OJ1BWAS 



waters of the Serre and the Ailette. 

 Near Compiegne the Aisne flows 

 into it ; other tributaries are the 

 Therain and the Breche. It falls 

 into the Seine, 40 m. below Paris, 

 after a course of 186 m. For about 

 60 m. the river is canalised and 

 linked up by canals with the water- 

 ways of Belgium and N. France. 

 The battle known to the French 

 as that of the Oise, in the Great 

 War, began Aug. 16, 1918. It was 

 opened by the French by heavy 

 bombardment and patrol en- 

 counters between the Aisne and 

 Oise on a front of 20 m. In the 

 infantry attack General Mangin 

 took 13,000 prisoners and 300 

 guns. See Laon, Battle of. 



Ojibwas OR CHIPPEWAS. North 

 American Indian tribe of Algonquin 

 stock. The name, meaning " roast- 

 till-puckered-up," alludes to their 

 puckered moccasins. Established 

 N. of Lake Superior from time im- 

 memorial, they moved W. until 

 their range embraced 3,000 m. 

 Owing to their remoteness from 

 early colonial contact, they long 

 maintained their tribal organi- 

 zations in comparative purity. 

 Living in birchbark wigwams, and 

 using canoes for fishing, their pos- 

 session of the wild-rice (zizania) 

 region led to warfare with theDako- 

 tas. They number about 30,000. 

 See American Indians, colour plate. 



Oka. River of central Russia. 

 It rises near Ochka, in the govt. of 

 Orel, and flowing alternately N. 

 and W. through several govern- 

 ments for 950 m., discharges it- 

 self into the Volga at Nijni-Nov- 

 gorod. It connects the industrial 

 and grain-producing districts of 

 the country, and is nearly every- 

 where navigable. 



Okanagan. River of Canada, 

 in British Columbia, affluent to the 

 Columbia river. With its numerous 

 tributaries it drains the W. slopes 

 of the S. Monashee Mts. and the 

 Gold Range, which separate its 

 basin from that of the Kootenay 

 and Upper Columbia. Its upper 

 valley is filled mainly by the nar- 

 row Okanagan Lake, 80 m. long ; 

 thence it flows S. through smaller 

 lakes into the U.S.A., to join 

 the Columbia river at Brewster, 

 after an additional 120 m. 



Okapi (Ocapia johnstoni). ' Ru- 

 minant mammal related to the 

 giraffe First discovered by Sir 

 Harry Johnston, in 1901, in the 

 Semliki forest of Central Africa, 

 though supposed to have been seen 

 by Stanley some years earlier, it is 

 about as large as a mule, and the 

 general colour of the pelt is blackish 

 brown, with yellow legs striped 

 horizontally with black. The neck 

 is long in proportion to the body, 

 and the head is giraffe-like, with 



5832 



large, upstanding ears. The male 

 has two short pedicles of bone 

 arising from the head, like the so- 

 called horns of the giraffe. The 

 okapi lives in the densest parts of 

 the forest, and appears to go in 

 small herds. Some skins and skulls 

 have been brought to Europe. 



Okayama. Town of Japan, in 

 Honshu. Situated 240 m. by rly. 

 from Shimonoseki, on the route to 

 Kobe, it stands on a wide alluvial 

 plain in the lower course of the 

 Asahi river, 7 m. from its mouth. 

 Branch rlys. run to Uno, Tatai, 

 and Tsuyama, the Uno line pro- 

 viding connexion with Shikoku. 

 The castle is in ruins, the park, one 

 of the most beautiful in the 

 country, extends over 22 acres, 

 and there are three Buddhist tem- 

 ples. Cotton and silk yarns, cotton 

 goods, and rice are the chief pro- 

 ducts. Pop. 94,000. 



Okeechobee. Lake of Florida, 

 U.S.A. The largest lake in the S. 

 portion of the U.S.A., it borders 

 the Everglades on the S., and is 

 40 m. long by 28 m. broad, its area 

 being about 730 sq. m. Canals 

 link it up with the Caloosahatchee 

 river, by which it is partly drained. 

