A Z A 



V. idled to be coiifidered as the favourite abodes of their divi. 

 rities. It appears, however, from the bell authorities, that 

 Meroe, Axum, and Azab, were places that had a common 

 origin, and were mofl probably, as we have already ob- 

 ferved, the principal flations of the caravans that traded to 

 Arabia, while Thebes and Ammonium continued the com- 

 munication toward Carthatrc. Whether from Az;ib there 

 was an intercouvfe with the Ethiopians of the more fouthern 

 parts of Africa, toward cape Gardefan, and the prefent 

 Zanquebar, is a queftion that deferves particular inveftiga- 

 tion. On this fubjed, fee profcfTor Heeren's " Idcen iiber 

 die Pohtik, &c." or " Ideas on the Policy, Intercourfe, 

 and Commerce, of the prir.cipal Nations of Antiquity." 

 Gottingen, 1793. 



Azab, in the Military Order of the Tiirh, fignifies a par- 

 ticular body of the foldiery taken in, or added firft to the 

 janizaries, but now become a feparate body from them. 



The word, in the Oriental languages, fignifics an unmar- 

 ried perfon, and the original order of thefe was, that they 

 ftiould be fmgle men. 



The azabs in Egypt have been great rivals to the jani- 

 zaries, and fometimes they have got t!ie better. Their in- 

 ftitution and officers are the fame with thofe of the jani- 

 zaries ; but with this difference; that from odo-badiees they 

 are made ferbajees, and from that office cajas, and come 

 into the divan. On the contrary, among the janizaries, 

 when any one is made a ferbajee, it is laying him afide, and 

 he is no farther advanced. Pococke's Egypt. 



AZABE-Kaberi, from kabcr, fepukhre, and '/?Y7i, tor- 

 TTt.'nt, denotes a temporary punilhment, which, as the Ma- 

 hometans fay, the wicked muft fuffer after death. Their 

 crimes are hereby expiated, and Mahomet opens the gate of 

 paradife to all who believe in him. 



AZADARICHTA, in Botmiy. See Melia. 



AZAUKAR, in Geography, a large town of Perfia, 

 called alfo 7'euin, and placed by Tavernier in an extenfive 

 plain, watered by 400 fubtcrranean canals. 



AZAGARIUM, in Ancient Geography, a town of the 

 European Sarmatia, in the vicinity of the Boryfthenes. 

 Ptolemy. 



AZAGRA, '\n Geography, a town of Spain, in Navarre, 

 on the Ebro ; two leagues from Calahorra. 



AZAIZY, a poor and inconfiderable tribe of Arabs, 

 inhabiting a village of Egvpt, called Bir Ambar, between 

 the Nde and the Red Sea, about N. lat. 26", and E. long. 

 33° ; who fubiVil by letting out their cattle for hire to 

 the caravans that go to Coffeir. The village probably 

 derived its name" Bir Ambar, or the well of fpiccs, from 

 its having been formerly a ftation of the caravans from 

 the Red Sea, loaded with this kind of nicrchandife from 

 India. The habitations of the Azaizy are conllrufted of 

 potter's clay, in one piece, in fhape ot a bee-hive : the 

 largeft not above ten feet high, and the greateft diameter fix. 

 Bruce's Trav. vol. i. p. 170. 



AZALEA, in Botany, [y.K.\zo:, dry ; from its growing 

 in a dry foil. ) Lin. g. 2 12. Schreb. 277. Gaeiln. 63. JulT. 

 15!^. C\a{s, pentandria monogvnta. Nat. Order, Incomes — 

 Rhododendra, JufT. Gen. Char. Cal. perianth fivc-partcd, 

 acute, ercft, fmall, colour';d, permanent. Cur. monope- 

 talous, bell-(haped, femiquinquthd ; the fides of the divi- 

 fions bent in. Stam. filaments five, filiform, inlerted into 

 the receptacle, free ; anthers fimple. Pijl. germ roundilli ; 

 ilyle filiform, the length of tlie c. lol'a, permanent ; iligijia 

 obtufe. Per. capfule roundifh, fivt -celled, five-valved. Seeds 

 many, roundilh. Ohf. In fume fpecies the corolla is funnel- 

 fliaped. 



EfT. Gen. Char. (7w.bell-n.ared; (lamina :nfert:d in- 

 to the receptacle; capfule five-cclle.l. 



A Z A 



Species, \. A. pontics. Pontic azalea. " Leares (fining, 

 lanceolate, fmooth on both fides, racemes terminal." This 

 fpecies much rcfemhies rhododendron ponticum ; but its 

 flowers arc yellov^-, its leaves fmaller, ovate and ciliate. A 

 native of Pontus. 2. A. indica, Indian Azalea. Thunb. 

