﻿411 



KURILE ISLANDS. 



KUBSK. 



4N 



good qualitx ; in ■om* pUoM ther* «re pUuUtions of datai. Poplar 

 •ad obinar t(««« ara plint«irt, and among the foreat-treet ars •ereral 

 lttD>U of oak ; iba paar-tow and roae-buab grow wild. 



Stuwp, catUa, and boma abound. Tbora ara boara, wild hogs, wild 

 goata, autelopaa, and jnokala. Land turtle* ara fntqueut, but of small 

 iiaa. Baea ara vary abundant, and honey is a oooaiderable article of 

 onmrnrroe ; loousts aometimea lay waste a pari of the country ; birds 

 an not nameroua, exoept partiiilgaa and quails. 



Minerals appear to be aoaroe, except building^tone. In the moun- 

 tain-region iron and sulphur are mat with ; and in aome placea these 

 mines are worked on a small scale. There ara aeveral salt-spriiigs in 

 the hilla between the Leaser Zab and the Diydlah, from which large 

 qoantiliaa of salt are (btainod. Naphtha and petroleum abound, 

 aipiinially in the Ticinity of Kerkuk. 



Oommaroa is aarrie<l on by cararans. At least one caravan departa 

 every month lh>m Sulfimaniyeh for the Persian towns of Tabrix and 

 H»ni««l«n They take to Tabriz chiefly goods obtained from Baghdad, 

 as ooflbe, dates, and European and Indian manufactures ; and bring 

 back large quantities of ailk for the manufactures of liaghdad, and 

 some ailk stuflk The exports to Hamadau ooosiat partly of goods 

 obtaiiied from Baghdad, and partly of the produce of the country, 

 aa tobacco, fruita, honey, gall-nuts, Ac. ; the imports consist of butter, 

 but especially of the matiufuctureu of Kasbin, as velvets, brocades, 

 ootton-goods, &0. The commerce with Kerkuk, which is the chief 

 market for the produce of Kurdistan, is very active ; from that place 

 are brought to Suleimaniyeh gall-uuta, honey, sheep-skins, and cattle ; 

 and exclian?e<l fur fruita, rice, leather, coffee, cotton-stuSa, &e. From 

 Nortliem Kurdijitan the chief articles ara gall-nnta and manna, which 

 ara diapoced of chiefly at Bitlis and Van. There is alao much commerce 

 with Mosul and Baybilad, where coffee, dates, and European and Icdian 

 goods ara obtained in exchange for the silk brought from Tabriz, and 

 for the produce of the country, consisting of sheep, gnll-nuts, sumach, 

 cbeeee^ butter, gummi, tallow, soap, and tobacco. 



The population of Turkish Kurdistan is estimated at one million, 

 of which iour-Sfths are Kurds, and the remainder Armenians, Persians, 

 Jews, and Turks. The Kurdish population of Persian Kurdistan may 

 amount to 20,000 individuals. But as a numerous colony of Kurds 

 is found in Khoraaaan, and several tribes are dispersed over tlie hilly 

 region in Mesopotamia, over Armenia, and aa far west aa Aleppo aud 

 the Taurus range, the whole population of the nation may perhaps 

 not fall short of two millions. The Kurds are a stout race of men, of 

 dark complexion, with black hair, a large mouth, sm:ill eyes, and a 

 aavage look. They are very regularly built, and attain a great age. 

 Tbeir language is derived from the same stock as that of the modem 

 Persian, but not having been fixed by writing, it has degenerated 

 much more. The name of Kurd signifiee a valiant warrior, and is 

 therefore adopted as an honourable denomination. A great portion 

 of the population is still addicted to a migratory life. Even when 

 settled in villages, they leave them in summer, and retire with their 

 berda to the adjacent mountain ranges, from which they return when 

 the harvest time approaches. Though the Kurds are Mohammedans 

 like their ueighbourn, their women enjoy a much greater degree of 

 liberty, and are frequently met with in the streets. Ladiee of rauk 

 wear a veil, but the women of the middling and lower clash's go 

 without. The Kurds are notad robbers. Further particulate of this 

 people are given under Ahmenia. 



