[1] His letters to Mrs Gast and another sister, Anne, were edited
with the title of _Burford Papers_ (1906), by W. H. Hutton.
DARBOY, GEORGES (1813-1871), archbishop of Paris, was born at
Fayl-Billot in Haute Marne on the 16th of January 1813. He studied with
distinction at the seminary at Langres, and was ordained priest in 1836.
Transferred to Paris as almoner of the college of Henry IV., and
honorary canon of Notre Dame, he became the close friend of Archbishop
Affre and of his successor Archbishop Sibour. He was appointed bishop of
Nancy in 1859, and in January 1863 was raised to the archbishopric of
Paris. The archbishop was a strenuous upholder of episcopal independence
in the Gallican sense, and involved himself in a controversy with Rome
by his endeavours to suppress the jurisdiction of the Jesuits and other
religious orders within his diocese. Pius IX. refused him the cardinal's
hat, and rebuked him for his liberalism in a letter which was probably
not intended for publication. At the Vatican council he vigorously
maintained the rights of the bishops, and strongly opposed the dogma of
papal infallibility, against which he voted as inopportune. When the
dogma had been finally adopted, however, he was one of the first to set
the example of submission. Immediately after his return to Paris the war
with Prussia broke out, and his conduct during the disastrous year that
followed was marked by a devoted heroism which has secured for him an
enduring fame. He was active in organizing relief for the wounded at the
commencement of the war, remained bravely at his post during the siege,
and refused to seek safety by flight during the brief triumph of the
Commune. On the 4th of April 1871 he was arrested by the communists as a
hostage, and confined in the prison at Mazas, from which he was
transferred to La Roquette on the advance of the army of Versailles. On
the 27th of May he was shot within the prison along with several other
distinguished hostages. He died in the attitude of blessing and uttering
words of forgiveness. His body was recovered with difficulty, and,
having been embalmed, was buried with imposing ceremony at the public
expense on the 7th of June. It is a noteworthy fact that Darboy was the
third archbishop of Paris who perished by violence in the period between
1848 and 1871. Darboy was the author of a number of works, of which the
most important are a _Vie de St Thomas Becket_ (1859), a translation of
the works of St Denis the Areopagite, and a translation of the
_Imitation of Christ_.
See J. A. Foulon, _Histoire de la vie et des oeuvres de Mgr. Darboy_
(Paris, 1889), and J. Guillermin, _Vie de Mgr. Darboy_ (Paris, 1888),
biographies written from the clerical standpoint, which have called
forth a number of pamphlets in reply.
DARCY, THOMAS DARCY, BARON (1467-1537), English soldier, was a son of
Sir William Darcy (d. 1488), and belonged to a family which was seated
at Templehurst in Yorkshire. In early life he served, both as a soldier
and a diplomatist, in Scotland and on the Scottish borders, where he was
captain of Berwick; and in 1505, having been created Baron Darcy, he was
made warden of the east marches towards Scotland. In 1511 Darcy led some
troops to Spain to help Ferdinand and Isabella against the Moors, but he
returned almost at once to England, and was with Henry VIII. on his
French campaign two years later. One of the most influential noblemen in
the north of England, where he held several important offices, Darcy was
also a member of the royal council, dividing his time between state
duties in London and a more active life in the north. He showed great
zeal in preparing accusations against his former friend, Cardinal
Wolsey; however, after the cardinal's fall his words and actions caused
him to be suspected by Henry VIII. Disliking the separation from Rome,
Darcy asserted that matrimonial cases were matters for the decision of
the spiritual power, and he was soon communicating with Eustace Chapuys,
the ambassador of the emperor Charles V., about an invasion of England
in the interests of the Roman Catholics. Detained in London against his
will by the king, he was not allowed to return to Yorkshire until late
in 1535, and about a year after his arrival in the north the rising
known as the Pilgrimage of Grace broke out. For a short time Darcy
defended Pontefract Castle against the rebels, but soon he surrendered
to them this stronghold, which he could certainly have held a little
longer, and was with them at Doncaster, being regarded as one of their
leaders. Upon the dispersal of the insurgents Darcy was pardoned, but he
pleaded illness when Henry requested him to proceed to London. He may
have assisted to suppress the rising which was renewed under Sir Francis
Bigod early in 1537, but the king believed, probably with good reason,
that he was guilty of fresh treasons, and he was seized and hurried to
London. During his imprisonment he uttered his famous remark about
Thomas Cromwell:--"Cromwell, it is thou that art the very original and
chief causer of all this rebellion and mischief, ... and I trust that or
thou die, though thou wouldst procure all the noblemen's heads within
the realm to be stricken off, yet shall there one head remain that shall
strike off thy head." Tried by his peers, Darcy was found guilty of
treason, and was beheaded on the 20th of June 1537. In 1548 his barony
was revived in favour of his son George (d. 1557), but it became extinct
on the death of George's descendant John in 1635.
