefly to those forms of defect or loss of vision

which are caused by diseases not directly involving the eye.

AMAZON, the great river of South America. Before the

conquest of South America, the Rio de las Amazonas had no

general name; for, according to a common custom, each savage

tribe gave a name only to the section of the river which it

occupied -- such as Paranaguazu, Guyerma, Sclimoes and

others. In the year 1500, Vicente Yanez Pinzon, in command

of a Spanish expedition, discovered and ascended the Amazon

to a point about 50 m. from the sea. He called it the Rio

Santa Maria de la Mar Dulce, which soon became abbreviated

to Mar Dulce, and for some years, after 1502, it was

known as the Rio Grande. The principal companions of

Pinzon, in giving evidence in 1513, mention it as El Ryo

Haranon. There is much controversy about the origin

of the word Maranon. Peter Martyr in a letter to Lope

Hurtado de Mendoza in 1513 is the first to state that it is

of native origin. Ten years after the death of Pinzon, his

friend Oviedo calls it the Maranon. Many writers believe

that this was its Indian name. We are disposed to agree

with the Brazilian historian Constancio that Maranon is

derived from the Spanish word marana, a tangle, a snarl,

which well represents the bewildering difficulties which the

earlier explorers met in navigating not only the entrance

to the Amazon, but the whole island-bordered, river-cut and

indented coast of the now Brazilian province of Maranhao.

The first descent of the mighty artery from the Andes to

the sea was made by Orellana in 1541, and the name Amazonas

arises from the battle which he had with a tribe of Tapuya

savages where the women of the tribe fought alongside the men,

as was the custom among all of the Tapuyas. Orellana, no

doubt, derived the name Amazonas from the ancient Amazons

(q.v.) of Asia and Africa described by Herodotusand Diodorus.

The first ascent of the river was made in 1638 by Pedro

Texiera, a Portuguese, who reversed the route of Orellana

and reached Quito by way of the Rio Napo. He returned

in 1639 with the Jesuit fathers Acuna and Artieda,

delegated by the viceroy of Peru to accompany him.

The river Amazon has a drainage area of 2,722,000 sq.

m., if the Tocantins be included in its basin. It drains

four-tenths of South America, and it gathers its waters

from 5 deg. N. to 20 deg. S. latitude. Its most remote sources

are found on the inter-Andean plateau, but a short distance

from the Pacific Ocean; and, after a course of about 4000

m. through the interior of Peru and across Brazil, it enters

the Atlantic Ocean on the equator. It is generally accepted

by geographers that the Maranon, or Upper Amazon, rises in

the little lake, Lauricocha, in 10 deg. 30' S. latitude, and 100

m. N.N.E. of Lima. They appear to have followed the

account given by Padre Fritz which has since been found

incorrect. According to Antonio Raimondi, it is the Rio

de Nupe branch of the small stream which issues from the

lake that has the longer course and the greater volume of

water. The Nupe rises in the Cordillera de Huayhuath and

is the true source of the Maranon. There is a difference

among geographers as to where the Maranon ends and the Amazon

begins, or whether both names apply to the same river. The

Pongo de Manseriche, at the base of the Andes and the head

of useful navigation, seems to be the natural terminus of the

Maranon; and an examination of the hydrographic conditions

of the great valley makes the convenience and accuracy of this

apparent. Raimondi terminates the Maranon at the mouth of

the Ucayali, Reclus the same, both following the missionary

fathers of the colonial period. C. M. de la Condamine uses

``Amazon'' and ``Maranon'' indiscriminately and considers

them one and the same. Smyth and Lowe give the mouth of

the Javary as the eastern limit, as does d'Orbigny. Wolf,

apparently uncertain, carries the ``Maranon or Amazon''

to the Peruvian frontier of Brazil at Tabatinga. Other

travellers and explorers contribute to the confusion.

This probably arises from the rivalry of the Spaniards and

Portuguese. The former accepted the name Maranon in Peru,

and as the missionaries penetrated the valley they extended

the name until they reached the mouth of the Ucayali;

while, as the Portuguese ascended the Amazon, they carried

this name to the extent of their explorations. Beginning

with the lower river we propose to notice, first, the great

affluents which go to swell the volume of the main stream.

Tributaries.

The TOCANTINS is not really a branch of the Amazon, although

usually so considered. It is the central fluvial artery

of Brazil, running from south to north for a distance of

about 1500 m. It rises in the mountainous district known as

the Pyreneos; but its more ambitious western affluent, the

Araguay, has its extreme southern headwaters on the slopes

of the Serra Cayapo, and flows a distance of 1080 m.

before its junction with the parent stream, which it appears

almost to equal in volume. Besides its main tributary, the

Rio das Mortes, it has twenty smaller branches, offering

many miles of canoe navigation. In finding its way to the

lowlands, it breaks frequently into falls and rapids, or

winds violently through rocky gorges, until, at a point about

100 m. above its junction with the Tocantins, it saws its

way across a rocky dyke for 12 m. in roaring cataracts.

The tributaries of the Tocantins, called the Maranhao and

Parana-tinga, collect an immense volume of water from the

highlands which surround them, especially on the south and

south-east. Between the latter and the confluence with the

Araguay, the Tocantins is occasionally obstructed by rocky

barriers which cross it almost at a right angle. Through

these, the river carves its channel, broken into cataracts

and rapids, or cachoeiras, as they are called throughout

Brazil. Its lowest one, the Itaboca cataract, is about 130

m. above its estuarine port of Cameta, for which distance the

river is navigable; but above that it is useless as a commercial

avenue, except for laborious and very costly transportation.

The flat, broad valleys, composed of sand and clay, of both

the Tocantins and its Araguay branch are overlooked by

steep bluffs. They are the margins of the great sandstone

plateaus, from 1000 to 2000 ft. elevation above sea-level,

through which the rivers have eroded their deep beds.

Around the estuary of the Tocantins the great plateau has

disappeared, to give place to a part of the forest-covered,

half submerged alluvial plain, which extends far to the

north-east and west. The Para river, generally called one

of the mouths of the Amazon, is only the lower reach of the

Tocantins. If any portion of the waters of the Amazon

runs round the southern side of the large island of Marajo

into the river Para, it is only through tortuous, natural

canals, which are in no sense outflow channels of the Amazon.

The XINGU, the next large river west of the Tocantins,

is a true tributary of the Amazon. It was but little known

until it was explored in 1884-1887 by Karl von den Steinen

from Cuyaba. Travelling east, 240 m., he found the river

Tamitatoaba, 180 ft. wide, flowing from a lake 25 m. in

diameter. He descended this torrential stream to the river

Romero, 1300 ft. wide, entering from the west, which receives

the river Colisu. These three streams form the Xingu, or

Parana-xingu, which, from 73 m. lower down, bounds along a

succession of rapids for 400 m. A little above the head of

navigation, 105 m. from its mouth, the river makes a bend to

the east to find its way across a rocky barrier. Here is the

great cataract of Itamaraca, which rushes down an inchned

plane for 3 m. and then gives a final leap, called the fall of

Itamaraca. Near its mouth, the Xingu expands into an

immense lake, and its waters then mingle with those of the

Amazon through a labyrinth of eanos (natural canals),

winding in countless directions through a wooded archipelago.

The TAPAHOS, running through a humid, hot and unhealthy

valley, pours into the Amazon 500 m. above Para and is about

1200 m. long. It rises on the lofty Brazilian plateau near

Diamantino in 14 deg. 25' S. lat. Near this place a number of

streams unite to form the river Arinos, which at latitude

10 deg. 25' joins the Juruena to form the Alto Tapajos, so

called as low down as the Rio Manoel, entering from the

east. Thence to Santarem the stream is known as the

Tapajos. The lower Arinos, the Alto Tapajos and the Tapajos

to the last rapid, the Maranhao Grande, is a continuous

series of formidable cataracts and rapids; but from the

Maranhao Grande to its mouth, about 188 m., the river can

be navigated by largevessels. For its last 100 mi. it is from

4 to 9 m. wide and much of it very deep. The valley of the

Tapajos is bordered on both sides by bluffs. They are from

300 to 400 ft. high along the lower river; but, a few miles

above Santarem, they retire from the eastern side and only

approach the Amazon flood-plain some miles below Santarem.

The MADEIRA has its junction with the Amazon 870 mi. by

river above Para, and almost rivals it in the volume of its

waters. It rises more than 50 ft. during the rainy season,

and the largest ocean steamers may ascend it to the Fall

of San Antonio, 663 m. above its mouth; but in the dry

months, from June to November, it is only navigable for

the same distance for craft drawing from 5 to 6 ft. of

water. According to the treaty of San Ildefonso, the

Madeira begins at the confluence of the Guapore with the

Mamore. Both of these streams have their headwaters

almost in contact with those of the river Paraguay. The

idea of a connecting canal is based on ignorance of local

conditions. San Antonio is the first of a formidable series

of cataracts and rapids, nineteen in number, which, for

a river distance of 263 m., obstruct the upper course of

the Madeira until the last rapid called Guajara Merim

(or Small Pebble), is reached, a little below the union

of the Guapore with the Mamore. The junction of the

great river Beni with the Madeira is at the Madeira Fall,

a vast and grand display ofreefs, whirlpools and boiling

torrents. Between Guajara-Merim and this fall, inclusive,

the Madeira receives the drainage of the northeastern slopes

of the Andes, from Santa Cruz de la Sierra to Cuzco, the

whole of the south-western slope of Brazilian Matto (irosso

and the northern one of the Chiquitos sierras, an area about

equal to that of France and Spain. The waters find their

way to the falls of the Madeira by many great rivers, the

principal of which, if we enumerate them from east to west,

are the Guapore or Itenez, the Baures and Blanco, the Itonama

or San Miguel, the Mamore, Beni, and Mayutata or Madre de

Dios, all of which are reinforced by numerous secondary but

powerful affluents. The Guapore presents many difficulties

to continuous navigation; the Baures and Itonama offer

hundreds of miles of navigable waters through beautiful

plains; the Mamore has been sounded by the writer in the

driest month of the year for a distance of 500 m. above

Guajara-Merim, who found never less than from 10 to 30 ft.

of water, with a current of from 1 to 3 m. an hour. Its Rio

Grande branch, explored under the writer's instructions, was

found navigable for craft drawing 3 ft. of water to within

30 m. of Santa Cruz de la Sierra -- a level sandy plain

intervening. The Grande is a river of enormous length, rising

in a great valley of the Andes between the important cities

of Sucre and Cochabamba, and having its upper waters in

close touch with those of the Pilcomayo branch of the river

Paraguay. It makes a long curve through the mountains, and,

after a course of about 800 m., joins the Mamore near 15 deg. S.

lat. The Chapare, Secure and Chimore, tributaries of the

Mamore, are navigable for launches up to the base of the

mountains, to within 130 m. of Cochabamba. The Beni has a

12-ft. fall 18 m. above its mouth called ``La Esperanza'';

beyond this, it is navigable for 217 m. to the port of Reyes

for launches in the dry season and larger craft in the wet

one. The extreme source of the Beni is the little river La Paz,

which rises in the inter-Andean region, a few miles south-east

of Lake Titicaca, and flows as a rivulet through the Bolivian

city of La Paz. From this point to Reyes the river is a torrent.

