Ashley, Lord

See SHAFTESBURY. Ashley, in Arkansas, a S.E. county, watered by Bartholomew bay on, Saline and Washita rivers. Area. 870 sq. m.; surface generally level. Chief Prod. Cotton, Indian corn, tobacco. Cap. Hamburg. Pop. (1890) 13,295. -A township of Independence co. Ash'ley, in Illinois, a post-village and township of Washington co., 18 S.W. of Central i a. Ash'ley, in Michigan , a post-office of Gratiot co. Ashley, in Mi ouri , a post-village and township of Pike co. Ashley, in Ohio, a post-village of Delaware co., 104 m. S.W. of Cleveland. Ashley, in South Carolina, a small river, which has lately acquired a great importance. It takes rise in the district of Collet on, and flowing S.W. to Charleston, forms with Cooper river the Charleston harbor. On the banks of this river and its tributary streams, were found, in 1867 and 1868, very extensive deposits of phosphatic rocks or boulders, imbedded near the surface of the ground. These, when ground, are quite adapted to use as the main substratum of the fertilizers now coming so extensively into use; and has already become so much in demand, that the citizens of Charleston rely on the trade as a very important means of restoring their commercial importance. Ashley, in Utah, a lake of Iron co., about 25 m. long, and 10 broad. Ashley City, in Michigan , a village of Macomb co., on Lake St. Clair, with a harbor open to large ve els. Ashley Falls, in Ma achusetts , a post-office of Berks hire co. Ashley's Fork, in Utah, a tributary of the Green river of the Colorado. Ash'leyville, in Ma achusetts, a village of Hampden co. -A village of Berks hire со. Ash'mole, ELIAS, a celebrated English antiquary, B. 1617. On the restoration of Charles II. he was appointed Windsor herald, and became one of the first members of the Royal Society. His principal work is the History of the Order of the Garter. D. 1692. Ash'more, in Illinois , a township of Coles co. Ash'mun, JEHUDI, an American philanthropist, B. at Cham plain, New York, 1794. In 1822, he was commi ioned to conduct a body of liberated Negro settlers to Liberia, and accordingly set sail for Cape Montserado. The greatest difficulties in the way of the settlements had been overcome by the talents and energy of A. , when Ashore', adv . On shore; on the land. ing city, capital of Buncombe co., 255 m. W. of Raleigh. Is a famous health resort. Pop. (1897), about 15,000. "We may as bootle spend our vain command, As send our precepts to the leviathan To come ashore ."- Shaks . ( Naut .) A ship is said to be ashore when she has run upon the ground, or on the sea-coast, either by accident or design. Ash'petuck' River, in Connecticut, a small river of Connecticut, emptying into the Saugatuck. Ash Point, in Kansas , a post-village of Nemaha co., about 70 m. N.N.W. of Topeka. Ash'port, in Tenne ee , a post-village of Lauderdale co., on the Mi i ippi, 170 m. W.S.W. from Nashville. Ash Ridge, in Illinois , a village of Ma ac co. Ash Ridge, in Ohio , a post-office of Brown co. Ash'ruff, a town of Persia, province of Mazanderan, 52 m. W. of Asterbad. Near it are the ruins of the magnificent palace built by Shah Abbas, the greatest of the Persian monarchs. Ash Spring, in Texas , a village of Harrison co. Ash tabula, in Ohio , a county settled in 1796, bordering on Pennsylvania and Lake Erie, and watered by Grand and Conneaut rivers. Prod . Hay, Indian corn, oats, butter, cheese, wool and cattle. Cap . Jefferson. -a thriving manuf. city of above county, on Lake Erie, at mouth of Ash tabula river. Pop . (1890), 8,338. -A river of Ash tabula co., falling into Lake Erie. Ash'taroth, or AS'TAROTH, plurals of ASH'TORETH; As'TARTÉ. The Ashtoreth worshipped by the Jews in times when idolatry prevailed, was the principal female divinity of the Phoenicians, as Baal was the principal male divinity; and the plural Ashtaroth indicate probably different modifications of the divinity herself. Ashtoreth is the Astarté of the Greeks and Romans, and is identified by ancient writers with the godde Venus (Aphrodite). She is probably the same as the Isis of the Egyptians, and closely connected with the Asherah of Scripture; Ashtoreth being, according to Berthau, the name of the godde , and Asherah the name of her image