DARDANELLES (Turk. _Bahr-Sefed Boghazi_), the strait, in ancient times
called the Hellespont (q.v.), uniting the Sea of Marmora with the
Aegean, so called from the two castles which protect the narrowest part
and preserve the name of the city of Dardanus in the Troad, famous for
the treaty between Sulla and Mithradates in 84 B.C. The shores of the
strait are formed by the peninsula of Gallipoli on the N.W. and by the
mainland of Asia Minor on the S.E.; it extends for a distance of about
47 m. with an average breadth of 3 or 4 m. At the Aegean extremity stand
the castles of Sedil Bahr and Kum Kaleh respectively in Europe and Asia;
and near the Marmora extremity are situated the important town of
Gallipoli (Callipolis) on the northern side, and the less important
though equally famous Lamsaki or Lapsaki (Lampsacus) on the southern.
The two castles of the Dardanelles _par excellence_ are Chanak-Kalehsi,
Sultanieh-Kalehsi, or the Old Castle of Anatolia, and Kilid-Bahr, or the
Old Castle of Rumelia, which were long but erroneously identified with
Sestos and Abydos now located farther to the north. The strait of the
Dardanelles is famous in history for the passage of Xerxes by means of a
bridge of boats, and for the similar exploit on the part of Alexander.
It is famous also from the story of Hero and Leander, and from Lord
Byron's successful attempt (repeated by others) to rival the ancient
swimmer. Strategically the Dardanelles is a point of great importance,
since it commands the approach to Constantinople from the Mediterranean.
The passage of the strait is easily defended, but in 1807 the English
admiral (Sir) J. T. Duckworth made his way past all the fortresses into
the Sea of Marmora. The treaty of July 1841, confirmed by the Paris
peace of 1856, prescribed that no foreign ship of war might enter the
strait except by Turkish permission, and even merchant vessels are only
allowed to pass the castle of Chanak-Kalehsi during the day.
See Choiseul-Gouffier, _Voyage pittoresque_ (Paris, 1842); Murray's
_Handbook for Constantinople_ (London, 1900).
DARDANELLES (Turk. _Sultanieh Kalehsi_, or _Chanak Kalehsi_), the chief
town and seat of government of the lesser Turkish province of Bigha,
Asia Minor. It is situated at the mouth of the Rhodius, and at the
narrowest part of the strait of the Dardanelles, where its span is but a
mile across. Its recent growth has been rapid, and it possesses a
lyceum, a military hospital, a public garden, a theatre, quays and
water-works. Exclusive of the garrison, the population is estimated at
13,000, of whom one-half are Turkish, and the remainder Greek, Jewish,
Armenian and European. The town contains many mosques, Greek, Armenian
and Catholic churches, and a synagogue. There is a resident Greek
bishop. The civil governor, and the military commandants of the numerous
fortresses on each side of the strait, are stationed here. Many
important works have been added to the defences. The Ottoman fleet is
stationed at Nagara (anc. _Abydos_). The average annual number of
merchant vessels passing the strait is 12,000 and the regular commercial
vessels calling at the port of Dardanelles are represented by numerous
foreign agencies. Besides the Turkish telegraph service, the Eastern
Telegraph Company has a station at Dardanelles, and there are Turkish,
Austrian, French and Russian post offices. The import trade consists of
manufactures, sugar, flour, coffee, rice, leather and iron. The export
trade consists of valonia (largely produced in the province), wheat,
barley, beans, chickpeas, canary seed, liquorice root, pine and oak
timber, wine and pottery. Excepting in the items of wine and pottery,
the export trade shows steady increase. Every year sees a larger area of
land brought under cultivation by immigrants, and adds to the number of
mature (i.e. fruit-bearing) valonia trees. Vine-growers are discouraged
by heavy fiscal charges, and by the low price of wine; many have
uprooted their vineyards. The pottery trade is affected by change of
fashion, and the factories are losing their importance. The lower
quarters of the town were heavily damaged in the winter of 1900-1901 by
repeated inundations caused by the overflow of the Rhodius.
