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they meafure two feet nine inches in length, are of a whit- 

 iih colour, and are very flrong, thick, and rugged. Mr. 

 Pennant conjefturcs that they were brought from Ceylon or 

 Borneo, having been informed by Mr. Loten, who had 

 long refided in the former of thcfe iflands, that a very Urge 

 kind of Hag, as tall as a horfe, of a reddilh colour, and 

 with trifurcated horns, exifted there as well as at Borneo. 

 In Borneo, they are fald to frequent low mavfhy tracis, and 

 to be called by the name of water flags." 



AXIUS, now Vardari, in Anc'unt Geography, thelarg- 

 eft river in Macedonia, fprung from two fountains in the 

 Scardian mountains, and after a courfe of eighty miles, 

 fpread itfelf into an extenfive lake below the city of Edefla. 

 There receiving the Erigon, it fell into the bay of ThefTa- 

 lonica, almoft oppolite to that city. — Alfo, a river of Syria, 

 which parted Apamea. 



AXLE-Tree. See Axis. 



AXMINSTER, fpelt in old writings Axmyster, in 

 Geography, is the name of a market town in Devonfliirc, 

 fituated on the great leading road from London to the Well 

 of England. It is faid to derive its name from the river 

 Axe, on which it is feated, and a minfler, founded here by 

 king Athelftan, for feven priefts, who were appointed to pray 

 for the fouls of fome of his army that were flain in a dread- 

 ful conflitl with the Danes. A place in the neighbourhood 

 is ftill called Ktngs-JieM, and another place bears the name 

 of Kilmington, from Kil-maen-ton. A caftle was formerly 

 ftanding in the town ; and the market, held on Saturday, 

 is kept in a place ftill bearing that name. Whatever fize or 

 character the minllcr might originally poflefs, it has been 

 nearly deftroyed ; and the parifh church, though large, has 

 fcarcely any appearance of antiquity. A fmall Saxon arch, 

 with zigzag mouldings and appropriate capitals, is preferved 

 in the eail end of the fouth aifle. Axminlter is a healthy, 

 clean town, pleafantly fituated on rifing ground, which 

 Hopes on the weftern fide to the river. A confiderable ma- 

 nufactory of carpets is carried on here, the peculiar make 

 and character of which have obtained them the name of 

 Axminfter carpets. They are woven in one entire piece, 

 and feveral perfons arc employed at the fame time in work- 

 ing the coloured patterns. The manufaftory was firft efta- 

 bhftied here in 1755, by the grandfather of the prcfent pro- 

 prietor. Since that time the trade has much increafed, and 

 now above one hundred hands are conftantly employed in 

 the different proceffes of making a carpet. {See Carpet.) Be- 

 fide the perfons engaged in this manufaftory, Axminfter is 

 inhabitcQ by feveral others, who carrj- on the making of broad 

 and narrow cloths, cotton tapes, druggets, leather breeches, 

 and gloves. Here are two meeting-houfes, one for Independ- 

 ents, and the other for Methodilts ; alfo a Roman Cathohc 

 chapel. Axminfter has the advantage of a Sunday fchool, 

 and alfo a free fchool. The neighbourhood is adorned with 

 feveral .■efpcdlable and handfome nianfions, of which Shute 

 Hoiife and Ford Abbey are the moft confiderable. The firft 

 belongs to the De La Pole family, and the fecond to Fran- 

 cis Gwynn, efq. This is a large refpcftable ftrufture, many 

 parts of which are the fame as originally belonged to the 

 ancient abbey. Polwhele's Hiftory of Devon, vol. ii. 

 p. 288. ; and Beauties of England and Wales, vol. iv. 



AXOLOTI, in Ichthyology, a fingular fifti found in the 

 lake of Mexico. It has four feet like the lizard, no fcalcs, 

 a matrix hke a woman, and the menftrual flux. It has the 

 tafte of an eel. 



AXON, in Ancient Geography, a river of Afia Minor, in 

 Caria, formed by the re-union of two fraall ftreams, and 

 ronning fouth from the town of Calydna, difcharged itftfif 



7 



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into the north-weft part of the gulf of Giaucus, to the 

 north-weft of the promontory of Pcd;iliuai. 