The Kurds were known to the ancirnta. Xenophon ('Anabasis,' iii.) 

 called them Karduobi, and later historians Kordiiei and Qordiani. 

 When subject to the kings of ancient Persia, they belonged partly to 

 the province of As<iyria, and partly to Media, as at present their 

 country is divided betwe( n Turkey and Persia, The battle Uaugamela 



iArbela) was fought in Kurdistan, near the moJem town of Arbil. 

 BauBDAD, voL t 822.] After the time of Alexander their country 

 was united to the kingdom of Syria, but was dismembered from it in 

 the third centoty before Christ by the Parthians. It afterwanis became 

 a part of the new Persian eiui>ire, and fell with it under the dominion 

 of the khalifs of Baghdad. After the destruction of the khalifat, 

 Kurdistan partook of the numerous revolutions in Persia ami Meso- 

 potamia. The fsmous sultan Saladin was a Kurd, of the tribe of 

 Rewandoox, and appeara to have got poaseaaion at least of a jwrt of 

 the country. But it toon passed under the dominion of the Moguls 

 (12S8), and finally (1888) was oonqnered b^ Timur. After the 

 eatablithment of the Sooffee dynaaty (1602), Kurdistan constituted a 

 part uf Persia, and remained so till the 17th century, when the Kurds, 

 oppressed by the Persianx, revolted, and subjected themselves to the 

 dominion of the Turkish sultan. 



(Rich, Sarratite of a Ketidtnee in Kurditfan ; Hctide, Voyaye up 

 the Pertian At//, and a Journey overland from India to Eng'and ; 

 AInswortb, Shiel, Rawlinson, in London Oeographical Journal, vols, 

 viii., x.,and xi.; Ritter, grdkunde von Alien; Vr. Layard, A'lnerfA and 

 itt Remaint ; Ditcoveriu.) 



KURILE ISLANDS, a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, 

 ntond from Cape Lopatka, the southern extremity of the peninsula 

 of Kamtchatka, in a somewhat curve<l line to Cape Brougbton, the 

 north-eastern extremity of the isUnd of Yeso. They are twenty-five 

 in number, and are all of volcanic origin, consisting of high masses of 

 lava. Ten active volcanoes, some of Uiem 6000 feet high, are known 

 to exjat on the nioetean nortliani ialaada. The vegetation ia loanty, 



and OB thoM near gamt«ihatk« trsaa do not grow ; but the sontham 

 islanda ars mora fertile, aapaoially Kunaahirand Iturup, on which the 

 Japanaae have settled. The remainder are claimed by the llusaians 

 as an appendage to Kamtchatka, and they even eAtablishad a aettlo- 

 ment on Urup in 1628 for the purpose uf hunting the numeroua wild 

 animals, eapecially beavata, which are found there. The nativaa ara 

 partly Kamtohatdalaa and partly AInoa, a tribe which seems to bdon^ 

 to the same race aa the Japaneae. Both tribea live on the produce of 

 the chace and the fisberiea, which they barter with Amerioou, Kuaaiau, 

 Japanese, and Dutch traders. The Japaseae have introduced agriculturo 

 into the isUnds which have bean aeUled by tham. 



KURLAND. [CouRi.a.Ba] 



KURNAN. [Bhdbtpoor.] 



KURSK, a large government of European Ruaaia, Ilea betwam 

 50° 20' and 62° 2(r N. lat, 83° 40' and 88° 20' E. long. It is bounded 

 N. by Orel, E. by Voronetz, 8. by Slobodsk-Ukraine, and N. by 

 Tschemigov. Its area is 17,818 equare milea, and the population in 

 1816 was estimated at 1,680,000. The surface of the province is 

 undulating. It oontaina no mountaina, but is ttaveraed by many 

 small aminenooa. There are no large rivers or laif^e lakes, nor ara thia 

 foreata extensive. The country ia populous, and covered with villager 

 The soil generally consists of a rich mould, of sufficient depth, over a 

 thick clayey or loamy bottom ; sand or stiff clay occurs but rarely, 

 and heath and moor still more rarely. The hills consist of clay, marl, 

 lime, freestone, and chalk. The principal river is the Uonetz, which, 

 after being joined by the Oskol, L'loscha, and other rivers, flows into 

 the Ukraine, where it joins the Don. Neither the Donetz nor any of 

 the other rivers, of which there are 13 large and 495 smaller rivers, is 

 navigable throughout. The Sem, orSeim, ruus into the Deana, a feeder 

 of the Dnieper. Among the rivera that join it is the Swava, which 

 cornea from Orel, and luu many ruins and tumuli on ita banka. The 

 streams are not frozen over till the beginning of December, and are 

 free from ice at the b^inuing of March. In some parte the tape- 

 worm is endemic among the people, and the liver-fluke in the cattle. 

