Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/326

Rh 306 A B A A R A of the comparatively recent settlement of Akyab, which place is now the chief town of the province. The old city of Arakan lies about 50 miles north-east of Akyab, in 20 42 N. lat., and 93 24 E. long. The Maghs, who form nearly the whole population of the province, follow the Buddhist doctrines, which are universally professed throughout Burmah. The priests are selected from all classes of men, and one of their chief employments is the education of children. Instruction is consequently widely diffused, and few persons, it is said, can be found in the province who are unable to read. The qualifications for entering into the priestly order are good con duct and a fair measure of learning such conduct at least as is good according to Buddhist tenets, and such learning as is esteemed among their votaries. ARAL, a vast lake or inland sea, in the west of Asia, situated between lat. 43 42 and 46 44 N., and long. 58 18 and 61 46 E. It was known to the Persian geo graphers as the Sea of Khuwarizm or Khwarezm, from the neighbouring district of the Chorasmii, and derives its pre sent name from the Kirghese designation of Aral Denghis, or Sea of Islands. Its length, from north to south, is 265 miles, and its breadth, from east to west, about 145. It is the greatest body of water in the steppes of Asia, next to the Caspian Sea, and is one of the largest lakes in the world. Its level is 117 (or, according to recent explora tions, which, however, require verification, 250) feet above the Caspian, which is 84 feet below the Black Sea. It is bounded on the 1ST. by the Ural steppes; on the W. by the rocky plateau of the Ust-Urt, which separates it from the Caspian ; on the S. by the alluvial district of Khiva ; and on the E. by the Kysyl-Kum, or Red Desert, and the Kara-Kum, or Black Desert. In the north the shore is comparatively low, and the coast-line is broken into a number of irregular bays, of which the most impor tant are those of Sary-Chaganak and Paskevitch; and on the west an almost unbroken Avail of rock extends from Chernycheff Bay southwards, rising towards the middle to a height of 500 feet. The southern coast is occupied by the delta of the Oxus (Jihun, Amu-Daria, El- Jiryan), which divides into a number of channels, the most important of which, beginning from the west, are the Aibugir or Laudan, the Ulu- or Ulkun-Daria (Great River), and the Kuvan- Jarma, Kuk, or Yangy Su (New River), as it is variously called. The Laudan forms a vast swamp, 80 miles long, and about 20 broad, before it disembogues into the sea ; find the whole of the neighbouring reaches are extremely shallow. The only other tributary of any size is the Jax- artes (Sihun, Syr-Daria, Shash), which enters towards the northern extremity of the east coast, and is suspected to be shifting its course and embouchure more and more to the north. The whole eastern coast is fringed with multi tudes of small islands, and a number of considerable size are situated in the open towards the north and west. Kug- Aral, which is the largest of all, lies across the northern portion opposite the mouth of the Syr-Daria, and cuts off what is called the Kitchkine Dengis, or Little Sea. Pro ceeding south we find in succession, Barsa-Kilmas, Nicholas Island, Bellinghausen, Lasaroff, and, near the mouth of the Taldyk, Takmakdty. Upon some of these islands the Russian explorers found large numbers of antelopes, which showed by their perfect fearlessness, combined with their curiosity, that they had hitherto been undisturbed by man. For the most part the Sea of Aral is comparatively shallow, the depth towards the west coast being 37 fathoms, and towards the centre only 15. Navigation is rendered dan gerous by the frequency and violence of the storms, and the almost total absence of shelter for ships. The north east wind is the most prevalent, and sometimes blows for months together. The only other craft, except the steam ships of the Russians, that venture on the waters, are the flat -bottomed boats of the Kirghese. The first vessel ever known to have been launched on the Aral was conveyed across the desert in pieces by the Russian Admiral Boutakoff, about 1848. The sea abounds with fish of various kinds, as the sturgeon, silurus, carp, and especially a species of herring ; thus agreeing in its ichthyology with the Cas pian, from which it is distant 150 miles. The water is only slightly brackish. During winter the northern portion is completely frozen, but towards the south it is very seldom that ice is formed to any extent. The Aral has no visible outlet; and to account for there being no increase in its size, it was supposed that there might be a subter raneous communication with the Caspian Sea or the Sea of Khuzar ; but the evaporation is so great as not only to maintain an equilibrium, but even, it has been thought, to produce, as in the case of the Caspian, a gradual diminution. In regard to the period of the formation of the Aral there are two theories, each supported by high authority. Accord ing to Sir H. Rawlinson (Proceedings of the Royal Geogra phical Society, March 1867) the disturbances which pro duced the present lake took place in the course of the Middle Ages; while Sir Roderick Murchison contends (Jour nal of Roy. Geog. Soc. 1867, p. cxliv., &c.) that the Caspian and Aral have existed as separate seas before and during all the historic period, and that the main course of the rivers Jaxartes and Oxus was determined in a prehistoric period. The former bases his opinion largely on historical evidence, and the latter trusts principally to geological data. The Avhole subject has been recently reviewed in Die Aralsee- fragt, by Robert Roesler, Associate of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Vienna, 1873. ARAM, EUGENE, was born of humble parents at Rams- gill in Yorkshire, in 1704. He received little education at school, but manifested an intense desire for learning. While still young, he married and settled as a schoolmaster at Netherdale, and during the years he spent there, he taught himself both Latin and Greek. In 1734 he removed to Knaresborough, where he remained as schoolmaster till 1745. In that year a man named Daniel Clark, an inti mate friend of Aram, after obtaining a considerable quantity of goods from some of the tradesmen in the town, suddenly disappeared. Suspicions of being concerned in this swindling transaction fell upon Aram. His garden was searched, and some of the goods found there. As, however, there was not evidence sufficient to convict him of any crime, he was dis charged, and soon after set out for London, leaving his wife behind. For several years he travelled through parts of England, acting as usher in a number of schools, and settled finally at Lynn, in Norfolk. During his travels he had amassed considerable materials for a work he had projected on etymology, to be entitled, a Comparative Lexicon of the English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Celtic Languages. In February 1759 a skeleton was dug up at Knaresborough, and some suspicion arose that it might be Clark s. Aram s wife had more than once hinted that her husband and a man named Houseman knew the secret of Clark s disappear ance. Houseman was at once arrested and confronted with the bones that had been found. He affirmed his innocence, and, taking up one of the bones, said &quot; This is no more Dan Clark s bone than it is mine.&quot; His manner in saying this roused suspicion that he knew more of Clark s disappearance than he was willing to admit. He was again examined, and confessed that he had been present at the murder of Clark by Aram and another man, Terry, of whom nothing further is heard. He also gave information as to the place where the body had been buried in St Robert s Cave, a well-known spot near Knaresborough. A skeleton was dug up here, and Aram was immediately arrested, and sent to York for trial. Houseman was admitted as evidence against him. Aram conducted his own defence, and did not attempt to overthrow Houseman s evidence, although there were some discrepancies in that; but made a skilful attack on the fallibility of circumstantial evidence in general, and parti-