or symbol. In Scripture she is almost always joined with Baal, and is called god, Scripture having no particular word for expre ing godde . She was the godde of the moon; her temples generally accompanied those of the sun, and while bloody sacrifices or human victims were offered to Baal, bread, liquors, and perfumes were presented to Astarté. She was also godde of woods, and in groves consecrated to her, such lasciviousne was committed as rendered her worship infamous. Cicero says, lib. iii. de Nat . Deorum , that their Astarté was the Syrian Venus, born at Tyre, and wife of Adonis; very different from the Venus of Cyprus. On medals she is represented in a long habit; at other times with a short one; sometimes holding a large stick; sometimes she has a crown of rays; sometimes she is crowned with battlements, as the Venus of Ascalon. (See Fig . 207.) In a medal of Cæsarea she is in a short dre , with a man's head in her right hand, and San chon i a thon says that she was represented with a cow's head, or only with horns intended to represent the lunar rays, as in Fig . 210, which is the copy of an ancient sculpture. Fig . 210. ASHTORETH, OF ASTARTÉ. Ash'ton, in Illinois, a township of Lee co. of Lent, from the Roman Catholic ceremony of strewing ashes on the head, as a sign of penitence. The ashes used on this day are said to be those of the palms consecrated on the Palm-Sunday before. The ashes are first consecrated on the altar, then sprinkled with holy water, and afterward strewed on the heads of the priests and the a embled people, the officiating priest repeating the words, "Remember that thou art dust , and shalt return to dust." The ceremony is said to have been introduced into the Church by Pope Gregory the Great. In the Church of England, a commination service is appointed to be read on this day, containing the curses denounced against impenitent sinners. Ash-Weed, n . ( Bot . ) An herb of the tribe Angel i cid a , named also goat-foot, herb-gerard, gout-weed, . Ash'wood, in Tenne ee , a post-office of Maury co. Ash'y, a. Belonging to ashes; having the color of ashes; pale; composed of ashes. "Oft I have seen a timely partest ghost Of ashy semblance, meagre, pale, and bloodle ."- Shaks . Ash'y-pale, a. Pale as ashes. "'Twixt crimson shame and anger, ashy-pale." Asia, ( a'zhah .) [Lat. and Gr. Asia ; Ger. Asien ; perhaps from Scr. ushoc, aurora. See also ASHKENAZ.] Asia, the largest of the great divisions of the earth, the birthplace and cradle of the human race, the mother of nations, religions, and states; of languages, arts, and sciences; rich in all natural gifts and historic memories; the theatre of human progre ion in ancient times, and still exhibiting, in many parts, the same characteristic traits which distinguished it centuries ago, -presents to our study an immense a emblage of facts that cannot be condensed in the space of a few columns. We, therefore, in offering below a generalized summary of its geographical history, and principal divisions, have to refer the reader for more minute details to the various names of countries, . it contains, each in its alphabetical place in this work. I. HISTORY. The geographical knowledge of A. may be considered as commencing with its western countries, and with Greece, the cradle of our present civilization. Judæa and Phoenicia are the quarters from which the earliest information comes, and this knowledge became extended in the 5th century B.C. The conquests of Fig . 211.-VIEW OF NAZARETH. Alexander the Great, and, after him, the Romans, did much to arouse the spirit of discovery; but in this they were surpa ed by the Saracens or Arabs, who penetrated all over this continent, with the exception of Siberia and that region bordering on the Arctic ocean. The latter was by them supposed to contain the castle of two enormous giants, Gog and Magog, the search after which impelled the caliphs to send forth many exploratory expeditions, one of which returned with a formidable account of this fortre . This fable was so implicitly believed at the time, that the castle figures conspicuously in all the maps of the middle ages. In Europe, the crusades first drew attention to the Eastern world, and intercourse was also created by