834 
TAM 
outwards, excessively strong and broad, and furnished with 
very large and stout claws, so as to give the animal the 
power of working under the surface with the utmost ease and 
readiness; the hind-feet are small in proportion to the fore¬ 
feet, and are calculated for throwing back with ease the 
mould from behind the creature, during his subterraneous 
progress; the tail is short and small; the skin is much 
thicker and tougher in proportion than in other quadrupeds, 
and the fur with which it is covered equally surpasses that of 
other animals in fineness and softness. The muscular strength 
of the mole is very great, and it is enabled to force itself 
into the ground with an extraordinary degree of celerity. 
The general length of the mole is about five inches and three 
quarters, exclusive of the tail, which measures one inch. 
This animal is supposed to possess the power of hearing in 
an exquisite degree; and if at any time it emerges from a 
subterraneous retreat, instantly disappears on the approach 
of any danger. When first taken, either by digging it out 
or otherwise, it utters a shrill scream, and prepares for de¬ 
fence by exerting the strength of its claws and teeth. The 
mole has eyes only adapted so far to vision, as to apprize it 
of the approach of light. In particular circumstances it is 
very fierce and voracious. Without damp mould for its re¬ 
sidence, it is kept alive with difficulty in a state of confine¬ 
ment. Like other animals of a black colour, the mole is 
sometimes found perfectly white, or cream-coloured, and 
sometimes spotted. Gmelin reckons four varieties. 
2. Talpa Asiatica.—Has no tail, and tridactylous fore¬ 
feet. This is the Siberian mole of Pennant. It is somewhat 
smaller than the common mole, its length being four inches; 
and is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
3. Talpa longicaudata.—With a tail of middling length, 
and pentadactylous feet, the hinder ones scaly. This is the 
long-tailed mole of Pennant: its length from nose to tail is 
four inches and six-tenths; and it is a native of North Ame¬ 
rica. 
4. Talpa rubra, or red mole of Pennant.—Has a short 
tail, tridactylous fore-feet, and tridactylous hind-feet.—This 
is said to be a native of America. 
Dr. Shaw mentions some other species. 
TAM, El, a town of Seistan, in Persia, on the Heer- 
mund; 25 miles east of Zareng. 
TAMA, a small river of Brazil, in the province of Para, 
which runs north-north-west, and enters the mouth of the 
arm of the river Las Amazonas, which forms the island of 
Marayo. 
TAMAHOO, a small island in the Eastern seas, near the 
west coast of Borneo. Lat. 0. 7. N. long. 109. 21. E. 
TAMALAMEQUE, a town of South America, in the 
province of Santa Martha, situated on the shore of the river 
Madalena. It was improved from a scattered colony into a 
regular town into 1561. At present it has fallen into such 
decay as to be nothing more than a miserable settlement; 
158 miles south of Santa Martha. Lat 8. 40. N. long. 
74. 14. W. 
TAMAN, an island in the south of European R ussia, in 
the government of Taurida. It is formed by the straits of 
Taman, the sea of Azoph, and the Black sea. Part of it lies 
low, but it contains also a number of small hills, from one 
of which a volcanic eruption took place on the 4th July, 
1804. Wood is scarce, but pasturage is abundant. The 
inhabitants were formerly Crim-Tartars, but in 1793, a Cos¬ 
sack tribe settled here, and continue to occupy the island. 
Before the Russians took possession of it, it was called 
Zmutarakan, but is now frequently called Fanagoria, the 
name of the chief town. 
TAMAR, called by Ptolemy Talama, a river of England, 
which rises in the north-west part of Devonshire, on the 
borders of Cornwall, about 3 miles from the sea; and on 
being joined by the Tavy, and passing near Saltash, it, forms 
the noble harbour of Hamoaze, below Plymouth, falling into 
the sea at Mount Edgecombe. 
TAMAR BAY, a harbour in the straits of Magellan, east 
of Cape Tamar. 
TAMAR, Cape, the north-west point of a large bay and 
TAM 
harbour on the north shore of the straits of Magellan, within 
the cape. The south-east point of the bay is named Provi¬ 
dence. Lat. 52. 51. S. long. 75. 40. W. 
