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the territorial profits should be applied first to the repayment of any public funds that might have been created in this country for the use of the Company, and that they should be then paid into the public exchequer to accumu late until the deposits should amount to 12,000,0007., which sum should be retained for securing the capital stock of the Company, and providing an annuity to the proprietors equal to the rate of dividend, 103 per cent. per annum, which they then received. In the event of the accumulations going beyond 12,000,0007., one-sixth only of the surplus was to go to the Company, and five-sixths to be the property of the public. By these provisions, the right of parliament to assume possession of the Company's territories and of the revenues derived from them is clearly established.

Throughout the whole of the territories held in absolute Sovereignty by the East India Company, it exercises the right of ownership in the soil, not by retaining actual possession in its own hands, but by levying assessments, which have usually been so calculated as to yield the greatest amount of present rental that could be collected from the cultivators, very frequently all that could be raised without diminishing the number of the inhabitants or desolating the country.' Before the sway of the English in India, the lands were held by a class of men who cultivated the soil with their own hands, whose right of perpetual occupancy was never questioned, but who were subject to the demands of their several governments, demands unlimited as to the right of the sovereign, but limited in fact by custom, which was stronger than the sovereign power. Different systems, as regarded the mode of collecting the rent on the part of the government, existed in different parts of the country. In some places the rent, or rather the amount of the tax, was collected in one sum from each village, which kept up an establishment of officers, whose functions consisted in first proportioning according to the means of each, and in then levying the sum assessed among the cultivators. In other cases, government officers were appointed who received charge of several districts, and who were paid for their services by a per-centage upon the amount collected. These officers were known as Talookdars, or more commonly as Zamindars, and this system has from them acquired its name of the Zamindary system. It was usual formerly for the government to allow to the zamindar one-tenth of the amount of the collections, and to require the remaining nine-tenths to be paid into its treasury. In 1793, however, the Marquess Cornwallis, being then Governor General of India, formed the resolution of fixing the assessment, and placing the zamindars in the situation of proprietors, engaging not to raise at any time the amount of the assessments against them. This arrangement, known as the permanent settlement, has been established through a great part of the presidencies of Bengal and Madras, including also certain polygars in the south, and hill chiefs in the Northern Circars.

the several presidencies: it is m these courts alone that
trial by jury is established. Every regulation made by the
local governments affecting the rights of individuals must
be registered by the king's court in order to give it validity.
The constitution, in other respects, of the East India Com-
pany is shown by the following brief analysis of the princi
pal clauses of the act 3 and 4 William IV., c. 85, which
received the royal assent, 28th August, 1833, and under
which its concerns are at present administered:-
Sec. 1.-The government of the British territories in India
is continued in the hands of the Company until
April, 1854. The real and personal property of the
Company to be held in trust for the crown, for the
service of India.

2. The privileges and powers granted in 1813, and all
other enactments concerning the Company not
repugnant to this new act, are to continue in force
until April, 1854.

3. From 22nd April, 1834, the China and tea trade of
the Company to cease.

4.-The Company to close its commercial concerns and

to sell all its property not required for purposes of
government,

9.-The debts and liabilities of the Company are charged
on the revenues of India.

43.-The governor-general in council is empowered to
legislate for India and for all persons, whether
British or native, foreigners or others.
44.-If the laws thus made by the governor-general are
disallowed by the authorities in England, they shall
be annulled by the governor-general.

81.-Any natural-born subject of England may proceed
by sea to any part or place within the limit of the
Company's charter having a custom-house esta-
blishment, and may reside thereat, or pass through
to other parts of the Company's territories to reside

thereat.

86.-Lands within the Company's territories may be
purchased and held by any persons where they are
resident.

87.-No native nor any natural-born subject of his ma-
jesty resident in India, shall, by reason of his reli-
gion, place of birth, descent, or colour, be disabled
from holding any office or employment under the
government of the Company.

