Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/27

 S I B S I B 13 the Isrfft-ia of the Siberian Geographical Society ; Samokvasoff, Customary Law of Siberian Indigent.-!, 1>7''>; papers in Otetchestvennyia Zapiski, vols. ccxxxix. and ccxciii.; Yailrintseff, Siberia, 1882. Argentoff and Kostroff in the srrials of the Geogr. Soc. give information about the present state of the in s and their relations to Russia. SIBSAGAB,, or SEEBSAUGOR, a British district of India, in the upper valley of the province of Assam, lying be- tween 26 19' and 27 16' N. lat. and 93 21' and 95 25' E. long., and covering an area of 2855 square miles. It is bounded on the N. and E. by Lakhimpur district, on the S. by independent Naga territory, and on the W. by the Nowgong and Naga Hills districts. Sibsagar consists of a level plain, much overgrown with grass and jungle, and intersected by numerous tributaries of the Brahma- putra. It is divided by the little stream Disai into two tracts, which differ in soil and general appearance. The surface of the eastern portion is very flat, the general level being broken only by the long lines of embankments raised by the Aham kings to serve both as roadways and as a protection against floods. The soil consists of a heavy loam of a whitish colour, which is well adapted for rice cultivation. "West of the Disai, though the surface soil is of the same character, the general aspect is diver- sified by the protrusion of the subsoil, which consists of a stiff clay abounding in iron nodules, and is furrowed by frequent ravines and water-courses, which divide the cul- tivable fields into innumerable small sunken patches or holas. The chief river is the Brahmaputra, which is navi- gable throughout the year by steamers and large native craft. The navigable tributaries of the Brahmaputra comprise the Dhaneswari, the Buri Dihing, the Disang, and the Dikhu, all flowing in a northerly direction from the Naga Hills. Included within the district is the island of Maguli, which is said to have been formed by the silt brought down by the Subansiri river from the Himalayas and deposited in the wide channel of the Brahmaputra. Coal, iron, petroleum, and salt are found in the district. Wild beasts of all kinds abound, including the elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, buffalo, and deer. The climate, like that of the rest of the Assam valley, is comparatively mild and temperate, and the average annual rainfall is about 9-4 inches. In 1881 the population of Sibsagar was 370,274 (males 195,194, females 175,080), of whom Hindus numbered 339,663, Moham- medans 15,665, hill tribes 13,829, and Christians 804. The only place of more than 5000 inhabitants is SIBSAGAR (see below). Of the total area 359,225 acres were under cultivation in 1883-84, besides 78,710 acres of forests. The staple product is rice, which yields two crops in the year ; tea is also extensively grown, Sibsagar being second only to Cachar among the tea -growing districts of India; other crops include food -grains, pulses, oil- seeds, sugar-cane, and cinchona. The local industries are limited to the weaving of silk and cotton cloth, the making of brass and bell-metal utensils, and coarse pottery. The principal exports are tea, silk, mustard-seed, cotton, and jungle products ; the imports include salt, oil, opium, piece-goods, and miscellaneous hardware. On the decline of the Aham dynasty Sibsagar, with the rest of the Assam valley, fell into the hands of the Burmese. They were expelled by the British in 1823, and in the following year the valley was annexed to British India. The British, however, were indisposed to undertake the responsibilities of administration be- yond what seemed absolutely necessary. The country now forming Sibsagar district, together with the southern portion of Lakhimpur, was placed under the rule of Raja Purandhar Sinn, on his agreeing to pay an annual tribute of 5000. Owing to the raja's misrule, Sibsagar was reduced to a state of great poverty, and, as he was unable to pay the annual tribute, the territories "were resumed by the Government of India, and in 1838 Sibsagar was placed under the direct management of a British officer. The tea industry soon brought back prosperity, and the Sibsagar peasants now rank among the most contented and wealthy in Assam. SIBSAGAR, chief town and civil headquarters of the above district, is situated about 11 miles south from the Brahmaputra, being picturesquely placed around a magni- ficent tank covering an area of 11-i acres. Besides the houses of the civil officials, it possesses a straggling bazaar, in which a brisk business is carried on during the cold season with the neighbouring hill tribes. In 1881 the population of the town was 5868. SIBYL. Certain women who prophesied under the in- spiration of a deity were called by the Greeks Sibyls. The inspiration manifested itself outwardly in distorted features, foaming mouth, and frantic gestures. The notion that hysterical, convulsive, and epileptic affections are proof of divine inspiration has been common all over the world (see Tylor's Primitive Culture, ii. p. 131 sq.). Homer does not refer to a Sibyl, nor does Herodotus. The first Greek writer, so far as we know, who does so is Heraclitus (flourished about 500 B.C.). As to the number and native countries of the Sibyls much diversity of opinion prevailed, as is evinced by the contradictory statements of ancient writers. Aristophanes, Plato, and the author of the 6av- /zao-ta aKoiV/xara, attributed to Aristotle, appear to know of only one Sibyl. Heraclides Ponticus, a pupil of Plato, seems to be the first writer who distinguished several Sibyls, the Erythraean, the Phrygian, and the Helles- pontine. Later writers speak of two, three, four, eight, ten, and twelve. Pausanias (x. 12) enumerates four. Ac- cording to him, the oldest was the Libyan 1 Sibyl, a daughter of Zeus and Lamia. The second was Hero- phile, a native of Marpessus or Erythrae in the Troad ; she lived mostly in Samos, but visited Clarus, Delos, and Delphi. She lived before the Trojan War, which she is said to have predicted. The third was the Sibyl of Cumse in Italy, and the fourth was a Hebrew Sibyl called Sabbe ; others, however, called the last -mentioned Sibyl a Babylonian or Egyptian. According to Plutarch (De Pyth. Orac., 9), the first Sibyl was she of Delphi. Varro enumerates ten Sibyls, the Persian, Libyan, Del- phic, Cimmerian, Erythraean, Samian, Cuman, Hellespont- ine, Phrygian, and Tiburtine. The Sibyl of whom we hear most was the Sibyl of Cumae, whom ^Eneas con- sulted before his descent to Hades. She was supposed to live 1000 years. It was she who sold to Tarquin the Proud the Sibylline books. She first offered him nine ; when he refused them, she burned three and offered him the remaining six at the same price ; when he again re- fused them, she burned three more and offered him the re- maining three still at the same price. Tarquin then bought them. They were entrusted to a college of fifteen men (quindecemviri sacris faciundis), who preserved them and consulted them on occasions of national danger. It would seem that they were consulted with a view to discover, not exact predictions of definite future events, but the religious observances necessary to avert extraordinary calamities and expiate prodigies. They were written in hexameter verse and in Greek ; hence the college of curators was always assisted by two Greek interpreters. The books w r ere kept in the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol and shared the destruction of the temple by fire in 83 B.C. After the restoration of the temple the senate sent ambassadors in 76 to Erythne to collect the oracles afresh and they brought back about 1000 verses; others were collected in Ilium, Samos, Sicily, Italy, and Africa. In the year 12 Augustus sought out and burned a great many spurious oracles and subjected the Sibylline books to a critical revision ; they were then placed by him in the temple of Apollo Patrous, where we hear of them still existing in 363. They seem to have been burned by Stilicho shortly after 400. Accord- ing to the researches of Klausen (^Eneas und die Penates, 1 There is a gap hi the text of Pausanias, and his meaning is not quite certain.