Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/880

Rh 850 S I A S I A extending, and there arc some 3474 square miles capable of cultiva- tion. Tht; principal crop is vice, ot which twenty -live dilierent kinds are grown ; other products are cotton, betel-nuts, tobacco, and sugar-cane. The only industries are potteries, salt-making, and silk-spinning. In 1883-84 the total revenue amounted to 36,476, of which the land-tax contributed 15,967. SIALKOT, or SEALKOTE, a district of British India, in the Amritsar division of the lieutenant-governorship of the Punjab, with an area of 1959 square miles. It lies between 31 44' and 32 s 50' N. lat. and 74 12' and 75 3' E. long., and is bounded on the N.E. by the Jamu state of Kashmir, on the N.W. by the Chenab, on the E. by Gurdaspur, on the S.E. by the RAvi, and on the W. by Lahore and GujrAnwala. Sidlkot is an oblong tract of country occupy- ing the submontane portion of the Rechna (Ravi-Chenab) Doab, and is fringed on either side by a line of fresh alluvial soil, above which rise the high banks that form the limits of the river-beds. The Degh, which rises in the Jamu Hills, traverses the district parallel to the Ravi, and is likewise fringed by low alluvial soil. The north-eastern boundary of Sialkot is 20 miles distant from the outer line of the Himalayas ; but about midway between the Itavi and the Chenab is a high dorsal tract, extending from beyond the border and stretching far into the district. Sialkot is above the average of the Punjab in fertility : three-fourths of its area have already been brought under the plough, and a third of the remainder is reported to be capable of improvement. The upper portion of the district is very productive ; but the southern portion, farther re- moved from the influence of the rains, shows a marked decrease of fertility. The district is also watered by numer- ous small torrents ; and several swamps or jhils, scattered over the face of the country, are of considerable value as reservoirs of surplus water for purposes of irrigation. .Sialkot is reputed to be healthy ; it is free from excessive heat, judged by the common standard of the Punjab ; and its average annual rainfall is about 37 inches. The district possesses a total length of 790 miles of road ; and a branch line of the Punjab Northern State Railway, from Wazira- bad in the north-west corner of the district to Sialkot town (28 miles), was opened in January 1884. In 1881 the population was 1,012,148 (males 539,661, females 472,487), of whom Moham- medans numbered 669,712, Hindus 299,311, Sikhs 40,195, and Christians 1535. The only town of any importance is SIALKOT (7. v. ). The principal agricultural products of the district are wheat, barley, rice, maize, millets, pulses, oil-seeds, sugar-cane, cotton, and vegetables. The local commerce centres in the town of Sialkot, which gathers into its bazaars more than half the raw produce of the district. Its surplus stock finds a ready outlet in the markets of Lahore and Amritsar, while the great rivers on either side form natural channels of communication with the lower parts of the Punjab. The native manufactures comprise silk, saddlery, shawl- edging, coarse chintzes, pottery, brass vessels, country cloth, cutlery, and paper. The gross revenue of the district in 1883-84 amounted to 145, 531, of which the land-tax contributed 111,713. The early history of Sialkot is closely interwoven with that of the rest of the Punjab. It was annexed by the British after the Second Sikh War in 1849 ; since then its area has been considerably redm-ed, assuming its present proportions in 1867. During the mutiny of 1857 the native troops stationed in the cantonments of Si;ilkot besieged the European residents in the fort, and remained masters of the whole district ; they also plundered the treasury and destroyed all the records. SIALKOT, the capital and administrative headquarters of the above district, is situated in 32 31' N. lat. and 74 36' E. long., on the northern bank of the Aik torrent. It is an extensive city with handsome and well-built streets, and contains several shrines and buildings of historical interest. In 1881 its population was 39,613. Plate IX. SI AM. 1 The kingdom of Siam embraces the greater part of the Indo-Chinese and part of the Malay peninsula. Bound- On the north-west the river Salwin separates it from Karen-nee, southwards thence the river Toon-gyeen ; then, from the Three Pagodas in 18 15' N. lat. down to the Pak-chan river in 10 N. lat., the principal watershed 1 Compare MALAY PENINSULA, also SHANS, LAOS, and CAMBODIA. separates it from Pegu and Tennsscrim. Its seaboard on the Bay of Bengal extends from the Pak-chan river to Wellesley Province in 5 30' N. lat.; but the islands along the coast are British. On the other (east) side of the peninsula the territory extends to 4 35' N. lat., or, if the vassal state of Pahang i.s included, to Johore in about 2 30' N. lat. On the east side of the Gulf of Siam the frontier line (according to the Siamese authorities ; cf. Plate IX.) starts from the Bay of Compong Som in 103 20' E. long., and runs north inland to Mount Pang-chak, thence, after crossing Tonle-sap Lake, east across the .Mr kong to the crests of the range which separates the Me-kong valley from Anam. It then follows this range north, in- cluding the country north-east of Luang Prabang, to the frontiers of Tongking. Thence it runs west-south-west, separating the tributary from the independent or Burmese Shan states, and meets the Salwin in about 20 N. lat. The great natural and economical centre of Siam is the Khors, delta of the Me-nam river, which is annually flooded be- tween June and November, the waters attaining their greatest height in August. The inundation covers several thousand square miles, so that the capacity for production of rice, which furnishes two-thirds of the entire exports, is almost unlimited, but is very partially developed both from scarcity of population and want of means of trans- port, mills, and better cultivation. Irrigation channel.s arc. however, cut above the point where the creeks naturally cease by some of the small Chinese settlers. The bar formed at the mouth of this and of the other converging rivers the Tachim, the Me-klong, and the Pechaburi on the west, and the Kharayok on the east extends right across the upper end of the gulf, and has 12 or 13 feet of water at high water. The yearly encroachment of the land on the sea is considerable, and the entire delta from Chein- nat in 15. 20' N. lat. downwards has probably been formed in comparatively recent times. At Bangkok sea-shells are found 20 feet below the surface. The Tachim, the first great branch of the Me-nam, joins its right bank above Chein- nat ; below this the main stream anastomoses naturally or by canals freely, the banks of the different channels being densely peopled. Above Chein-nat the Me-nam continues deep and navigable up to the junction of the Pak-nam Pho, its east branch being formed by several important affluents from the north-east. The west branch of the Me-nam is formed mainly by two affluents, the Me-wang and the Me- ping, which flow down through the west Laos states, some of whose chief towns are situated on their banks. In this more elevated region the hill ranges, with a general north- south direction, ramify widely, rising in places to from 6000 to 8000 feet, while the valleys between them widen out into great fertile plains, having the appearance of former lake-basins a view which coincides with ancient local traditions. On the west frontier the rapid and broken stream of the Toon-gyeen, whose tributary valleys on the Siamese side produce valuable teak and cinnamon, flows from a mass of laterite, south of which the central range consists of granite, with syenite and quartzose rocks. Its spurs (6000 feet high) extending in every direction, of sandstones, Carboniferous limestones, and other Secondary formations, are clothed with sappan and other forest trees, and contain probably gold, besides argentiferous lead, tin, coal, and iron, the latter in nodules of clay oxide and brown haematite. On the west of the Gulf of Siam, as far south as 11 N. lat., is a dry barren region, enclosed between' two ranges which intercept the rainfall on either side, but farther south are luxuriant damp forests containing H<>i a (wood-oil), iron -wood, <tc., with occasional clearings for cultivation, and many rivers with wide mouths, but be- coming mere streams higher up. In about 1 30' N. lat. the Malay peninsula is narrowed