NARRABRI 



NARWHAL 



assaults being made in the dark- 

 ness. In the Naroch-Vishnieff sec- 

 tor they had gone forward by 

 March 23 to the villages of Blizniki 

 and Mokrytsa ; within the enemy 

 lines, but after six more deter- 

 mined attacks, in March and the 

 first two weeks of April, their 

 advance was only about a mile 

 from its starting point. From 

 April 15-27 there was a lull, 

 and then the Germans opened an 

 offensive. They brought up large 

 quantities of artillery, and on 

 April 28 began an intense bom- 

 bardment, to which the Russians 

 could make no effective reply. The 

 German infantry broke through the 

 Russian front, and moving forward 

 for a mile and a half, gravely 

 threatened the entire force. The 

 situation, however, was changed 

 when two reserve regiments charged 

 the German flank and drove it in, 

 forcing an immediate retirement 

 along the whole line. The Germans 

 came on again and regained part of 

 the ground. See Russia. 



Narrabri. Town of New South 

 Wales. It is 353 miles by rly. N.W. 

 of Sydney, and stands in a pastoral 

 and wheat district. Pop. 4,700. 



Narragansett Bay. Inlet on 

 the S.E. coast of Rhode Island, 

 U.S.A. It extends inland to the 

 mouth of Providence river, a dis- 

 tance of 25 m., and is from 4 m. to 

 8 m. broad. It contains several 

 islands, among them Conanicut, 

 which forms the lower portion 

 into two channels, Prudence Island, 

 and Rhode Island, which separates 

 it from Sakonnet river. Provi- 

 dence stands at its head, Newport 

 on its E. shores, and Narragansett 

 Pier, a fashionable seaside resort, 

 below its entrance on the opposite 

 side to Newport. 



Narrows, THE. Name given to 

 the narrowest portion of the Dar- 

 danelles Strait. It is less than a 

 mile wide between Kilid Bahr and 

 Chanak. See Dardanelles, Attacks 

 on the. 



Narses (c. 474-568;. General 

 and administrator under the 

 Roman emperor Justinian. A 

 Persarmenian eunuch, he rose to 

 high position at court, and for 

 some time shared the command 

 in Italy with Belisarius. His 

 own military triumphs included 

 a series of victories over the 

 Goths, Alamanni, and Franks, 

 as a result of which Italy was re- 

 covered as a province of the em- 

 pire, governed by Narses himself 

 from Ravenna. His administration, 

 however, was harsh, and in conse- 

 quence of a deputation sent to Jus- 

 tinian to complain, Narses was re- 

 called. In revenge he intrigued 

 with the Lombards. He died in 

 Rome. See Byzantine Empire. 



Narsinghgarh. Native state 

 and town in the Bhopal Agency, 

 Central India. The state occupies 

 part of the N. slopes of the Vind- 

 hya Mts. Its area is 623 sq. m. 

 The town lies W. of the Parbati 

 river, 20 m. N.W. of Bhopal. 



Narsmghpur. Native state in 

 Bihar and Orissa, India. The 

 state is situated N. of the Ma- 



Narva, Russia. View of the town from Ivangorod 



fortress ; the lofty tower is that of the Protestant 



Church, to the left of which is the cathedral 



hanadi and S. of the eastern de- 

 tached portion of Angul ; it is one 

 of the Orissa feudatory states. The 

 raja resides at the village of Nar- 

 singhpur. Area, 199 sq. m. Pop. 

 state, 40,000. 



Narthex. In early Christian 

 architecture, the vestibule or 

 porch of a basilica. It is within the 

 main entrance at the opposite end 

 to the altar and sanctuary. It was 

 originally used to accommodate 

 Christian converts who had not 

 passed the stage of initiation. The 

 term has been extended to all 

 church vestibules, but the tradi- 

 tional type of narthex is a room as 

 long as the width of nave and 

 aisles combined, with doors leading 

 into the latter and others to the 

 atrium or outer court. See Basilica : 

 Cathedral. 



Narva. Town of N.W. Russia. 

 It is in the government of Petro- 

 grad, 75 m. from that city, and 

 stands on the Narva, 7 m. from its 

 mouth in the gulf of Finland. It 

 is connected with Petrograd by 

 rly. The buildings include the 

 cathedral, the town hall, and the 

 arsenal. The industries are tan- 

 ning, flax, cloth and cotton mills, 

 and the making of rope. The 

 fishing is import- , :r . 



ant. Founded in j 

 the 13th century, I 

 Narva was the 

 property of Den- 

 mark and the 

 Teutonic Order 

 before passing to 

 Sweden. The 

 Swedes improved 

 i t s fortifications, 

 and in 1700 it 



vain, by the Russians. In 1704, 

 however, Peter the Great captured 

 it, and henceforward it was part of 

 Russia. The Russians erected a 

 fortress called Ivangorod, on the 

 other side of the river, but it fell 

 into disuse. Pop. 17,000. 



The battle of Narva was fought 

 between the Russians and the 

 Swedes, Nov. 30, 1700. The Rus- 



___ __ sians were besieg- 



| ing the fortress, 

 ; then in the 

 I possession of the 

 Swedes, when 

 Charles XII ad- 

 van c e d to its 

 relief. Peter the 

 G r e at himself 

 did not await his 

 formidable foe, 

 but fled to Nov- 

 gorod. The 

 Swedes, 8,000 

 strong, attacked 

 the Russians 

 behind their en- 

 trenchments, in a 

 snowstorm, and in an hour had 

 broken their left wing, and driven 

 their cavalry in flight. Charles 

 gamed a decisive victory. 



Narvik. Seaport of Norway. It 

 stands on the Ofoten Fiord, a 

 branch of the West Fiord. The 

 terminus of the rly. to Gellivara 

 (q.v.) and Lulea (q.v.) in Sweden, 

 and situated 30 m. N.N.E. of Per 

 nitz, it has extensive quays and ex- 

 ports Swedish iron ore. Pop. 4,600. 

 Narwhal (Monodon monoceros). 

 Cetacean belonging to the porpoise 

 group. It inhabits the Arctic 

 Ocean, and is distinguished by the 

 spirally grooved, tapering tusk of 

 the male, often over 7 ft. long, the 

 animal itself being from 12 ft. to 

 15 ft. in length. The tusk usually 

 grows from the left upper jaw, and 

 its fellow on the other side is 

 rudimentary and does not pro- 

 trude from the jaw, though speci- 

 mens have been found with two 

 long tusks. In other respects the 

 narwhal has the general form of a 

 small whale. , Found in small 

 schools of from 10 to 20 individuals, 

 it is believed to feed upon cuttles, 

 crustaceans, and small fish. Its 

 oil and the fine ivory obtained from 

 the tusk are valuable. See Whale. 



Male specimen of the Arctic cetacean, 

 showing the long, tapering tusk 