 Jap. 84. " Flowers fub-folitar)- ; calyxes hair^-." A (hrub, 

 three feet high, with a rough cinereous-brown bark. 

 Branches fhort, twilled, irregular. I^eaves ftiff, villofe, 

 clofe, ever-green. Flowers cover the whole upper part of 

 the fhrub, and are of a beautiful bright red colour. A na- 

 tive of the Eall Indies. It is much cultivated in Japan for 

 the elegance of its flowers, and variety in their fizc and 

 colours. 3. A. tiudiflora, naked-flowered a/alca. The va- 

 rieties are as follow : A. coccinea, deep fcarlet azalea, Curt. 

 Mag. 180. A. rutilans, deep red azalea. " Calyxes minute." 

 A. carnea, pale red azalea. " Tube red at the bafe, calyxes 

 leafy." A. alba, early white azalea. " Calyxes of a mid- 

 dling length." A. bicolor, red and white azalea. " Limb 

 of the corolla pale ; tube red ; caly.^c fmall ; branchlets 

 hairy." A. papilionacca, variegated azalea. " Corolla red, 

 t!ie lowell fegment white ; calyxes leafy." A. partita, 

 downy azalea. " Corolla pale red, divided to the bafe into 

 five parts." Sp. Char. " Leaves ovate, corollas hairy, fta- 

 mens very long." In its native country this frequently ex- 

 ceeds fourteen feet in height, but in England, we never fee 

 it half this height. Several ilems arife from the root. 

 Leaves oblong, fmooth, alternate, ftalked. Peduncles ax- 

 illary, long, naked, fupporting a duller of red flowers, 

 which arc tubulous, and fwelling at the bafe, like thofe ef 

 the hyacinth, and contracled at the neck ; they are divided 

 at the top into five unequal iegments, which f«read open. 

 The filaments and ftyles are much longer than the petals, 

 and Hand ereft. A native of North America ; and intro- 

 duced here by Peter CoUinfon, efquire, in 1734- 4. A. 

 vifcofa, vifcid azalea. " I^eaves fcabrous at the edge ; co- 

 rollas with glutinous hairs." Its varieties are, A. odorata, 

 common white azalea. " Branches diflFufed ; leaves deep 

 green, fliiuing." A. vittata, white-ftriped flowered azalea. 

 " Corolla white, with pale red keels ; Uyles elongated ; red 

 at the end ; leaves pale, ovate, oblong." A. fifla, narrow- 

 petalled white azalea. "Corolla divided to the very bafe; 

 leaves deep green, fliining." A. floribunda, clufter-fiowered 

 white azalea. " Styles longer than the con Ha ; leaves glau- 

 cous underneath." A. glauca, glaucous azalea. " Corolla 

 white ; leaves glaucous on both fides, the younger witK 

 fcattered hairs on the upper furface." Tiiis (hrub rifes with 

 feveral (lems near four feet high. I^eaves fpcar-fliaped, nar- 

 row at the bafe, befet at the edges with (hort rough teeth, 

 and Hand in cluflers at the ends of the (hoots. Flowei-s 

 in chillers at the extremities of the branches, white, with a 

 mixture of dirty yellow on the outfide ; tube an inch long; 

 the two upper ftgments at the top reflex ; the two fide ones 

 bent inwards; and the lower one turned downwards. Thefe 

 flowers have the appearance of thofe of honey-fuckle, and 

 are as agreeably Icented ; they appear in July. Tliis is 

 nearly allied to the foregoing ; but does not flower till after 

 the leaves are expanded. It is a native of North America, 

 and was introduced here by P. Collinfon, efquire. 5. A. 

 Japponiea, Lapland azalea. " Leaves witli excavated dots 

 fprinkled over them." A (hmb fix or fevcn inches high. 

 It is to be diltinguilhed from rhododendron dauricum only 

 by its having five (lamens, whereas that has ten. 6. A. 

 proctimbens, trailing azalea. Flor. Lapp. cd. 2. 60. t. 6. Eng. 

 Bot. vol. 13; Hudf. 88. With. 239. Lightf. 139. Flor. 

 Pan. t. 9. " Branches procimibcnt, diffufe ; leaves oppoGte, 

 revolute, very fmooth." Stem woody, much branched; 

 branches leafy, round, fmooth ; leaves oppofite, ftalked, 

 fprcad much, elliptic, obtufe, revolute, enure, fmooth ; pe. 



Fz 



tiolcs 