an emba y from the Pope being sent to the Mongols, who had invaded Europe as far as Hungary and Silesia. About the same time, owing to the revival of commerce among the maritime cities of Italy, two Venetian nobles of enterprising Ash'ton, in low a , a village of Monona co., 2 m. N. by spirit, named Polo, visited Bokhara, and from thence W. of Onawa. Ash'ton, in Mi ouri , a post-office of Clarke co. Ash'ton, in Pennsylvania , a village of Carbon co., 115 m. N.E. of Harris burg. It is largely engaged in coal- mining. Ash'ton, in Rhode Island , a post-office of Providence co. Ash'ton, in Wisconsin , a post-office of Dane co. Ash'ton-under-Lyne, a borough of England, in Lancashire, on the Tame, 187 m. N. by W. of London, and 7 E.N.E. of Manchester. Manf . Extensive manufactures of cotton, calicoes, ginghams, . Pop . of parish, 71,181; of borough, 40,000. Ash'uelot, in New Hampshire, a river falling into the Connecticut river. -A post-office of Cheshire co. Ash'ville, in Alabama , a post-village and cap. of St. Clair co., 120 m. N. of Montgomery. This county is full of bituminous coal. Cambalu, the court of Kublai, surnamed the Great Khan , who was the inheritor of the conquests of Jenghis in China and other countries. They a second time travelled through the Farther East, taking with them the son of one of them, Marco Polo ( q . v .), to whom mankind is indebted for the earliest work of travel known of A. Cathay, as N. China was then called, with Cam balu , its cap. (the modern Pekin), excited their wonder, the latter surpa ing in magnificence any city of Europe at that time. They afterward visited Mangi , or S. China, whose cap., Quinsai , or the "Celestial City," is also described in glowing colors. Marco heard also of Xipangu , or Japan, as a rich insular empire, which the great khan had been unable to subdue. Returning, the travellers pa ed through India and Syria to Trebizonde, and reached Venice after an absence of 24 years. In the beginning of the 14th century, Juan de Monte Corvino, a Minorite friar, went on a religious mi ion, and pene made many converts, and even caused himself to be made archbishop of that city. Another, Oderic of Portenau, also describes a voyage made to India, the Oriental Archipelago, and China, and his return by way of Thibet. At the end of this century, Europe resounded with the triumphs and conquests of Timour the Great; and Henry III., of Castile, sent two succe ive emba ies to the court of the Tartar conqueror, the last of which was in 1403, under Clavijo, who sojourned at Sam arc and, and has given us an interesting account of that monarch, his court, and policy. In 1497, Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived at Calicut in India. The Portuguese followed him, and in 20 years established forts and settlements in Hindostan, and the Malayan islands, and even tried to get a footing in China. In the 17th century, a body of French mi ionaries, eminent for their scientific acquirements, obtained permi ion to reside in Pekin, and made a survey of China and the adjacent countries. The materials thus collected were sent to France and arranged by D'Anville. In 1636, Brought on, an English surgeon, found favor with Shah Jehan, the Great Mogul , or emperor of Hindostan, who gave him the privilege of free commerce throughout his dominions, and promised to allow the same to all the English who should come to Bengal. This was communicated to the English governor of Surat, a place where this people had already established a trading factory. In consequence of this permi ion, the English company sent out from England, in 1640, two ships to Bengal, and thus formed the nucleus of a vast commerce, which in course of years led to the territorial conquest and absorption of nearly the whole of Hindostan. The southern part of A. having thus become known, the discovery of that division of the continent N. of the Altai was reserved for Ru ia, which country, about the middle of the 15th century, having conquered the Co acks, engaged that hardy race to explore and conquer for her the vast region of Siberia. This was gradually done for 50 years, until 1639, when Dimetrei Kopiloff reached the Gulf of Ochotsk. Another division marched to the Amoor, but were