Page:EB1911 - Volume 19.djvu/171

 (1907) 4737, including 350 Europeans and 1752 Indians. Nairobi is built on the Athi plains, at the foot of the Kikuyu hills and 5450 ft. above the sea; it commands magnificent views of Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya. It is the headquarters of the Uganda railway, of the military forces in the protectorate, and of the Colonists’ Association. It is divided into European, Indian and native quarters. Midway between the European and Indian quarters stands the town hall. The other public buildings include railway works, places of worship (Protestant, Roman Catholic, Mahommedan and Hindu) and schools, an Indian bazaar, a general hospital and waterworks—the water being obtained from springs 13 m. distant.

The site of Nairobi was selected as the headquarters of the Uganda railway, and the first buildings were erected in 1899. For some time nearly all its inhabitants were railway officials and Indian coolies engaged in the construction of the line. In 1902 the surrounding highlands were found to be suitable for European settlement, and Nairobi speedily grew in importance; in 1907 the headquarters of the administration were transferred to it from Mombasa. The town is provided with clubs, cricket and athletic grounds and a racecourse.

 NAIVASHA, the name of a lake, town and province, in British East Africa. The lake, which is roughly circular with a diameter of some 13 m., lies at an altitude of 6135 ft. on the crest of the highest ridge in the eastern rift-valley between the Kikuyu escarpment on the east and the Mau escarpment on the west. It is fed from the north by the rivers Gilgal and Morendat, but has no known outlet. The rivers, which have a minimum discharge of 100 cub. ft. per second, run in deep gullies. The water of the lake is fresh; the shore in many places is lined with papyrus. North and north-west the lake is closed in by the volcanic Buru hills; to the south towers the extinct volcano of Longonot. Hippopotami and otters frequent the lake, and on an island about 1 m. from the shore are large numbers of antelopes and other game. Naivasha was discovered in 1883 by Gustav Adolf Fischer (1848–1886), one of the early explorers of the Tana and Masai regions, and the first to demonstrate the continuance of the rift-valley through equatorial Africa. Fischer was followed later in the same year by Joseph Thomson, the Scottish explorer. The railway from Mombasa to Victoria Nyanza skirts the eastern side of the lake, and on the railway close to the lake is built the town of Naivasha, 6230 ft. above the sea, 391 m. N.W. by rail of Mombasa and 193 m. S.E. by rail of Port Florence on Victoria Nyanza. Naivasha province contains much land suitable for colonization by white men, and large areas were leased to Europeans by the British authorities in 1903 and subsequent years. The East Africa Syndicate acquired a lease of 500 sq. m. in the valley, of the Gilgal and surrounding country north of Lake Naivasha. North-west of the lake and along the Molo river the 3rd Lord Delamere obtained a grant of 155 sq. m.

NAJARA, ISRAEL BEN MOSES, Hebrew poet, was born in Damascus and wrote in the latter part of the 16th century (1587–1599). He was inspired by the mystical school, and his poems are marked by their bold, sensuous images, as well as by a depth of feeling unequalled among the Jewish writers of his age. He often adapted his verses to Arabic and Turkish melodies. To tunes which had been associated with light and even ribald themes, Najara wedded words which reveal an intensity of religious emotion which often takes a form indistinguishable from love poetry. Some pietist contemporaries condemned his work for this reason; but this did not prevent many of his poems from attaining wide popularity and from winning their way into the prayer-book. In fact, Najara could claim the authority of the Biblical “Song of Songs” (mystically interpreted) for his combination of the language of human love with the expression of the relationship between God and humanity.

NAJIBABAD, a town of British India, in the Bijnor district of the United Provinces, 31 m. S.E. of Hardwar. Pop. (1901) 19,568. It was founded in the middle of the 18th century by a Rohilla chief, and still contains several architectural monuments of Rohilla magnificence. It has a station on the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway, with a junction for the branch to Kotdwara. There is considerable trade in timber, sugar and grain, and manufactures of metal-ware, shoes, blankets and cotton cloth.

NAKHICHEVAN, or, a city of Russian Armenia, in the government of Erivan, 85 m. S.E. of the town of Erivan. It occupies the brow of a spur of the Kara-bagh mountains, 2940 ft. above the sea, and looks out over the valley of the Aras. Pop. (1863) 6251, (1897) 8845. Built and rebuilt again and again, Nakhichevan is full of half-obliterated evidences of former prosperity. The present houses have for the most part been quarried from ancient ruins; of the palace of the princes of Azerbaijan there remains a gateway with a Persian inscription, flanked by two brick towers; and at a little distance stands the so-called Tower of the Khans, a richly decorated twelve-sided structure, 102 ft. in circumference and 75 ft. in height, dating, to judge by the inscription which runs around the cornice, from the 12th century. There are also ruins of a large mosque. Situated on the highroad to Tabriz and Teheran, Nakhichevan has a large transit trade. In the Persian period the city is said to have had 40,000 inhabitants; the population now consists chiefly of Tatars and Armenians, who carry on gardening, make wine and produce silk, salt and millstones.

NAKHICHEVAN-ON-THE-DON, a town of southern Russia, in the Don Cossacks territory, 6 m. by rail N.E. of the town of Rostov and on the right bank of the Don. Pop. (1900) 30,883. It was founded in 1780 by Armenian immigrants. It soon became a wealthy place, and still is the administrative centre of the “Armenian district,” a narrow strip along the banks of the Don, with a population of 27,250. The town has tobacco and wadding factories, tallow-melting works, soap-works, brickworks and tanneries. There is a large trade in cereals and timber.

NAKHON SRI TAMMARAT (also known as and formerly as ), a town of southern Siam, in the division of the same name, about 380 m. S. of Bangkok, on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula. It is one of the most ancient cities of Siam, and contains many buildings and ruins of antiquarian interest. The trade consists chiefly of the export of rice. In the bay, a short distance off, ships can lie safely at all seasons. The population (7000) is chiefly Siamese, but there is an admixture of Burmese, the descendants of prisoners of war and of refugees from Tenasserim. The town is the headquarters of a governor under the high commissioner at Singora. It has for long been a centre of the American Presbyterian Mission to Siam. It was once the capital of a feudatory state, the chief of which ruled the greater part of the Malay Peninsula in the name of the kings of Siam and bore the' brunt of all the wars with Malacca and other Malay states. It lies, however, north of the limit of Malay expansion, and has never at any time come under Malay rule. With the fall of the Siamese capital of Ayuthia in 1767 it became independent, but returned to its allegiance on the founding of Bangkok. In the 17th century British, Portuguese and Dutch merchants had factories here and carried on an extensive trade.

NAKSKOV, a seaport of Denmark, in the amt (county) of Maribo, on a wide bay of the Laalands belt at the West end of the island of Laaland, 31 m. by rail W. of Nykjöbing. Pop. (1901) 8310. The church dates from the beginning of the 15th century. There is a large sugar factory. A great dike,