Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/130

LEFT IBERUS 106 IBRAHIM IBERUS (I-be'rus), a river of Spain, now the Ebro, which formerly separated the Roman from the Carthaginian pos- sessions in that country; also a river of Iberia, in Asia, flowing from Mount Caucasus into the Koor. IBERVILLE, PIERRE LE MOYNE, SIETJR D' (e-ba-veP), a French-Cana- dian naval and military commander; born in Montreal, July 16, 1661. At the age of 14 he entered the French navy; led an expedition against Schenectady in 1690; was given command of a frigate in 1692; and took Forts Nelson and Bourbon, on Hudson Bay, in 1694 and 1697 respectively. In 1699, by order of the French Government he built Fort Biloxi at the head of the Biloxi Bay, the first post on the Mississippi river. He afterward established other posts in the same region and was preparing to attack the coast of North Carolina, when he died in Havana, Cuba, July 9, 1706. IBEX (I'bex), a wild goat, or rather several species of wild goats, the best known of which is the common ibex (Capra ibex). It is the ibex of the IBEX ancient Romans, the steinbock of the Germans, and the bouquetin of the French. The adult male is about five feet long from nose to tip of tail, and two feet eight inches high at the shoul- der. The horns are flat with two longi- tudinal ridges at the sides, crossed by numerous transverse knots ; they are sub- vertical, curved backward, dark in color. The hair is red-brown in summer and gray-brown in winter, the beard short and dark, the inside of the ears and under part of the tail white. The gen- eral color of the female is earthy-brown and ashy. The young are gray. It in- habits the highest regions of the Alps. An analogous species, the C. pyrenaicus, is found on the Spanish side of the Pyre- nees. Three other species are found upon the Asiatic, and two more on the Abyssinian and Nubian mountains. IBICUI (ib'i-kwe), a river of Brazil, which rises in the Serra de Santa Anna, province of Rio Grande do Sul, and joins the Uruguay at Yapeyu after a course of 400 miles. IBIGATJ (ib'e-go), a very large goat- sucker inhabiting South America; some- times called the grand goat-sucker. IBIS, a genus of Tantalinse. The bill is long, cylindrical, and arched from the base; the head naked; the wings broad; the plumage metallic. The sacred ibis was venerated among the ancient Egyp- tians, who represented it upon their monuments. It is about the size of a hen, the plumage white with the end of the wing feathers black. It is found throughout Africa. The scarlet ibis is abundant on the banks of the Amazon and in many other parts of South America. IBLIS, in Arabian mythology, Satan, and the father of the Sheytans, or devils. IBN BATUTA (ibn ba-to'ta), an Arab traveler and geographer, whose proper name was Abu Abdullah Mohammed; born in Tangiers in 1304. He spent 30 years (1325-1354) of his life in travel. Settling at Fez, in Morocco, in 1354, he wrote the history of his journeys. The course of his travels led him first to Mecca, then to Persia, Mesopotamia, Arabia, the E. coast of Africa, Asia Minor, the Caspian regions, Khwarizm, Bokhara, Afghanistan, and India; thence he proceeded to China by way of Su- matra, and finally came home to Fez in 1349. He died in Fez in 1378. IBOS, African tribes on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea and around the great delta of the river Niger. They speak a language called Ibo, which is akin to the Ewe and the Tshi. The entire popu- lation probably approaches 5,000,000. The towns or settlements of Lakoja, Asaba, Akassa, Bonny, are in this region. IBRAHIM, the son of the caliph Ma- hadi, brother of Haroun-al-Raschid, and uncle of Amin and Mamon. He was an excellent poet and musician, and the first orator of his time. He was proclaimed caliph at Bagdad, on the death of his nephew Amin, in 817; but Mamon marching from Khorassan to Bagdad with a powerful army, Ibrahim thought it prudent to abdicate the throne. He died in Samara in 839.