The principal affluent of the Beni, and one which exceeds it in

volume, enters it 120 m. above its mouth, and is known to the

Indians along its banks as the Mayutata, but the Peruvians

call it the Madre de Dios. Its ramifications drain the

slopes of the Andes between 12 deg. and 15 deg. of latitude. It

is navigable in the wet season to within 180 m. of Cuzco.

Its upper waters are separated by only a short transitable

canoe portage of 7 m. in a straight line from those of the

Ucayali. The portage on the eastern side terminates at

the Cashpajah river 22 m. above its junction with the

Manu. For the first 13 m. it is navigable all the year

for craft drawing 18 in. of water, but the remaining 9 m.

present many obstacles to navigation. At the Manu junction

the elevation above sea-level is 1070 ft., the river width

300 ft., depth 8 ft., current 1 1/4 m. per hour. The general

direction of the Manu is south-east for 158 m. as far as the

Pilcopata river, where under the name of Madre de Dios it

continues with a flow of 22,000 cubic metres per minute.

Here its elevation is 718 ft. above the sea and its width 500

ft. During the above course of 158 m. the Manu receives 135

large and small affluents. Although the inclination of its bed

is not great, the obstacles to free navigation are abundant,

and consist of enormous trees and masses of tree-trunks

which have filled the river during the period of freshets.

From the time it receives the Manu, the Madre de Dios carries

its immense volume of waters 485 m. to the Beni over the

extremely easy slope of a vast and fertile plain. Its banks are

low, its bottom pebbly. A greater part of its course is filled

with large and small islands some 63 in number. Its average

width is about 1500 ft. Below the mouth of the Tambopata,

the flow is estimated at 191,250 cubic metres per minute. The

average current is 2 1/2 m. per hour. There are two important

rapids and one cataract on the lower 300 m. of the river.

The Mayutata receives three principal tributaries from

the south -- the Tambopata, Inambari and Pilcopata.

The Peruvian government has sought to open a trade route

between the Rio Ucayali and the rich rubber districts of the

Mayutata. All of the upper branches of the river Madeira find

their way to the falls across the open, almost level Mojos and

Beni plains, 35,000 sq. m. of which are yearly flooded to an

average depth of about 3 ft. for a period of from three to four

months. They rival if they do not exceed in fertility the

valley of the Nile, and are the healthiest and most inviting

agricultural and grazing region of the basin of the Amazon.

The PURUS, a very sluggish river, enters the Amazon west

of the Madeira, which it parallels as far south as the falls

of the latter stream. It runs through a continuous forest at

the bottom of the great depression lying between the Madeira

river, which skirts the edge of the Brazilian sandstone

plateau, and the Ucayali which hugs the base of the Andes.

One of its marked features is the five parallel furos1

which from the north-west at almost regular intervals the

Amazon sends to the Purus; the most south-westerly one

being about 150 m. above the mouth of the latter river.

They cut a great area of very low-lying country into five

islands. Farther down the Purfis to the right three smaller

furos also connect it with the Amazon. Chandless found its

elevation above sea-level to be only 107 ft. 590 m. from its

mouth. It is one of the most crooked streams in the world,

and its length in a straight line is less than half that by its

curves. It is practically only a drainage ditch for the

half-submerged, lake-flooded district it traverses. Its

width is very uniform for 1000 m. up, and for 800 m. its

depth is never less than 45 ft. It is navigable by steamers

for 1648 m. as far as the little stream, the Curumaha,

but only by light-draft craft. Chandless ascended it 1866

m. At 1792 m. it forks into two small streams. Occasionally

a cliff touches the river, but in general the lands are

subject to yearly inundations throughout its course, the

river rising at times above 50 ft., the numerous lakes

to the right and left serving as reservoirs. Its main

tributary, the Aquiry or Acre, enters from the right about

1104 m. from the Amazon. Its sources are near those of the

Mayutata. It is navigable for a period of about five months

of the year, when the Purus valley is inundated; and,

for the remaining seven months, only canoes can ascend it

sufficiently high to communicate overland with the settlements

in the great india-rubber districts of the Mayutata and

lower Beni; thus these regions are forced to seek a canoe

outlet for their rich products by the very dangerous,

costly and laborious route of the falls of the Madeira.

The JURUA is the next great southern affluent of the

Amazon west of the Purus, sharing with this the bottom

of the immense inland Amazon depression, and having all

the characteristics of the Purus as regards curvature,

sluggishness and general features of the low, half-flooded

forest country it traverses. It rises among the Ucayali

highlands, and is navigable and unobstructed for a

distance of 1133 m. above its junction with the Amazon.

The Javary, the boundary line between Brazil and Peru,

is another Amazon tributary of importance. It is supposed

to be navigable by canoe for 900 m. above its mouth to

its sources among the Ucayali highlands, but only 260 have

been found suitable for steam navigation. The Brazilian

Boundary Commission ascended it in 1866 to the junction

of the Shino with its Jaquirana branch. The country

it traverses in its extremely sinuous course is very

level, similar in character to that of the Jurua, and is

a fostered wilderness occupied by a few savage hordes.

The UCAYALI, which rises only about 70 m. north of Lake

Titicaca, is the most interesting branch of the Amazon next

to the Madeira. The Ucayali was first called the San Miguel,

then the Ucayali, Ucayare, Poro, Apu-Poro, Cocama and Rio de

Cuzco. Peru has fitted out many costly and ably-conducted

expeditions to explore it. One of them (1867) claimed to

have reached within 240 m. of Lima, and the little steamer

``Napo'' forced its way up the violent currents for 77 m.

above the junction with the Pachitea river as far as the river

Tambo, 770 m. from the confluence of the Ucayali with the

Amazon. The ``Napo'' then succeeded in ascending the

Urubamba branch of the Ucayali 35 m. above its union with the

Tambo, to a point 200 m. north of Cuzco. The remainder of

the Urubamba, as shown by Bosquet in 1806 and Castelnau in

1846, is interrupted by cascades, reefs and numberless other

obstacles to navigation. Senor Torres, who explored the

Alto Ucayali for the Peruvian government, gives it a length

of 186 m., counting from the mouth of the Pachitea to the

junction of the Tambo and Urubamba. Its width varies from

1300 to 4000 ft., due to the great number of islands. The

current runs from 3 to 4 m. an hour, and a channel from 60

to 150 ft. wide can always be found with a minimum depth of 5

ft. There are five bad passes, due to the accumulation of

trees and rafts of timber. Sometimes enormous rocks have

fallen from the mountains and spread over the river-bed causing

huge whirlpools. ``No greater difficulties present themselves

to navigation by 10-knot steamers drawing 4 ft. of water.''

The TAMBO, which rises in the Vilcanota knot of mountains

south of Cuzco, is a torrential stream valueless for commercial

purposes. The banks of the Ucayali for 500 m. up are

low, and in the rainy season extensively inundated.

The HUALLAGA (also known as the Guallaga and Rio de los

Motilones), which joins the Amazon to the west of the

Ucayali, rises high among the mountains, in about 10 deg. 40'

S. lat., on the northern slopes of the celebrated Cerro de

Pasco. For nearly its entire length it is an impetuous

torrent running through a succession of gorges. It has

forty-two rapids, its last obstruction being the Pongo de

Aguirre, so called from the traitor Aguirre who passed

there. To this point, 140 m. from the Amazon, the Huallaga

can be ascended by large river steamers. Between the Huallaga

and the Ucayali lies the famous ``Pampa del Sacramento,''

a level region of stoneless alluvial lands covered with

thick, dark forests, first entered by the missionaries in

1726. It is about 300 m. long, from north to south, and

varies in width from 40 to 100 m. Many streams, navigable

for canoes, penetrate this region from the Ucayali and the

Huallaga. It is still occupied by savage tribes.

The river MARANON rises about 100 m. to the north-east of

Lima. It flows through a deeply-eroded Andean valley in

a north-west direction, along the eastern base of the

Cordillera of the Andes, as far as 5 deg. 36' S. lat.; then it

makes a great bend to the north-east, and with irresistible

power cuts through the inland Andes, until at the Pongo de

Manseriche2 it victoriously breaks away from the mountains

to flow onwards through the plains under the name of the

Amazon. Barred by reefs, and full of rapids and impetuous

currents, it cannot become a commercial avenue. At the point

where it makes its great bend the river Chinchipe pours into

it from southern Ecuador. Just below this the mountains

close in on either side of the Marapon, forming narrows

or pongos for a length of 35 m., where, besides numerous

whirlpools, there are no less than thirty-five formidable

rapids, the series concluding with three cataracts just

before reaching the river Imasa or Chunchunga, near the

mouth of which La Condamine embarked in the 18th century to

descend the Amazon. Here the general level of the country

begins to decrease in elevation, with only a few mountain

spurs, which from time to time push as far as the river

and form pongos of minor importance and less dangerous to

descend. Finally, after passing the narrows of Guaracayo,

the cerros gradually disappear, and for a distance of about

20 m. the river is full of islands, and there is nothing

visible from its low banks but an immense forest-covered

plain. But the last barrier has yet to be passed, the Pongo

de Manseriche, 3 m. long, just below the mouth of the Rio

Santiago, and between it and the old abandoned missionary

station of Borja, in 38 deg. 30' S. lat. and 77 deg. 30' 40'' W.

long. According to Captain Carbajal, who descended it in

the little steamer ``Napo,' in 1868, it is a vast rent in

the Andes about 2000 ft. deep, narrowing in places to a

width of only 100 ft., the precipices ``seeming to close in

at the top.'' Through this dark canon the Maranon leaps

along, at times, at the rate of 12 m. an hour3. The Pongo

de Manseriche was first discovered by the Adelantado Joan de

Salinas. He fitted out an expedition at Loxa in Ecuador,

descended the Rio Santiago to the Maranon, passed through

the perilous Pongo in 1557 and invaded the country of the

Maynas Indians. Later, the missionaries of Cuenca and Quito

established many missions in the Pais de los Maynas, and

made extensive use of the Pongo de Manseriche as an avenue

of communication with their several convents on the Andean

plateau. According to their accounts, the huge rent in the

Andes, the Pongo, is about five or six m. long, and in places

not more than 80 ft. wide, and is a frightful series of torrents

and whirlpools interspersed with rocks. There is an ancient

tradition of the savages of the vicinity that one of their

gods descending the Maranon and another ascending the Amazon

to communicate with him, they opened the pass called the

Pongo de Manseriche. From the northern slope of its basin the

Amazon receives many tributaries, but their combined volume

of water is not nearly so great as that contributed to the

parent stream by its affluents from the south. That part of

Brazil lying between the Amazon and French, Dutch and British

Guiana, and bounded on the west by the Rio Negro, is known

as Brazilian Guiana. It is the southern watershed of a

tortuous, low chain of mountains running, roughly, east and

west. Their northern slope, which is occupied by the three

Guianas first named, is saturated and river-torn; but their

southern one, Brazilian Guiana, is in general thirsty and

semi-barren, and the driest region of the Amazon valley.