AXONA, a river of Belgic Gaul, now the Aisne. 



AXUM, in Geography, once the large and populous 

 capital of Abyflinia^ in the province of Tigrc, exifted in 

 a (louriftiingftatefo lately as about the beginning of the 16th 

 ccitury, but <\'as ruined in that century by the Turkifli 

 invafion. It is now a village, or at leaft an inconfiderable 

 town, exhibiting in its ruins traces of its ancient magnifi- 

 cence and importance. The ancient city of Axum was 

 built, according to Mr. Bruce, by a colony of Cufhites, 

 aiid he cites an Abyfiinian tradition, which fays, that it was 

 built by them early in the days of Abraham, bee Abys- 

 sinia. As the Abylfriians never built any city, and no 

 ruins of any cxift at this day in the whole country, this 

 traveller conceives, that Axum was the m.agniticent metro* 

 polis of the trading people, or Troglodyte Ethiopians, 

 called Cufliitcs, who conftrutfed, in many places, buildings 

 of great ftrength, magnitude, and expence, efpecially at 

 Azab, fuitable to the magnificence and riches of a ftate, 

 which was from the firft ages the emporium of the 

 Indian and African trade. As Axum is fituated about 

 midway between Azab and Meroe, it points out the road 

 taken by the caravans that carried on the intcrcourfe be- 

 tween the Ganges and the Meditenanean. The ruins of 

 Axum are very extenfive; but like thofe of the cities of 

 ancient times, they confift altogether of pubhc buildings. 

 In one fquare, fuppofed by Mr. Bruce to have been the 

 centre of the town, there are forty obeliflcs, none of which 

 have any hieroglyphics upon them. One of thefe, which 

 is ftill ftanding, is larger than the reft ; and there are two 

 of a larger fize that are fallen. They confift of one piece 

 of granite ; and on the top of that which is ftanding, 

 there is a patera exceedingly well carved in the Greek tafte. 

 The ftrutlure of this obelilk, and of the two larger that are 

 fallen, is afcribed by Mr. Bruce to Ptolemy Euergctes. 

 Upon the face of the obehflv, there is a great deal of carv» 

 ing in the Gothic tafte, fomewhat like metopes, triglyphs, 

 and guttse, difpofed rudely and without order ; but there 

 are no charaftcrs or figures. The face of this pyramid, of 

 which Mr. Bruce has given a geometrical elevation, looks 

 due fouth ; it has been placed with great exatfnefs, and 

 has preferved its perpendicular pofition to the prefent time. 

 On the face, fronting the fouth, is the reprcfentation of a 

 door, with a lock and bolt, fuch as are ufed at tliis day in 

 Egypt and Paleftine. This obeliilc is fuppofed 10 have 

 been ei'ccled by Ptolemy Euergetes, who conquered this 

 city and the neighbouring kingdom, and who was the pa- 

 tron of Eratolthenes, for the ufe of this allronomer in 

 afcertaining the latitude. Its top was firft cut into a nar- 

 row neck, then fpread out like a fan in a femicircular form, 

 with a pavement curioufly levelled to receive the ftiade, 

 and to mark the fcpaiation of the true fhadow from, the 

 penumbra as diftinftly as poifible. The edifice, thus con- 

 ftrutled, was probably intended for verifying the experi- 

 ments of Eratoflhenes with a larger radius, and not for 

 obferving the obliquity of the ecliptic at Axum. For 

 though Axum, by its fituation, was a very proper place, 

 the fun palling over that city and obelifl': twice a year ; yet 

 he could not make ufe of the fun's being twice vertical to 

 this city, becaufe it is vertical about the 25th of April and 

 about the 20th of Auguft ; and at both thefe fcafons, the 

 heavens are fo overcaft with clouds, aid the rain fo con- 

 tinual; efpecially at noon, that it mull have been very ex- 

 traordinary if Ptolemy had once fecu the fun during the 

 months of his refidence in this place. Beyond the convent 

 of Abba Pantaleon, and a fmall obelifli fituated on a rock 



above^ 