88. Slavery to be immediately mitigated, and abolished
as soon as possible.

The alterations in the constitution and administration of the Company effected by this act of 1833 are calculated to exercise a very important influence upon the future condition of the inhabitants of India. So long as the Company was allowed to combine commercial pursuits with its political character, its power might always have been, and very frequently was exercised in a manner ruinous to private It was hoped that by this means the zamindars would traders. The extensive scale upon which its purchases were have been induced to improve their estates, since the whole made raised prices in the country of production, and tended increased revenue resulting from such improvements would to lower them in Europe, and as it was never known in have been permanently theirs. Unfortunately the power what articles the investments of the Company were to be thus confided to the landholder has been used principally made, their competitors were always forced to act under as the means of oppressing the actual cultivators, the ryots, apprehension of interference, that set all their calculations and in order to repair this evil, the Company has of late at defiance. Now that the trade has been allowed to take years become the purchaser of all estates thus held which a more natural course, we may confidently expect that the have been brought to sale, and making its bargain direct usual good result will attend upon the employment of inwith the ryots, the actual cultivators of the soil, with the dividual skill and enterprise, that greater regularity of prices view of abolishing the system of employing middle-men: will be experienced, and that production will be stimulated this plan is known under the name of the ryotwary system. until the prices of India produce are brought within the The executive government of the Company's territories is compass of a larger number of European consumers than at administered at each of the presidencies by a governor and present. The advantages to England of this state of things three councillors. The governor of Bengal is also the gover- must be great. To use the emphatic words of Dr. Wallich, nor-general of India, and has a control over the governors the superintendent of the Company's botanic gardens at of the other presidencies, and if he sees fit to proceed to Calcutta, "The Company's territories in India are produceither of those presidencies, he there assumes the chief tive of every article which can conduce to the happiness of authority. The governors and their councils have each in man; and it only requires skill and ingenuity, and encoutheir district the power of making and enforcing laws, sub-ragement, both to the natives and to Europeans in India, to ject in some cases to the concurrence of the supreme court select every thing that can possibly be desired.' On the of judicature, and in all cases to the approval of the court other hand, the luxuries and conveniences of European proof directors and the board of control. Two concurrent duction, which are suited to the tastes of the natives of systems of judicature exist in India, viz.: the Company's India, are equally varied and numerous, and present expericourts and the king's or supreme courts. In the Com-ence warrants the belief that under a regular course of pany's courts there is a mixture of European and native judges. The jurisdiction of the king's courts extends over Europeans generally throughout India, and affects the native inhabitants only in and within a certain distance around

trade, the circle of our customers for these productions wil
be continually enlarged. The progress here described must
be greatly accelerated by the provisions contained in the
81st and 86th sections of the act, which authorises the settle-

2 K 2

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ment of Europeans in India and the purchase of lands by them. Previously to the passing of this act, the Company possessed the right of arbitrary deportation against Europeans without trial or reason assigned, and British-born subjects were not only restricted from purchasing lands, but were prohibited from even renting them. Under the 87th section, if fairly carried into execution, a greater inducement than had hitherto been offered, is held out to the natives of India to qualify themselves for advancement in the social scale; a circumstance from which the best moral effects upon their characters are expected to result.

The revenue of the Indian government is not confined to its collections from the land, but consists likewise of customs duties, stamp-duties, subsidies, and tribute from certain native states, some local taxes, and the profits arising from the monopolies of salt and opium. The following is an abstract of the revenues and charges of the Indian government during each of the three years 1831-32 to 1833-34, the latest for which the accounts have yet been presented to parliament.

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Bengal

£ 31,508,574

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1,609,844

3,351,271

Madras
Bombay

603,638 35,463,483

112,857 31,844 1,754,545

3,258,995 1,968,045 91,641 1,293,637 13,630,767

49,398

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EAST INDIES. The portion of the globe to which the name of India, or the East Indies, is given, is usually understood to comprehend the peninsula of Hindostan lying to the east of the river Indus, and thence castward as far as the boundary of the Chinese empire, by which empire, and by Tartary, India is also bounded on the north. The East Indies include also the islands of the Indian Ocean which lie between Hindostan and Australia as far north as the Philippine Islands, and as far east as Papua, but without including either the Philippines or Papua.

EASTER, Anglo-Saxon Eastre, a moveable feast, held in commemoration of the Resurrection; being the most important and most antient in observance, it governs the whole of In the the other moveable feasts throughout the year. Greek and Latin churches it is called Пaoxa, Pascha, originally derived from a Hebrew word signifying a passage, which was the name given to the great feast of the Passover, held by the Jews on the same day with that on which our Saviour held his paschal feast. The etymologies of the word Easter have been various. Bede says, it was derived from a goddess called Eostre, to whom the people used at this season to celebrate festivals; but the most obvious is the Anglo-Saxon yst, a storm, the time of Easter being subject to the continual recurrence of tempestuous weather.

