Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/147

 K D K H 135 literature as in politics, made him relatively less popular in France itself than abroad, where he was considered as the special painter of life in Paris. Major Pendennis s remark that he had read nothing of the novel kind for thirty years except Paul de Kock, &quot; who certainly made him laugh,&quot; is likely to remain one of the most durable of his testimonials, with as a companion the legendary ques tion of a foreign sovereign to a Frenchman who wao paying his respects, &quot; Vous venez de Paris et vous devez savoir des nouvelles. Comment se porte Paul de Kock ? &quot; The disappearance of the grisette and of the cheap dis sipation which Murger pathetically laments in more than one of his works practically made Paul de Kock obsolete, and his want of style affected him as unfavourably as it did his dramatic analogue Scribe. But to the student of manners his vivid and by all accounts truthful por traiture of low and middle class life in the first half of the 18th century at Paris will never lose its value, and, though he can hardly be said to hold a high place in literature, he is a remarkable follower of Restif de la Bretonne, and may be said to be in a sense the last of the 18th century school of novelists. It has been said that the works of Paul de Kock are very numerous. In the fullest list that we have seen they amount to about a hundred, some of them being decidedly voluminous. With the exception of a few not very felicit ous excursions into the historical romance, they are all stories of middle class Parisian life, of guinguettes and cabarets and equivocal adventures of one sort or another. The most famous of all is Le Barbier de Paris, which has been translated into almost every European language. Of equal literary merit, and, considering the style, of singular freedom from objectionable characteristics, is Andre le Savoyard, a remarkable story, full of narrative power, and one of the happiest examples of the working up of simple and commonplace details into an interesting whole. A certain sameness pervades most of Paul de Kock s work. It is almost untouched by the influences of the romantic movement, and has none of the strong sentiments of the school which derived from the author s contemporary Balzac. But there is a good deal of human nature in it, a good deal of accurate observation, and an almost total absence of the revolting and the preposterous. Paul de Kock was the Charles de Bernard of low life, and greater praise of its kind could hardly be given to any writer. KODUXGALtlR, or CRAXGANORE, a town in Cochin state, Southern India, 10 13 50&quot; N. lat., 76 14 50&quot; E. long., with a population (1876) of 9475. Though now a place of little importance, its historical interest is considerable. Tradition .assigns to it the double honour of hav ing been the first field of St Thomas s labours (52 A.D.) in India and the ssat of Cheruman Perumal s government (341). The visit of St Thomas is generally considered mythical ; but it is certain that the Syrian Church was firmly established here before the 9th century (Burnell), and probably the Jews settlement was still earlier. The latter, in fact, claim to hold grants dated 378 A.D. The cruelty of the Portuguese drove most of the Jews to Cochin. Up to 1314, when the Vypin harbour was formed, the only opening in the Cochin backwater, and outlet for the Periyar, was at Kodun- galur, which must then have been the best harbour on the coast. In 1502 the Syrian Christians invoked the protection of the Portu guese. In 1523 the latter built their first fort there, and in 1565 enlarged it. In 1661 the Dutch took the fort, the possession of which for the next forty years was contested between this nation, the Zamorin, and the raja of Kodunga-h rr. In 1776 Tipu (Tippoo) seized the stronghold. The Dutch recaptured it two years later, and, having ceded it to Tipu in 1784, sold it to the Travancore raja, and again in 1789 to Tipu, who destroyed and left it in the following year. KOHAT, a district in the lieutenant-governorship of the Punjab, India, is situated between 32 47 and 33 53 N. lat., and between 70* 34 and 72 17 E. long., and is bounded on the N. by Peshawar, on the E. by the Indus river, on the S. by Bannu district, and on the W. by the Kuram river and the Wazlri hills. It consists chiefly of a bare and intricate mountain region, deeply scored with river valleys and ravines, but enclosing a few scattered patches of cultivated lowland. The eastern or Khatak country especially comprises a perfect labyrinth of ranges, which fall, however, into two principal groups, to the north and south of the Teri Toi river. The Miranzai valley, in the extreme west, appears by comparison a rich and fertile tract. In its small but carefully tilled glens, the plane, palm, fig, and many orchard trees flourish luxuriantly ; while a brushwood of wild olive, mimosa, and other thorny bushes clothes the rugged ravines upon the upper slopes. Occasional grassy glades upon their sides form favourite pasture grounds for the Waziri tribes. The Teri Toi, rising on the eastern limit of Upper Miranzai, runs due eastward to the Indus, which it joins 12 miles north of Makhad, dividing the district into two main portions. The drainage from the northern half flows southward into the Teri Toi itself, and northward into the parallel stream of the Kohat Toi. That of the southern tract falls north wards also into the Teri Toi, and southwards towards the Kuram and the Indus. The frontier mountains, continua tions of the Safed Koh system, attain in places a consider able elevation, the two principal peaks, Dupa Sir and Mazeo Garh, just beyond the British frontier, being 8260 and 7940 feet above the sea respectively. The Waziri hills, on the south, extend like a wedge between the boundaries of Bannu and Kohat, with a general elevation of less than 4000 feet. The salt mines are situated in the low line of hills crossing the valley of the Teri Toi, and extending along both banks of that river. The deposit has a width of a quarter of a mile, with a thickness of 1000 feet ; it sometimes forms hills 200 feet in height, almost entirely composed of solid rock-salt, and may pro bably rank as one of the largest veins of its kind in the world. The most extensive exposure occurs at Bahadur Khel, on the south bank of the Teri Toi. Petroleum springs exude from a rock at Panoba, 23 miles east of Kohat ; and sulphur abounds in the northern range. The census of 1868 extended over an area of 2838 square miles, and disclosed a total population of 145,419 (males, 79,323 ; females, 66,096). The Mohammedans numbered 136,565, as against 6544 Hindus, 1837 Sikhs, and 473 &quot; others.&quot; The Hindus chiefly belong to the trading castes. Among the Moham medans, 6313 rank as Sayyids ; but the Pathans form by far the largest division. Only one town, Kohat, contains a population exceeding 5000 inhabitants. Since the annexation of the Punjab, cultivation has extended from 64,772 acres in 1848 to 163, 015 acres in 1873-74. The agricultural staples include wheat and barley for the spring harvest, with rice, millet, Indian corn, and pulses for the autumn crops. Tobacco, mustard, and oil-seeds also cover small areas, and cotton of inferior quality is grown in favourable years. The area under wheat in 1873-74 was returned as 36,600 acres; barley, 17,070; millets, 23,705 ; Indian corn, 12,050; rice, 4710 acres. Cultivation has now nearly reached its utmost limit. The principal industry of the district is centred in the salt mines. Of these five are now open, from which 294,680 cwts. of salt were quarried in 1870-71. Gun barrels manufactured near Kohat town have a considerable reputation along the north-western frontier. Coloured scarfs, woollen carpets, country cloth, and pottery are also turned out at Kohat, Hangu, and Teri. The frontier military road forms the chief channel of communication, practicable through out for wheeled conveyances and artillery. The district has alto gether 249 miles of road, all unmetalled, and in many cases mere tracks, passable at best by camels, and sometimes only by bullocks or ponies. The total imperial revenue raised in the district in 1851-52 amounted to 9824, which in 1872-73 had risen to 19,443; of which the land-tax contributed 8951, and salt 8556. Education remains in a very backward stage. Four Govern ment or aided schools and forty-three indigenous schools had a total roll of only 745 pupils in 1872-73. From its proximity to the hills, the temperature of the district is comparatively cool, except during the summer months. KOHAT, the chief town and cantonment of the above district, situated in 33 35 N. lat. and 71 29 43* E.