K U R 



482 , 



K U, R 



Ronigsberg contains about 4308 houses, and 54,000 in- 

 habitants. East Long. 20 29' 15", North Lat. 54. 42' 

 12". 



KOOM is a city of Persia, in the province of Irak. 

 It is supposed by D'Anville to be the ancient Cfioana ; 

 and was built in the year of the'Hegira 203, out of the 

 ruins of seven towns, which formed a small sovereign- 

 ty. The Arabian prince, to whom it belonged, having 

 been overthrown, the inhabitants of the seven towns 

 founded the city of Room, which was divided into 

 seven parts, each of which received the name of one of 

 the towns. Kooni is situated on an extensive plain, 

 and- on the banks of a small rive*, which is absorbed in 

 the Great Salt Desert, and wss long celebrated for its 

 manufactures of silk. In 1722, this city was destroy- 

 ed by the Afghans. A part of it has since been rebuilt, 

 but it still resembles a vast ruin. The principal pub- 

 lic building is a beautiful college, with a celebrated 

 mosque and sanctuary, erected in memory of Sidi Fa- 

 tima, the daughter of Iman Reza, and grand-daughter 

 of Mahomet. The tombs of Sen" the First, and Shah 

 Abbas the Second, are still in the mosque, and are fre- 

 quented by pilgrims from all parts of Asia. The pub- 

 lic squares of Room are small. The walls are lofty, 

 with seven gates. The bazar crosses the town, from 

 one gate to the other. In the time of Chardin, the 

 chief manufactures were white earthen- ware, soap, 

 sword-blades, sabres, and poniards; and the number of 

 houses was 15,000. Its lofty dome has been gilt at 

 the expence of the king. East Long. 50 29', North 

 Lat. 34 45'. See Chardin's Travels; and Macdonald 

 Rinneir's Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire, 

 p. 116. 



RRAREN is the name of a fabulous animal, which 

 has been described by Bishop Pontoppiclan in his Na- 

 tural History of Norway. Under the head of Sea SER- 

 PENTS, we shall have occasion to discuss this curious 

 subject. 



RRISHNA. See INDIA, vol. xii. p. 105. 



RUMISS is the name of a beverage made of ferment- 

 ed mares milk, and originally used by the Tartars. A 

 full account of the process of making it may be found 

 ' in the Edinburgh Philosophical Transactions, vol. i. 

 p. 181. It is prepared nearly in a similar way in Ork- 

 ney and Shetland. See also Pallas' Travels ; and Clarke's 

 Travels, vol. i. An account of this beverage, and the 

 method of manufacturing it among the Calmucks, will 

 be found in our article CALMUCKS, vol. v. p. 268. 



RUR, or CYRUS, is a celebrated river of Asia, which 

 rises a little to the west of the town of Rhars, in Ar- 

 menia, and falls into the Caspian Sea. It has been writ- 

 ten Cyrnus, Cyrtus, Ryrus, Ryrros, Roros, and Roro, 

 of old. At present it is called Mttkwari by the Geor- 

 gians, and Ror, Rur, Rourr, or Rourra; but all these va- 

 rieties generally subside into Rur, or Cyrus. According 



to Reineggs, the source of the river is a number of 

 springs situated twelve miles south-west of the Tur- ' 

 kish city, Aghalzighe, or Akiske ; and, "after enlarge- 

 ment by several streams, its course is due north, until 

 passing this city and Borgami, in Upper Rartel, it 

 turns eastward through the plain interposed between 

 the southern Caucasian mountains and the most north- 

 ern range of Ararat ; where, meeting the mountains 

 which divide Georgia from Shirvan, the river takes a 

 southern direction, and twenty miles from the Caspian 

 sea divides itself into numerous branches, by the 

 mouth* of which it is disembogued below Sallian. 



The Rur, in general, is yellowish and turbid, owing to 

 the quantity of calcareous matter which h\holdsin solu- 

 tion. Its course, for the most part, is tranquil, but rapid, 

 and flowing between banks so steep in some places, that, 

 it is remarked, a traveller may journey "for hours with- 

 out the possibility -of quenching his thirst in summer, 

 though the river be constantly before his eyes, if not 

 provided with a leathern drinking flask, and a long 

 cord, to draw up the water." It receives numerous 

 tributary streams, as the Aragwi, 25 miles above Teflis, 

 whose intermixture imparts a greenish hue for a certain 

 space, the Rtsaj, Alasan, and chiefly the Araxes. Af- 

 ter the union of this celebrated stream, about 66 miles 

 from its mouth, the Rur enlarges to the breadth of 140 ' 

 yards, and is navigable to the Caspian. Higher up it 

 is also navigable for part of its course to Teflis, by 

 means of rafts, whereby various commodities are car- 

 ried from the fertile domain of Mughran. But this 

 mode of conveyance is dangerous, and productive of 

 frequent accidents. At the mouth a very profitable 

 fishery is carried on by the Russians, but there are com- 

 paratively few. fish here, and in most of the other ri- 

 vers in the country, owing to their rapidity. From 

 their scarcity in the Rur at Teflis, where it is ra- 

 pid, the Georgians are said to call it Mquinari, or the 

 Blind. 



The banks of the Rur are partly covered with fo- 

 rests, wherein the vine is uncommonly plentiful, toge- 

 ther with various other fruits ; but towards its mouth 

 there is a great barren plain, whole districts of which are 

 overspread with dwarf marine plants, from which soda 

 is extracted. Here the tortoise is seen, and is supposed to 

 live on snakes. It has been affirmed, that these reptiles 

 are in such abundance on the right bank, both of the Rur 

 and Araxes, as to preclude a passage across the plain of 

 Mogan. But this prejudice, which even enlightened 

 persons entertain, is as ancient as the days of Plutarch, 

 who relates, that Pompey was prevented from march- 

 ing down by the Rur to the Caspian sea, on account of 

 the number of serpents. The panther repairs to the 

 banks of the river from Ghilan, taking refuge where 

 they are covered with reeds and underwood. The wild 

 boar inhabits the marshes at its month.- while the lynx 

 and hyaena are sometimes seen in the neighbourhbod. 

 Jackals are numerous, and the forests are full of deer. 

 The Caucasian pheasant is frequent among the bushes ; 

 and the francolin in low and reedy places. 



The Rur, in its course, passes several celebrated 

 towns and fortresses, as Aghalzighe, on which the 

 Russians some time ago made an unsuccessful attempt, 

 and a little below which it traverses a narrow ridge call- 

 ed Bedreh, defended by a castle on each side. Tsgett.i 

 stands at the union of the Aragwi, where the Rur 

 is crossed by a bridge; and it intersects Teflis, the 

 capital of Georgia. Sallian, near the mouth of the ri- 

 ver, is denominated a city, though composed only of 

 several villages. Thus it appears, that the whole course 



Knr. 