 It has a depth of about 20 ft., but 

 its depth and size are diminishing. 



Okehampton. Mun. bor. and 

 market town of Devonshire, Eng- 

 land. It is on the N.W. edge of Dart- 

 moor, where the rivers East and 

 West Okement meet. It is 26 m. 

 from Exeter by the L.& S.W. Rly. 

 The church of All Saints is modern, 

 save for its noble tower, and there 

 are the remains of a 15th century 

 castle, including parts of the 

 chapel and banqueting hall. Oke- 

 hampton was a bor. before 1086, 

 and had then a castle. It sent two 



Okapi. Specimen of the Central 

 African ruminant 



By courtesy of Dr. Michel L-Hoett, of Ihc 

 Royal Zoological Society, Antwerp 



members to Parliament until 1832. 

 Outside the town are artillery ranges. 

 Market day, Sat. Pop. 3,200. 



Okhotsk, SEA OF. Gulf in the 

 Pacific Ocean. It is formed by the 

 peninsula of Kamchatka, the 

 Maritime Province of Russia, and 

 the islands of Sakhalin, Yezo, and 

 Kurile. It is 1,535 m. long and 

 795 m. broad, and is much visited 

 by American whale-fishers. On 

 the N. shore is the small town of 

 Okhotsk, in the Maritime Province. 



Oki Islands. Archipelago of 

 Japan, in the Japan Sea, W. of 

 Honshu. The group is 44 m. from 

 Sakai, on the mainland, with 

 which a regular ferry service is 

 maintained from Saigo, the ad- 

 ministrative centre for the islands. 



Oklahoma. State of U.S.A. 

 One of the W. South Central 

 States, it became a member of the 

 Union in 1907. It lies between 

 Texas and Kansas, E. of Arkansas. 

 Part of the great basin of the 

 Mississippi, it is a rolling plain 

 varying in elevation between 1,000 

 and 2,500 ft., rising gradually 

 from E. to W. ; in the extreme 

 N.W. it reaches 5,000 ft. The 

 plains are almost treeless, and are 

 scarred by canons cut by the 

 rivers ; the rugged Ouachita 

 (Washita) Mts. in the S. rise to 

 3,000 ft. Much of the state is arid, 

 and the rivers, of which the chief 

 are the Arkansas, Cimarron, 

 Canadian, and Red, are frequently 

 waterless during hot summers. 

 Maize, wheat, oats, cotton, and 

 potatoes are the principal crops ; 

 horses, cattle, and sheep are reared ; 

 petroleum, coal, natural gas, lead, 

 and zinc are the chief minerals. 



Part of their territory was ceded 

 by the Indians to the U.S.A. in 

 1866 ; from 1889 to 1903 various 

 sections were laid open for white 

 settlers. Oklahoma Territory was 

 created as an administrative unit 

 in 1890, and with Indian Territory 

 became a state in 1907. Its area 

 is 70,057 sq. m. Serious racial 

 riots occurred in the state in June, 

 1921. Pop. 2,028,000. 



Oklahoma. City of Oklahoma, 

 U.S.A., the state capital and the 

 co. seat of Oklahoma co. It stands 

 on the North Fork of the Canadian 

 river, 31 m. S.S.W. of Guthrie, and 

 is served by the Missouri, Kansas, 

 and Texas, and other rlys. Pro- 

 minent buildings are the capitol 

 and Epworth University. A trade 

 in cattle, fruit, cereals, cotton, and 

 oil is carried on, and flour, machin- 

 ery, and soap are manufactured. 

 Oklahoma City was settled in 1889, 

 and chartered as a city in 1891. 

 Pop. 91,300. 



Okuma, SHIGENOBU, MARQUIS 

 (1838-1922). Japanese statesman. 

 Born at Saga, Hizen, he came into 



