Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/152

 140 K P K E 8 miles S.E. of Berlin. Two bridges connect it with the mainland. It has a royal palace, with a ritter-saal and a chapel, and a normal school (in the palace). Silk- weaving, calico-printing, iron rolling, and the manufacture of sugar, shoddy, glass, chemicals, gold-leaf, &c., are the chief industries. There are also steam saw-mills, and some little shipping. Kopenick was the residence of the heathen prince Jaczo, and later of the electors of Brandenburg. It was at Kopenick that Frederick the Great was tried by court martial, when crown-prince. The population in 1875 was 7113. KOPREINITZ, an ancient royal free town of Hungary, in the province of Croatia and Slavonia and county of Koros, is situated about 16 miles north-east of the county town Koros (Kreutz), and on the Zakany-Zagrab line of the Hungarian state railway, in 46 13 N. lat., 16 50 E. long. The most interesting building is the old castle or fort, still in a good state of preservation, and now used as barracks. There are also in the town Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches, a Jewish synagogue, a town-hall, and a municipal savings bank, besides the usual Government offices. Both the weekly and occasional fairs are well attended, but the trade is chiefly confined to the agricultural products of the neighbourhood. The communal lands, extending principally over a level plain, yield large quantities of grapes, fruit, beans, timber, and grain, especially maize. Population in 1880, 6049. KOPRILI, KIUPRILI, or KJOPEULU, a town in the vilayet of Pdsrend, Macedonia, Turkey, is situated on both sides of the Vardar, the ancient Axius. Its Christian inhabitants call it Velesa, probably a corruption of Byla- zora, described by Polybius as the chief city of Pseonia. Owing to the position of the town on sloping hills, the streets are steep ; there are, however, numerous well-built houses. A wooden bridge crosses the river at this point. Mulberry trees and maize are grown in the neighbourhood. The population of Koprili, which has given its name to a celebrated family of viziers, is about 15,000. KORAN. See MOHAMMED. KORAT, a small territory, tributary to Siam, is situated t) the north-east of Bangkok, on the borders of Siam and Cambodia. The approach to it from Bangkok is through an extensive m ilarious forest, called by the natives, on account of its fatal character, Dong Phya Phai, the forest of the king of fire. The chief mountain is named Khasjai, and from it flows the river Mahot. The productions and exports from Korat comprise stags and panthers skins, raw silk, manufactured silk and cotton, peacocks tails, ivory, elephants bones, and a small quantity of sugar. The copper-mines of Korat are said to be rich ; silk of rather inferior quality is brought from Laos, Ubone, and Bassac. Elephants, buffaloes, and oxen are abundant in the province. Korat is governed by a ruler who lias absolute power of life and death. It pays a tribute of gold, silver, and silk to Siam, and lias to furnish a large levy of men when required. Sir John Bowring estimates the population of the whole district at 60,000. Korat, the chief town, lies about 170 miles north-east of Bangkok. It is surrounded by a wall, and stands on a stream whose banks are bordered with little plantations of betel and cocoa-nut trees. Outside the town proper is the Chinese quarter, consisting of sixty or seventy houses surrounded by a strong palisade 9 feet high. The Chinese number about 600, and are the industrious trading element in the population. The native name of Korat is Nakhon Raxa Semi, or frontier town. The population is 5000 or 6000. KORDOFAN, a province of the Egyptian Sudan, which, though marked off from the surrounding territory by no very definite confines, may be said to lie between 12 and 16 N. lat. and between 29 30 and 32 30 E. long. On the east it does not reach the Nile, and on the west it is usually held to be separated from Darf ur by a neutral strip of country. It consists for the most part of a rolling steppe in which a hill of 50 feet is a landmark for a day s journey; but towards the west there are a few isolated peaks such as Jebel Abu Senun and Jebel Kordofan, which rise to a height of 150 to 800 feet above the plain, and in the north-west there are two considerable groups, Jebel Katul and Jebel Kagga. The general elevation of the country above sea-level is given as from 1410 to 1840 feet. A granitic sand with abundance of mica and felspar forms the upper stratum throughout the greater part of the area ; but an admixture of clay, which is observable in the north, becomes strongly marked in the south, where there are also stretches of black vegetable mould. Beneath there appears to unfold itself an unbroken surface of mica schist. River or stream there is really none, though a few tempo rary watercourses or Ichors exist in the rainy season ; and the only permanent lakes are El Birkeh, El Rahad, and Shirkeleh, which are formed by the great Khor Abu Hable in the south. During the rainy season the water collects in myriads of little depressions, but owing partly to rapid evaporation and partly to the porous character of the soil the surface of the country is soon as dry as before. The water which has found its way through the granitic sand flows over the surface of the mica schist and settles in the hollows. Wells consequently sunk so as to reach the solid rock obtain a supply of water more or less abundant accord ing to the spot which they happen to strike ; and it is the existence of these which renders human life possible in Kordofan. It is estimated that (apart from those in a few areas of depression Cagmar, Abu Haraze, Bara, and Mulbes where the sand stratum is very thin and water is reached at the depth of a few feet) there are about 900 of these wells. They are narrow shafts going down from 75 to 150 or 200 feet, and supported &quot; from the bottom to a little above the water-level&quot; by the long roots of the mimosa, wound round so as to form a complete casing. The water is raised by rope and bucket at the cost of enormous labour, and none is available for irrigation. The very cattle are trained to go a long time without drinking. Entire villages migrate after harvest to the neighbourhood of some plentiful well ; and in El Obeyd water becomes a regular article of trade soon after the close of the rains. As there is no highland area draining into Kordofan, the under ground reservoirs are dependent on the local rainfall, and a large number of the wells are dry during many months. The r;iiny season lasts from June to September, rain falling every three or four days in brief but violent showers. The wind during that period is from the south or south west ; the air is extremely oppressive ; and fevers prevail among the foreign residents. In September the north winds begin to take their turn, and from the middle of October they blow steadily throughout the winter, and produce what Europeans consider a delightful climate. With March begins the dry and sultry summer. The settled population of Kordofan is estimated at 164,740, the nomadic at 114,000. The former, who are scattered over the country in about eight hundred and sixty villages, are of very mingled blood, especially in the neighbourhood of the capital, but the Ghodiat, Gilledat, and Gowanieh appear to be the original stock. Of the nomadic tribes the most noteworthy are the Hasanieh, the Kababish, and the Ba^ara. The last-mentioned who roam about the southern parts of the country are a dark red-bronze race remarkable for their magnificent physique. The staple crop in Kordofan is the dokhn or Penicillaria typhoides. Eaten both uncooked and in various culinary conditions, it forms the main food of nine-tenths of the population, and