YAK 



YAK 



Allegany mountains, and after a courfe of about lOO miles, 

 changes its name to Pedee, in North Carolina ; 9 miles 

 S.W. of Salem. 



YADRIN, a town of Rviflia, in the government of 

 Kazan; 122 miles W. of Kazan. N. lat. 55° 34'. E. 

 lonji. 45° 44'. 



YAEGONMEW, a town of Pegu ; 58 miles S. of 

 Prone. 



YAFA. See Jaffa. 



YAGARCHOCA, a lake of South America, in the 

 jurifdidion of St. Miguel de Ibarra. It is famous for 

 having been the fepulchre of the inhabitants of Otabalo : 

 upon this place being taken by Huana Capac, the I2tli 

 ynca, he, in (lead of (hewing any clemency to them on 

 account of their magnanimity, being exafperated at the 

 noble refiftancc which they made againft his army, ordered 

 them all to be beheaded, both thofe who had quietly fur- 

 rendered, as well as thofe taken in arms, and their bodies 

 to be thrown into the lake : fo that from the waters of the 

 lake being tinged of a bloody colour, it acquired its prefent 

 name, which (ignifies " a lake of blood." 



YAGATH, in Mythology, a deity adored by the ancient 

 Arabian idolaters, under the figure of a lion. 



YAGO, St. in Geography. See St. Tago. 



YAGUACHE, or St. Jacinto de Yaguaciie, a town 

 of Peru, and principal place of a lieutenancy, in the pro- 

 vince of Guayaquil ; 25 miles N.E. of Guayaquil. 



YAGUAHS, a town of the ifland of Cuba ; 22 miles 

 S. of Bayamo. 



YAGUARIPE, a river of Brafil, which runs into the 

 Atlantic, S. lat. 13'' 12'. 



YAGUARON, a town of South America, in the pro- 

 Tince of Paraguay ; 10 miles S.E. of Affumption. 



YAGUEPIRI, a river of Brafil, wliich runs into the 

 Negro, 50 miles above Fort Rio Negro. 



YAH, in Hindoo Mythology, a name of Pavana, the 

 Hindoo god or regent of the wind ; another of whofe 

 names is Vayu. See Pavana and Vayu. 



YAHANGA, in Geography, a fmall i(land in the fea of 

 Japan. N. lat. 43° 8'. E. long. 131^ 45'. 



YAHEBIRI, a river of South America, which runs 

 into the Parana, S. lat. 24° 20'. 



YAIK, a conliderable ftrcam of Afiatic Ruilia, which 

 flows into the Gafpian. The name has been recently changed 

 for that of Ural, on account of a daring infurredlion of the 

 tribes bordering on the Yaik. 



YAITCHNEI, a fmall ifland of Ruffia, in the Pen- 

 einflioi fea. N. lat. 60° 30'. E. long. 160° 50'. 



YAIVA, a river of Ruflia, which runs into the Kama, 

 16 miles S. of Solikamil{, in the government of Perm. 