See V. Cuinet, _Turquie d'Asie_ (Paris, 1890-1900).
DARDANUS, in Greek legend, son of Zeus and Electra, the mythical founder
of Dardanus on the Hellespont and ancestor of the Dardans of the Troad
and, through Aeneas, of the Romans. His original home was supposed to
have been Arcadia, where he married Chryse, who brought him as dowry the
Palladium or image of Pallas, presented to her by the goddess herself.
Having slain his brother Iasius or Iasion (according to others, Iasius
was struck by lightning), Dardanus fled across the sea. He first stopped
at Samothrace, and when the island was visited by a flood, crossed over
to the Troad. Being hospitably received by Teucer, he married his
daughter Batea and became the founder of the royal house of Troy.
See Apollodorus iii. 12; Diod. Sic. v. 48-75; Virgil, _Aeneid_, iii.
163 ff.; articles in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopadie_ and Roscher's
_Lexikon der Mythologie_.
DARDISTAN, a purely conventional name given by scientists to a tract of
country on the north-west frontier of India. There is no modern race
called Dards, and no country so named by its inhabitants, but the
inhabitants of the right bank of the Indus, from the Kandia river to
Batera, apply it to the dwellers on the left bank. In the scientific use
of the appellation, Dardistan comprises the whole of Chitral, Yasin,
Panyal, the Gilgit valley, Hunza and Nagar, the Astor valley, the Indus
valley from Bunji to Batera, the Kohistan-Malazai, i.e. the upper
reaches of the Panjkora river, and the Kohistan of Swat. The so-called
Dard races are referred to by Pliny and Ptolemy, and are supposed to be
a people of Aryan origin who ascended the Indus valley from the plains
of the Punjab, reaching as far north as Chitral, where they dispossessed
the Khos. They have left their traces in the different dialects,
Khoswar, Burishki and Shina, spoken in the Gilgit agency.
The question of Dardistan is debated at length in Leitner's
_Dardistan_ (1877); Drew's _Jummoo and Kashmir Territories_ (1875);
Biddulph's _Tribes of the Hindu-Kush_ (1880) and Durand's _The Making
of a Frontier_ (1899). For further details see GILGIT.
DARES PHRYGIUS, according to Homer (_Iliad_, v. 9) a Trojan priest of
Hephaestus. He was supposed to have been the author of an account of the
destruction of Troy, and to have lived before Homer (Aelian, _Var.
Hist._ xi. 2). A work in Latin, purporting to be a translation of this,
and entitled _Daretis Phrygii de excidio Trojae historia_, was much read
in the middle ages, and was then ascribed to Cornelius Nepos, who is
made to dedicate it to Sallust; but the language is extremely corrupt,
and the work belongs to a period much later than the time of Nepos
(probably the 5th century A.D.). It is doubtful whether the work as we
have it is an abridgment of a larger Latin work or an adaptation of a
Greek original. Together with the similar work of Dictys Cretensis (with
which it is generally printed) the _De excidio_ forms the chief source
for the numerous middle age accounts of the Trojan legend. (See DICTYS;
and O. S. von Fleschenberg, _Daresstudien_, 1908.)
DAR-ES-SALAAM ("The harbour of peace"), a seaport of East Africa, in 6
deg. 50' S. 39 deg. 20' E., capital of German East Africa. Pop. (1909)
estimated at 24,000, including some 500 Europeans. The entrance to the
harbor, which is perfectly sheltered (hence its name), is through a
narrow opening in the palm-covered shore. The harbour is provided with a
floating dock, completed in 1902. The town is built on the northern
sweep of the harbour and is European in character. The streets are wide
and regularly laid out. The public buildings, which are large and
handsome, include the government and customs offices on the quay
opposite the spot where the mail boats anchor, the governor's house,
state hospital, post office, and the Boma or barracks. Adjoining the
governor's residence are the botanical gardens, where many European
plants are tested with a view to acclimatization. There are various
churches, and government and mission schools. In the town are the head
offices of the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft, the largest trading
company in German East Africa. The mangrove swamps at the north-west end
of the harbour have been drained and partially built over.