It is an area which has been left almost in the undisturbed

possession of nomadic Indian tribes, whose scanty numbers find

it difficult to solve the food problem. From the divortium

aquarum between French Guiana and Brazil, known as the

Tumuc-humac range of highlands, two minor streams, the Yary

and the Parou, reach the Amazon across the intervening broken

and barren tableland. They are full of rapids and reefs.

The TROMBETAS is the first river of importance we meet on

the northern side as we ascend the Amazon. Its confluence

with this is just above the town of Obidos. It has its

sources in the Guiana highlands, but its long course

is frequently interrupted by violent currents, rocky

barriers, and rapids. The inferior zone of the river,

as far up as the first fall, the Porteira, has but little

broken water and is low and swampy; but above the long

series of cataracts and rapids the character and aspect

of the valley completely change, and the climate is much

better. The river is navigable for 135 m. above its mouth.

The NEGRO, the great northern tributary of the Amazon,

has its sources along the watershed between the Orinoco

and the Amazon basins, and also connects with the Orinoco

by way of the Casiquiare canal. Its main affluent is the

Uaupes, which disputes with the headwaters of the Guaviari

branch of the Orinoco the drainage of the eastern slope of

the ``Oriental', Andes of Colombia. The Negro is navigable

for 450 m. above its mouth for 4 ft. of water in the dry

season, but it has many sandbanks and minor difficulties.

In the wet season, it overflows the country far and wide,

sometimes to a breadth of 20 m., for long distances, and

for 400 m. up, as far as Santa Isabella, is a succession of

lagoons, full of long islands and intricate channels, and the

slope of the country is so gentle that the river has almost no

current. But just before reaching the Uaupes there is a long

series of reefs, over which it violently flows in cataracts,

rapids and whirlpools. The Uaupes is full of similar

obstacles, some fifty rapids barring its navigation, although

a long stretch of its upper course is said to be free from

them, and to flow gently through a forested country. Despite

the impediments, canoes ascend this stream to the Andes.

The Branco is the principal affluent of the Negro from the

north; it is enriched by many streams from the sierras

which separate Venezuela and British Guiana from Brazil.

Its two upper main tributaries are the Urariquira and the

Takutu. The latter almost links its sources with those of the

Essequibo. The Branco flows nearly south, and finds its way

into the Negro through several channels and a chain of lagoons

similar to those of the latter river. It is 350 m. long, up to

its Urariquira confluence. It has numerous islands, and, 235

m. above its mouth, it is broken by a bad series of rapids.

CASIQUIARE CANAL. In 1744 the Jesuit Father Roman, while

ascending the Orinoco river, met some Portuguese slave-traders

from the settlements on the Rio Negro. He accompanied

them on their return, by way of the Casiquiare canal, and

afterwards retraced his route to the Orinoco. La Condamine,

seven months later, was able to give to the French Academy

an account of Father Roman's extraordinary voyage, and

thus confirm the existence of this wonderful waterway first

reported by Father Acuna in 1639. But little credence was

given to Father Roman's statement until it was verified, in

1756, by the Spanish Boundary-line Commission of Yturriaga y

Solano. The actual elevation of the canal above sea-level

is not known, but is of primary importance to the study of

the hydrography of South America. Travellers in general

give it at from 400 to 900 ft., but, after much study of the

question of altitudes throughout South America, the writer

believes that it does not exceed 300 ft. The canal connects

the upper Orinoco, 9 m. below the mission of Esmeraldas, with

the Rio Negro affluent of the Amazon near the town of San

Carlos. The general course is south-west, and its length,

including windings, is about 200 m. Its width, at its

bifurcation with the Orinoco, is approximately 300 ft., with a

current towards the Negro of three-quarters of a mile an hour;

but as it gains in volume from the very numerous tributary

streams, large and small, which it receives en route, its

velocity increases, and in the wet season reaches 5 and even

8 m. an hour in certain stretches. It broadens considerably

as it approaches its mouth, where it is about 1750 ft. in

width. It will thus be seen that the volume of water it

captures from the Orinoco is small in comparison to what

it accumulates in its course. In flood-time it is said to

have a second connexion with the Rio Negro by a branch which

it throws off to the westward called the Itinivini, which

leaves it at a point about 50 m. above its mouth. In the

dry season it has shallows, and is obstructed by sandbanks,

a few rapids and granite rocks. Its shores are densely

wooded, and the soil more fertile than that along the Rio

Negro. The general slope of the plains through which the

canal runs is south-west, but those of the Rio Negro slope

south-east. The whole line of the Casiquiare is infested

with myriads of tormenting insects. A few miserable groups

of Indians and half-breeds have their small villages along

its southern portion. It is thus seen that this marvellous

freak of nature is not, as is generally supposed, a sluggish

canal on a flat tableland, but a great, rapid river which,

if its upper waters had not found contact with the Orinoco,

perhaps by cutting back, would belong entirely to the Negro

branch of the Amazon. To the west of the Casiquiare there

is a much shorter and more facile connexion between the

Orinoco and Amazon basins, called the isthmus of Pimichin,

which is reached by ascending the Terni branch of the Atabapo

affluent of the Orinoco. Although the Terni is somewhat

obstructed, it is believed that it could easily be made

navigable for small craft. The isthmus is 10 m. across, with

undulating ground, nowhere over 50 ft. high, with swamps and

marshes. It is much used for the transit of large canoes,

which are hauled across it from the Terni river, and which

reach the Negro by the little stream called the Pimichin.

The YAPURA. West of the Negro the Amazon receives

three more imposing streams from the north-west -- the

Yapura, the Ica or Putumayo, and the Napo. The first

was formerly known as the Hyapora, but its Brazilian part

is now called the Yapura, and its Colombian portion the

Caqueta. Barao de Marajo gives it 600 m. of navigable

stretches. Jules Crevaux, who descended it, describes it as

full of obstacles to navigation, the current very strong and

the stream frequently interrupted by rapids and cataracts.

It rises in the Colombian Andes, nearly in touch with the

sources of the Magdalena, and augments its volume from many

branches as it courses through Colombia. It was long supposed

to have eight mouths; but Ribeiro de Sampaio, in his voyage of

1774, determined that there was but one real mouth, and that

the supposed others are all furos or canos4 In 1864-1868

the Brazilian government made a somewhat careful examination

of the Brazilian part of the river, as far up as the rapid of

Cupaty. Several very easy and almost complete water-routes

exist between the Yapura and Negro across the low, flat

intervening country. Barao de Marajo says there are six

of them, and one which connects the upper Yapura with the

Uaupes branch of the Negro; thus the Indian tribes of the

respective valleys have facile contact with each other.

The ICA or PUTUMAYO, west of and parallel to the Yapura,

was found more agreeable to navigate by Crevaux. He ascended

it in a steamer drawing 6 ft. of water, and running day and

night. He reached Cuemby, 800 m. above its mouth, without

finding a single rapid. Cuemby is only 200 m. from the

Pacific Ocean, in a straight line, passing through the

town of Pasto in southern Colombia. There was not a stone

to be seen up to the base of the Andes; the river banks

were of argillaceous earth and the bottom of fine sand.

The NAPO rises on the flanks of the volcanoes of Antisana,

Sincholagua and Cotopaxi. Before it reaches the plains it

receives a great number of small streams from impenetrable,

saturated and much broken mountainous districts, where the

dense and varied vegetation seems to fight for every square

foot of ground. From the north it is joined by the river

Coca, having its sources in the gorges of Cayambe on the

equator, and also a powerful river, the Aguarico, having

its headwaters between Cayambe and the Colombian frontier.

From the west it receives a secondary tributary, the Curaray,

from the Andean slopes, between Cotopaxi and the volcano of

Tunguragua. From its Coca branch to the mouth of the Curaray

the Napo is full of snags and shelving sandbanks, and throws

out numerous canos among jungle-tangled islands, which

in the wet season are flooded, giving the river an immense

width. From the Coca to the Amazon it runs through a forested

plain where not a hill is visible from the river -- its

uniformly level banks being only interrupted by swamps and

lagoons. From the Amazon the Napo is navigable for river

craft up to its Curaray branch, a distance of about 216 m.,

and perhaps a few miles farther; thence, by painful canoe

navigation, its upper waters may be ascended as far as Santa

Rosa, the usual point of embarkation for any venturesome

traveller who descends from the Quito tableland. The Coca

river may be penetrated as far up as its middle course, where

it is jammed between two mountain walls, in a deep canyon, along

which it dashes over high falls and numerous reefs. This is

the stream made famous by the expedition of Gonzalo Pizarro.

The NANAY is the next Amazon tributary of importance west

of the Napo. It belongs entirely to the lowlands, and is very

crooked, has a slow current and divides much into canos

and strings of lagoons which flood the flat, low areas of

country on either side. It is simply the drainage ditch

of districts which are extensively overflowed in the rainy

season. Captain Butt ascended it 195 m., to near its source.

The TIGRE is the next west of the Nanay, and is navigable for

125 m. from its confluence with the Amazon. Like the Nanay,

it belongs wholly to the plains. Its mouth is 42 m. west of

the junction of the Ucayali with the Amazon. Continuing west

from the Tigre we have the Parinari, Chambira, and Nucuray,

all short lowland streams, resembling the Nanay in character.

The PASTAZA (the ancient river Sumatara) is the next large

river we meet. It rises on the Ecuadorian tableland, where

a branch from the valley of Riobamba unites with one from

the Latacunga basin and breaks through the inland range

of the Andes; and joined, afterwards, by several important

tributaries, finds its way south-east among the gorges;

thence it turns southward into the plains, and enters the

Amazon at a point about 60 m. west of the mouth of the

Huallaga. So far as known, it is a stream of no value

except for canoe navigation. Its rise and fall are rapid

and uncertain, and it is shallow and full of sandbanks

and snags. It is a terrible river when in flood.

The MORONA flows parallel to the Pastaza and immediately to

the west of it, and is the last stream of any importance on

the northern side of the Amazon before reaching the Pongo de

Manseriche. It is formed from a multitude of water-courses

which descend the slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes south of

the gigantic volcano of Sangay; but it soon reaches the

plain, which commences where it receives its Cusulima

branch. The MORONA is navigable for small craft for about

300 m. above its mouth, but it is extremely tortuous. Canoes

may ascend many of its branches, especially the Cusuhma and

the Miazal, the latter almost to the base of Sangay. The

Morona has been the scene of many rude explorations, with

the hope of finding it serviceable as a commercial route

between the inter-Andean tableland of Ecuador and the Amazon

river. A river called the Paute dashes through the eastern

Andes from the valley of Cuenca; and a second, the Zamora,

has broken through the same range from the basin of Loja.

