riwi u, 



TARANTO. 



7*6 



capital at the whole district. North-west of it, and on the bordw of 

 rt, U the town of }Vawi4iaiijr. which u built near a pan 

 high hilbs trareried by a road to Hand. South-west of 

 fn an the town* of Toong-kooaty-kiany and Ska-tckeou. 

 llano Polo deribM Sha-tobeon M rather a Urpo place ; he ay that 

 th inhabitant* lira on the produce of thair field* and orchard* ami 

 ban little commerce. Marco Polo reached it after traversing the 

 drMtt of bop by a thirty days' journey, baring departed from the 

 town of Lop, which U on the bantu of a lake of the name name. 



The cold in winter in Tangut if intense, and laat* for aeveral months. 

 The Jeauiu found tho Hoang-ho, near 40 N. lat, at the end of 

 Novenibrr, covrrvd with thick ice, to that the osraran was able to 

 pas* ortr it, though the river WM more than 800 ranis wide. At 

 King-liU a bean (all of mow WM experienced in the middle of April 

 In Mmmer the beat is great, but much leas than in the low countries 

 of Chins) ; the climate ia considered to be extremely healthy. 



Bmry kind of grain is grown in the few tracte whose soil is 6t for 

 cultivation, and rice U raised where irrigation is practicable. The 

 nomadic nation* have numerous herds of camels, horse*, and cattle, 

 and Urge flock* of sheep and goat*. In the mountain region is found 

 the yak. whote tail gives the chowry. It is uned for riding. In the 

 ilnsiiil are wild hoi:*, deer, argali, and hares. Wild horses and cattle 

 arc found, it ii raid, in some of the mountain forests. In the desert 

 some extensive tracts are covered with agates, cornelians, and other 

 preekms stone*. 



The inhabitants of Tangtit nre a very mixed race. Mongol tribes 

 inhabit tho Gobi, and occupy also the mountain ranges north of l*ke 

 Khookoo-nor, but the mountaineers south of thiit lake derive their 

 origin from Tibet. The agricultural population is mostly composed 

 of Chinese and their descendants. In tho towns the number of Turkish 

 settlen seems to be considerable. They are Mohammedan.", and th.re 

 are mosques in the larger towns of Tangut All the other inhabitants 

 are Buddhists. In the time of Marco Polo there were also Nestorian 

 Christians in the towns, but those have disappeared. 



The Cbinece emperor* subjected the country of Tangut shortly 

 before the birth of Christ In the 8th century Tangut was occupied 

 by a nation of Tibetan origin, called Tang, which founded in these 

 pmrU the empire of Thufnn. This was overthrown by the Chinese in 

 the 9th century ; but the Tibetans erected in the following century 

 the empire of Tangut, or Hio, which maintained its power till it was 

 destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1 2'-'7. With the downfal of the dynasty 

 of the Mongols (1341), the best part of Tnngut remained under the 

 sway of the emperors of the dynasty of Ming, though the Mongols 

 after their retreat from China had occupied the northern and more 

 desert portion of it, where they maintained their independence to the 

 end of the 17th century. In the wars of the Galdau of the Oloth 

 [SOXUARIA], a tribe of the Oloth Mongols expelled the Khalkas from 

 the country west of the Hoang-ho, and took possession of it: but 

 after the defeat of the Galdan they submitted to the Chinese emperor 

 in 1690, and since that time the whole of Tangut has been annexed 

 to China. (Du Haldc, flatory of China ; Hitter. Erdkunde.) 



TANJORE. JOaMAna] 



TANNAH. (SALSWTB.) 



TAXSLEY. [DERBYSHIRE.] 



TAORMINA. [MESSINA, Province of.] 



TAPAJOS. [BRAZIL.] 



TAPLOW. rBcCKI.VOHAMBniRE.] 



TAPTY, RIVEU. [HINDUSTAN.] 



TAPUL. [SOOLOO ARCHIPELAGO.] 



TARA. [MKATII; SIBERIA.] 



TARAI. [HIJIDL-STAN.I 



TARAKAI, orSAGHALIEN, a large island in the North Pacific 

 Ocean, extends from 46 to 04 20' N. lat., more than 600 miles in 

 length. The width towards the southern extremity, north, of the 

 Bay of Aniva, is nearly 100 miles, but it soon contracts to about 25 

 miles, which Is about its average width as far north as the Bay of 

 Patience, where it suddenly expands to 120 miles, Cape Patience run- 

 ning far out into the Pacific. From this point (49 N. lat.) northward 

 the inland again grows narrower, but very gradually, so that at 51 



, lat it is still nearly 80 milts wide. Farther north its average 

 width does not exceed 50 miles. The area of the island probably 

 exceeds 30,000 square miles. 



Tarakal extend* along the eastern coast of Asia between 142 and 

 145* E. long., and is separated from the continent by the Gulf of 

 Tartary, which 1s 200 miles wide at its most southern extremity but 

 grow, narrower farther north, until near 51* SO' N. lat. the width ia 

 ka than 40 miles. At this point a shoal extends across the gulf, on 

 which there U only water for bot. Tho gulf is almost always covered 

 with thick fog.. Near fir 30- N. lat. a low sandy cape stretches so 

 far U. the east a< to approach very near the western shores of the 

 North of this narrow and shallow part tho gulf presents a 

 circular basin, sometime! called the (lulf ,,f Sagholien, about 50 miles 



ide, which receives the waters of tho Amur. Krusenstern calls it 



the Llmau of tbu Amur. This basin is united with the Sea of Okhotzk 



by a strait, which in the narrowest part U about 10 miles wide. The 



ni extremity of Tarukai is divided fi., m tho inland of Yeso by 



alt of La PerotiM, which is hardly 30 miles wide and in which 



the tides run with great Telocity. 