Until the German occupation nothing but an insignificant village existed
at Dar-es-Salaam. In 1862 Said Majid, sultan of Zanzibar, decided to
build a town on the shores of the bay, and began the erection of a
palace, which was never finished, and of which but scanty ruins remain.
In 1871 Said Majid died, and his scheme was abandoned. In 1876 Mr
(afterwards Sir) William McKinnon began the construction of a road from
Dar-es-Salaam to Victoria Nyanza, intending to make of Dar-es-Salaam an
important seaport. This project however failed. In 1887 Dr Carl Peters
occupied the bay in the name of the German East Africa Company. Fighting
with the Arabs followed, and in 1889 the company handed over their
settlement to the German imperial government. In 1891 the town was made
the administrative capital of the colony. It is the starting point of a
railway to Mrogoro, and is connected by overland telegraph via Ujiji
with South Africa. A submarine cable connects the town with Zanzibar.
Dar-es-Salaam was laid out by the Germans on an ambitious scale in the
expectation that it would prove an important centre of commerce, but
trade developed very slowly. Ivory, rubber and copal are the chief
exports. The trade returns are included in those of German East Africa
(q.v.).
DARESTE DE LA CHAVANNE, ANTOINE ELISABETH CLEOPHAS (1820-1882), French
historian, was born in Paris on the 28th of October 1820, of an old
Lyons family. Educated at the Ecole des Chartes, he became professor in
the faculty of letters at Grenoble in 1844, and in 1849 at Lyons, where
he remained nearly thirty years. He died on the 6th of August 1882. His
works comprise: _Histoire de l'administration en France depuis
Philippe-Auguste_ (2 vols., 1848); _Histoire des classes agricoles en
France depuis saint Louis jusqu'a Louis XVI_ (2 vols., 1853 and 1858),
now quite obsolete; and a _Histoire de France_ (8 vols., 1865-1873),
completed by a _Histoire de la Restauration_ (2 vols., 1880), a good
summary of the work of Veil-Castel, and by a _Histoire du Gouvernement
de Juillet_, a dry enumeration of dates and facts. Before the
publication of Lavisse's great work, Dareste's general history of France
was the best of its kind; it surpassed in accuracy the work of Henri
Martin, especially in the ancient periods, just as Martin's in its turn
was an improvement upon that of Sismondi.
DARESTE DE LA CHAVANNE, RODOLPHE MADELEINE CLEOPHAS (1824- ), French
jurist, was born in Paris on the 25th of December 1824. He studied at
the Ecole des Chartes and the Ecole de Droit, and starting early on a
legal career he rose to be counsellor to the court of cassation (1877 to
1900). His first publication was an _Essai sur Francois Hotman_ (1850),
completed later by his publication of Hotman's correspondence in the
_Revue historique_ (1876), and he devoted the whole of his leisure to
legal history. Of his writings may be mentioned _Les Anciennes Lois de
l'Islande_ (1881); _Memoire sur les anciens monuments du droit de la
Hongrie_ (1885), and _Etudes d'histoire du droit_ (1889). On Greek law
he wrote some notable works: _Du pret a la grosse chez les Atheniens_
(1867); _Les Inscriptions hypothecaires en Grece_ (1885), _La Science du
droit en Grece: Platon, Aristote, Theophraste_ (1893), and _Etude sur la
loi de Gortyne_ (1885). He collaborated with Theodore Reinach and B.
Haussoullier in their _Recueil des inscriptions juridiques grecques_
(1905), and his name is worthily associated with the edition of Philippe
de Beaumanoir's _Coutumes de Beauvaisis_, published by Salmon (2 vols.,
1899, 1900).