Swollen by their many affluents, they reach the lowlands

and unite their waters to form the Santiago, which flows

into the Maranon at the head of the Pongo de Manseriche.

There is but little known of a trustworthy character

regarding this river, but Wolf says that it is probably

navigable up to the junction of the Paute with the Zamora.

The Main River.

Physical characteristics.

The AMAZON MAIN RIVER is navigable for ocean steamers

as far as Iquitos, 2300 m. from the sea, and 486 m. higher

up for vessels drawing 14 ft. of water, as far as Achual

Point. Beyond that, according to Tucker, confirmed by

Wertheman, it is unsafe; but small steamers frequently

ascend to the Pongo de Manseriche, just above Achual Point

The average current of the Amazon is about 3 m. an hour;

but, especially in flood, it dashes through some of its

contracted channels at the rate of 5 m. The U.S. steamer

``Wilmington'' ascended it to Iquitos in 1899. Commander

Todd reports that the average depth of the river in the

height of the rainy season is 120 ft. It commences to rise

in November, and increases in volume until June, and then

falls until the end of October. The rise of the Negro branch

is not synchronous; for the steady rains do not commence

in its valley until February or March. By June it is full,

and then it begins to fall with the Amazon. According to

Bates, the Madeira ``rises and sinks'' two months earlier

than the Amazon. The Amazon at times broadens to 4 and 6

m. Occasionally, for long distances, it divides into two

main streams with inland, lateral channels, all connected

by a complicated system of natural canals, cutting the low,

flat igapo lands, which are never more than 15 ft. above

low river, into almost numberless islands.5 At the narrows

of Obidos, 400 m. from the sea, it is compressed into a

single bed a mile wide and over 200 ft. deep, through which

the water rushes at the rate of 4 to 5 m. an hour. In the

rainy season it inundates the country throughout its course

to the extent of several hundred thousand square miles,

covering the flood-plain, called vargem. The flood-levels

are in places from 40 to 50 ft. high above low river. Taking

four roughly equidistant places, the rise at Iquitos is 20

ft., at Teffe 45, near Obidos 35, and at Para 12 ft.

The first high land met in ascending the river is on the

north bank, opposite the mouth of the Xingu, and extends

for about 150 m. up, as far as Monte Alegre. It is a

series of steep, table-topped hills, cut down to a kind of

terrace which lies between them and the river. Monte Alegre

reaches an altitude of several hundred feet. On the south

side, above the Xingu, a line of low bluffs extends, in

a series of gentle curves with hardly any breaks nearly to

Santarem, but a considerable distance inland, bordering the

flood-plain, which is many miles wide. Then they bend to

the south-west, and, abutting upon the lower Tapajos, merge

into the bluffs which form the terrace margin of that river

valley. The next high land on the north side is Obidos, a

bluff, 56 ft. above the river, backed by low hills. From

Serpa, nearly opposite the river Madeira, to near the mouth of

the Rio Negro, the banks are low, until approaching Manaos,

they are rolling hills; but from the Negro, for 600 m. as

far up as the village of Canaria, at the great bend of the

Amazon, only very low land is found, resembling that at the

mouth of the river. Vast areas of it are submerged athigh

water, above which only the upper part of the trees of the

sombre forests appear. At Canaria, the high land commences

and continues as far as Tabatinga, and thence up stream.

On the south side, from the Tapajos to the river Madeira,

the banks are usually low, although two or three hills break

the general monotony. From the latter river, however, to

the Ucayali, a distance of nearly 1500 m., the forested

banks are just out of water, and are inundated long before

the river attains its maximum flood-line. Thence to the

Huallaga the elevation of the land is somewhat greater;

but not until this river is passed, and the Pongo de

Manseriche approached, does the swelling ground of the

Andean foot-hills raise the country above flood-level.

The Amazon is not a continuous incline, but probably consists

of long, level stretches connected by short inclined planes

of extremely little fall, sufficient, however, owing to

its great depth, to give the gigantic volume of water a

continuous impulse towards the ocean. The lower Amazon

presents every evidence of having once been an ocean

gulf, the upper waters of which washed the cliffs near

Obidos. Only about 10% of the water discharged by the

mighty stream enters it below Obidos, very little of which

is from the northern slope of the valley. The drainage area

of the Amazon basin above Obidos is about 1,945,000 sq.

m., and, below, only about 423,000 sq. m., or say 20%,

exclusive of the 554,000 sq. m. of the Tocantins basin.

The width of the mouth of the monarch river is usually measured

from Cabo do Norte to Punto Patijoca, a distance of 207

statute m.; but this includes the ocean outlet, 40 m. wide,

of the Para river, which should be deducted, as this stream

is only the lower reach of the Tocantins. It also includes

the ocean frontage of Marajo, an island about the size of

the kingdom of Denmark lying in the mouth of the Amazon.

Following the coast, a little to the north of Cabo do

Norte, and for 100 m. along its Guiana margin up the

Amazon, is a belt of half-submerged islands and shallow

sandbanks. Here the tidal phenomenon called the bore,

or Pororoca, occurs, where the soundings are not over 4

fathoms. It commences with a roar, constantly increasing,

and advances at the rate of from 10 to 15 m. an hour, with

a breaking wall of water from 5 to 12 ft. high. Under

such conditions of warfare between the ocean and the river,

it is not surprising that the former is rapidly eating

away the coast and that the vast volume of silt carried

by the Amazon finds it impossible to build up a delta.

The Amazon is not so much a river as it is a gigantic

reservoir, extending from the sea to the base of the Andes,

and, in the wet season, varying in width from 5 to 400

m. Special attention has already been called to the

fourteen great streams which discharge into this reservoir,

but it receives a multitude of secondary rivers, which in

any other part of the wodd would also be termed great.

Population, trace, &c.

For 350 years after the discovery of the Amazon, by Pinzon,

the Portuguese portion of its basin remained almost an

undisturbed wilderness, occupied by Indian tribes whom

the food quest had split into countless fragments. It is

doubtful if its indigenous inhabitants ever exceeded one

to every 5 sq. m. of territory, this being the maximum it

could support under the existing conditions of the period in

question, and taking into account Indian methods of life. A

few settlements on the banks of the main river and some of

its tributaries, either for trade with the Indians or for

evangelizing purposes, had been founded by the Portuguese

pioneers of European civilization. The total population of

the Brazilian portion of the Amazon basin in 1850 was perhaps

300,000, of whom about two-thirds were white and slaves,

the latter numbering about 25,000. The principal commercial

city, Para, had from 10,000 to 12,000 inhabitants, including

slaves. The town of Manaos, at the mouth of the Rio Negro,

had from 1000 to 1500 population; but all the remaining

villages, as far up as Tabatinga, on the Brazilian frontier

of Peru, were wretched little groups of houses which

appeared to have timidly effected a lodgment on the river

bank, as if they feared to challenge the mysteries of the

sombre and gigantic forests behind them. The value of the

export and import trade of the whole valley in 1850 was but

On the 6th of September 1850 the emperor, Dom Pedro II.,

sanctioned a law authorizing steam navigation on the Amazon,

and confided to an illustrious Brazilian, Barao Maua (Irineu

Evangilista de Sousa), the task of carrying it into effect.

He organized the ``Compania de Navigacao e Commercio do

Amazonas'' at Rio de Janeiro in 1852; and in the following

year it commenced operations with three small steamers, the

``Monarch,'' the ``Marajo'' and ``Rio Negro.'' At first the

navigation was principally confined to the main river; and

even in 1857 a modification of the government contract only

obliged the company to a monthly service between Para and

Manaos, with steamers of 200 tons cargo capacity, a second

line to make six round voyages a year between Manaos and

Tabatinga, and a third, two trips a month between Para and

Cameta. The government paid the company a subvention of

L. 3935 monthly. Thus the first impulse of modern progress

was given to the dormant valley. The success of the venture

called attention to the unoccupied field; a second company

soon opened commerce on the Madeira, Purus and Negro; a

third established a line between Para and Manaos; and a

fourth found it profitable to navigate some of the smaller

streams; while, in the interval, the Amazonas Company

had largely increased its fine fleet. Meanwhile private

individuals were building and running small steam craft of

their own, not only upon the main river but upon many of its

affluents. The government of Brazil, constantly pressed

by the maritime powers and by the countries encircling the

upper Amazon basin, decreed, on the 31st of July 1867, the

opening of the Amazon to all flags; but limited this to

certain defined points -- Tabatinga, on the Amazon; Cameta,

on the Tocantins; Santarem, on the Tapajos; Borba, on the

Madeira; Manaos, on the Rio Negro; the decree to take effect

on the 7th of September of the same year. Para, Manaos

and Iquitos are now thriving commercial centres. The first

direct foreign trade with Manaos was commenced about 1874.

The local trade of the river is carried on by the English

successors to the Amazonas Company -- the Amazon Steam

Navigation Company. In addition to its excellent fleet there

are numerous small river steamers, belonging to companies

and firms engaged in the rubber trade, navigating the Negro,

Madeira, Purfis and many other streams. The principal exports

of the valley are india-rubber, cacao, Brazil nuts and a few

other products of very minor importance. The finest quality

of india-rubber comes from the Acre and Beni districts of

Bolivia, especially from the valley of the Acre (or Aquiry)

branch of the river Purus. Of the rubber production of the

Amazon basin, the state of Para gives about 35%. The cacao

tree is not cultivated, but grows wild in great abundance.

There is but one railway in the whole valley; it is a short

line from Para towards the coast. The cities of Para and

Manaos have excellent tramways, many fine public buildings

and private residences, gardens and public squares, all of

which give evidence of artistic taste and great prosperity.

The number of inhabitants in the Brazilian Amazon basin (the states

of Amazonas and Para) is purely a matter of rough estimate.

There may be 500,000 or 600,000, or more; for the immigration

during recent years from the other parts of Brazil has been

large, due to the rubber excitement. The influx from the state

of Ceara alone, from 1892 to 1899 inclusive, reached 98,348.

As Commander Todd, in his report to the United States

government, says: ``The crying need of the Amazon valley is

food for the people.... At the small towns along the river

it is nearly impossible to obtain beef, vegetables, or fruit

of any sort, and the inhabitants depend largely upon river

fish, mandioc, and canned goods for their subsistence.''

Although more than four centuries have passed since the

discovery of the Amazon river, there are probably not 25

sq. m. of its basin under cultivation, excluding the limited

and rudely cultivated areas among the mountains at its

extreme headwaters, which are inaccessible to commerce.

