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2 Catholic church (1878-81)—a library (1899), and a theatre (1899). A new harbour basin was made in 1883-90. In 1899 the port was entered by 2711 vessels of 476,439 tons, and cleared by 2710 of 476,380 tons; exports, chiefly agricultural produce (bacon, butter, eggs), coal (162,350 tons), iron, and manure. Pop. 24,831 (1880); 33,306 (1890); 43,000 (official estimate, 1898).

Aasen, Ivar (1813-1896), Norwegian philologist and lexicographer, was born at Aasen i Örsten, in Söndmöre, Norway, on the 5th of August 1813. His father, a small peasant-farmer named Ivar Jonssön, died in 1826. He was brought up to farmwork, but he assiduously cultivated all his leisure in reading, and when he was eighteen he opened an elementary school in his native parish. In 1833 he entered the household of H. C. Thoresen, the husband of the eminent writer Magdalene Thoresen, in Herö, and here he picked up the elements of Latin. Gradually, and by dint of infinite patience and concentration, the young peasant became master of many languages, and began the scientific study of their structure. About 1841 he had freed himself from all the burden of manual labour, and could occupy his thoughts with the dialect of his native district, the Söndmöre; his first publication was a small collection of folk-songs in the Söndmöre language, 1843. His remarkable abilities now attracted general attention, and he was helped to continue his studies undisturbed. His Grammar of the Norwegian Dialects, 1848, was the result of much labour, and of journeys taken to every part of the country. Aasen's famous Dictionary of the Norwegian Dialects appeared in its original form in 1850, and from this publication dates all the wide cultivation of the popular language in Norwegian, since Aasen really did no less than construct, out of the different materials at his disposal, a popular language or definite folke-maal for Norway. With certain modifications, the most important of which were introduced later by Aasen himself, this artificial language is that which has been adopted ever since by those who write in dialect, and which fanatics to-day (1901) are once more endeavouring to foist upon Norway as her official language in the place of Dano-Norwegian. Aasen composed poems and plays in the composite dialect to show how it should be used; one of these dramas, The Heir (1855), was frequently acted, and may be considered as the pioneer of all the abundant dialect-literature of the last half-century, from Vinje down to Garborg. Aasen continued to enlarge and improve his grammars and his dictionary. He lived very quietly in lodgings in Christiania, surrounded by his books and shrinking from publicity, but his name grew into wide political favour as his ideas about the language of the peasants became more and more the watchword of the popular party. Quite early in his career, 1842, he had begun to receive a stipend to enable him to give his entire attention to his philological investigations: and the Storthing-conscious of the national importance of his work-treated him in this respect with more and more generosity as he advanced in years, He continued his investigations to the last, but it may be said that, after the 1873 edition of his Dictionary, he added but little to his stores, Ivar Aasen holds perhaps an isolated place in literary history as the one man who has invented, or at least selected and constructed, a language which has pleased so many thousands of his countrymen that they have accepted it for their schools, their sermons, and their songs. He died in Christiania on the 23rd of September 1896, and was buried with public honours. (E. G.)

Abádeh, a small walled town in the province of Fars in Persia, situated at an elevation of 6200 feet in a fertile plain on the high road between Isfahan and Shiraz, 140 miles from the former and 170 miles from the latter place. It has a population of about 4000, is the chief place of a district with the same name, has a telegraph and post office, and is famed for its beautifully-carved sherbet spoons and boxes, which are made from the wood of pear and box-trees.

Abai, lake. See.

Abai, river. See.

Abakan, Abakansk. See.

Abánah, or (R.V. Abána, classical Chrysorrhoas, modern Baradá), one of the "rivers of Damascus," which rises in the heart of Anti-Lebanon, As the river escapes from the mountains, through a narrow gorge, its waters spread out fan-like, in canals or rivers," to irrigate the plain and supply Damascus. The name of one "river," Nahr Bániás, retains a trace of Abánah ; and, in the Arabic translation of O.T., that of another, Nahr Taúra, takes the place of Pharpar, which is identified by some authorities with the Nahr el-Awaj.

Abattoir. See.

Abbadie, Antoine Thomson d' (1810-1897), and Arnaud Michel d' (1815-1893), two brothers notable for their travels in Abyssinia during the first half of the 19th century. They were both born in Dublin, of a French father and an Irish mother, the former in 1810 and the latter in 1815. The parents removed to France in 1818, and there the brothers received a careful scientific education. In 1835 the French Academy sent Antoine on a scientific mission to Brazil, the results of which were published at a later date (1873) under the title of Observations relatives à la physique du globe faites au Brésil et en Ethiopie. The younger spent some time in Algeria before, in 1837, the two brothers started for Abyssinia, landing at Massawa in February 1838. They visited various parts of Abyssinia, sometimes together, and sometimes separately; not only the fairly well-known northern and central districts, but also the then little-known districts of Ennarea and Kaffa. They met with many difficulties and many adventures, and became involved in political intrigues, Antoine especially exercising such influence as he possessed in favour of France and the Roman Catholic missionaries. After collecting much valuable information concerning the geography, geology, archæology, and natural history of Abyssinia, the brothers returned to France in 1848 and began to prepare their materials for publication. The younger brother, Arnaud, paid another visit to Abyssinia in 1853. The more distinguished brother, Antoine, became involved in various controversies relating both to his geographical results and his political intrigues. He was especially attacked by Dr Beke, who impugned his veracity, especially with reference to the journey to Kaffa. But time and the investigations of subsequent explorers have shown that Abbadie was quite trustworthy. The topographical results of his explorations were published in Paris in 1860-73 in Géodésie d' Éthiopie, full of the most valuable information and illustrated by ten maps. Of the Géographie de l'Éthiopie (Paris, 1890) only one volume has been published. In Un catalogue raisonné de manuscrits Ethiopiens(Paris, 1859) is a description of 234 Ethiopian manuscripts collected by Antoine. He also compiled various vocabularies, including a Dictionnaire de la langue amarinna (Paris, 1881), and prepared an edition of the Pastor of Hermes, with the Latin version, in 1860. He published numerous papers dealing with the geography of Abyssinia, Ethiopian coins, and ancient inscriptions. Under the title of Reconnaissances Magnétiques,