DARFUR, a country of east central Africa, the westernmost state of the
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. It extends from about 10 deg. N. to 16 deg. N. and
from 21 deg. E. to 27 deg. 30' E., has an area of some 150,000 sq. m.,
and an estimated population of 750,000. It is bounded N. by the Libyan
desert, W. by Wadai (French Congo), S. by the Bahr-el-Ghazal and E. by
Kordofan. The two last-named districts are _mudirias_ (provinces) of the
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The greater part of the country is a plateau from
2000 to 3000 ft. above sea-level. A range of mountains of volcanic
origin, the Jebel Marra, runs N. and S. about the line of the 24 deg. E.
for a distance of over 100 m., its highest points attaining from 5000 to
6000 ft. East to west this chain extends about 80 m. Eastward the
mountains fall gradually into sandy, bush-covered steppes. North-east of
Jebel Marra lies the Jebel Medob (3500 ft. high), a range much distorted
by volcanic action, and Bir-el-Melh, an extinct volcano with a crater
150 ft. deep. South of Jebel Marra are the plains of Dar Dima and Dar
Uma; S.W. of the Marra the plain is 4000 ft. above the sea. The
watershed separating the basins of the Nile and Lake Chad runs north and
south through the centre of the country. The mountains are scored by
numerous _khors_, whose lower courses can be traced across the
tableland. The khors formerly contained large rivers which flowed N.E.
and E. to the Nile, W. and S.W. to Lake Chad, S. and S.E. to the
Bahr-el-Ghazal. The streams going N.E. drain to the Wadi Melh, a dry
river-bed which joins the Nile near Debba, but on reaching the plain the
waters sink into the sandy soil and disappear. The torrents flowing
directly east towards the Nile also disappear in the sandy deserts. The
khors in the W., S.W. and S.,--the most fertile part of Darfur--contain
turbulent torrents in the rainy season, when much of the southern
district is flooded. Not one of the streams is perennial, but in times
of heavy rainfall the waters of some khors reach the Bahr-el-Homr
tributary of the Bahr-el-Ghazal. (For some 200 m. the Bahr-el-Homr marks
the southern frontier of the country.) In the W. and S. water can always
be obtained in the dry season by digging 5 or 6 ft. below the surface of
the khors.
The climate, except in the south, where the rains are heavy and the soil
is a damp clay, is healthy except after the rains. The rainy season
lasts for three months, from the middle of June to the middle of
September. In the neighbourhood of the khors the vegetation is fairly
rich. The chief trees are the acacias whence gum is obtained, and baobab
(_Adansonia digitata_); while the sycamore and, in the Marra mountains,
the _Euphorbia candelabrum_ are also found. In the S.W. are densely
forested regions. Cotton and tobacco are indigenous. The most fertile
land is found on the slopes of the mountains, where wheat, durra,
_dukhn_ (a kind of millet and the staple food of the people) and other
grains are grown. Other products are sesame, cotton, cucumbers,
water-melons and onions.
Copper is obtained from Hofrat-el-Nahas in the S.E., iron is wrought in
the S.W.; and there are deposits of rock-salt in various places. The
copper mines (in 9 deg. 48' N. 24 deg. 5' E.) are across the Darfur
frontier in the Bahr-el-Ghazal province. The vein runs N.W. and S.E. and
in places rises in ridges 2 ft. above the general level of ground. There
is an immense quantity of ore, (silicate and carbonate) specimens
containing 14% of metal. Camels and cattle are both numerous and of
excellent breeds. Some of the Arab tribes, such as the Baggara, breed
only cattle, those in the north and east confine themselves to rearing
camels. Horses are comparatively rare; they are a small but sturdy
breed. Sheep and goats are numerous. The ostrich, common in the eastern
steppes, is bred by various Arab tribes, its feathers forming a valuable
article of trade.
_Inhabitants._--The population of Darfur consists of negroes and Arabs.
The negro _For_, forming quite half the inhabitants, occupy the central
highlands and part of the Dar Dima and Dar Uma districts; they speak a
special language, and are subdivided into numerous tribes, of which the
most influential are the Masabat, the Kunjara and the Kera. They are of
middle height, and have rather irregular features. The _For_ are
described as clean and industrious, somewhat fanatical, but generally
amenable to civilization, and freedom-loving. The _Massalit_ are a
negro tribe which, breaking off from the For some centuries back, have
now much Arab blood, and speak Arabic; while the _Tunjur_ are an Arab
tribe which must have arrived in the Sudan at a very early date, as they
have incorporated a large For element, and no longer profess
Mahommedanism. The _Dago_ (_Tago_) formerly inhabited Jebel Marra, but
they have been driven to the south and west, where they maintain a
certain independence in Dar Sula, but are treated as inferiors by the
For. The Zaghawa, who inhabit the northern borders, are on the contrary
regarded by the For as their equals, and have all the prestige of a race
that at one time made its influence felt as far as Bornu. Among other
tribes may be mentioned the Berti and Takruri, the Birgirid, the
Beraunas, and immigrants from Wadai and Bagirmi, and Fula from west of
Lake Chad. Genuine Arab tribes, e.g. the Baggara and Homr, are numerous,
and they are partly nomadic and partly settled. The Arabs have not,
generally speaking, mixed with the negro tribes. They are great hunters,
making expeditions into the desert for five or six days at a time in
search of ostriches.