That the observation of Easter is as antient as the time of the Apostles seems undoubted. In the second century, however, a controversy arose as to the exact time of its celebration. The Eastern churches kept it on the 14th day of the first Jewish month; the Western churches on the night The great extent of its territories, and the nature of the which preceded the anniversary of our Saviour's resurrectenure by which they are held, oblige the Company to keep tion. The inconvenience of the former was, that this feson foot a large standing army, which is necessarily actival was commonly held upon other days of the week than companied by great expense. The most recent detailed the first, or Sunday, which was undoubtedly the proper day. account that has been given upon this subject has reference The disputants retained their respective customs till towards to the year 1830, in which year the total number of the the middle of the fourth century, when the rule for the cemilitary force employed at the three presidencies and subor-lebration of Easter was fixed by the Council of Nice, A.D. dinate settlements in India amounted to 224,444 men, and 325. It was ordered to be held on the Sunday which falls its expense to 9,474,4817. The different descriptions of next after the first full moon following the 21st of March, force and the expense attending each were then as fol- or vernal equinox.

lows

Engineers Officers, European and Natives, and Rank and File

Artillery-European-Horse

Brand, in his Popular Antiquities, has given a long enuTotal. Expense. meration of the sports and observances at Easter in former times, including a few superstitions. The mutual pre1084 £83,873 sentation of coloured eggs at this season from friends con2560 199,141 tinues both in the East and in Russia. (See Dr. E. D. 7469 252,343 Clarke's Travels, vol. i., 4to., Cambr., 1810, p. 59.) Lifting, 1062 74,239 originally designed to represent our Saviour's resurrection, 100,740 is also still practised on Easter Monday and Tuesday in 172,588 England, in Lancashire and some other counties; on which 718,853 days, as well as at Whitsuntide, the Londoners repair to 179,393 the celebration of their popular gaieties at Greenwich fair. 628,612 Tansey puddings and cakes were antiently eaten in Eng122,400 land at Easter.

6294 2577

Native-Company's-Regular 12,248

Irregular 4714
17,731
3634

Foot

Native-Horse

Foot

Cavalry-European-King's

Infantry-European-King's

Company's

Native-Regular

Irregular

Invalids

Pioneers

Hospital

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24,306
10,588
3487
12661
1033

Commissariat

Other Military charges.

Total Force

Total Expense

124,391 3,103,355 (Broughton's Dict. of all Religions, fol., London, 1756, 270,712 p. 395; Brady's Clavis Calendaria, 8vo. London, 1812, vol. i., p. 269; Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. i., p. 137-155.)

224,444

74,511 EASTER, Method of Finding. The importance of this 132,858 question, in aiding historical reference, is confined to that 488,490 definition of Easter Sunday which was finally adopted by 614,327 the western church. It is as follows: the Sunday follow2,258,046 ing the full moon which follows the 21st of March; if a full moon fall on the 21st of March, therefore, the next full moon is the paschal moon; and if the paschal moon fall on a Sunday, the next Sunday is Easter Sunday. By common consent, it is not the real sun or the rea

£9,474,481

moon which is employed in finding Easter, but the fictitious sun and moon of astronomers, which move uniformly with the average motion of the real bodies. It must therefore never surprise any one to find the Easter of any year not agreeing with the above definition, since such a case might (and sometimes must) arise. Say, for instance, that the real opposition of the sun and moon took place at a minute before twelve o'clock at night, March 21, and that of the average sun and moon two minutes after the above. The consequence would be that, counting by the real bodies, the full moon in question would not be the paschal full moon, But the folwhile that of the average bodies would be so. lowing rules will determine the Easter day of chronologists in any year of the Christian æra, which is all that is required

First, ascertain the dominical letter, taking the second where there are two. [DOMINICAL LETTER]. Next, ascertain the golden number (year of the Metonic cycle) as follows: add one to the date of the year and divide by 19, the remainder (or if there be no remainder, 19 itself) is the golden number. The following table must then be used, in the manner to be immediately explained :

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28 a. 6 2. 29 a. 19 30 a. 11 a. 20 64 31 a. 3 a. 5 65 32 a. 22 m. 27 66 33 a. 7 a. 16