The extensive exports of the mighty valley are almost

entirely derived from the products of the forest. (G. E. C.)

1 A furo is a natural canal -- sometimes merely a deviation from

the main channel, which it ultimately rejoins, sometimes a connexion

across low flat country between two entirely separate streams.

2 Pongo is a corruption of the Quichua puncu and the

Aymara ponco, meaning a door. The Pongo de Manseriche

was first named Maranon, then Santiago, and later

Manseric, afterwards Mansariche and Manseriche, owing to

the great numbers of parrakeets found on the rocks there.

3 One of the most daring deeds of exoloration ever known in

South America was done by the engineer A. Wertheman. He fitted

out three rafts, in August 1870, and descended this whole

series of rapids and cascades from the Rio Chinchipe to Borja.

4 A cano, like furo, is a kind of natural canal; it

forms a lateral discharge for surplus water from a river.

5 Igapo is thus the name given to the recent alluvial

tracts along the margins of rivers, submerged by moderate

floods, whereas vargem is the term used for land between

the levels of moderate and high floods, while for land

above this the people use the term terra firma.

AMAZONAS, the extreme north-western and largest state of

Brazil, bounded N. by Colombia and Venezuela, E. by the state

of Para, S. by the state of Matto Grosso and Bolivia, and

W. by Peru and Colombia. It embraces an area of 742,123 sq.

m., wholly within the Amazon basin. A small part bordering

the Venezuelan sierras is elevated and mountainous, but

the greater part forms an immense alluvial plain, densely

wooded, traversed by innumerable rivers, and subjected to

extensive annual inundations. The climate is tropical and

generally unfavourable to white settlement, the exceptions

being the elevated localities on the Amazon exposed to

the strong winds blowing up that river. The state is

very sparsely populated; two-thirds of the inhabitants are

Indians, forming small tribes, and subject only in small

part to government control. The principal products are

rubber, cacao and nuts; cattle are raised on the elevated

plains of the north, while curing fish and collecting turtle

eggs for their oil give occupation to many people on the

rivers. Coffee, tobacco, rice and various fruits of superior

quality are produced with ease, but agriculture is neglected

and production is limited to domestic needs. The capital,

Manaos, is the only city and port of general commercial

importance in the state; other prominent towns are Serpa and

Teffe on the Amazon, Borba and Crato on the Madeira, and

Barcellos on the Rio Negro. Up to 1755 all the Portuguese

territory on the Amazon formed part of the capitania of

Para. The upper districts were then organized into a separate

capitania, called S. Jose do Rio Negro, to facilitate

administration. When Brazil became independent in 1822, Rio

Negro was overlooked in the reorganization into provinces

and reverted, notwithstanding the protests and an attempted

revolution (1832) of the people, to a state of dependence

upon Para. In 1850 autonomy was voted by the general

assembly at Rio de Janeiro, and on the 1st of January

1852 the province of Amazonas was formally installed. In

1389 it became a federal state in the Brazilian republic.

AMAZONAS, a northern department of Peru, covering a

mountainous district between the departments of Loreto and

Cajamarca, with Ecuador on the N. The Maranon river forms

the greater part of its W. boundary-line. Area, 13,943 sq.

m.; pop. (1896) 70,676. The rainfall is abundant, and the

soil of the heavily wooded valleys and lower mountain slopes

is exceptionally fertile and productive. Its settlement and

development is seriously impeded by the lack of transportation

facilities. The capital, Chachapoyas, is a small town

(pop. about 6000) situated on a tributary of the Maranon,

7600 ft. above sea-level. It is the seat of a bishopric,

created in 1802, which covers the departments of Amazonas and

Loreto, and one province of Libertad. It has an imposing

cathedral and a university. The climate is equable and

delightful, the mean temperature for the year being 62 deg. F.

AMAZONAS, a territory belonging to Venezuela, and occupying

the extreme southern part of that republic, adjoining the

Brazilian state of Amazonas. It lies partly within the drainage

basin of the Orinoco and partly within that of the Rio Negro,

an affluent of the Amazon. The territory is covered with

dense forests and is filled with intricate watercourses, one

of which, the Casiquiare, forms an open communication between

the Orinoco and the Rio Negro and is navigable for large

canoes. The capital of the territory is Maroa, situated

on the Guainia river, an affluent of the Rio Negro.

AMAZONS, an ancient legendary nation of female warriors.

They were said to have lived in Pontus near the shore of the

Euxine sea, where they formed an independent kingdom under

the government of a queen, the capital being Themiscyra on

the banks of the river Thermodon (Herodotus iv. 110-117).

From this centre they made numerous warlike excursions -- to

Scythia, Thrace, the coasts of Asia Minor and the islands of

the Aegean, even penetrating to Arabia, Syria and Egypt.

They were supposed to have founded many towns, amongst them

Smyrna, Ephesus, Sinope, Paphos. According to another

account, they originally came to the Thermodon from the Palus

Maeotis (Sea of Azov). No men were permitted to reside in

their country; but once a year, in order to prevent their race

from dying out, they visited the Gargareans, a neighbouring

tribe. The male children who were the result of these visits

were either put to death or sent back to their fathers;

the female were kept and brought up by their mothers, and

trained in agricultural pursuits, hunting, and the art of

war (Strabo xi. p. 503). It is said that their right breast

was cut off or burnt out, in order that they might be able

to use the bow more freely; hence the ancient derivation of

'Amaxones from mafos, ``without breast.'' But there is

no indication of this practice in works of art, in which the

Amazons are always represented with both breasts, although

the right is frequently covered. Other suggested derivations

are: a (intensive) and mafos, breast, ``full-breasted'';

a (privative) and masso, touch, ``not touching men'';

maza, a Circassian word said to signify ``moon,'' has

suggested their connexion with the worship of a moon-

goddess, perhaps the Asiatic representative of Artemis.

The Amazons appear in connexion with several Greek legends.

They invaded Lycia, but were defeated by Bellerophon, who

was sent out against them by Iobates, the king of that

country, in the hope that he might meet his death at their

hands (Iliad, vi. 186). They attacked the Phrygians, who

were assisted by Priam, then a young man (Iliad, iii. 189),

although in his later years, towards the end of the Trojan

war, his old opponents took his side against the Greeks

under their queen Penthesileia, who was slain by Achilles

(Quint. Smyr. i.; Justin ii. 4; Virgil, Aen. i. 490).

One of the tasks imposed upon Heracles by Eurystheus was

to obtain possession of the girdle of the Amazonian queen

Hippolyte (Apollodorus ii. 5). He was accompanied by his friend

Theseus, who carried off the princess Antiope, sister of

Hippolyte, an incident which led to a retaliatory invasion of

Attica, in which Antiope perished fighting by the side of

Theseus. The Amazons are also said to have undertaken an

expedition against the island of Leuke, at the mouth of the

Danube, where the ashes of Achilles had been deposited by

Thetis. The ghost of the dead hero appeared and so

terrified the horses, that they threw and trampled upon

the invaders, who were forced to retire. They are heard

of in the time of Alexander the Great, when their queen

Thalestris visited him and became a mother by him, and Pompey

is said to have found them in the army of Mithradates.

The origin of the story of the Amazons has been the subject

of much discussion. While some regard them as a purely

mythical people, others assume an historical foundation for

them. The deities worshipped by them were Ares (who is

consistently assigned to them as a god of war, and as a god

of Thracian and generally northern origin) and Artemis,

not the usual Greek goddess of that name, but an Asiatic

deity in some respects her equivalent. It is conjectured

that the Amazons were originally the temple-servants and

priestesses (hierodulae) of this goddess; and that the

removal of the breast corresponded with the self-mutilation

of the galli, or priests, of Rhea Cybele. Another theory

is that, as the knowledge of geography extended, travellers

brought back reports of tribes ruled entirely by women,

who carried out the duties which elsewhere were regarded as

peculiar to man, in whom alone the rights of nobility and

inheritance were vested, and who had the supreme control of

affairs. Hence arose the belief in the Amazons as a nation

of female warriors, organized and governed entirely by

women. According to J. Vurtheim (De Ajacis origine,

1907), the Amazons were of Greek origin: ``all the Amazons

were Dianas, as Diana herself was an Amazon.'' It has been

suggested that the fact of the conquest of the Amazons

being assigned to the two famous heroes of Greek mythology,

Heracles and Theseus -- who in the tasks assigned to them

were generally opposed to monsters and beings impossible in

themselves, but possible as illustrations of permanent danger

and damage, -- shows that they were mythical illustrations

of the dangers which beset the Greeks on the coasts of

Asia Minor; rather perhaps, it may be intended to represent

the conflict between the Greek culture of the colonies on

the Euxine and the barbarism of the native inhabitants.

In works of art, combats between Amazons and Greeks are

placed on the same level as and often associated with combats

of Greeks and centaurs. The belief in their existence,

however, having been once accepted and introduced into the

national poetry and art, it became necessary to surround

them as far as possible with the appearance of not unnatural

beings. Their occupation was hunting and war; their arms the

bow, spear, axe, a half shield, nearly in the shape of a

crescent, called pelta, and in early art a helmet, the

model before the Greek mind having apparently been the goddess

Athena. In later art they approach the model of Artemis,

wearing a thin dress, girt high for speed; while on the

later painted vases their dress is often peculiarly Persian

-- that is, close-fitting trousers and a high cap called the

kidaris. They were usually on horseback but sometimes on

foot. The battle between Theseus and the Amazons is a

favourite subject on the friezes of temples (e.g. the

reliefs from the frieze of the temple of Apollo at Bassae,

now in the British Museum), vases and sarcophagus reliefs;

at Athens it was represented on the shield of the statue of

Athena Parthenos, on wall-paintings in the Theseum and in the

Poikile Stoa. Many of the sculptors of antiquity, including

Pheidias, Polyclitus, Cresilas and Phradmon, executed statues

of Amazons; and there are many existing reproductions of these.

The history of Bohemia affords a parallel to the Greek

Amazons. During the 8th century a large band of women, under

a certain Vlasta, carried on war against the duke of Bohemia,

and enslaved or put to death all men who fell into their

hands. In the 16th century the Spanish explorer Orellana

asserted that he had come into conflict with fighting women in

South America on the river Maranon, which was named after them

the Amazon (q.v.) or river of the Amazons, although others

derive its name from the Indian amassona (boat-destroyer),

applied to the tidal phenomenon known as the ``bore.'' The

existence of ``Amazons'' (in the sense of fighting women)

in the army of Dahomey in modern times is an undoubted

fact, but they are said to have died out during the French

protectorate. For notable cases of women who have become soldiers,

reference may be made to Mary Anne Talbot and Hannah Snell.