Though the ooast of the island ii of great extent and much 

 indented, it doe* not appear that there are many good harbours. 

 Along the western shores only open roadsteads have been found. At 

 the southern extremity of the island, between Cape Crillon and Cape 

 Aniva, is a wide open bay, the Bay of Auiva, which is inclosed by two 

 projecting ton^uea of land, and extends 50 miles from south to north. 

 There is good anchorage at its most northern extremity. The pro- 

 jecting headland, which occurs near 49 N. lat, on the eastern side of 

 Tarakm, and terminates with Cape Palionoe, incloses the Bay of 

 Patience, which is rery extensive, but open and exposed to eastern 

 and southern winds. At the mo.it northern extremity of the inland 

 is the Northern Bay, between Cape Elizabeth and Cape Maria. It 

 offers good anchorage and shelter. 



The island is naturally divided into three tracts : the mountainous, 

 which occupies the southern portion; the level, in the middle ; Msd 

 the hilly tract, which extends over the northern districts. The moun- 

 tain region is the largest, and comprehends more than one-half of the 

 island, terminating on the north near 61 N. lat A chain of moun- 

 tains begins at Cape Crillon, and continues in an unim rnipted line 

 northward to an elevated summit called Peak Bernizel, where it seems 

 to be united to another and lower chain, which traverses the eastern 

 peninsula, and incloses the Bay of Aniva on the east. Farther north 

 occur other summits, as Peak Lamanon, Puak'Mongez, and Mount 

 Tiara : the two last mentioned are north of 50* N. lat None of these 

 summit* have been measured, but their elevation probably does not 

 exceed 5000 feet above the sea-level. Ou the summits of tho moun- 

 tains snow lies till June. Along the western coast the mountains in 

 some places come close up to the water's edge, but a narrow level 

 tract generally separates them from the shore, and this tract is covered 

 with high trees, while the declivities of the mountains are mostly bure. 

 Extensive flats occur at Auiva Bay and the Bay of Patience. Tho 

 low country which skirts the shore on the eastern side of the moun- 

 tains appears to be more extensive and less interrupted than that 

 along the western shores. The country extending from 61 to 63 

 N. lat. is so low that the shores are not visible at the distance of five 

 or six miles, and it is sandy and overgrown with bushes. The interior 

 is in general level, partly sandy and partly swampy, and a great part 

 of it ia covered with short bushes or small trees. A number of low 

 sand-hills are dispersed over the country. The hiliy tract oc 

 the most northern part of the island, or that which extends from 53 

 N. lat. to Cape Elizabeth. The coast is iu general high iiml steep, 

 being generally composed of perpendicular white cliffs. There are 

 only n few tracts in which the coast sinks down to the level of the 

 sen, and here the villages are built. The interior consist* of a suc- 

 cession of high hills covered with full-grown trees to the very summits ; 

 the valleys which intervene between them are partly wooded and partly 

 covered with a fine close turf. The winter seems to be long and 

 severe, the summer months temperate, but continual fogs inclose the 

 island nearly all the year round. 



Productions. The inhabitants derive profit from the spontaneous 

 products of the soil : they dry the roots of a species of lily for winter 

 food, and collect great quantities of garlic and angelica. The forests 

 consist of oak, maple, birch, and medlar, but chiefly of fir. Large 

 tracts are covered with juniper-trees. Gooseberries, raspberries, and 

 strawberries abound, and also wild celery and watercress. Among 

 wild animals martens and bears are mentioned. The sea supplies the 

 inhabitants with abundance of salmon, herring, and cod. Dried and 

 smoked salmon, skins of salmon, salt-herrings, and train-oil are the 

 principal articles of export Whales are numerous in the Strait of 

 La Perouse.and along the eastern coast. In the same parts, seals of 

 different kinds and sea-otters are very frequeut 



The inhabitants are aborigines, among whom a few Japanese have 

 settled on the Bay of Aniva, and a few Mantchoos on tho Northern 

 liny. In the Japanese settlements are a few Japanese officers, but no 

 Chinese authorities have been seen, nor is this island enumerated 

 among the possessions of the Chinese. The aborigines call themselves 

 A'iuos, that is, men : the same race inhabits the K urile Islands, and 

 extends along the shores of Asia from the Corea to Kaiutchatka, They 

 never cultivate the soil, nor apply themselves to hunting wild auim:d.-, 

 and they keep no domestic animals except dogs, which they use iu 

 winter for drawing their sledges, like the inhabitants of Kauitchatka. 

 They rarely exceed five feet six inches in height They have tolerably 

 largo eyes, thick lips, high cheek-bones, and a somewhat broad and 

 compressed nose. Their cheeks and chins are covered with long, thick, 

 black beards. They manufacture a kind of cloth from the bark of 

 tho willow. Their huts are of wood, covered with the white bark of 

 birch, and have a roof of wood thatched with_dry straw. Their boats 

 nrc of largo size and strongly built. 



TARANCON. [CABTILLA. LA NUBVA.] 



TA i:\NT.\SIA. [SAVOY.] 



T A KAN TO, an archiepiscopal town in tho Kingdom of tho Two 

 Sicilies, in the province of Terra d'Otranto, is situated in 40 23' 

 N. lat., 17 35' E. long., and contains 15,000 inhabitants. It occupies 

 11 small part of the site of the ancient Tarcntum, bom; confined 

 in tin- island or peninsula at the entrance of the inner harbour, or 

 Mare Piccolo, on which formerly stood the fortress or acropolis of 

 Tareutum. There are few remains of the anei. nt town. Taranto is ill 

 built : it id fortified and has a castle, and several churches and convents. 



