Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/69

Rh which had transferred itself to Jamnia or Jabneh shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem. For a considerable period after that event Jabneh became in some sense the metropolis of Judaism, and Gamliel, as head of the supreme judicial and legislative body which sat there, may be said to have been the ﬁrst nasi or “prince” of the rabbinical period. An interesting account of his position as legislator will be found in chapter xx. of Derenbourg’s [listen-e dc Palestine. As representing the Jewish nation and the Jewish faith, he visited Rome in the autumn of, and the Talmud abounds with references to the incidents of that journey. Gamliel was the friend of Rabbi Akiba, and the master of Aquila (the “nkelos” of the Babylonian Talmud). He died about (see Ewald, Gesch. d. V. Ist.):, vii. 388).

3. A third, son of Jehudah-ha-Nasi, is mentioned in Aboth, ii. 2, as having specially insisted on the necessity of combining with the study of the law some active employment in order to the maintenance of a healthy moral tone.  GAMBIA,,, or , an important river of Western Africa, which enters the Atlantic about 13° 50' N. lat. Its sources are in the central plateau of the Futa Jallon highlands, a tract of country about 240 miles inland, which also contains the head waters of the Senegal, the Faleme, the Rio Grande, and some tributaries of the Niger. Flowing almost due N. for the ﬁrst 200 miles of its course, it turns Somewhat abruptly to the W., and con- tinues in that direction through a country of great fertility. Steamers can proceed up the river as far as Yaba Tenda ; the channel remains navigable for boats 300 miles from the mouth to the falls of Barraeonda; and above the falls it is again navigable, as was shown by Governor Macdonnell's expedition in 1851, for at least 160 miles farther. The principal afﬂuent is the N eries, which, coming from the north, joins the main stream about 30 or 35 miles above the falls. At Fattatenda, a short distance below the falls, the river has a breadth, even in the dry season, of about 320 feet, with a depth of from 13 to 20 feet. In the rainy season it rises from 20 to 50 feet, and the whole country downwards to the sea is laid under water, and receives a rich alluvial deposit. The British colony of Gambia comprises a considerable territory mainly on the left bank at the mouth of the river, Elephant’s Island about 100 miles from the sea, and Maearthy’s Island still further inland. The whole area under British authority is 21 square miles. The popula- tion in 1851 was stated at 5693, in 1861 at 6939, and in 1871 at 14,190 (7306 males and 6884 females). In the 15 years from 1860 to 1874 the total gross revenue was £268,232, making an annual average of £17,802 ; and the gross amount of public expenditure in the same period was £255,291, making an annual average of £17,019, or a total surplus of revenue over expenditure of £2941. In 1862, 1863, and 1864 the liabilities exceeded the assets by £3638, £4817, and £5492 respectively, but there is no funded debt. The Gambia settlement, which formerly cost the imperial revenue from £20,000 to £25,000 per annum, now provides for its own defence,—an armed police force, recruited mainly from the Mahometan tribe of the Houssas, having been substituted since 1869 for the im- perial troops. The parliamentary grant, which had averaged about £4200 per annum from 1860 to 1867, was re- duced to £1500 in 1868, and ﬁnally withdrawn in 1871, and all expenses are met by the local revenue. The Gambia district was originally united with Sierra Leone on the dissolution of the African Company in 1822; in 1843 it was made a separate colony, the ﬁrst governor being Henry Frowd Seagram ; in 1868 it was reunited to Sierra Leone; and it is now governed by an administrator. The capital of the colony is Bathurst, a town on the eastern side of St Mary’s Island. St Mary’s Island lies at the mouth :of the river on the south side, close to the mainland, from which it is sepa- rated by a stretch of mangrove swamp and a narrow arm of the river called Oyster Creek. It is about 15 miles in length by less than a mile in breadth, and consists of a slightly elevated plain of sandy soil, which in the dry season becomes a bed of hot and shifting dust. There are natur- ally not many trees on the island, though a few cocoa-nuts, palms, papaws, willows, bananas, oleanders, and guavas manage to maintain a precarious existence. The Barbados pride, however, ﬂourishes luxuriantly (Captain Hewitt). Bathurst is on the whole a well-built town, the principal material employed being a dirty red sandstone coated with whitewash. It lies about 12 or 14 feet above the level of the river. The market house is built of iron, and the market place was planted with trees in 1869. Besides the Government house and the barracks, there is a hospital founded by General Macdonnell, a court—house, and an Episcopal church completed about 1869. The population of the town is of a very motley description, including, besides the white officials, and traders to the number of about 50, half—castes of all shades, liberated negroes, Jolloifs, Barras, and other local tribes. The part of the mainland immediately contiguous to St Mary’s is known as British Combo, an area of about 6 miles long by from 2 to 3 miles broad having b'een secured by treaty with the king of Combo in 1853. M‘Cartliy’s Island lies about 180 or 200 miles above St Mary’s. It is about miles in length and 1 in breadth. There are two or three “factories,” a considerable trading town, peopled partly by liberated Africans, a fort, a Meth- odist church, and a schoolhouse. Though this was the last spot actually in British possession, it was long understood by Gambia traders that they were under British protection much farther up the stream; but, according to the de- spatches of Lord Carnarvon in 1877, they must proceed at their own risk as soon as they advance beyond British territory. St James’s Island, which was the seat of the British factory in the 18th century, is about 17 miles from St Mary’s. It still bears traces of European occupation, but is gradually being washed away by the river.

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