ASIA MINOR. 



ASSYRIA. 



seldom larger than good-sized hare, inhabit the forests of lower 

 India and the inland*. 



The Cttacea of Ask are principally found along the northern coasts, 

 and are the came species which frequent the Frozen Ocean generally. 

 Various special of dolphins (Mfkimui) inhabit the tropical seas, and 

 the Dugong (llaticort) is found among the great Indian Islands ; but 

 in ii" other respects does this part of Asiatic zoology d- 

 particular notice. 



The principal circumstance worthy of notice in the Birds of India 

 is the great abundance and varied and brilliant colours of the Galli- 

 naceous tribes which inhabit this part of the world. Indeed the most 

 valuable of our domestic fowls, the common cock and hen, as well on 

 our domestic quadrupeds, originally came from this continent, and are 

 still found wild in the woods of India ; as are likewise the peacock, 

 the pheasant, and many kindred species. The Himalayan Mountains 

 in particular produce three or four different species of the Tragophans, 

 or homed pheasants, and the Impayan pheasant, remarkable for the 

 brilliant metallic lustre of its plumage. The Quid and .Silver 

 Pheasants (Pktuiania picttu and Phycthtmtriu), so common in tli<> 

 aviaries of Europe, are indigenous in China, as are likewise the 

 Collared Pheasant (Ph. torquatiu}, and a new species (PA. Reerttii) 

 lately discovered, remarkable for the great length of the tail-feathers, 

 which sometimes exceed four feet; the Fire-Pheasant (Pk. ignitui) 

 and Argus-Pheasant (Pk. Aryut) inhabit the mountains of Sumatra 

 and Borneo. 



It has already been observed that the ostrich, though formerly 

 abundant in the deserts of Mesopotamia, is no longer found on the 

 continent of Asia, unless we take the testimony of Herbert (p. 132), 

 who says that he saw ostriches in the plains between Lar and Shim/. 

 (A.D. 1 627.) The Cassowary (Catuariiu), a bird which nearly 

 approaches the ostrich both in size and internal structure, inhabits 

 the islands of the Indian Archipelago. In other respects the ornitho- 

 logy of Asia is by no means peculiar; at least the generic forms are 

 not so remarkable as those of either Africa or America. All the 

 common European species are found even in the most distant parts 

 of the continent apparently so identical that specimens from the two 

 localities cannot be distinguished even by the difference of a feather. 

 The common house-sparrow for instance is found in the Himalayan 

 Mountains, and is as abundant about the villages of Upper Nepaul as 

 in any part of England. 



The reptiles, fishes, and insects of Asia are likewise too nearly 

 assimilated to those of other continents to require a detailed enumera- 

 tion of their different forms and genera. Like birds, these different 

 classus of animals pnsensi powers of locomotion which are denied to 

 mammals ; and it is consequently to the latter class alone that we can 

 look for anything very peculiar in the zoology of a continent like Asia 

 or America. It is on this account that we have been more particular 

 in the enumeration of the quadrupeds than of any other class. 



ASIA MIXoU. [AKATOUA.] 



ASKKAToN. [CuiniCE.] 



ASKKKX. [YouKsniBK.] 



ASKKKiC. [VoRUBtKl.] 



KUX, GREAT, a village in the province of Lower Austria, 

 situated on an arm of the Danube a little to the cant of Vienna, is 

 celebrated for one of the severest contests which occurred between 

 France and Austria in the short though for Austria disastrous 

 campaign of 1809. On the 12th of May in that year Napoleon had 

 made himself master of the Austrian capital, and the archduke 

 Charles had subsequently to his repulse at Eckmuhl taken up a 

 position on the left bank of the Danube, don upon Vienna. Napoleon 

 was not long in possessing himself of two islands in that river, by 

 which he threw his forces across it ; and on the 21st of May offered 

 his adversary battle from the position he bad taken up at the villages 

 of A-pcrn, Esalingen, and Lugerad-rf. In this position he was 

 attacked with so much ardour by the archduke's forces, that both 

 Aspern and Engersdorf were carried before nightfall Aspern itself, 

 which has since been rebuilt, was converted into a heap of ruins, after 

 enduring thirteen successive assault*. Esslingen and the intrenched 

 island of Lnbau however remained in the bands of the French ; but 

 the archduke having employed the next nightin destroying the bridge 

 of communication between the island and the left bank of the river, 

 renewed his attack upon Esslingen the t"-"'"g morning, and ultimately 

 drove General Mamma and his broken troops back upon the inland. 

 The obstinate gallantry with which the field was contented may be 

 inferred from the loss of the French, which amounted to 80,000, or 

 according to the Austrian accounts, 4 1 ,000 men, in killed and w 

 not more than 3500 prisoners and but three pieces of cannon remained 

 as trophins to the victors. A pyramid was erected by tho Austrians 

 with the 8000 French cuirasses which they collected on the spot 

 Marshal Lannea, with Generals D'Enpagne, St. Hilaire, and Allni- 

 qnerquo. Ml during this two days' struggle ; and Massena, Ueesioros, 

 and many other generals worn wounded. 



ASI'IIVi - [DtADSlA.] 



A8PRB8-LBB.YI 



JaSPROPOTAMu. [Acna-iio.,] 



A8SAHAX. a district and town situated on a river of the same 

 lameon the northjwt coast of Sumatra. The town is in 8 1' N. lat, 

 98* 62 E. long. The river which is above 1000 yards wide at its 



mouth is shallow and difficult of access by an extensive sand-bank. 

