AUASIKH. 



AMAZON AS. 



Bach angU 

 and each si 



hunrintinai from diflerent part* of the empire is kept in a long gallery 



rortmoatioa* afAmarapura, if they are still standing, opnsiit 

 of a rampart and a Urn citadel The citadel i* a square building 

 with walls SO feet hirh, which are faced with brick and strongly 

 U of the fort contain* a large square projecting 

 side ha* a principal gate, beside* two smaller one* 

 i it and the barlv^v Each aide of the fort i* somewhat more 

 7000 feet long, and the whole is surrounded by a broad ditch 

 with brick. The fort U built on the northern bank of a lake, 

 DM water* of which wash it* wall* whenever the lake i* swelled 

 during the rainy -awn. 



The manufacture of jewellery was formerly carried on extensively 

 in this city, aa entire treet having bean filled with the house* of 

 goldsmiths. The fort contains a royal library, the book* composing 

 which are ~-r*-'"~< in about one hundred large well-filled wooden 

 thrill The river Irawaddv offcn the advantage of water-carriage 

 to and from the city, which i* situated near a fertile district, where 

 P y^.. of wheat i* raved of a good quality. 



(Captain Cox's Ao<<* on On Burma* Safin; Berghaus's Alia, and 



Ulm] 



AMASIEH, the ancient Amniia, the principal town of the Kyalot 

 of Siva*, in Asia Minor, is situated on the river Yeahil, the ancient 

 Iris, ia 40 88' X. lat, M* 2*' E long., 60 mile* S. by W. from the 

 port of "ff", and 100 mile* N.W. from Siva* : population about 

 24.000. Amaaia wa* the birthplace of the Greek geographer Strabo, 

 who describes it "My native city," *ays Strabo (Caeaub. p. 561), 

 " stands in a deep and extensive gorge, through which the In* flows. 

 It i* surprisingly favoured both by nature and art, being at once both 



town and a garrison : a rock, lofty and precipitous, all round, 

 daeoadi with rapid dope to the river ; one part has a wall clow on 

 the bank of the stream, where it join* on to the city ; and in another 

 part the wall run* up on each aide of the hill to the summit*, of which 

 there are two, connected with one another and exceedingly well 

 fortified. Within the incloeure made by the wall are the palace and 

 the tomb* of the king*. The summit* are united by a very narrow 

 neck, the ascent to which i* five or six stadia on each side from the 

 bank of the river and from the suburb* ; and from the neck to the 

 two summits is about another stadium of steep ascent, which i* alto- 

 gether impregnable. * * * * On the tops also water is carried up 

 under the rock ; two narrow galleries (avftyytt) being cut, one from 

 the neck to the river, and the other from the summit* to the neck. 



* * There are two bridge* on the river, one from the city to the 

 suburb*, and another from the suburb* to the country ; at this latter 

 bridge terminate* the mountain which overhang* the rock." 



The town wa* of course on both sides of the river : the castle, with 

 part of the (unrounding wall*, still exist* on the side of the river 

 oppodto to the modern town. Hamilton, in his ' Researches in Asia 

 Minor,' describe* the place, and confirms Strabo' g account in several 

 particular*. He mention* "two Hellenic towers of beautiful con- 

 struction," which he take* to be the two summits spoken of by 

 Strabo ; and he descended one of the galleries about 300 feet, and 



a small pool of dew cold water. The wall* described by the 

 geographer a* innloeing the tomb* of the king* still in part 



. The** tombs are to the south of the citadel, throe to the 

 west and two to the east ; they are excavated out of the limestone 

 rook. Amaeieh i* a large and populou* town ; the house* are chiefly 

 of wood, but many are of stone, and all are covered with tile*. The 

 atreet* are narrow and tortuous, and in the principal one there are 

 aeveral Saraeanie buildings, either in ruins or used a* mosque*, and 

 a mcdreeseh or coUege the front of which i* constructed with frag- 

 ment* of ancient cornice*, frieze*, architrave*, Ac. Hamilton odds 

 that the architrave of the entrance to thi* college i* formed by three 

 oaf "tone* covered with deep-cut Greek inscriptions. There i* a large 



manna, built by HulUn lUyazid, with two lofty minaret*, also 

 ae; the dome of the mosque k covered with lead. 



of ctoo* ; the dome of the mosque 



About two miles above the town the river flow* through a narrow 

 flea screen*! by precipitous rooks, in which the road i* cut on the 

 right bank. There are remain* of an aqueduct cut in the solid rock 

 M (set above the road. The river, which run* in a deep narrow 

 oataad both above and below the town, is not suitable for navigation. 

 It i* erased by four bridge* within the limits of the town : the upper- 

 moat i* modern and of stone : the second, which is below the tomb*, 

 b very old, apparently Roman, and alao of stone ; the third i* of 

 wood aad cro**** the stream where the river torn* to the northward ; 

 he fourth, which i* half a mil. lower down, i. of stone, and at the 

 MBiWj of the town. The inhabitant* procure from the river their 

 of water, which i* raiaed by wheel* f.irnuhod with 

 driven by the stream. In the numerous garden* about 

 uch are irrigated from the river by mean* of large water- 

 i fruit* are grown, especially grape*, of which a 

 twamMmg sherry I* nude. There are alao numerous 

 a* .ilk form* an important article of export. 

 S5T h ^ bo ' > Hamilton .Uto. the number 

 if.?? 00 Turktah. 750 Armenian, and 100 or 150 

 *** ' to< *- tt l was at work, manufacturing 

 wrr coarse woollen cloth. The Greek* were allowed to 

 Mbool ; the bazaars wen small and 01 supplied. Large tame 





white vulture* acted a* toe scavengers of the town, rooeting by night 

 in the cleft* of the rock* that surround the city, and by day perched 

 on the house-tops, or soaring high in beautiful gyrations ready to 

 pounce upon their meals. The Turk* appreciate their useful qualities, 

 and never molest them. 



