KHYBER PASS 



KIDD 



from the Caspian Sea to Samarkand is making 

 the country commercially important. 



KHYBER PASS or KHAIBAR, ki'bahr, 

 PASS, the most remarkable pass in the world, 

 geographically, and historically important pos- 

 sibly next to Thermopylae. It is situated in 

 Northwest India, and connects the Punjab with 

 Afghanistan. At the narrowest point it is only 

 ten feet wide, and its length is about thirty- 

 three miles. The pass is the only practicable 

 route between India and Afghanistan for trav- 

 elers, caravans and artillery, and its strategical 

 importance dates from the days of Alexander 

 the Great. Afghan fortresses are in command 

 of the pass, but Great Britain's influence is 

 dominant. It is declared there can be no land 

 invasion of Great Britain's immensely rich 

 Indian Empire so long as Khyber Pass can be 

 successfully defended. See AFGHANISTAN. 



KIAO-CHOU, kyou'chou' , a district contain- 

 ing about 200 square miles on the southern 

 coast of the Shantung Peninsula, in Northern 

 China, leased by the Germans in 1898 but sur- 

 rendered to the Japanese in 1914. Back of this 



KIAO-CHOU AND VICINITY 

 (1) The German port, before the War of the 

 Nations. (2) Former neutral zone, now in terri- 

 tory awarded to the control of Japan. 



province is a Chinese walled city of the same 

 name. At one time an important commercial 

 port of Kiao-chou Bay, it has become an inland 

 city through the gradual filling in of the harbor. 

 In 1897 Germany seized the district of Kiao- 

 chou in retaliation for the killing of two Ger- 

 man missionaries. The Germans secured a 

 ninety-nine year lease from China and bought 

 Tsing-tau, then a small fishing village on the 

 eastern shore of Kiao-chou Bay. They practi- 

 cally rebuilt the place, making it a prosperous 

 and beautiful city, and erecting a chain of 



eight forts for its protection. Tsing-tau thus 

 became a strong naval base a&jvell as a com- 

 mercial center. 



Shortly after the beginning of the War of 

 the Nations in Europe, in August, 1914, Japan, 

 the ally of Great Britain, demanded that Ger- 

 many surrender the district of Kiao-chou, and 

 on Germany's refusal began a siege of Tsing- 

 tau. After a bombardment by land, sea and 

 air, it surrendered on November 6, and was 

 at once placed under Japanese administration. 

 The peace conference awarded Shantung penin- 

 sula to the Japanese, but this decision was con- 

 tested, and may be altered. 



KICKAPOO, kik'apoo, a tribe of Algonquian 

 Indians, who formerly occupied reservations in 

 the Ohio Valley and were prominent in the 

 history of that region until 1819, when they 

 removed to Missouri and afterward to Kansas. 

 About 1852 a large number of the tribe went 

 to Texas, then to Mexico, and in the border 

 settlements their native warlike spirit made 

 them so turbulent that the government made 

 efforts to have them return; consequently, in 

 1873, about half the number removed to 

 north and settled in the present state of Okh 

 homa. They were successful agriculturist 

 There are only about 900 Kickapoo Indij 

 surviving (1916) ; of these one-third are in 

 United States, and they are gradually deer 

 ing. The remainder, who live in Mexico, ar 

 said to be increasing in number. 



KIDD, WILLIAM (71650-1701), a British 

 gator distinguished for bravery in the wars 

 his country against France, but who 

 famous later as CAPTAIN KIDD, a notorious 

 rate. He was born at Greenock, Scotland, the 

 son of a Scotch minister, and went to sea 

 an early age. As a young man he was com- 

 mander of a commissioned British vessel in 

 West Indies, operating against his country' 

 enemy, France. In 1695 he received a cor 

 mission to pursue and capture pirates on 

 high seas, and in 1696, as commander of 

 galley Adventure, carrying thirty guns and 

 crew of eighty men, he sailed from Plymouth, 

 England, to New York, where he increased 

 crew and then proceeded to Madagascar. 



It was soon reported that Captain Kidd 

 practicing piracy instead of suppressing it, 

 when he returned to Boston in 1699 he 

 arrested. The immediate charge against hii 

 was that of murder, for he had killed a gum 

 of the Adventure during a mutiny. He 

 sent to England, where he was tried, 

 demned and executed. The treasure whic 