Slaves, ostrich feathers, gum and ivory used to be the chief articles of
trade, a caravan going annually by the Arbain ("Forty Days") road to
Assiut in Egypt and taking back cloth, fire-arms and other articles. The
slave trade has ceased, but feathers, gum and ivory still constitute the
chief exports of the country. The principal imports are cotton goods,
sugar and tea. There is also an active trade in camels and cattle.
The internal administration of the country is in the hands of the
sultan, who is officially recognized as the agent of the Sudan
government. The administrative system resembles that of other Mahommedan
countries.
_Towns._--The capital is El-Fasher, pop. about 10,000, on the western
bank of the Wadi Tendelty in an angle formed by the junction of that
wadi with the Wadi-el-Kho, one of the streams which flow towards the
Bahr-el-Homr. Fasher is the residence of the sultan. There are a few
fine buildings, but the town consists mainly of tukls and box-shaped
straw sheds. It is 500 m. W.S.W. of Khartum. Dara, a small market town,
is 110 m. S. of El-Fasher. Shakka is in the S.E. of the country near the
Bahr-el-Homr, and was formerly the headquarters of the slave dealers.
_History._--The Dago or Tago negroes, inhabitants of Jebel Marra, appear
to have been the dominant race in Darfur in the earliest period to which
the history of the country goes back. How long they ruled is uncertain,
little being known of them save a list of kings. According to tradition
the Tago dynasty was displaced, and Mahommedanism introduced, about the
14th century, by Tunjur Arabs, who reached Darfur by way of Bornu and
Wadai. The first Tunjur king was Ahmed-el-Makur, who married the
daughter of the last Tago monarch. Ahmed reduced many unruly chiefs to
submission, and under him the country prospered. His great-grandson, the
sultan Dali, a celebrated figure in Darfur histories, was on his
mother's side a For, and thus was effected a union between the negro and
Arab races. Dali divided the country into provinces, and established a
penal code, which, under the title of _Kitab Dali_ or Dali's Book, is
still preserved, and shows principles essentially different from those
of the Koran. His grandson Soleiman (usually distinguished by the Forian
epithet _Solon_, the Arab or the Red) reigned from 1596 to 1637, and was
a great warrior and a devoted Mahommedan. Soleiman's grandson, Ahmed
Bahr (1682-1722), made Islam the religion of the state, and increased
the prosperity of the country by encouraging immigration from Bornu and
Bagirmi. His rule extended east of the Nile as far as the banks of the
Atbara. Under succeeding monarchs the country, involved in wars with
Sennar and Wadai, declined in importance. Towards the end of the 18th
century a sultan named Mahommed Terab led an army against the Funj, but
got no further than Omdurman. Here he was stopped by the Nile, and found
no means of getting his army across the river. Unwilling to give up his
project, Terab remained at Omdurman for months. He was poisoned by his
wife at the instigation of disaffected chiefs, and the army returned to
Darfur. The next monarch was Abd-er-Rahman, surnamed el-Raschid or the
Just. It was during his reign that Napoleon Bonaparte was campaigning
in Egypt; and in 1799 Abd-er-Rahman wrote to congratulate the French
general on his defeat of the Mamelukes. To this Bonaparte replied by
asking the sultan to send him by the next caravan 2000 black slaves
upwards of sixteen years old, strong and vigorous. To Abd-er-Rahman
likewise is due the present situation of the _Fasher_, or royal
township. The capital had formerly been at a place called Kobbe.