See A. D. Mordtmann, Die Amazonen (1862); W. Stricker,

Die A. in Sage und Geschichte (1868); A. Klugmann, Die

A. in der attischen Literatur und Kunst (1875); H. L.

Krause, Die Amazonensage (1893); F. G. Bergmann, Les

Amazones dans l'histoire et dans la fable (1853); P.

Lacour, Les Amazones (1901); articles in Pauly- Wissowa's

Realencyclopadie and Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie;

Grote, Hist. of Greece, pt. i. ch. 11. In article GREEK

ART, fig. 40 represents three types of Amazons, and

fig. 70 (pl. iv.) a battle between Amazons and Greeks.

AMAZON-STONE, or AMAZONITE, a green variety of microcline-

felspar. The name is taken from that of the river Amazon,

whence certain green stones were formedy obtained, but it

is doubtful whether green felspar occurs in the Amazon

district. The modern amazon-stone is a mineral of restricted

occurrence. Formerly it was obtained almost exclusively

from the neighbourhood of Miyask, in the Ilmen mountains, 50

m. S.W. of Chehabinsk, Russia, where it occurs in granitic

rocks. Of late years, magnificent crystals have been obtained

from Pike's Peak, Colorado, where it is found associated with

smoky quartz, orthoclase and albite in a coarse granite or

pegmatite. Some other localities in the United States

yield amazon-stone, and it is also found in pegmatite in

Madagascar. On account of its lively green colour, it

is cut and polished to a limited extent as an ornamental

stone. The colour has been attributed to the presence

of copper, but as it is discharged by heat it is likely

to be due to some pigment of organic origin, and an organic

salt of iron has been suggested. (See MICROCLINE.)

AMBARVALIA, an annual festival of the ancient Romans,

occurring in May, usually on the 29th, the object of which

was to secure the growing crops against harm of all kinds.

The priests were the Arval Brothers (q.v.), who conducted

the victims -- ox, sheep and pig (suovetaurilia) -- in

procession with prayer to Ceres round the boundaries of the ager

Romanus. As the extent of Roman land increased, this could

no longer be done, and in the Acta of the Fratres, which

date from Augustus, we do not find this procession mentioned

(Henzen, Acta Fratrum Arvalium, 1874); but there is a good

description of this or a similar rite in Virgil, Georg. i.

338 ff., and in Cato's work de Re Rustica (141) we have full

details and the text of the prayers used by the Latin farmer

in thus ``lustrating'' his own land. In this last case the

god invoked is Mars. The Christian festival which seems to

have taken the place of these ceremonies is the Rogation or

Gang week of the Roman Church. The perambulation or beatinc

of bounds is probably a survival of the same type of rite.

See W. W. Fowler, Roman Festivals (1899), p. 124 ff.

(W. W. F.*)

AMBASSADOR (also EMBASSADOR, the form sometimes still used

in America; from the Fr. ambassadeur, with which compare

Ital. ambasciatore and Span. embajador, all variants of

the Med. Lat. ambasciator, ambassiator, ambasator, &c.,

derived from Med. Lat. ambasciare or ambactiare, ``to

go on a mission, to do or say anything in another's name,''

from Lat. ambactus,1 a vassal or servant; see Du Cange,

Glossarium, s.v. ambasciare), a public minister of the first

rank, accredited and sent by the head of a sovereign state

as his personal representative to negotiate with a foreign

government, and to watch over the interests of his own nation

abroad. The power thus conferred is defined in the credentials

or letters of credence of which the ambassador is the bearer,

and in the instructions under the sign-manual delivered to

him. The credentials consist of a sealed letter addressed

by the sovereign whom the ambassador represents to the

sovereign to whom he is accredited, and they embody a general

assurance that the sovereign by whom the ambassador is

sent will confirm whatever is done by the ambassador in his

name. In Great Britain letters of credence are under

the royal sign-manual, and are not countersigned by a

minister. Ambassadors are distinguished as ordinary and

extraordinary, which implied originally the difference between

a permanent mission and one appointed to conduct a particular

negotiation. The style of ambassador extraordinary is,

however, now often given to a minister accredited to a court for

an indefinite time and implies a somewhat more dignified rank.

By the protocol of the 19th of March 1815, afterwards embodied

in the treaty of Vienna (1815) and confirmed by an instrument

signed by the five great powers at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 21st

of November 1818, it was finally determined that ``ambassadors

and papal legates and nuncios alone have a representative

character,'' i.e. in the most exalted and peculiar sense,

as representing the person of the sovereign, or the head of

a republic, as well as the state to which they belong. It

follows that only states enjoying ``royal honours,'' i.e.

empires, kingdoms, grand duchies, the great republics (e.g.

France, Switzerland, the United States of America) and the

Holy See, have the right to send or to receive ambassadors.

By custom it has moreover been established that, as a general

rule, only the greater ``royal states'' are represented by

ambassadors, and then only when these are accredited to

states esteemed, for one reason or another. to be of equal

rank. Thus the promotion of the Japanese legations in Europe

and the United States to the rank of embassies, and the

corresponding change in the representation of the various

powers at Tokio, marked in 1905 the definite recognition

of Japan as a great power. To this rule the United States

of America long remained an exception, and was content,

in accordance with the tradition of republican simplicity,

to be represented abroad only by ministers of the second

rank. The subordinate position given to the representatives

of so great a power, however, inevitably led to many

inconveniences, and in 1893 an act of Congress empowered

the president to accredit ambassadors to the great powers.

The distinction between an ambassador and ministers of the

second rank is one rather of rank and dignity than of power or

functions. His special immunities he shares with other

diplomatic representatives of all classes. The peculiar

privilege which he claims of free access to the sovereign

has, in common practice, been reduced to the right of being

received on presenting his credentials in public or private

audience by the sovereign in person, it being obviously

against public policy that a foreign representative should

negotiate with the ruler otherwise than through his responsible

ministers. In Great Britain the sovereign, when granting an

audience to a foreign ambassador, is always attended by one

or more ministers, and the same is usual in other states.

An ambassador, however, unless specially armed with plenary

authority, cannot decide any questions beyond his instructions

without reference to his government. Thus Lord Londonderry

(Lord Stewart), who represented Great Britain at the

conferences of Troppau in 1820 and Laibach in 1821, had

not the same standing as the plenipotentiaries of the other

powers present, and efforts were even made to exclude him

from some of the more important discussions in consequence,

not on the ground of inferior rank but of defective powers.

Socially, the position of an ambassador is one of great

dignity. The pomp and magnificence which in earlier days

characterized his progresses and his ``entries'' are

indeed no longer observed. He is received, however, by the

sovereign to whom he is accredited with elaborate state,

of which every detail is minutely regulated, and ranks, as

representing his own sovereign, next to the princes of the

blood in the court where he resides. The controversies

that once raged as to the order of precedence of the various

ambassadors accredited to any one court were settled by

the treaties already mentioned, it being decided that they

should rank in order of seniority according to the date of

the presentation of their credentials. In Roman Catholic

countries, however -- as in France before the abrogation

of the concordat, -- the position of doyen (dean) of the

diplomatic body is given by courtesy to the nuncio of the pope.

The special immunities and privileges enjoyed by ambassadors

are dealt with in the articles EXTERRITORIALITY and

DIPLOMACY. See also the latter for the history of the subject.

The most authoritative modern hand-book on the subject is Charles

de Martens, Manuel diplomatlque (Paris, 1822; new ed., 1868).

See also Henry Wheaton, Hist. of the Law of Nations (New York,

1845); L. Oppenheim, International Law (London, 1905); and the

list of books attached to the article DIPLOMACY. (W. A. P.)

1 Ambactus is explained by Festus (Paulus Diaconus ex

Festo, ed. C. O. Muller) as a Gallic word used by Ennius

and meaning servus. Caesar (De Bello Gallico, vi. 15)

says of the Gallic equites, ``atque eorum ut quisque est

genere copiisque amplissimus, plurimos circum se ambactos

clientesque habent.'' Accepting the Celtic origin of the word,

it has been connected with the Welsh amaeth, a tiller of the

ground. A Teutonic origin has been suggested in the Old High

Ger. ambaht, a retainer, which appears in a Scandinavian

word amboht, bondwoman or maid, in the Ormulum (c. 1200).

AMRATO, or ASIENTO DE AMBATO, an inland town of Ecuador,

capital of the province of Tunguragua, 80 m. S. of Quito by

the highway, and near the northern foot of Chimborazo. Pop.

(est.) 10,000. The town stands in a bowl-like depression,

8606 ft. above sea-level, surrounded by steep, sandy, barren

mountains, and has an equable climate, which has been likened

to a perpetual autumn. The immediate environs are very fertile

and produce a great variety of fruits, including many of

the temperate zone, but the surrounding country is arid and

sterile, producing scanty crops of barley, Indian corn and

pease. The cochineal insect is found on the cactus which

grows in abundance in the vicinity, and the town is known

throughout Ecuador for its manufacture of boots and shoes,

and for a cordage made from cabuya, the fibre of the agave

plant. Ambato was destroyed by an eruption of Cotopaxi in 1698,

and has been badly damaged two or three times by earthquakes.

AMBATO is also the name of a range of mountains in

northern Argentina, being a spur of the Sierra de Aconquija

crossing the province of Catamarca from north to south.

AMBER, a ruined city of India, the ancient capital of Jaipur

state in the Rajputana agency. The name of Amber is first

mentioned by Ptolemy. It was founded by the Minas and was

still flourishing in A.D. 967. In 1037 it was taken by the

Rajputs, who held it till it was deserted. In 1728 it was

supplanted by the modern city of Jaipur, from which it is 5 m.

distant. The picturesque situation of Amber at the mouth

of a rocky mountain gorge, in which nestles a lovely lake,

has attracted the admiration of all travellers, including

Jacquemont and Heber. It is now only remarkable for its

architecture. The old palace begun by Man Sing in 1600 ranks

second only to Gwalior. The chief building is the Diwan-i-Khas

built by Mirza Raja. ``No sooner,'' (it is related) ``had

Mirza completed the Diwan-i-Khas than it came to the ears

of the emperor Jehangir that his vassal had surpassed him in

magnificence, and that this last great work quite eclipsed

all the marvels of the imperial city; the columns of red

sandstone having been particularly noticed as sculptured with

exquisite taste and elaborate detail. In a fit of jealousy

the emperor commanded that this masterpiece should be thrown

down, and sent commissioners to Amber charged with the

execution of this order; whereupon Mirza, in order to save

the structure, had the columns plastered over with stucco,

so that the messengers from Agra should have to acknowledge

to the emperor that the magnificence, which had been so

much talked of, was after all pure invention. Since then

his apathetic successors have neglected to bring to light

this splendid work; and it is only by knocking off some of

the plaster that one can get a glimpse of the sculptures,

which are perfect as on the day they were carved.''

