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ULFILAS

u

U(oo), the twenty-first letter, is a vowel, sometimes a semivowel. It is a rounded v, both being formerly used both as vowel and as consonant. Not till nearly 1700 was V restricted to expressing the consonant. The sound is produced by rounding the lips and raising the back of the tongue, and so u is called a labial vowel. The true primary sounds were the long u (use), as in tool, and the short u (bull), as in wood. U also has the sounds heard in actuate, rural, fulfill, urn, up and submit, the variations being due to the accent not falling on u. U is silent in antique, gauge, rogue. After g and q, u is a W9 as in guano, queen and also in suite.

Uganda (d~d-gdn'da), a British inland protectorate in East Africa, covering the region about the equatorial lakes, Victoria, Albert, Albert Edward, Rudolf and Kioga. The area is estimated at 223,500 square miles, with a native population of about 3,000,000, of whom a third belong to the civilized and Christianized Baganda, speaking a Bantu tongue. They are a miracle of missions, the Anglicans having 250,000 adherents, the Roman Catholics 146,000. Trade is in the hands of German and British trading-firms, and is also carried on by British Indians, Persians and Arabs. The region is fertile, except in Rudolf, the northeastern province, with a rich fauna and flora; while iron, copper and even gold abound. Experiments are being made in growing arrowroot, coffee, cotton and rubber. The Ugandan government railroad extends 750 miles from the coast to Lake Victoria. The protectorate is divided for administrative purposes into five provinces, (Rudolf, Nile, Central, Uganda and Western), over which order is maintained by a force consisting of Sudanese, Uganda Rifles, an armed constabulary and native levies to the number, in all, of 4,000 men. The territory came under British influence in 1890, and four years later it was erected into a British protectorate. The Ugandan province, though directly under British administration, is recognized as a native kingdom. During the minority of the present king three chiefs are regents, and there is a native assembly. In most of the districts the native chiefs govern their subjects. It has motmtain elevations from 10,000 to 19,000 feet, with snow-covered peaks, glaciers and volcanoes. The revenue is derived from taxes on huts and guns and £tom import-duties. The principal exports

are ivory, skins and cattle. Nile steamers from Khartum reach. Gondokoro on the northern boundary, and ships and steamers ply the lakes. But development threatens to be hampered by lack of native labor, for the inhabitants have been decimated by the sleeping-sickness. Changed boundaries leave the Ugandan railway from Mombasa to Kisimu wholly within the limits of the adjoining East Africa Protectorate. The telegraph has been extended from Entebbe to Gondokoro, crossing the Victoria Nile at Fajao.

Uhland (oo'ldnt), Johann Ludwig, a German poet, was born at Tubingen in Wtirt-temberg, April 26, 1787. He studied and practiced law at Tubingen, was a professor of the German language and literature in the university, a leader in the diet and a member of the Frankfort parliament. His writings consist of the dramas entitled Ernest of Swabia and Louis the Bavarian, works upon early German and Norse literature and mythology and the songs and ballads for which he is famous. The first collection of poems, made in 1815, were patriotic songs, called forth by the war against Napoleon, and more than 50 editions have been published. The Castle by the Sea and The Black Knight, found among Longfellow's poems, are translations from Uhland, and there have been various translations of his songs and ballads. He died at Tubingen, Nov. 13, 1862.

Uhlans (u'ldns), the light cavalry of the Tartars, who were brought into Europe by their colonies in Poland. They were mounted on Tartar horses, and carried only light arms, as the saber, lance and, later, the pistol. In the Prussian army all the light cavalry are called uhlans. They were conspicuous in the Franco-German War for bravery and agility.

Ujiji (&B-/£'/£), a district in German East Africa (q. v.) on Lake Tanganyika. It is a fertile country, raising groundnuts, peas, beans, plantains, sweet potatoes, egg-plants and yams. Sugar-cane, tobacco and cotton are cultivated to some extent. The people, called the Wajiji, are large and strong, with flat feet, woolly hair and dark skins. In the town of Ujiji, a collection of huts with a bazar where the Arabs trade, Stanley found Livingstone in November, 1871. Population 14,000. See LIVINGSTONE and STANLEY.

Ulfilas (til'ft-l&s), a bishop of the Goths, was born about 310, and is thought to hav6