 The com occasionally suffers from blight. 



Kursk is one of the most fertile provinces of the empirp. The soil 

 is so rich that it needs no manure. When it is exhausted, it is suflSnrad 

 to lie fallow for three or four years. The system of agriculture is very 

 rude : new ground is broken up with a lai^e plough, drawn by three 

 or four yoke of oxen ; old landa are turned or acratched up with a 

 light plough. The com is dried and threshed in the fleld ; there arj 

 no barns, but the grain is deposited in pita in the ground, where it may 

 be preserved for six or ten years, only covered with soda or boarda. The 

 chief products are — rye, wheat, barley, oats, peas, buckwheat, millet, 

 poppy, hemp, hops, tobacco, and some flax. Horticulture is very geneml 

 and successful ; all kinds of garden vegetables are cultivated and thrive 

 weU. Api'les, cherries, various sorts of plums, and pears are grown. 

 There ia an abundance of hazel-nuts and wild berries; melons and 

 water-melons are grown in the open fields. There is some wood in small 

 coppices in most of the circles, but timber and fuel are scarce. Straw 

 and dried cowdung are used for fuel The crown foreats cover an area 

 of only 830 square miles. Wolver, foxes, hares, bustards, partridges, 

 and quails abound. The breeding of cattle and sheep is carried on 

 very extensively. The hones are of the Russian breed, but nearly 

 equal to those of the Ukraine. Oxen alone are employed in agriculture. 

 The inhabitnnts keep numbers of swine and domestio poultry ; and so 

 many bees, that honey and wax are articles of exportation. There 

 is scarcely any fish. The minerals are iron, limestone, flints, and 

 saltpetre. 



Agriculture and the breeding of cattle are the chief employmeota : 

 very few hands are engaged in manufactures. Such clothing aa tlio 

 countryman wants— shirts, stockings, gloves, and caps, are of his own 

 manufacture. The manufactures are chiefly in the towns of Kunik 

 and Belgorod. The exports consist of the natural productions of the 

 country. The mode of transport in the absence of navigable rivers 

 and canals is expenrive. Products are moetly sent by land to the 

 Volga and thence to St Petersburg. Sometimea they are sent by the 

 Sem and the Desna to OdesaiL 



The population consists partly of great, partly of little Russians, 

 There are few strangers, but a good many gipsies. The head of the 

 Greek Church is the archbishop of Kui-sk and Belgorod. 



Kurik, the capital of the government, in 61* 43' 80' N. lat., 

 86* 27' 48" E. long., is the residence of the military governor of 

 Kursk and Orel, of the civil governor and authorities, and of the arch- 

 bishop. It stands on the Tiisksra, a feeder of the Seim, at the foot 

 of a hill on which there is an old decayed fortress. The town is snr^ 

 rounded with palisades, the old rampart having been converted into 

 walks and giHens. The streets are narrow and crooked, but they 

 are paved. ITiere are twelve stone and four wooden churches, two 

 conventi>, an eccleeiastical seminary, a gymnasium, hospital, and 

 several manufactories. The population is stated at 26,000. A great 

 annual fair is held on a heath at Koreaja Pustinja, a village about 1 2 

 miles from the town. 



Among the other mope important towns are Bkworod ; Karalchn, 

 on the left t»nk of a river of the same name, in the south of the 

 province, which has 6 churches, saltpetre factories, and 11,000 inhabit- 

 ants : Puliwl, on the Seim, in the west of the province ; population, 

 10,000: Sndicha, 60 mUea SW. from Kursk; population, 7000: 



