652 



DAM 



DAMASCENING 



words, ' acting the Muscovite too grossly,' made his 

 name a byword of terror. A very devoted royalist, 

 he is said never to have shaved his beard after the 

 execution of Charles I. He died 23d August 1685. 



Dam. See WATER, Vol. X. p. 570; COFFERDAM. 



Damages, in Law, are the pecuniary repara- 

 tion due for loss or injury sustained by one 

 person through the fault or negligence of another. 

 Where a sum ascertained in amount is due, the 

 action is one not properly for damages, but of debt. 

 But where the sum is not ascertained, as where an 

 in j dry has been done to a man's character or 

 property, the action can in general only be for 

 damages the amount of which the injured party 

 estimates, and which is determined by the judgment 

 of the court or verdict of a jury. When parties to 

 a contract agree that if the contract be broken, a 

 specified sum of money shall be paid, this sum is 

 spoken of as liquidated damages, a sum agreed 

 upon to save the trouble of ascertaining the actual 

 damage done. Nominal damages are those given 

 to a plaintiff who establishes his right, but has not 

 shown that he has suffered actual loss. Exemplary 

 or vindictive damages are given not only to com- 

 pensate the injured party, but to punish the 

 offender, as in actions for damages by fraud, 

 seduction, and the like. Damages ultra are 

 additional damages claimed by a plaintiff over and 

 above those paid into court by a defendant. Every 

 person is liable in damages for injuries caused by 

 culpable neglect or ignorance. Professional persons 

 are liable to make reparation of loss occasioned 

 through their want of ordinary skill in their calling. 

 Railway companies and steamboat owners are 

 liable for injuries to person or property caused by 

 the fault of themselves or their servants. The 

 principal rules according to which damages are 

 awarded are, that the damage is measured by the 

 actual pecuniary loss, when ascertainable ; that the 

 injury suffered must be the immediate consequence 

 of the faulty act or omission ; and that all the 

 parties concerned in committing a wrong are liable 

 each for the full amount of damages to the injured 

 party. 



In the United States, the same general principles 

 apply as in England. But the tendency of modern 

 legislation, instead of restricting actions for damages 

 to cases in which the restitution of property and 

 the enforcement of rights are involved, is gradu- 

 ally being extended to cases involving civil injury 

 arising from criminal negligence. This has been 

 made necessary from the great powers granted 

 corporations by law. Damages for the infringe- 

 ment of patents and copyrights may by act of con- 

 gress be double or treble the verdict of a jury, at 

 the discretion of the court. See COSTS, LIABILITY. 



Daman', an outlying portion of the Punjab, 

 extending along the right bank of the Indus, and 

 as far back as the Suliman Mountains. 



Daman', a Portuguese settlement and port in 

 the province of Gujarat, on the Gulf of Cam- 

 bay, 100 miles N. of Bombay. The settlement 

 consists of Daman proper (22 sq. m. ), and the 

 pargand of Nagar Havili (60 sq. m.), to the east. 

 Pop. of the former, 56,084; of the latter, 12,636, 

 nearly all Hindus. The climate is generally 

 healthy, the soil moist and fertile. The magnificent 

 teak forests of Nagar Havili provide excellent 

 timber for shipbuilding, for which Daman has 

 some celebrity. The port, guarded by two forts, 

 stands at the mouth of the Daman-Ganga, a deep, 

 navigable stream, with a bar at its mouth, 

 while outside is an excellent roadstead. Although 

 the Portuguese have held Nagar Havili since 

 1780 only, Daman has been occupied by them 

 since 1558. It formerly was noted for its weaving 

 and dyeing, and exported its own fabrics to the 



coast of Africa, besides large quantities of opium 

 to China. The opium trade, nowever, has been 

 stopped, and the chief industry, beyond the weaving 

 of cotton cloth, and of bamboo mats and baskets, 

 is now the deep-sea fishing, in which about 4500 

 men are engaged. 

 Daman. See HYRAX. 



Daman-i-Koh ( ' skirts of the hills ' ), a tract 

 of hilly country in Bengal, reserved for the Santals 

 and other equally primitive races. Area, 1366 sq. 

 m. ; pop. 360,000. 



Dam'araland, a territory in the west of South 

 Africa, between Namaqnaland and Ovampoland 

 proper, extending from th^ Atlantic to about 19 

 45' E. long. Behind the waterless coast region ( 100 

 miles) rises a mountain district, with peaks over 

 8500 feet above the sea ; and farther inland stretch 

 wide prairies. The mountains are rich in minerals, 

 especially copper ; vegetation is confined to their 

 valleys, and to the prairie region, which in the 

 north enjoys a fine rainfall. The produce of the 

 interior consists of ivory, feathers, skins, &c. The 

 Damaras, properly Herero, a Bantu (q.v.) stem, 

 number about 80,000, of whom 50,000 live in the 

 mountain district ; they are nomads, and own large 

 flocks and herds. The Hawkoin, or Hill Damaras, 

 in the north-east, however, who are a much lower 

 type, now speak Hottentot. The only harbour in 

 tins part of the coast is Walvisch Bay (q.v.), which 

 properly belongs to Namaqualand ; it was annexed 

 to Cape Colony in 1884. In the same year the 

 desert region along the coast was made a German 

 protectorate. 



Damascening, or DAMASKENING, is a name 

 which is given ( 1 ) to the watered or striated 

 structure seen in certain sword-blades and other 

 weapons, and (2) to the ornamental incrustation 

 with gold and silver of steel and iron surfaces. The 

 term in both its applications originates from the city 

 of Damascus, whence the crusaders brought into 

 Europe swords and other weapons of remarkable 

 strength, elasticity, and keenness of edge, the 

 surfaces of which were beautifully striated with 

 waved dark and light lines. The hilts of such 

 weapons, and the whole surface of defensive armour 

 from the same source were in many cases elabor- 

 ately ornamented with incrusted gold, and hence 

 one term came to be applied to the peculiar structure 

 of the metal, and to its ornamental treatment. It 

 is probable that even in the crusaders' times the 

 making of the so-called Damascus blades and the 

 art of damascening were Persian, and to this day 

 they remain characteristic of that country, the 

 practice having spread thence eastward into India, 

 while the Persians still supply the Turks on the 

 west with their best and most highly ornamented 

 weapons. The production of a watered or damas- 

 cened surface is illustrated by the manufacture of 

 ' Damascus twist ' barrels for sporting-guns. The 

 metal for the barrels is prepared from rods of iron 

 and steel, piled alternately and forged and welded 

 together into a single solid rod or small section. 

 Three of these composite rods are used in forming 

 a barrel. They are separately twisted in contrary 

 directions till each has the appearance of a fine 

 threaded screw, then they are welded together into 

 a solid ribbon, which in its turn is spirally wound 

 and welded by the edges till the requisite length 

 and bore of barrel are formed. The result of the 

 intertwisting of fine lamina of steel and iron is a 

 beautifully damascened surface which shows itself 

 when the barrel has been treated with acid. The 

 incrustation of arms, armour, and other objects of 

 steel and iron with gold, and more rarely with 

 silver, is very extensively practised in the North- 

 west Provinces of India, as well as in Persia. In 

 India it is known as Kuft work or Kuftgari. The 