10 99

EASTER ISLAND, an island in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, more than 2000 miles distant from the coast of South America, is situated between 75° 5′ and 75° 12′ S. lat., and between 109° and 110° W. long. It is about thirty or forty miles in circuit, with a stony and hilly surface, and an iron-bound shore. The hills appear to rise to the height of 1200 feet, according to Beechey. At the southernmost extremity of the island is an extinct volcano, Lava seems to form the principal component of the hills, which rise gradually and are covered with grass. The island has no safe anchorage, no wood for fuel, no fresh water, and. no domestic animals, except a few fowls. The inhabitants live on yams, potatoes, and sugar-cane. In physiognomy, language, and manners, they resemble the inhabitants of the other groups of islands lying farther west. But it is remarkable, that on this island are found a number of colossal statues, some of which are fifteen or even eighteen feet high; they stand on platforms, which have been made with a considerable degree of art. Some conjecture that these monuments have been erected by a nation more numerous than its present inhabitants. Cook estimated the population at 600 or 700; but La Perouse thought that it amounted to 2000, and Beechey to 1230. (Cook, La Perouse, and Beechey.) EAVES. [HOUSE.]

EBB. [TIDES.]

EBEL, JOHN GOTTFRIED, an esteemed writer on statistics and geology, born at Francfort on the Oder, October 6, 1764; died at Zürich, 1830. After completing his studies and taking his degree as doctor of medicine, he went to France, and became intimately acquainted with the Abbé Sieyes. In 1801 he went to Switzerland, and resided chiefly at Zürich. He travelled through Switzerland in all directions, and published some very valuable works on the natural history and statistics of the country. The most popular is his 'Guide to Travellers in Switzerland.' In his description of the mountaineers of Switzerland, he draws an interesting picture of the inhabitants of Appenzel and Glarus. His work on the geology of the Alps touches also on the structure of the globe in general, and contains valuable information on the geognostical relations of the Alps.

EBELING, CHRISTOPHER DANIEL, born 174, at Garmissen in Hildesheim: died in 1817. He studied theology at Göttingen, and acquired great knowledge of the oriental languages, especially the Arabic, and was thoroughly acquainted not only with the classical literature of Greece and Rome, but also with that of modern Europe, particu larly England. He published numerous translations, &c., but his chief work is his 'Geography and History of the United States of North America,' 7 vols. 8vo., which was justly considered as a masterpiece, not only in Europe, but still more in America itself. He was chosen a member of almost all the learned societies of the country, and the Congress voted him public thanks for his services. That part of his library which related to America, consisting of 3900 volumes, was purchased after his death by M. Israel

Thoredino, a friend of learning, at Boston, and presented to | well as by their external practices. Origen, Epiphanius, Harvard college. Ebeling was for thirty years professor of Eusebius, and other early fathers, distinguish two sorts of history and of the Greek language in the gymnasium at Ebionites, namely, those who denied the divinity of Jesus Hamburg. His industry was extraordinary. Besides the Christ, asserting that he was the son of Joseph and Mary, duties of his professorship and the composition of his though endowed with a prophetic gift, and those who mainchief work, he was for above twenty years keeper of the tained that he was born of a virgin, but denied his prepublic library of the city, into which he introduced order existence as God. The Ebionites in general acknowledged and judicious arrangement, and composed a catalogue, which only one gospel, namely, the Hebrew one, which goes by was much wanted. He besides contributed largely to nu- the name of St. Matthew, and that one mutilated. They merous periodicals. He was of a most friendly, cheerful, discarded the Acts of the Apostles, and especially the and social disposition; and we must admire the wonderful Epistles of St. Paul, whom they considered as an apostate patience and equanimity with which he bore for thirty years from the old law. They had several apocryphal books; a hardness of hearing, which gradually increased to almost among others, a life of St. Peter. The earlier Ebionites total deafness, so that a loud voice was scarcely perceptible lived a regular life, and many of them observed celibacy, to him even with the aid of an ear-trumpet. which they held in great esteem. The later Ebionites became much more lax in their morals. The name of Ebionites is said by Eusebius, Origen, and Irenæus to be derived from a Hebrew word of contempt, meaning countrymen who had embraced Christianity. Others have derived it from a philosopher of the name of Ebion, whose existence however is doubtful. Epiphanius speaks at length of the Ebionites, but he confounds them with other sects, and his account cannot be trusted. (Mosheim, Institutes of Eccles. History, with notes by Dr. Murdoch; Neander, Kirchengeschichte.)

