GO.\N™,. 
oo of the range; also the judgment requisite to 
‘ meer the most advan: club to be used in any 
riven situation of the ball; as well as the allowance to 
e made for the force and direction of the, wind when 
re happens to be any, and the nature and inequali- 
s of the ground, (x), 
GOMBROON, or Beyper Apassi, the Harmozia 
of the ancients, is a town of Persia, in the province of 
Kerman. It is situated in a barren country, on a bay of 
the gulf of Ormuz. The town is large, and the houses 
more commodious than in other parts of Persia. It is 
fortified with double walls, and is defended by the fort 
of Minah, which stands partly on a hill; and is divided 
into the upper, the centre, and the lower, forts. A 
river breaks through the hills, and forms a pass 
east, and its water, diffused by means of ca- 
es_as ditches to the fort. The country, for 
miles round, is covered with. villages, and 
i the neighbouring districts with grain and 
The cattle of the adjoining districts are sent 
great numbers to feed during the hot season. 
broon was formerly the first sea-port in Persia, 
it is still a place of considerable trade. The Eng- 
settled here in 1613. In wo ae Dteh pfollers 
ir example; and, upon the taking of Ormuz, 
in teas, Deana flockal, here in 
In 1759, it was taken by the French; but though 
the English factory was ards re-established, yet, 
from the heaviness of the expence, and the unhealthi- 
ness of the climate, it has long ago been withdrawn. 
Gombroon is now subject to the Imam of Muskat. The 
- customs amount to 20,000 rupees annually ; and for 
this, as well as the tribute of Minah, the Imam is ac- 
countable to the King of Persia. East Long. 56° 12’, 
North Lat. 27° 81’. See Milburn’s Oriental Commerce, 
vol. i. p.131; and Kinneir’s Memoir of the Persian 
Empire, p. 201. 
| GoM RA, one of the Canary Isles, is situated about 
six leagues S, W. from Teneriffe, and.is about 20. miles 
long, and 10 broad. The chief town. in the island is 
St ae or La Villa de la Palma, which stands 
_ upon the shore in the bottom of a bay on the south-east 
side of the island, where shipping is secure (from. all 
winds except the south-east. Ships of any. burthen 
may heave down and repair at the cove, hauling close 
to the shore, which is a high and perpendicular cliff. 
A battery, with several pieces of cannon, are placed 
on the summit, for the Nefence of the harbour... At a 
short “distance from the beach. the town commences, 
the principal street running straight inland. The houses, 
A a a of 150, are small and mean; the only 
public buildings are a church and a convent. It is sup- 
plied with good water. An account of the trade, &c. 
of this place, will be found under our article Canary 
Istes. Population 7000. West Long, of the harbour 
17° 7’ 45", North Lat. 28° 5’ 40”. ; 
GONDAR, the capital city of Abyssinia, is situated 
in 12° 34’ 30” North Latitude, and 37° 33’ East Longi- 
tude from Greenwich. It is placed upon a hill of con- 
siderable height, the top of which is nearly plain, and 
which is surrrounded_ on every side by a deep valley. 
The river Kahha, which comes from the Mountain of 
the Sun, runs through the valley on the south side of the 
| town, and the river Angrab, falling from Woggora, 
| surrounds it on the north and north-east. These two 
| rivers unite their waters at the bottom. of the hill, about 
@ quarter of a mile south of the city. The houses. of 
Jondar are constructed chiefly of clay, and the roofs 
are of : a conical form, covered with thatch. The princi- 
public building is the palace, at the west end of the 
iL 
: 
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F 
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335 
t numbers, - 
GON 
town, which is. said to have been built in the time of 
a remarry Sj masons from India,-and by such Abyssi- 
nians as had been instructed in architecture by the Je- 
suits, It had been originally a square building, four 
stories high, and flanked with square towers; but ha~ 
ving been burnt at different times, great of it was 
in ruins during Mr Brnce’s residence in Abyssinia. 
Some of the apartments, however, still exhibited proofs 
of their ancient magnificence. In one chamber the 
walls had been covered with plates of ivory, stained 
with stars of various colours; and in another the skirt- 
ing was finished with ivory, four feet from the ground ; 
and over it were arranged, around the room, three rows 
of Venetian mirrors, fixed in frames of copper, while 
the roof was formed of split painted cane, disposed in 
Mosaic figures, in the gayest style. There was still 
ample lodging in its two lowest floors, and the audience 
chamber alone was above 120 feet in length. Succes- 
sive sovereigns have built apartments by the side of the 
original edifice, which are formed of clay, and accord- 
ing to the fashion of the country ; but the whole-struc< 
ture, and these contiguous buildings, are- surroanded- 
with a substantial stone wall, 30 feet high, and the four 
sides of which are above an English mile and a half in- 
circumference, There are battlements upon the outer 
wall, but no appearance of embrazures for cannon ; and 
a parapet roof between the outer and inner wall forms 
agallery, by which a person can go along the whole, 
and look into the street. . In times of peace, Gondar 
contains above 10,000 families, or 50,000 souls. One 
of its principal manufactures is a kind of coarse carpet 
made of the wool of the sheep and hair of the goat 
dyed red or light blue. See Bruce’s Travels in Abyssi« 
nia, vols, iv. and v. 8vo; Valentia’s Travels, vol. ii. 
and Salt’s Travels. (7) 
GONG, is the name of an instrument used among 
the Chinese for producing loud sounds by percussion. 
It is a large circular instrument, somewhat resembling 
a tambourine, It is entirely made of metal, and has its 
face somewhat. convex. .The metal; which resembles 
bronze, bears numerous marks of the hammer in every 
part._A string passes though a hole in the rim, and 
when the gong is suspended by this string, it is beaten 
on the centre by repeated gentle strokes of a spherical 
mallet, covered with folds of woollen cloth, When it is 
properly struck, it emits an overpowering sound, which 
may be heard at more than the distance of a mile. 
Gongs are manufactured openly in Canton; and the 
largest kinds are made in one of the interior provinces 
of China, They are generally carried on a pole by two 
men, and beaten by the hindmost, and are commonl 
used at processions and at festivals, and alse for the pur- 
pose of regulating the steps of the soldiers. 
The metal of which the gong is composed is brittle, 
and very elastic, and has a granular texture. Dr Wol- 
laston found it to be quite malleable. at a temperature - 
considerably below that of red heat. He determined 
the composition of the metal, and having made a quan- 
tity of similar alloy, he mended. a crack in a gong be-~ 
longing to Sir Joseph Banks, and_ restored the tone of 
the instrument. 
vity,of the gong was 8.815, and that it consisted of 
Copper 78 
Tin 22 
100 
Dr Thomson found that its specific gravity was 8.953, 
that its thickness varied from one-fifteenth to one- 
twentieth of an inch, and that it was composed of 
@ondar, 
Gong. 
—_— — 
Klaproth found that the specific gras . 