 Tho Portuguese had formerly it Hettlenieiit up the Assahan Kiver. 

 about 7" niileii from iu mouth, an. I the remains of an old fort still 

 exist where a colony of emigrants fnun Java was once established. 

 The commerce of Assahun, which in not so considerable as it formerly 

 was, is principally carried on with Malacca and the English settlements 

 of Peuaug and Singapore. The articles of import are salt, opium, 

 cotton goods, muskets, and gunpowder. Tho exports are various 

 dye-woods, rattans, wax, rice, and horses. A trade in slaves was 

 formerly carried on from Assahan. Some of the tribes of the Jssshsn 

 district are said to be addicted to cannibalism. The population of 

 the whole district was estimate.! in 1SJ-J at 7u,000. [.SUMATRA.] 

 ( Hamilton's Eatt India Qfuettecr.) 



. [AbVSSIMA.] 



ASSAM. [ASK.U.] 



. YK. ..,- ASSYK. [BERAB.] 

 ASSINIBOIN, lilVKH. [Mississippi RIVML] 



\NDSU1RE.] 



- 1 'SI, a town in the Papal States, in the province of Perugia, is 

 built on a steep hill, and near the high road from Perugia to Foligno, 

 in 43 6' N. lat., 12 33' E. long. : population about 6000. The site 

 which is one of the most picturesque in Italy commands a full view 

 of the fine valley of Foliguo, watered by the Topino, one of the 

 tributaries of the Tiber. Assist is the birth-place of St. Francis, the 

 founder of the Mendicant order which bears his name ; and to his 

 influence it is owing that his native town is the sanctuary of early 

 Italian art. The Sacro Convento, or monastery of the Franciscan 

 order, dates from 1228 ; it was built by the architect Jacopo di Lapo, 

 a German, and the vast and splendid structure he raised is one of tho 

 earliest specimens of the gothic style in Italy. The abbey church in 

 reality consists of two churches, an upper and a lower. Tin- upper 

 church, a fine specimen of the gothic style, terminates in a pentagonal 

 choir containing 102 beautifully carved seats, and is lighted through 

 lancet windows filled with painted glass of the richest colours. The 

 roof is divided into five compartments which were painted by Cimabue, 

 who has also painted the frescoes that adorn the upper portions of 

 the walls of the nave. The remaining portions of the walls are 

 covered with frescoes of the same age chiefly by Cimabue's pupil*. 

 The lower church (or rather the middle church as it is properly 

 called, for beneath it is a third church excavated out of the rock and 

 containing the tomb of St. Francis) is not so well lighted as the upper 

 part of the structure, but in treasures of art it is perhaps richer. The 

 four triangular compartments of the vaulted roof are occupied by 

 large frescoes by Giotto, the friend of Dante, representing the virtues 

 and the beatification of St. Francis. The walls and chapels of the 

 church are covered with tho works of Giotto and his imitators. (!nido 

 de Montefeltro, the Ghibelline general, whom Dante ('Inferno,' xxvii.) 

 has placed in hell for his perfidious suggestion to Pope Boniface X 11 1., 

 died in this monastery in 1298, and was buried in the middle chm-.li. 

 of t he numerous other churches in Assisi, all of which are remarkable 

 for their architecture or their pictorial adornment, we can only 

 mention here that of Santa Clara, which was built in 1253 and painted 

 internally by Giotto. It contains the body of St. Clare, the first 

 abbess of the Clares, who is buried under the high altar. Two miles 

 from Assist, by the side of the high road, is the noble church of La 

 Madonna degli Angeli, raised by the architect Vignola, in the centre 

 of which stands the rustic orator}' where St. Francis first began his 

 ascetic course of life. It is called the Portiuncula, from its having 

 been the first portion or property belonging to the order. 



Assui occupies the site of the ancient Atuium, a municipal town in 

 Umbrin. That it was a place of considerable importance may be 

 . I from the remains of the forum, the thermic, the aqueducts, 

 and other ruins which are still seen. Procopius (iii., 12) speaks of it 

 as a strong fortress which was besieged and taken by Totila. The 

 finest piece of antiquity it contains is the Temple of Minerva, which 

 has been transformed into a church called Santa Maria della Minerva. 

 The portico, which has remained cut <xl preservation, in con- 



I to be the finest specimen of the kind in Italy, after tl>.- 

 Pantheon. It consists of six fluted Corinthian < ulumnH, with 

 architrave, frieze, and cornice, surmounted by a pediment. Tin' whole 

 is made of travertin.. : tin- pr. (portions are good, and the capitals and 

 other ornaments are of fine workmanship. The inscription on the 

 frieze, which was of brass characters, has been lost. The country 

 around alxmnds with olive trees, and there are mineral waters in 

 tho neighlwurhood. Assini has given title to a bishop since A.D. 240. 

 It is rather celebrated for its manufacture of needles and files. 



ASSOUAN. [KoTPt; STBHK.] 



ASSY'KIA is the name of an ancient empire in Western Asia, 

 ceased to exist before tho epoch at which the authentic 

 history of the East is usually considered to commence. As a geogra- 

 phical term the name Assyria is used in different acceptation*. 

 Greek and Roman historians commonly employ it as n general 

 designation of the countries of Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Atitri 

 Adiabene ; but frequently extend its limits so as to make it coinpi 

 bend even part of Asia Minor. The Greeks were accustomed to mm 

 the name Syria and Syrians in a very vagtie sense : l ppli. 



the term Syrians to the Cappadocians (t 6, and i. 72). and lie rem.-u k* 

 that the Assyrians in the army of Xerxes were by the Greeks called 