EBENA CEA, a natural order of monopetalous exogens with the following essential character:-Flowers either with separate sexes, or occasionally hermaphrodite. Calyx permanent, with from three to six divisions. Corolla monopeta-poor low people,' which the Jews applied to those of their lous, regular, of a thick leathery texture, usually downy on the outside, with the same number of divisions as the calyx. Stamens twice or four times as numerous as the lobes of the corolla, adhering to its tube, and usually in two rows; sometimes adhering in pairs. Styles several. Fruit fleshy, superior, with only one pendulous seed in each cell. Embryo lying in much albumen, with large leafy cotyledons and a long taper radicle. The species consist entirely of bushes or trees, some of which are of large size; their leaves are alternate, with no stipules, and generally leathery and shining. Diospyrus Ebenus, and some others, yield the valuable timber called ebony. The fruit of Diospyrus Kaki is about as large as an apricot, and is dried as a sweetmeat by the Chinese. Most of the plants of this order are tropical; of the few found beyond the tropics, Diospyrus Lotus inhabits Africa and Switzerland, and D. Virginiana, the

United States.

A branch of Diospyrus Lotus in fruit; 1, a flower; 2, a corolla, cut open: 3, the calyx and ovary; 4, a section of a ripe fruit, showing the seeds. EBERSBACH, the largest village in the kingdom of Saxony, is situated in the eastern part of that kingdom, and in the circle of the Land, a subdivision of the province of Lusatia, in 51° 0' N. lat., and 14° 38′ E. long. It is the centre of the linen manufacture of Saxony, is divided into Upper and Lower Ebersbach, has two churches, three schools, and about 700 houses, with upwards of 5000 inhabitants. There are more than 2000 looms in activity. It lies about nine miles north-west of Zittau.

EBIONITES, a sect of Christian Jews, which existed in Palestine and other parts of the East in the first and second centuries of our æra. Like the Nazarenes, with whom they have been often confounded, they continued to observe the precepts and ceremonies of the Mosaic law; they kept both the Sabbath and the Sunday, made their ablutions, used unleavened bread in the celebration of the eucharist, and moreover, abstained from eating flesh. Still they do not seem to have formed a distinct sect till after the second destruction of Jerusalem by Hadrian, when they became separated from the rest of the church by their dogmas as

EBOE, is the name given in the West Indies to the blacks imported from the coasts of the Bight of Benin, as distinct from the natives of the Gold Coast and other parts of Africa. In their complexion they are much yellower than the Gold Coast and Whidah Negroes; but it is a sickly hue, and their eyes appear as if suffused with bile, even while in perfect health. The conformation of the face in a great majority of them very much resembles that of the baboon.' (Edwards' History of the West Indies.) The Eboes are subject to great despondency and depression of spirits, which form a striking contrast to the frank and fearless temper of the Koromantyns, or Gold Coast Negroes. When the slave trade was still in vigour, the distinction between these two races was much attended to by the planters, who treated the Eboes with greater indulgence, in order to prevent their committing suicide, to which they were very prone. The Eboes practised circumcision and worshipped the guana. They were said to be cannibals in their native country.

EBONY is well known as a hard black-coloured wood, brought from the hot parts of the world. The Greek name is ébenos (ẞevoc), from which the Latin ébenus, and our word ebony have been immediately derived. It is first mentioned by Ezekiel, xxvii. 15, but in the plural, hobnem, where the men of Dedan are described as bringing to Tyre horns of ivory and ebony. The Persian name, abnoos, is that by which it is commonly known all over India; it is probable, therefore, that the name, like the wood itself, had an Eastern origin. From its hardness, durability, susceptibility of a fine polish, and colour, which has almost become another name for blackness, ebony has always been in high estimation, and in the present day is much used for mosaic work and ornamental inlayings, though cheaper woods dyed black are frequently substituted.

Herodotus (iii. 97) mentions ebony as part of the presents brought in considerable quantities to the king of Persia by the people of Ethiopia. Dioscorides describes two kinds, one Ethiopian, which was considered the best, and the other Indian, which was intermixed with whitish stripes and spotted; and hence commentators have disputed whether there were one or two kinds of ebony. But the fact is, that several trees yield this kind of wood, and all belong to the genus Diospyrus. Owing to the known geographical distribution of this genus, the antients must have derived their ebony either from the peninsula of India and the island of Ceylon or by the coasting trade from Madagascar; for no species of Diospyrus has yet been discovered by botanists in the upper parts of Egypt or in Abyssinia, though it is not improbable that some may be found, as the climate is well suited to their existence.