Mahommed-el-Fadhl, his son, was for some time under the control of an
energetic eunuch, Mahommed Kurra, but he ultimately made himself
independent, and his reign lasted till 1839, when he died of leprosy. He
devoted himself largely to the subjection of the semi-independent Arab
tribes who lived in the country, notably the Rizighat, thousands of whom
he slew. In 1821 he lost the province of Kordofan, which in that year
was conquered by the Egyptians. Of his forty sons, the third, Mahommed
Hassin, was appointed his successor. Hassin is described as a religious
but avaricious man. In the later part of his reign he became involved in
trouble with the Arab slave raiders who had seized the Bahr-el-Ghazal,
looked upon by the Darfurians as their especial "slave preserve." The
negroes of Bahr-el-Ghazal paid tribute of ivory and slaves to Darfur,
and these were the chief articles of merchandise sold by the Darfurians
to the Egyptian traders along the Arbain road to Assiut. The loss of the
Bahr-el-Ghazal caused therefore much annoyance to the people of Darfur.
Hassin died in 1873, blind and advanced in years, and the succession
passed to his youngest son Ibrahim, who soon found himself engaged in a
conflict with Zobeir (q.v.), the chief of the Bahr-el-Ghazal slave
traders, and with an Egyptian force from Khartum. The war resulted in
the destruction of the kingdom. Ibrahim was slain in battle in the
autumn of 1874, and his uncle Hassab Alla, who sought to maintain the
independence of his country, was captured in 1875 by the troops of the
khedive, and removed to Cairo with his family. The Darfurians were
restive under Egyptian rule. Various revolts were suppressed, but in
1879 General Gordon (then governor-general of the Sudan) suggested the
reinstatement of the ancient royal family. This was not done, and in
1881 Slatin Bey (Sir Rudolf von Slatin) was made governor of the
province. Slatin defended the province against the forces of the Mahdi,
who were led by a Rizighat sheik named Madibbo, but was obliged to
surrender (December 1883), and Darfur was incorporated in the Mahdi's
dominions. The Darfurians found Dervish rule as irksome as that of the
Egyptians had been, and a state of almost constant warfare ended in the
gradual retirement of the Dervishes from Darfur. Following the overthrow
of the khalifa at Omdurman in 1898 the new (Anglo-Egyptian) Sudan
government recognized (1899) Ali Dinar, a grandson of Mahommed-el-Fadhl,
as sultan of Darfur, on the payment by that chief of an annual tribute
of L500. Under Ali Dinar, who during the _Mahdia_ had been kept a
prisoner in Omdurman, Darfur enjoyed a period of peace.
The first European traveller known to have visited Darfur was William
George Browne (q.v.), who spent two years (1793-1795) at Kobbe. Sheik
Mahommed-el-Tounsi travelled in 1803 through various regions of Africa,
including Darfur, in search of Omar, his father, and afterwards gave to
the world an account of his wanderings, which was translated into French
in 1845 by M. Perron. Gustav Nachtigal in 1873 spent some months in
Darfur, and since that time the country has become well known through
the journeys of Gordon, Slatin and others.
AUTHORITIES.--Browne's account of Darfur will be found in his _Travels
in Africa, Egypt and Syria_ (London, 1799); Nachtigal's _Sahara und
Sudan_ gives the results of that traveller's observations. The first
ten chapters of Slatin Pasha's book _Fire and Sword in the Sudan_
(English edition, London, 1896) contain much information concerning
the country, its history, and a full account of the overthrow of
Egyptian authority by the Mahdi. See also _The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan_
(London, 1905), edited by Count Gleichen, and the bibliography given
under SUDAN.
DARGAI, the name of a mountain peak and a frontier station in the
north-west Frontier Province of India. The mountain peak is situated on
the Samana Range, and the Kohat border, and is famous for the stand made
there by the Afridis and Orakzais in the Tirah Campaign. (See TIRAH
CAMPAIGN.) Dargai station is situated on the Peshawar border, and is the
terminus of the frontier railway running from Nowshera to the Malakand
Pass.
DARGOMIJSKY, ALEXANDER SERGEIVICH (1813-1869), Russian composer, was
born in 1813, and educated in St Petersburg. He was already known as a
talented musical amateur when in 1833 he met Glinka and was encouraged
to devote himself to composition. His light opera _Esmeralda_ was
written in 1839, and his _Roussalka_ was performed in 1856, but he had
but small success or recognition either at home or abroad, except in
Belgium, till the 'sixties, when he became one of Balakirev's circle.
His opera _The Stone Guest_ then became famous among the progressive
Russian school, though it was not performed till 1872. Dargomijsky died
in January 1869. His compositions include a number of songs, and some
orchestral pieces.