AMBER, a fossil resin much used for the manufacture of

ornamental objects. The name comes from the Arab. anbar,

probably through the Spanish, but this word referred originally

to ambergris, which is an animal substance quite distinct

from yellow amber. True amber has sometimes been called

karabe, a word of oriental derivation signifying ``that

which attracts straw,'' in allusion to the power which amber

possesses of acquiring an electric charge by friction. This

property, first recorded by Thales of Miletus, suggested the

word ``electricity,'' from the Greek, elektron, a name

applied, however, not only to amber but also to an alloy

of gold and silver. By Latin writers amber is variously

called electrum, sucinum (succinum), and glaesum or

glesum. The Hebrew hashmal seems to have been amber.

Amber is not homogeneous in composition, but consists of several

resinous bodies more or less soluble in alcohol, ether and

chloroform, associated with an insoluble bituminous substance.

The average composition of amber leads to the general formula

C10H16O. Heated rather below 300 deg. C. amber suffers

decomposition, yielding an ``oil of amber,'' and leaving a

black residue which is known as ``amber colophony,'' or ``amber

pitch''; this forms, when dissolved in oil of turpentine

or in linseed oil, ``amber varnish'' or ``amber lac.''

True amber yields on dry distillation succinic acid, the

proportion varying from about 3 to 8%, and being greatest

in the pale opaque or ``bony'' varieties. The aromatic

and irritating fumes emitted by burning amber are mainly

due to this acid. True Baltic amber is distinguished by its

yield of succinic acid, for many of the other fossil resins

which are often termed amber contain either none of it, or

only a very small proportion; hence the name ``succinite''

proposed by Professor J. D. Dana, and now commonly used

in scientific writings as a specific term for the real

Prussian amber. Succinite has a hardness between 2 and

3, which is rather greater than that of many other fossil

resins. Its specific gravity varies from 1.05 to 1.10.

The Baltic amber or succinite is found as irregular nodules in

a marine glauconitic sand, known as ``blue earth,'' occurring

in the Lower Oligocene strata of Samland in East Prussia,

where it is now systematically mined. It appears, however,

to have been partly derived from yet earlier Tertiary deposits

(Eocene); and it occurs also as a derivative mineral in later

formations, such as the drift. Relics of an abundant flora

occur in association with the amber, suggesting relations with

the flora of Eastern . Asia and the southern part of North

America. H. R. Goppert named the common amber-yielding pine

of the Baltic forests Pinites succiniter, but as the wood,

according to some authorities, does not seem to differ from

that of the existing genus it has been also called Pinius

succinifera. It is improbable, however, that the production

of amber was limited to a single species; and indeed a large

number of conifers belonging to different genera are represented

in the amber-flora. The resin contains, in addition to the

beautifully preserved plant-structures, numerous remains of

insects, spiders, annelids, crustaceans and other small

organisms which became enveloped while the exudation was

fluid. In most cases the organic structure has disappeared,

leaving only a cavity, with perhaps a trace of chitin. Even

hair and feathers have occasionally been represented among the

enclosures. Fragments of wood not infrequently occur, with the

tissues well-preserved by impregnation with the resin; while

leaves, flowers and fruits are occasionally found in marvellous

perfection. Sometimes the amber retains the form of drops and

stalactites, just as it exuded from the ducts and receptacles

of the injured trees. The abnormal development of resin has

been called ``succinosis.'' Impurities are often present,

especially when the resin dropped on to the ground, so that

the material may be useless except for varnish-making, whence

the impure amber is called firniss. Enclosures of pyrites

may give a bluish colour to amber. The so-called ``black

amber'' is only a kind of jet. ``Bony amber'' owes its cloudy

opacity to minute bubbles in the interior of the resin.

Although amber is found along the shores of a large part

of the Baltic and the North Sea, the great amber-producing

country is the promontory of Samland. Pieces of amber torn

from the sea-floor are cast up by the waves, and collected at

ebb-tide. Sometimes the searchers wade into the sea, furnished

with nets at the end of long poles, by means of which they

drag in the sea-weed containing entangled masses of amber;

or they dredge from boats in shallow water and rake up amber

from between the boulders. Divers have been employed to

collect amber from the deeper waters. Systematic dredging on

a large scale was at one time carried on in the Kurisches Haff

by Messrs Stantien and Becker, the great amber merchants of

Konigsberg. At the present time extensive mining operations

are conducted in quest of amber. The ``pit amber'' was formerly

dug in open works, but is now also worked by underground

galleries. The nodules from the ``blue earth'' have to

be freed from matrix and divested of their opaque crust,

which can be done in revolving barrels containing sand and

water. The sea-worn amber has lost its crust, but has

often acquired a dull rough surface by rolling in sand.

Amber is extensively used for beads and other trivial ornaments,

and for cigar-holders and the mouth-pieces of pipes. It is

regarded by the Turks as specially valuable, inasmuch as it

is said to be incapable of transmitting infection as the pipe

passes from mouth to mouth. The variety most valued in the

East is the pale straw-coloured, slightly cloudy amber. Some

of the best qualities are sent to Vienna for the manufacture

of smoking appliances. In working amber, it is turned on the

lathe and polished with whitening and water or with rotten

stone and oil, the final lustre being given by friction with

flannel. During the working much electricity is developed.

By gradually heating amber in an oil-bath it becomes soft and

flexible. Two pieces of amber may be united by smearing the

surfaces with linseed oil, heating them, and then pressing

them together while hot. Cloudy amber may be clarified in

an oil-bath, as the oil fills the numerous pores to which

the turbidity is due. Small fragments, formerly thrown away

or used only for varnish, are now utilized on a large scale

in the formation of ``ambroid'' or ``pressed amber.'' The

pieces are carefully heated with exclusion of air and then

compressed into a uniform mass by intense hydraulic pressure;

the softened amber being forced through holes in a metal

plate. The product is extensively used for the production

of cheap jewellery and articles for smoking. This pressed

amber yields brilliant interference colours in polarized

light. Amber has often been imitated by other resins

like copal and kauri, as well as by celluloid and even

glass. True amber is sometimes coloured artificially.

Amber was much valued as an ornamental material in very early

times. It has been found in Mycenaean tombs; it is known

from lake-dwellings in Switzerland, and it occurs with

neolithic remains in Denmark, whilst in England it is found

with interments of the bronze age. A remarkably fine cup

turned in amber from a bronze-age barrow at Hove is now in

the Brighton Museum. Beads of amber occur with Anglo-Saxon

relics in the south of England; and up to a comparatively

recent period the material was valued as an amulet. It

is still believed to possess certain medicinal virtue.

Rolled pieces of amber, usually small but occasionally of

very large size, may be picked up on the east coast of

England, having probably been washed up from deposits under

the North Sea. Cromer is the best-known locality, but it

occurs also on other parts of the Norfolk coast, as well as

at Yarmouth, Southwold, Aldeburgh and Felixstowe in Suffolk,

and as far south as Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex, whilst

northwards it is not unknown in Yorkshire. On the other

side of the North Sea, amber is found at various localities

on the coast of Holland and Denmark. On the shores of the

Baltic it occurs not only on the Prussian and Pomeranian

coast but in the south of Sweden, in Bornholm and other

islands, and in S. Finland. Amber has indeed a very wide

distribution, extending over a large part of northern Europe

and occurring as far east as the Urals. Some of the amber

districts of the Baltic and North Sea were known in prehistoric

times, and led to early trade with the south of Europe.

Amber was carried to Olbia on the Black Sea, Massilia on the

Mediterranean, and Hatria at the head of the Adriatic; and

from these centres it was distributed over the Hellenic world.

Whilst succinite is the common variety of European

amber, the following varieties also occur: --

Gedanite, or ``brittle amber,'' closely resembling succinite,

but much more brittle, not quite so hard, with a lower

melting- point and containing no succinic acid. It is

often covered with a white powder easily removed by wiping.

The name comes from Gedanum, the Latin name of Danzig.

Stantienite, a brittle, deep brownish-black

resin, destitute of succinic acid.

Beckerite, a rare amber in earthy-brown nodules, almost

opaque, said to be related in properties to gutta-percha.

Glessite, a nearly opaque brown resin, with numerous microscopic cavities

and dusty enclosures, named from glesum, an old name for amber.

Krantzite, a soft amber-like resin, found in the lignites of Saxony.

Allingite, a fossil resin allied to succinite, from Switzerland.

Roumanite, or Rumanian amber, a dark reddish resin, occurring

with lignite in Tertiary deposits. The nodules are penetrated

by cracks, but the material can be worked on the lathe.

Sulphur is present to the extent of more than 1%, whence the

smell of sulphuretted hydrogen when the resin is heated.

According to G. Murgoci the Rumanian amber is true succinite.

Simetite, or Sicilian amber, takes its name from the river

Simeto or Giaretta. It occurs in Miocene deposits and

is also found washed up by the sea near Catania. This

beautiful material presents a great diversity of tints, but

a rich hyacinth red is common. It is remarkable for its

fluorescence, which in the opinion of some authorities adds

to its beauty. Amber is also found in many localities in

Emilia, especially near the sulphur-mines of Cesena. It

has been conjectured that the ancient Etruscan ornaments

in amber were wrought in the Italian material, but it

seems that amber from the Baltic reached the Etruscans at

Hatria. It has even been supposed that amber passed from

Sicily to northern Europe in early times -- a supposition said

to receive some support from the fact that much of the amber

dug up in Denmark is red; but it must not be forgotten that

reddish amber is found also on the Baltic, though not being

fashionable it is used rather for varnish-making than for

ornaments. Moreover, yellow amber after long burial is

apt to acquire a reddish colour. The amber of Sicily seems

not to have been recognized in ancient times, for it is

not mentioned by local authorities like Diodorus Siculus.

Burmite is the name under which the Burmese amber is now

described. Until the British occupation of Burma but little

was known as to its occurrence, though it had been worked for

centuries and was highly valued by the natives and by the

Chinese. It is found in fiat rolled pieces, irregularly

distributed through a blue clay probably of Miocene age. It

occurs in the Hukawng valley, in the Nangotaimaw hills, where

it is irregularly worked in shallow pits. The mines were

visited some years ago by Dr Fritz Noetling, and the mineral

has been described by Dr Otto Helm. The Burmese amber is yellow

or reddish, some being of ruby tint, and like the Sicilian

amber it is fluorescent. Burmite and simetite agree also in

being destitute of succinic acid. Most of the Burmese amber

is worked at Mandalay into rosary-beads and ear-cylinders.

Many other fossil resins more or less allied to amber

have been described. Schraufite is a reddish resin from

the Carpathian sandstone, and it occurs with jet in the

cretaceous rocks of the Lebanon; ambrite is a resin found

in many of the coals of New Zealand; retinite occurs in

the lignite of Bovey Tracey in Devonshire and elsewhere;

whilst copaline has been found in the London clay of

Highgate in North London. Chemawinite or cedarite is an

amber-like resin from the Saskatchewan river in Canada.