The genus Diospyros (from dios and puros, which may be translated celestial food) has been so named from some of its species affording edible fruit. They all form large trees, with alternate, thick, often coriaceous leaves. The flowers are usually single and axillary, the male and female flowers separate or united. Calyx and corolla four-cleft, rarely five-cleft. Stamina often eight, but varying in different species. Germ superior, often eight-celled; cells one-seeded;

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attachment superior. Styles three or four, rarely five, or | Reinosa in Old Castile, at the foot of the Asturian mounone, and variously divided. Berry from one to twelve-seeded, often eight-seeded. Embryo inverse, and furnished with albumen. Male flower frequently with twin anthers. The species are found chiefly in the tropical parts both of Asia and America, as in the Malayan archipelago and peninsula, and in almost every part of India. One species extends southwards to New Holland; one, D. Lotus, to Switzerland, and D. Virginiana into the United States of America. As some are remarkable for the wood which they afford, and others on account of their fruit, it is necessary only to notice a few of each, though the whole require the labours of a monographist.

Diospyros Ebenus, the true ebony, and that which is considered to be of the best quality, is a large tree, a native of the Mauritius, Ceylon, and apparently also of Madagascar: for D. lanceolata, Poir., collected by Commerson in that island, is considered the same. The leaves are very smooth, short, petioled, alternate, bifarious, oblong in shape, the buds very hairy; male flowers sub-racemed, with about twenty anthers, the hermaphrodite solitary, octandrous. Large quantities of the ebony of this species have been sometimes imported into Europe.

D. Ebenaster. This is also a tree of considerable magnitude, a native of Ceylon, of which the leaves are coriaceous and smooth on both sides, and the buds smooth.

D. reticulata (Tesselaria, Poir.) is another elevated tree, a native of the Mauritius, of which the heart-wood forms ebony. D. melanoxylon, described and figured by Rumph, iii., p. -9, Corom. Plants, 1 to 46, by Dr. Roxburgh, is the ebony tree of the Coromandel coast. It is found on the mountains of that coast as well as of Malabar, and in Ceylon. It grows to be very large, particularly the male tree, of which the wood is also most esteemed. The leaves, which are sub-opposite, oval, oblong, obtuse and villous, áre deciduous in the cold season, the new ones appearing with the flowers in April and May; as in other species, it is only the centre of large trees that is black and valuable, and this varies in quantity according to the age of the tree. The outside wood, which is white and soft, time and insects soon destroy, leaving the black untouched. The ripe fruit is eaten by the natives, though rather astringent, as is also the bark. D. tomentosa and Roylei are other Indian species which yield ebony.

Several species of the genus bear fruit, which, though clammy and sub-astringent, is eaten by the natives of the countries where the trees are indigenous. We need name only the most celebrated, as D. Lotus, a native of Africa, and now common in the south of Europe, which bears a small yellow sweetish fruit about the size of a cherry, and which has by some been supposed to be the famous Lotus of the Lotophagi; but this is more likely to have been the jujube, called by botanists Zizyphus Lotus.

Diospyros Kaki is celebrated in China and Japan: specimens introduced into the Botanic Garden of Calcutta were found to be identical with others from Nepal. The fruit is described by Dr. Roxburgh as being tolerably pleasant. It is esteemed in China, where it attains the size of an orange, and is frequently sent to Europe in a dried state, and called the date-plum of China, and also keg-fig of Japan.

D. discolor of the Philippine Islands also bears a fruit which is esteemed, and called Mabolo.

D. Virginiana, the Persimmon tree, is indigenous in North America, especially in the middle and southern of the United States, where it attains a height of sixty feet, but it does not flourish beyond the 42° of N. latitude. The fruit while green is excessively astringent, but when ripe, and especially after it has been touched by the frost, it is sweet and palatable. The fleshy part separated from the seeds is made into cakes, which are dried and preserved. A kind of cider has also been made from this fruit, and a spirituous liquor distilled from its fermented infusion.

D. glutinosa also affords a fruit which, though edible, is far from palatable, but more valuable as an article of commerce. The tree is middle sized, a native of the moist valleys amongst the mountains of the Circars, and all along the foot of the Himalaya to 30° N. latitude. Sir William Jones first mentioned what is well known throughout Bengal, that the astringent viscid mucus of the fruit is used for paying the bottoms of boats. The unripe fruit contains a large proportion of tannin, and its infusion is employed to steep fishing-nets in to make them more durable.