DARIAL, a gorge in the Caucasus, at the east foot of Mt. Kasbek, pierced
by the river Terek for a distance of 8 m. between vertical walls of rock
(5900 ft.). It is mentioned in the Georgian annals under the names of
Ralani, Dargani, Darialani; the Persians and Arabs knew it as the Gate
of the Alans; Strabo calls it _Porta Caucasica_ and _Porta Cumana_;
Ptolemy, _Porta Sarmatica_; it was sometimes known as _Portae Caspiae_
(a name bestowed also on the "gate" or pass beside the Caspian at
Derbent); and the Tatars call it _Darioly_. Being the only available
passage across the Caucasus, it has been fortified since a remote
period--at least since 150 B.C. In Russian poetry it has been
immortalized by Lermontov. The present Russian fort, Darial, which
guards this section of the Georgian military road, is at the northern
issue of the gorge, at an altitude of 4746 ft.
DARIEN, a district covering the eastern part of the isthmus joining
Central and South America. It is mainly within the republic of Panama,
and gives its name to a gulf of the Carribbean Sea. Darien is of great
interest in the history of geographical discovery. It was reconnoitred
in the first year of the 16th century by Rodrigo Bastidas of Seville;
and the first settlement was Santa Maria la Antigua, situated on the
small Darien river, north-west of the mouth of the Atrato. In 1513 Vasco
Nunez de Balboa stood "silent upon a peak in Darien,"[1] and saw the
Pacific at his feet stretching inland in the Gulf of San Miguel; and for
long this narrow neck of land seemed alternately to proffer and refuse a
means of transit between the two oceans. The first serious attempt to
turn the isthmus to permanent account as a trade route dates from the
beginning of the 18th century, and forms an interesting chapter in
Scottish history. In 1695 an act was passed by the Scottish parliament
giving extensive powers to a company trading to Africa and the Indies;
and this company, under the advice of one of the most remarkable
economists of the period, William Paterson (q.v.), determined to
establish a colony on the isthmus of Darien as a general emporium for
the commerce of all the nations of the world. Regarded with disfavour
both in England and Holland, the project was taken up in Scotland with
the enthusiasm of national rivalry towards England, and the
"subscriptions sucked up all the money in the country." On the 26th of
July 1698 the pioneers set sail from Leith amid the cheers of an almost
envious multitude; and on the 4th of November, with the loss of only
fifteen out of 1200 men, they arrived at Darien, and took up their
quarters in a well-defended spot, with a good harbour and excellent
outlook. The country they named New Caledonia, and two sites selected
for future cities were designated respectively New Edinburgh and New St
Andrews. At first all seemed to go well; but by and by lack of
provisions, sickness and anarchy reduced the settlers to the most
miserable plight; and in June 1699 they re-embarked in three vessels, a
weak and hopeless company, to sail whithersoever Providence might
direct. Meanwhile a supplementary expedition had been prepared in
Scotland; two vessels were despatched in May, and four others followed
in August. But this venture proved even more unfortunate than the
former. The colonists arrived broken in health; their spirits were
crushed by the fate of their predecessors, and embittered by the harsh
fanaticism of the four ministers whom the general assembly of the Church
of Scotland had sent out to establish a regular presbyterial
organization. The last addition to the settlement was the company of
Captain Alexander Campbell of Fonab, who arrived only to learn that a
Spanish force of 1500 or 1600 men lay encamped at Tubacanti, on the
river Santa Maria, waiting for the appearance of a Spanish squadron in
order to make a combined attack on the fort. Captain Campbell, on the
second day after his arrival, marched with 200 men across the isthmus to
Tubacanti, stormed the camp in the night-time, and dispersed the Spanish
force. On his return to the fort on the fifth day he found it besieged
by the Spaniards from the men-of-war; and, after a vain attempt to
maintain its defence, he succeeded with a few companions in making his
escape in a small vessel. A capitulation followed, and the Darien colony
was no more. Of those who had taken part in the enterprise only a
miserable handful ever reached their native land.
See J. H. Burton, _The Darien Papers_ (Bannatyne Club, 1849);
Macaulay, _History of England_ (London, 1866); and A. Lang, _History
of Scotland_, vol. iv. (Edinburgh, 1907).