driven back by the Chinese. I he English and Dutch, during this time, were engaged in the attempt to reach China by way of the Arctic ocean; Middle ton, Hudson, Barentz, and other navigators, tried this pa age, but none of them reached beyond the Gulf of Oby, to the E. of Nova Zembla. In 1640, however, Co ack expeditions sailed down the rivers Lena, Alaska, and Colima; and in 1646, they explored the extreme N.E. peninsula of A. , inhabited by the Tchutchis. Toward the end of the century, Behring discovered the most E. cape of A .; and, in conjunction with Tchurikoff, afterward made a voyage to America. Subsequent expeditions, as those of Wrangel, Beechey, Cook, Perouse, and Brought on, did much to explore the E. boundary of Asiatic Ru ia, and its connection with Je o, Japan, and China. The entire coast of A. has thus been explored, and in a great measure po e ed by Europe ans. The chain of the Him a lay as has been surveyed, and its heights determined. Thibet has been explored by Turner and Moorcroft, Cabool and Afghanistan by Elphinstone, and Bokhara by Burnes and Wolff. Ru ian emba ies, sent overland to China, have cro ed the Great Mongolian desert; as has also Pallas, and Humboldt. Siberia, and the region of the Amoor, has become known to us by the adventurous researches of At kins on; and in Central A. the brothers Schlagentweit, in 1856, pa ed over the Kuenluen mountains, a feat never before attempted. An Hungarian traveller, Arm in i us Vambéry, accomplished, in 1863, a perilous journey from Teheran through the wilds of the Turcoman deserts to Sam arc and. We have here named only the earlier of the Asiatic explorers of the present century. Those named have been followed by a host of others, who have penetrated almost every portion of that long little-known continent, and made us fairly well acquainted with its physical features and the characterteristics of its populations. Our knowledge of Asia is, in considerable measure, due to the aggre ive movements of Ru ia, in consequence of which Central Asia has been made a part of the great Ru ian Empire. Beginning with the conquest of the Caucasus, Ru ia extended her invasive movements into Turkestan, the whole of which has been made a Ru ian province, while a railroad now traverses the desert to and beyond the once inacce ible Sam arc and. A railway is also being built acro the great width of Siberia, and the era of railroad construction has fairly begun in China. The long seclusion of Asia is at an end, and, more. over, civilization seems destined to penetrate its every section. II. TOPOGRAPHY.- A . extends from Lat. 10° 20', and, inclusive of the archipelago of islands belonging to it, from Lat. 10° 19′ S. to 78° N. From W. to E. it occupies from 26° to 190° E. Lon. The most northerly point of the continent is Cape Sievero Vostotchnia, Lat. 78° 25′ N.; easterly, Cape Tschukotskoi-no , 190° E. Lon.; southerly, Cape Romania, Lat. 1° 18' N.; and the most westerly, Cape Baba, in Natolia, 260 E. Lon. Its greatest length E. to W., from Behring's straits to the Dardanelles, may be taken as 7,500 m.; its greatest breadth, from North-East cape in Siberia, to Cape Romania at the extreme end of the Malayan peninsula, at about 5,200 m. Area. Estimated to be about 17,805,146 sq. m., being over 4 times the size of Europe. - Asia is washed on the N by the Arctic sea; on the E. by the Pacific ocean, which separates it from the American continent; on the 8. by the Indian ocean, which lies between it and Australia; while on the W. it is divided from Africa by the Red sea and Gulf of Aden; and from Europe, by the Med it err an eau and Ægean seas, the Dardanelles, the Black sea, and the IMG:content-0357.png:[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed] The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia IMG:content-0360.jpg:[graphic] rim Krasnojarsk Nij-Udinsk Kuznetsk - Minatsinek Kişil Basha ngaria Galja Gushen atche R Karashar Khamil Lop Nor ESTAeat Des The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia Chica cole Tragapatam uga BENGAL G.of Martaban IMG:content-0362.png:[ocr errors] IMG:content-0363.png:[ocr errors] L Apricot , Banana , Banyan , Betel , Bignonia , Bread -fruit, Cashew, Citron, Cocoa, Coffee , Date, Dunon , Fig , Guana, Guava, Jamboo, Lemon, Lime, Mangosteen, Mulberry , Olive, Orange, Pandanus, Peach , Pear , Plum , Pomegran- ate, Shaddock, Tamarind , Vine, Walnut. SPICE-TREES: Camphor, Ca ia, Cinnamon, Clove, Mace, Nutmeg , . There are also several species which cannot be conven- iently cla ed under either of the 4 foregoing heads, as the champak a , mal or , and tanjang , all flower-bearing trees; the touk i , the faung , the tallow -tree, the upas , the most deadly of vegetable poisons; the cotton -tree, and, above all, the tea - plant . The other kinds of vegetation are not le abundant. Grain of every kind is grown with but little labor, and generally yields two crops an- nually. The leguminous plants are common, as, peas, beans, lentils, and the le -known kinds of the lotus , moong, murhus, tame a, tour, koll , . A root called kat- chill supplies the place of the American potato; but this last root, as well as the yam, is abundantly cultivated, especially in China and the E. peninsula of India. This is also the native home of the arrow-root, galanga, ja- lap, sarsaparilla, datura, anise, opium, and other drugs. The fields abound in flax, hemp, tobacco, and flowers of every hue. Dye-plants are very numerous; the sugar- cane grows luxuriantly, and many odoriferous gums are met with. Lindley estimates the gro number of spe- cies of the plants of A. to be 86,000. V. ZOOLOGY. - A. is the natal country of all the more useful species of animals, excepting, perhaps, the sheep. From this continent came originally, the ox, horse, camel, goat, a ; together with the whole race of do- mestic poultry, excepting the turkey, which is a denizen of the New World. Of the ox-tribe, are the Asiatic, or common ox ( Bos Taurus of Linnæus), the aurochs, the buffalo, and the yak. Among sheep, the argali is found in Siberia and the northern countries. Of goats, the An- gora goat, the Thibet goat, and the ibex; and the do- mestic species, Capra hircus, are the most noted varie- ties. The elk is common to Siberia and Mongolia. Deer and antelopes are also found. The elephant, horse, a , and hog, have their home in the forests and plains of this continent; and the dziggetai , a creature inter me- diate in size between the horse and a , still runs wild in the Asiatic deserts; like his congeners, he is gregarious, and like them, too, his numbers seem almost unlimited. A similar remark will apply to the Koulan , or wild a . Two species of the rhinoceros are peculiar to Asia and the Indian islands: the latter are distinguished by a double horn like the A. African us . Tropical A. po e es most of the fiercer Carnivora: lions, tigers, leopards, black panthers, ounces, and tiger-cats, of the feline genus; wolves, hyenas, and jackals, of the dog tribe. The lion is, however, becoming very rare in A .; he is now found only in the deserts of Me so pot am i a, Persia, and India, and perhaps in some parts of China. The dog and fox, in all their varieties, are common throughout this con- tinent. The smaller Carnivora also abound, as the mar- tens, civets, mangousti or ichneumon, which attacks and destroys the most dangerous serpents; bears, badgers, gluttons, sea-otters, walruses, seals, . The ornithol- ogy of A. is le rich than its mammalogy. It includes eagles, vultures, falcons, buzzards, with nearly all the varieties of domestic and game-fowls. Song-birds are very scarce. Among reptiles are the Python and other venomous serpents, alligators, lizards, turtles, . The sea and rivers swarm with fish of all kinds. The insect- tribe is numerous throughout the whole continent; and the ravages of the locust in Arabia, Syria, ., are far more dreaded than the attacks of wild animals. Fig . 212.- ELEPHANT WITH HOWDAH. (From Major Luard's "Views in India.") VI. METEOROLOGY. - Although A. is mostly within the temperate zone, it is generally colder than might be supposed by the indications of its latitude. In the cen- tral N. and E. parts the extremes both of cold and heat are felt. The great table-land is both dry and cold; but to give a general and comprehensive definition, A. may IMG:content-0364.jpg:[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small] (Zool.) An old name of the water-newt. Written also ask.