TAMAR, a river of Van Diemen’s Land. It has more the 
appearance of a chain of lakes, than of a regularly formed 
river; and such, according to Captain Flinders, it probably 
was, until, by long undermining, assisted perhaps by an un¬ 
usual weight of water, a passage was forced out to the sea. 
TAMARA, a village of Morocco, on the coast of the 
Atlantic; 30 miles west of Terodant. 
TAMARA, a sea-port on the north-western part of the 
island of Socotora, the residence of the king. 
TAMARA, a settlement of New Granada, in the province 
of San Juan de los Llanos, at the foot of the mountains of 
Bogota; 126 miles north-east of Santa Fe. 
TAMARACA, a province of Brazil, bounded north by the 
province of Paraiba, and south by that of Olinda, east by the 
sea, and west by the country of the Indians. It is 7 leagues 
in extent along the coast, but 30 or 40 in the interior of the 
country. It takes its name from an island which it has oppo¬ 
site to it near the continent, from which it is parted by a very 
narrow channel. It is fertile and pleasant enough, producing 
large quantities of Brazil wood, cotton, cocoa-nuts, sugar, 
melons, citrons, &c., besides a good deal of timber for fuel 
and other purposes. It is about nine miles in length, and 
three in breadth, and about 22 in circuit. It has a commodi¬ 
ous haven on the south side, with some good springs and 
rivulets of fresh water. The entrance into the port is by a 
channel of between 15 and 16 feet water, commanded by a 
castle, built on an eminence, and formerly taken by the 
Dutch, who also built Fort Orange at the mouth of the chan¬ 
nel, which was inaccessible, by reason of the marshes sur¬ 
rounding it. 
TAMARACA, the capital of the above district, situated 
on the top of a mountain. • It has a magnificient parish 
church. The population consists of 200 housekeepers; 14 
miles north of Olinda, and 64 south of Paraiba. Lat. 7. 59. 
S. long. 35. 6. W. 
TA'MARIND-TREE. See Tamarindus. 
TAMARINDUS [Indian date. Tamar in Arabic being 
the name for the date], in Botany, a genus of the class 
monadelphia, order triandria—olim, triandria monogynia, 
natural order of lomentacese, leguminosse (Juss.) — 
Generic Character. Calyx: perianth one-leafed; tube 
turbinate, compressed, attenuated below, permanent; mouth 
oblique; border four-parted, deciduous; segments ovate, 
flatfish, acute, reflexed, coloured; the upper and lower a 
little wider. Corolla: petals three, ovate, concave, acute, 
crenate, waved, reflexed, length of the calyx, inserted into 
the mouth of the tube; the two lateral ones a little larger. 
Stamina: filaments three, inserted into the orifice of the 
calyx at the void sinus, length of the corolla, awl-shaped, 
united below up to the middle, bowed towards the corolla. 
Anthers ovate, incumbent, large. Threads five (rudiments 
of stamens), alternate with the filaments, and united below 
but separate above, bristle-shaped, headed, very short: the ki 
two lateral ones lower than the others. Bristles two, spring¬ 
ing from the calyx below the filaments and incumbent on 
them, very small. Pistil: germ oblong, compressed, curved 
in, placed on a pedicel fastened to the bottom of the calyx 
and growing longitudinally to its tube under the back, 
beyond the tube with the upper margin villose. Style awl- 
shaped, ascending, pubescent on the lower margin, a little 
longer than the stamens. Stigma thickened, obtuse. Peri¬ 
carp: legume oblong, compressed, blunt with a point, 
swelling at the seeds, covered with a double rind, the outer 
dry and brittle, the inner membranaceous; a soft pulp 
between both; one-celled, not opening. Seeds few, angu¬ 
lar-roundish, piano-compressed, shining, hard .—Essential 
Character. Calyx four-parted. Petioles three. Nectary 
of two short bristles under the filaments. Legume 
pulpy. 
1. Tamarindus Indica, or tamarind-tree.—This tree grows 
to a very large size in those countries where it is a native 
The stem is covered with a brown bark, and divides into 
Leaves 