YAK, in Zoology, the bos grunntens of the Linnaean 

 fyftem, or ox with cylindric horns curving outwards, very 

 long pendant hair, and extremely villous horfe-hke tail, the 

 grunting ox of Pennant, and yak of Tartary, has been 

 lately particularly defcribed by Turner, in his " EmbafTy to 

 Tibet." He calls it the bu(hy-tailed bull of Tibet ; and in 

 Hindooftan it is denominated foora goy. It is about the 

 height of an EngUfh bull, which it refembles in the general 

 figure of the body, head, and legs. He could difcover no 

 di(Ference between them, except that the yak is wholly 

 covered with a thick coat of long hair. The head is rather 

 Ihort ; the horns tapering from the root upwards, and ter- 

 minating in (harp points ; arched inwards, and bending to- 

 wards each other, but a little turned backwards near the 

 extremities ; the ears fmall ; the forehead prominent ; the 

 eyes full and large ; the r.ofe fmall and convex ; tlie noftriis 



fmall ; the neck (hort and curved ; the withers are high and 

 arched ; the rump low ; over the fhoulders rifes a thick 

 mufcle, like the protuberance peculiar to the cattle of Hin- 

 dooftan, covered with a profullon of foft hair ; the tail 

 compofcd of a prodigious quantity of long, flowing, gloffy 

 hair ; the (boulders, rump, and upper part of the body, 

 clothed with a fort of thick fott wool, the inferior parts 

 having ilraight pendant hair that defcends below the knee, 

 and iometimes trailing on the ground ; from the cheft, be- 

 tween the legs, iffues a large pointed tuft of ftraight hair, 

 fomcwhat longer than the reil ; the legs very (hort. In all 

 other refpefts, this animal refembles the ordinary bull. 

 Thefe cattle appear of a large bulk ; they have a downcaft 

 heavy look, and are, as they appear to be, fullen and fuf- 

 picious, and very impatient at the near approach of (Irangers. 

 Their lowing is not loud, but a kind of fcarcely audible 

 grunting noife. They are pallured in the coldeft parts of 

 Tibet, on the (liort herbage peculiar to the tops of moun- 

 tains and bleak plains. Their favourite haunt is the chain 

 of mountains that is fituated between the latitudes 27° and 

 28°, wliicli divides Tibet from Bootan, and whofe fummits 

 are commonly covered with fnow. They are a valuable 

 property to the tribes of itinerant Tartars, called Duckba, 

 who live in tents, and tend them from place to place ; they 

 at the fame time afford their lierddnen an eafy mode of con- 

 veyance, a good covering, and wholefome fubfiftence. 

 They are never employed in agriculture, but are very ufe- 

 ful as beads of burthen ; for they are ftrong, fure-footed, 

 and carry a great weight. Tents and ropes are manu- 

 fadlurcd of their hair, and caps and jackets are made of 

 their (Ivins. Their tails are much efteemtd ; and under the 

 denomination of choivries, they are univerfally ufed for 

 driving away winged infefts, flies, and mufquitoes, and are 

 employed as ornamental furniture upon horfes and elephants 

 They fupply an abundant quantity of rich milk and excellent 

 butter, which may be kept in lltins or bladders through 

 the year, and to the utmoit verge of Tartary furni(he3 a 

 very material article of commercial produce. Tlie orientals 

 highly value a large kind of bezoar that is fometimes 

 found in tliis animal's ftomach. The yak is faid to vary in 

 colour, as well as in the length and form of the horns. 

 Thofe with white tails are moft efteemed ; and fometimes 

 their horns are as white as ivory. 



In India no man of faihiou ever goes out or fits in form 

 at home without two " chowrabadars," or brufliers, attend- 

 ing him, each furniflied with one of thefe tails, mounted on 

 filver or ivory handles, to bru(h away the flies. The 

 Chinefe dye them of a beautiful red, and wear them as 

 tufts to their fummer bonnets. 



Elian, according to Pennant, is the only ancient writer 

 who takes notice of this fingular fpecies. 



Yak, in Geography, a name given by the Oftiaks to the 

 Oby ; which fee. 



YAKE DsAKE, a lake of Thibet, about i2 leagues ! 

 in circumference. N. lat. 34° 40'. E. long. 90° 24'. 



YAKSAI. See Akshai. 



YAKSH.A., in Hindoo Mythology, a race of malignant 

 beings of hideous form , into wliom the fouls of bad men are faid 

 to migrate ; particularly the fouls of fuch as in this life are 

 addifted to fordid and bafe paffions, or abforbed too much . 

 in worldly profperity. In the plural, they are termed 

 Yakfhafa ; and are afiigned as flaves or fervants to Kuvera, 

 the Plutus of the Hindoo Pantheon. Another race of 

 beings, of a like defcription, is called Rahjha. (See that 

 article.) Rakfhni and Yak(hni are the fLiiiinines of thefe 

 races of demons. Thefe names, and fome note of their 



characters 