Amber and certain similar substances are found to a

limited extent at several localities in the United

States, as in the green- sand of New Jersey, but they

have little or no economic value. A fluorescent amber is

said, however, to occur in some abundance in Southern

Mexico. Amber is recorded also from the Dominican Republic.

REPERENCES. -- See, for Baltic amber, P. Dahms, ``Ueber

die Vorkommen und die Verwendung des Bernsteins,'' Zeitsch.

fur praktische Geologic, 1901, p. 201; H. Conwentz,

Monographic der baltischen Bernsteinbaume (Danzig, 1890);

R. Klebs, Guide to Exhibit of the German Amber Industry

at World's Fair (St Louis, 1904); and abstract by G. F. Kunz

in Mineral Resources of the U. S. (1904). U. or Sicilian

amber, W. Arnold Bullum, The Tears of the Helialdes, or

Amber as a Gem (London, 1896). For Burmese amber, papers

by Fritz Noetling and Otto Helm in Records of Geol. Surv.

of India, vol. xxvi. (1893), pp. 31, 61. For British

amber, Clement Reid in Trans. Norfolk Nat. Soc., vol. iii.

(1884) p. 601; vol. iv. (1886) p. 247; and H. Conwentz in

Natural Science, vol. ix. (1896) pp. 99, 161. (F. W. R.*)

AMBERG, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Bavaria,

formerly the capital of the Upper Palatinate, situated

on both sides of the Vils, 42 m. E. of Nuremberg by

rail. Pop. 22,089. It has a town hall with handsome rooms,

a library, a gymnasium, a lyceum, elementary schools, an

arsenal, and eleven churches, the finest of which is St

Martin's, of the 15th century, with many excellent paintings

and a tower 300 ft. high. A former Jesuit monastery is

now used for a grammar school and seminary. There are

also a pilgrimage church on a hill 1621 ft. high, a large

convict prison for men, an industrial, commercial and other

schools. The principal manufactures are firearms, ironmongery,

earthenware, woollen cloth, beer, stoneware, zinc goods,

colours and salt; in the neighbourhood are iron and coal

mines. The French under Jourdan were defeated by the

Austrians under the Archduke Charles near Amberg in 1796.

AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, or grey amber),

a solid, fatty, inflammable substance of a dull grey or

blackish colour, the shades being variegated like marble,

possessing a peculiar sweet, earthy odour. It occurs as

a biliary concretion in the intestines of the spermaceti

whale (Physeter macrocephalus), and is found floating

upon the sea, on the sea-coast, or in the sand near the

sea-coast. It is met with in the Atlantic Ocean; on the

coasts of Brazil and Madagascar; also on the coast of Africa,

of the East Indies, China, Japan and the Molucca islands;

but most of the ambergris which is brought to England comes

from the Bahama Islands, Providence, &c. It is also sometimes

found in the abdomen of whales, always in lumps of various

shapes and sizes, weighing from 1/2 oz. to 100 or more

pounds. Ambergris, when taken from the intestinal canal of

the sperm whale, is of a deep grey colour, soft consistence

and a disagreeable smell. On exposure to the air it

gradually hardens, becomes pale and develops its peculiar

sweet, earthy odour. In that condition its specific gravity

ranges from 0.780 to 0.926. It melts at about 62 deg. C. to a

fatty, yellow resinous-like liquid; and at 100 deg. C. it is

volatilized into a white vapour. It is soluble in ether,

and in volatile and fixed oils; it is only feebly acted on by

acids. By digesting in hot alcohol, a substance termed

ambrein, closely resembling cholesterin, is obtained,

which separates in brilliant white crystals as the solution

cools. The use of ambergris in Europe is now entirely confined

to perfumery, though it formerly occupied no inconsiderable

place in medicine. In minute quantities its alcoholic solution

is much used for giving a ``floral'' fragrance to bouquets,

washes and other preparations of the perfumer. It occupies a

very important place in the perfumery of the East, and there

it is also used in pharmacy and as a flavouring material in

cookery. The high price it commands makes it peculiarly

liable to adulteration, but its genuineness is easily tested

by its solubility in hot alcohol, its fragrant odour, and its

uniform fatty consistence on being penetrated by a hot wire.

AMBERT, a town of central France, capital of an

arrondissement of the department of Puy-de-Dome, on the

Dore, 52 m. E.S.E. of Clermont-Ferrand by rail. Pop. (1906),

town, 3889; commune, 7581. The town has a church of the

15th and 16th centuries and carries on the manufacture of

paper, lace, ribbon, rosaries, &c., and trade in cheese.

It is the seat of a sub-prefect, and the public institutions

include tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a

chamber of arts and manufactures, and a communal college.

AMBIENT (from Lat. ambi, on both sides, and ire, to go),

surrounding; a word implying a moving rather than a stationary

encircling. It is used mostly in the phrase the ``ambient

air,'' though Bacon applied it as an adjective to the clergy,

suggesting ``ambition.'' In astrology it means the sky.

AMBIGU, a French game of cards, composed of the characteristic

elements of whist, bouillotte and piquet. A whist pack with

the court cards deleted is used, and from two to six persons may

play. Each player is given an equal number of counters,

and a limit of betting is agreed upon. Two cards are dealt,

one at a time, to each player, after each has placed two

counters in a pool. Each player then either keeps his

hand, saying ``Enough,'' or takes one or two new cards from

the top of the stock, after which the stock is reshuffled

and cut, and each player receives two more cards, one at a

time. The players then either ``play'' or ``pass.'' If a

person ``plays,'' he bets a number of counters and the others

may equal this bet or raise it. Should no player meet the

first bet, the bettor takes back his bet, leaving the pool

intact, and receives two counters from the last player who

refuses to play. When two or more bet the same number, they

again draw cards and ``pass'' or ``play'' as before. If

all ``pass,'' each pays a counter to the pool and a new deal

ensues. The player betting more than the others call wins the

pool. He then exposes his hand and is paid by each adversary

according to its value. The hands rank as follows: --

``Point,'' the number Of pips on two or more cards of a suit

(one counter). ``Prime,'' four cards of different suits (two

counters). ``Grand Prime,'' the same with the number of pips

over 30 (three counters). ``Sequence,'' a hand containing

three cards of the same suit in sequence (three counters).

``Tricon,'' three of a kind (four counters). ``Flush,''

four cards of the same suit (five counters). ``Doublet,''

a hand containing two counting combinations at once, as 2,

3, 4 and 7 of spades, amounting to both a ``sequence'' and a

``flush'' (eight counters). ``Fredon,'' four of a kind (the

highest possible hand), ten or eleven counters, according to

the number of pips. Ties are decided by the number of pips.

AMBIGUITY (Fr. ambiguite, med. Lat. ambiguitas, from

Lat. ambiguus, doubtful; ambi, both ways, agere, to

drive), doubtful ness or uncertainty. In law an ambiguity

as to the meaning of the words of a written instrument may

be of considerable importance. Ambiguity, in law, is of two

kinds, patent and latent. (1) Patent ambiguity is that

ambiguity which is apparent on the face of an instrument

to any one perusing it, even if he be unacquainted with

the circumstances of the parties. In the case of a patent

ambiguity parol evidence is admissible to explain only what

has been written, not what it was intended to write. For

example, in Saunderson v. Piper, 1839, 5, B.N.C. 425,

where a bill was drawn in figures for L. 245 and in words

for two hundred pounds, evidence that ``and forty-five''

had been omitted by mistake was rejected. But where it

appears from the general context of the instrument what

the parties really meant, the instrument will be construed

as if there was no ambiguity, as in Saye and Sate's case,

10 Mod. 46, where the name of the grantor had been omitted

in the operative part of a grant, but, as it was clear from

another part of the grant who he was, the deed was held to

be valid. (2) Latent ambiguity is where the wording of an

instrument is on the face of it clear and intelligible, but

may, at the same time, apply equally to two different things

or subject matters, as where a legacy is given ``to my nephew,

John,'' and the testor is shown to have two nephews of that

name. A latent ambiguity may be explained by parol evidence,

for, as the ambiguity has been brought about by circumstances

extraneous to the instrument, the explanation must necessarily

be sought for from such circumstances. (See also Evidence.)

AMBIORIX, prince of Eburones, a tribe of Belgian Gaul.

Although Caesar (q.v.) had freed him from paying tribute

to the Aduztuci, he joined Catuvolcus (winter, 54 B.C.)

in rising against the Roman forces under Q. Titurius

Sabinus and I. Aurunculeius Cotta, and almost annihilated

them. An attack on Quintus Cicero (brother of the orator),

then quartered with a legion in the territory of the

Nervii, failed owing to the timely appearance of Caesar.

Ambiroix is said to have found safety across the Rhine.

Caesar, Bell. Gall. v. 26-51, vi. 29-43,

viii. 24; Dio Cassius xl. 7-11; Florus iii. 10.

AMBLESIDE, a market-town in the Appleby parliamentary

division of Westmorland, England, a mile from the head of

Windermere. Pop. of urban district (1901) 2536. It is most

beautifully situated, for though the lake is hardly visible

from the town, the bare sharply rising hills surrounding

the richly wooded valley of the Rothay afford a series of

exquisite views. The hills immediately above this part of

the valley are Wansfell on the east, Loughrigg Fell on the

west, and Rydal Fell and the ridge below Snarker Pike

(2096 ft.) to the north. At the head of Windermere is

Waterhead, the landing-stage of Ambleside, which is served

by the lake steamers of the Furness Railway Company. The

chief roads which centre upon Ambleside are -- one from the

town of Windemere, following the eastern shore of the lake;

one from Ullswater, by Patterdale and Kirkstone Pass; one

from Keswick, by Dunmail Raise and Grasmere, and the two

lovely lakes of Grasmere and Rydal Water; and one from the

Brathay valley and the Langdales to the west. Ambleside

is thus much frequented by tourists. In its vicinity

is Rydal Mount, for many years the residence of the poet

Wordsworth. The town has some industry in bobbin-making,

and there are slate quarries in the neighbourhood.

Close by the lake side the outlines are still visible of

a Roman fort, the name of which is not known. It appears

to have guarded a route over the hills by Hardknott and

Wrynose Pass to Ravenglass on the Coast of Cumberland.

AMBLYGONITE, a mineral usually found as cleavable or columnar,

and compact masses; it is translucent and has a vitreous

lustre, and the colour varies from white to pale shades of

violet, grey, green or yellow. There are good cleavages in two

directions. The hardness is 6 and the specific gravity 3.0. The

mineral is thus not unlike felspar in general appearance, but

it is readily distinguished from this by its chemical characters,

being an aluminium and lithium fluophosphate, Li(AlF)PO4, with

part of the lithium replaced by sodium and part of the fluoine by

hydroxyl. Crystals, which are rarely distinctly developed,

belong to the anorthic system, and frequently show twin lamellae.