The origin of Amaaia i* unknown. It wa* at one time the residence 

 of the king* of Pontus, and wa* perhaps one of the strongholds of 

 Mithridate*. It* coin* till the time of Domitian have only the 

 epigraph 'Amaaia,' or 'Ainaseia;' after this they are *tain|H-<l with 

 the head and name of emperor ; and from Trajan time they bear the 

 title of ' Metropolis,' showing that Amaaia was then at all event* the 

 i hi. f town of 1'ontiiK. 



Silver, copper, and salt mine* are worked in the neighbourhood at 

 Manuvan. Bait and silk are the chief export*. 



AMATUK'K. [ABBUzzo.1 



AMAZONAS, a river in South America which traverses the equa- 

 torial region* of that continent nearly in their whole extent, running 

 the greatest part of its course from west to east and having it* 

 embouchure almost under the equator. Hi* the largest river on 

 the globe not only in point of length and the extent of country 

 which it drain*, but also on account of it* extraordinary depth and 

 the immense body of water which it brings to the ocean. 



The river Tunguragua, or Upper Maranon, the principal head- 

 stream of the Amazons*, rises in the Lake of Llauricocha, which lies 

 on the table-land of Pasco, in Peru, a region so elevated that it i* 

 subject nearly to a continual winter. Thia lake is more than 14,000 

 feet above the sea-level, and is situated in about 10 80' S. lat. and 

 near 76 W. long. lasuing thence, the river flows in a north-north- 

 western direction nearly 500 miles. The upper part of it* course, to 

 a distance of about 120 mile*, is in a ravine between high summit*, 

 and must be exceedingly rapid and full of cataract*, as it descends 

 more than 11,000 feet Near Hilary, where the stream is about 

 2200 feet above the sea, a wide valley opens between two principal 

 range* of the Andes, and in this valley the river flow* with a rather 

 gentle current through a space of about 380 miles, and is navigable 

 for canoe*, until it arrives at the Pongo Rentema, which ia 1237 feet 

 above the sea level A little south of thin rapid the river turns north- 

 east, and after a course of about 90 mile* in that direction it turns 

 eastward. When it has run between 80 and 90 mile* to the eastward 

 it leaves the mountain-region of the Andes by the famous Pongo de 

 Manaeriche, a rapid about 7 miles long, full of eddies and small 

 cataract*. In the space between the Pongo of Rentema and that of 

 Mauseriche the swift current i* frequently changed into rapids, and 

 ia not continuously navigable even for canoes. But balsas may descend 

 even the rapids. Above the rapid of Manserichc the river i* more 

 than 150 fathom* wide, but where it breaks through the last moun- 

 tains, at the Pongo itself, it* bed is narrowed to 25 fathoms. The 

 rocks, which here constitute its banks, are about 50 feet high, 

 and perpendicular. At 3. Borja, which stands at the foot of the 

 Pongo de Manseriche in 428'S. lat, 76 27'W. long., the surface of the 

 river is 1164 feet above the sea. Here terminate* the upper course of 

 the Amazon**, which in the countries drained by it is known by the 

 name of Mara Aon ; and thi* name it retains down to itn junction 

 with the Yavari. In it* eastern course to the junction of the Yavari 

 the Amazon** separates Peru from Ecuador ; and the Yavari itself 

 form* part of the boundary between Peru and Brazil. 



From S. Borja the river runs through an extensive plain east- 

 ward, forming many great bends, a* far a* 63 W. long., where it is 

 joined by the Puru*. From thi* point to it* mouth the course of 

 the river is more straight, and directed to east-north-east, *o that 

 from 4 40' 8. lat. it gradually approaches the equator, under which 

 it* principal arm enter* the Atlantic Ocean. 



West of 62* W. long, the Amazons* run* about 1260 miles, and 

 an equal distance east of that meridian to its mouth, so that the 

 whole length of the river exceed* 3000 mile*. In the plain the river 

 twice changes it* name. At the mouth of the Yavari it begin* to be 

 called Solimoa, and after it* junction with the Rio Branco it bean 

 the name of Amazonas. The river is sometimes called Vrellana, from 

 Francisco Orellana, a Spaniard, who first explored it downward* from 

 the mouth of the Napo in 1539. In hi* encounter* with the native 

 tribe* he found the women fight a* bravely a* the men ; hence in the 

 account of hi* voyage, the old story of a country ruled by Amazons 

 is reproduced. Thi* circumstance gave origin to the common name. 

 The native name of the Amazonas, at least below the junction of the 

 Rio Negro, is caid to be Para-na-Tinga, 'King of Water*.' 



The principal channel by which the Amazonas enters the Atlantic U 

 called the Canal de Braganza do Norte, and it* direction for about 100 

 mile* i* north-easterly. Where the river turns northward it sends off 

 an arm toward* the south, which bean the name of Canal de Tagipurh. 

 This branch run* first southward for about 60 mile* ; it then gradually 

 turns to the north-cart, and being joined by the river Tocantin*, takes 

 the name of the Rio Pan, The Canal de Tagipura ia narrow, where 

 it run* couth hardly more than 3 or 4 mile* wide, but after it* junction 

 with the Tocantina, above Gram Parh, it is about 1 8 mile* wide ; toward* 

 it* mouth it widen* to 30 mile*. 



IK it* course through the plain the Amazonas is joined by a great 

 number of affluent*, aome of which run more than 1000 miles. Below 

 the Pongo de Manaeriche it is joined from the north first by the Morona, 



