Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/868

 834 K A M - K A N and canes nourish luxuriantly, and the only cultivation is that of rice. At a comparatively short distance^ from the river banks, the ground begins to rise in undulating knolls towards the mountains of Bhut&n on the north, and towards the Khasi territory on the south. The hills south of the Brahmaputra in some parts reach the height of 800 feet. It is on the slopes of these hills, amid the primeval jungle, that European planters have set out their trim tea-gardens. The general scenery of Kamrup is thus agreeably diversified; and the villages are described as very picturesque. The Brahmaputra, which divides the district into two nearly equal portions, is navigable by river steamers and large cargo boats throughout the year, and receives several tributaries navigable by large native boats in the rainy season. The chief of these are the Manas, Chaul Khoya, and Barnadi on the north, and the Kulsi and Dibru on the south bank. Forests cover about 130 square miles of the district, of which 49 square miles have been reserved by the forest department. There is also a plantation reserve, where seedlings of teak, sdl, sissu, sum, and nahor are reared, and experiments are being made with the caoutchouc tree. The census of 1871 returned a population of 561,781 (292,688 males and 268,993 females), spread over an area of 3631 square miles. Hindus numbered 514,024; Mahometans, 45,823; Bud dhists, 182 ; Christians, 204, of whom 120 are natives ; and &quot; others,&quot; 448. Kamrup is the headquarters of a sect of Vishnu- vites, known as Mahapuriishius, who are described as extremely bigoted. The Mahometans are supposed to be the descendants of the early invaders. The native Christian community is under the charge of the American Baptist Mission, which has a station at Gauhati town. The population is entirely rural, the only town with upwards of 5000 inhabitants being Gauhati, with 11,492. The temples of Hajo and Kamakhya attract many pilgrims from all quarters. The staple crop of the district is rice, of which there are three crops. The state is the landlord, and the land settlement is made directly with the cultivators. The condition of the cultivators is high, and it is found difficult to obtain labourers for ordinary work. The indigenous manufactures are confined to the weaving of silk and cotton cloths for home use, and to the making of brass cups and plates. The cultivation and manufacture of tea are conducted almost solely by European capital. In 1874 there were twenty-four plantations, with 2638 acres under tea, the out-turn being 375,634 ft. The chief exports are rice, oilseeds, timber, and cotton ; the imports are fine rice, salt, piece goods, sugar, betel nuts, cocoa nuts, and hardware. Education in 1872 was afforded by 146 schools, attended by 3969 pupils, including a high school and college in Gunhati town. The mean temperature is 76, and the average annual rainfall 70 12 inches. KAMTHf, or KAMPTEE, a large town and cantonment in Nagpur district, Central Provinces, India, 21 13 30&quot; N. lat., 79 14 30&quot; E. long. Population (1877), 48,831. Considerable trade is carried on here in cattle, country cloth, salt, European piece goods, and timber. The town contains a large market-place, a dispensary, schools, travellers rest-houses, a Protestant and a Roman Catholic church, five Mahometan mosques, and seventy Hindu temples. An extensive parade ground separates the cantonment from the town, which is built in broad and regular streets. KAMUISHIN, or KAMYSHIN, a town of Russia, in the Saratoff government, on the right bank of the Volga, 120 miles south-south-west of Saratoff, on the highway to Astrakhan. The inhabitants carry on a good river-trade in wood, tar, grain, fish, tallow, and garden produce, the Kamuishin melons especially being sent to various parts of Russia, and forming the raw material for a kind of syrup (nardek] manufactured in the town. The popula tion in 1861 was 8644 ; the St Petersburg calendar for 1873 gives the number as 15,698. Kamuishin, it is said, was founded in 1668 on the left bank of the Kamuishinka, for the suppression of the brigandage carried on in the district. Peter I., intending to make a canal from the stream to the Ilovyla, erected a fort on its right bank ; and in 1710 the inhabitants of the older settlement removed to the same side, ind the town took the name of Dmitrievsk. The present name dates from 1780, when the place became the chief town of a district. KANANUR, or CANNANORE, a town, seaport, and cantonment in Malabar district, Madras, India, 11 51 12&quot; N. lat., 75 24 44&quot; E. long., with a population in 1871 of 10,265. The sea-borne trade in 1875-76 amounted lo 220,244 value of imports, and 115,248 of exports. Anglican, German, and Roman Catholic missions are estab lished in the town. Kananur belonged to the Kalahasti or Cherakal rajas till the invasion of Malabar by Hyder AIL In 1498 a Portuguese colony was planted there by Cabral, and seven years later a factory was established by Vasco da Gama. In 1656 the Dutch effected a settlement and built the present fort, which fell into the hands of the Mysore troops in 1766. In 1784 Kananur was captured by the British, and the reigning princess became tributary to the East India Company. From 1791 it has been the prin cipal British military station on the Malabar coast. KANARA, or CANARA, NORTH, the most southerly of the coast districts of Bombay, India, lying between 13 52 and 15 31 N. lat., and between 74 10 and 75 7 E. long., bounded on -the N. by Belgaum, E. by Dharwar and Mysore, S. by South Kanara, W. by the Arabian sea and N.W. by the Portuguese territory of Goa, with an area of 4235 square miles. The chief town is Karwar. The main feature in the physical geography of the district is the Sahyadri range of the Western Ghats, whiclt, running from north to south, divides it into two parts, a lowland or coast strip (Payanghdt), and an upland plateau (BaUghat). The coast-line is only broken by the Karwar headland in the north, and by the estuaries of four rivers and the mouths of many smaller streams, through which the salt water finds an entrance into numerous lagoons winding several miles inland. The breadth of the lowlands varies from 5 to 15 miles. From this narrow belt rise a few smooth, flat-backed hills, from 200 to 300 feet high ; and at places it is crossed by lofty, rugged, densely wooded spurs, which, starting from the main range of the Sahyadri hills, maintain almost to the coast a height of not less than 1000 feet. Among these hills lie well-tilled valleys of garden and rice land. The plateau of the Balaghat is irregular, varying from 1500 to 2000 feet in height. In some parts the country rises into well-wooded knolls, in others it is studded by small, isolated, steep hills. Except on the banks of streams and in the more open glades, the whole is one broad waste of woodland and forest. The open spaces are dotted with hamlets or parcelled out into rice clearings. Of the rivers flowing eastward from the watershed of the Sahyadri hills the only one of importance is the Wardha, a tributary of the Tungabhadra. Of those that flow west wards, the four principal ones, proceeding from north to south, are the Kali, Gungawali, Tadri, and Sharavati. The last of these, plunging over a cliff 825 feet in height, about 35 miles from Honawar town, forms the famous Gersoppa falls. The mineral products of the district consist of iron, limestone, and building stone. Extensive forests clothe the Sahyadri hills, and are conserved under the rules of the forest department. During the ten years 1866-76 they yielded an average annual revenue of 39,307 to the state. Tigers, leopards, bears, deer, and wild hogs are numerous, and small game is plentiful. North K&nara formed part of Madras till 1861, when it was transferred to Bombay presidency. The census of 1872 returned a population of 398,406 (206,417 males and 191,989 females), 94 to the square mile. The Hindus numbered 364,402 ; Mahometans, 21,755; Parsis, 25 ; Christians, 12, 189 ; and Jews, 34. The most noteworthy class among the Hindus are the Havik Brahmans, who make their livelihood from spice and areca nut gardens. Besides the regular Mahometan population (de-