EBRO, IBE'RUS, a river of Spain, which rises near

tains, flows in an east-south-east direction, and crosses the north part of Old Castile. Afterwards, on reaching the frontiers of Biscay, it inclines more to the south-east, and marks the boundary between Biscay and Navarra on its left and Castile on its right bank, passes by Miranda and Logroño, then enters Navarra, and divides the districts of Tudela and Cascante from the rest of that province. It then enters Aragon, which it divides into two nearly equal parts, one to the north-east and the other to the south-west of its course, flows by Zaragoza and Mequinenza, and below the latter town enters Catalonia, when it assumes a southsouth-east direction, and passes by Tortosa, below which it enters the sea by two branches, the southernmost of which forms the port of Alfaques. [CATALONIA.] The whole course of the Ebro, with its numerous windings, is rather more than 400 miles. The valley of the Ebro, lying between the great Pyrenean chain and the highlands of Castile, forms a natural division between the northern provinces of Spain and the rest of the peninsula, and the course of the Ebro has therefore been often assumed as a military line in the wars of that country. Previous to the second Punic war, it formed the line of demarcation between the dominions of Carthage and those of Rome. It afterwards formed the boundary between the dominions of Charlemagne and his successors and those of the Moors. The French in their Spanish wars have repeatedly purposed to make the Ebro the boundary between France and Spain. The Ebro begins to be navigable for boats at Tudela in Navarra, but the navigation is often impeded by rapids and shoals. To avoid these, the imperial canal has been constructed, which begins at Fontelles near Tudela, and running parallel to and south of the river, rejoins it six miles below Zaragoza. It was intended to carry it as far as Tortosa. [ARAGON.]

The Ebro receives numerous affluents from the Pyrenean chain, the principal of which are as follows. The Aragon, which rises in the mountains of Nayarra and enters the Ebro near Milagro. The Gallego, from the mountains of Jaca in Aragon, enters the Ebro nearly opposite Zaragoza. The Segre, swelled by its numerous affluents, the Chinca, the Noguera Pallaresa, Noguera Ribagorza, and others, draining a vast tract of country both in Aragon and Catalonia, enters the Ebro below Mequinenza on the borders of the two provinces. On its right bank the Ebro receives, above Zaragoza, the Jalon, joined by the Jiloca, coming from the central highlands between Aragon and Castile. The Guadalupe, which comes from the mountains of Teruel in S. Aragon, enters the Ebro above Mequinenza. EBULLITION. [BOILING OF FLUIDS.] EBURNA. [ENTOMOSTOMATA.]

ECBATANA (Exßárava), the antient capital of Media, founded by Deioces (Herod. i. 98). The genuine orthography of the word appears to be Agbátana ('Ayßárava: see Steph. Byzant. v. Ayßárava), as it is now written in the text of Herodotus, and, as we are informed by Stephanus, it was written by Ctesias. It appears in the Itinerary' of Isidore of Charax under the form of Apobátana. There was a city of the same name in Syria, of uncertain position (Herod. iii. 64), where Cambyses died. [CAMBYSES.]

Ecbatana was situated, according to the testimony of antient writers, in a plain at the foot of a lofty mountain called Orontes. Herodotus, who had probably seen the place, describes it as built on a conical kind of hill, and consisting of seven circular inclosures or walls, one within another, each wall being higher than that which surrounded it, and the innermost wall, which surrounded the palace, of course the highest of all. Ecbatana being a high and mountainous country, was a favourite residence of the Persian kings during summer, when the heat at Susa was almost insupportable.

Hamadan, which is on or near the site of Ecbatana, is near the parallel of 35° N. lat. and in 48° E. long., in a low plain at the foot of Mount Elwund. Elwund belongs to that mountain-chain which forms the last step in the ascent from the lowlands of Irak Arabi to the high table-land of Iran. [ASIA, p. 470.] During eight months in the year the climate of Hamadan is delightful; but in winter the cold is excessive, and fuel with difficulty procured. The plain is intersected by innumerable little streams, covered with gardens and villages, and the vegetation is the most luxurious I ever beheld.' (Kinneir's Persia, p. 126.) Kinneir says that the summit of Elwund is tipped with continual snow, and seldom obscured by clouds. Hamadan

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