Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/791

 KASHGAE ry, when the Chinese conquered the country. It remained a part of the Chinese empire 108 years. About 1863 a revolt of the Tunganis or Dungenes, Mohammedan inhabitants of mixed Tartar and Chinese descent, broke out, and was followed by a rising of the Kirghiz Tartars, which in a few years resulted in the expulsion of the Chinese and the subjection of the prov- inces of Kashgar, Yarkand, Khoten, and Aksu to Mohammed Yakub Beg, a military chief from Khokan, who became sovereign of East Turkistan. (See TURKISTAN.) II. A city of East Turkistan, capital of that country and of the province described above, in lat. 39 29' N., Ion. 76 12' E., about 105 m. N. W. of Yarkand ; pop. estimated at from 60,000 to 70,000, mostly Tartars. It is situated in an angle between two branches of the Kazul river or Kizil Darya. The northern branch, called the Tumaun, runs close to the walls, and is crossed by a bridge of 55 boats ; the southern branch, over which there is a bridge of eight boats, flows between Kashgar and the fortress. The latter, which is known as the Yang-shahr, and is sometimes called the new city, is about 5 m. from the old city. Its elevation above the sea has been variously stated, as low as 4,165 ft. and as high as 5,200 ft. Kashgar is built on a plain bounded N. and N. W. by lofty mountains connected with the Pamir plateau, while level tracts stretch far toward the east. A fortified earthen wall of considerable height and thickness surrounds the city ; it is pierced by five gates, and overlooked by numerous towers about 50 yards apart. There are said to be 28,000 houses within the enclosure, mostly flat - roofed and made of sun - dried bricks. The people are industrious, peaceful, and intelligent, and have attained a compara- tively high degree of civilization. They are Mohammedans. Kashgar has been notorious since the days of Marco Polo for the tem- porary marriages which the rules of Shiah Mohammedanism permitted, as perfectly law- ful, between young women of the city and trav- ellers, for a month, a week, or even a day. This practice has, however, lately been pro- hibited. There are eight colleges, eleven cara- vansaries, and many spacious bazaars. A con- siderable trade is carried on in tea, chintz, cloths, and Russian manufactured goods. A coarse gunpowder is manufactured. Fuel and timber are very scarce. The climate is dry in winter, and so cold that the rivers freeze over and snow falls frequently. The city was visit- ed by Marco Polo, who describes it under the name of Cascar. The name is written and pro- nounced Kashkar by the inhabitants. Among the first Europeans to explore the province in modern times were Adolf Schlagintweit, who was murdered there in August, 1857, and the English travellers Robert B. Shaw and George W. Hayward, who reached the new city in 18C9. For accounts of these and other recent expeditions, see "Journal of the Royal Geo- graphical Society," vols. xl. and xli. (Lon- KATEIi 771 don, 1870 and 1871), and Shaw's "Visits to High Tartary, Yarkand, and Kashgar " (Lon- don,. 1871). k ASTM.K, Abraham Gotthelf, a German mathe- matician, born in Leipsic, Sept. 27, 1719, died in Gottingen, June 20, 1800. He was the son of a professor, embraced in his studies almost all branches of learning, and exerted a power- ful influence in delivering mathematical and natural sciences from the bondage of antiquated text books. He was professor at Leipsic, and afterward at Gottingen. His Anfangsgrunde der Mathematik (6th ed., 1800), and his various other writings, inaugurated a more enlightened era of scientific study in Germany. He took a conspicuous part in the formation of the celebrated union of Gottingen poets. His popularity was chiefly due to his Sinngedichte. Ilis colleague, Heyne, pronounced a eulogium on him in 1804. A portion of his epigram- matic poems were included in his "Miscel- laneous writings " (2 vols., 1783). hATAIIDI V or Klaailii, the highest mountain in Maine, situated in the central part of the state, about 80 m. N. by W. of Bangor, and 6 m. N. E. of the Penobscot river. It is in a region difficult of access except by birch canoes, the river being the only thoroughfare through this rough territory, and its course being inter- rupted by frequent shoals and falls. The mountain is composed entirely of granite, which stands in abrupt walls, and is exposed in naked floors covering acres of surface. Down its sides bare spots caused by slides of rock extend from near the summit almost to the base. The height of the mountain is 5,385 ft. above the sea. Upon its summit are found only lichens and a few dwarfish plants ; and half way down, the birch and other forest trees are but of diminutive size. It is remarkable that over the granite rocks, even to the summit, are found bowlders of trap and of other rocks not belonging to the mountain, and among them pieces of sandstone containing fossil shells, such as are met with in place many miles further N. From the sum- mit in clear weather the view extends over a country singularly rough and wild, composed of scattered mountains which rise in the conical form of granitic peaks, and among which are interspersed hundreds of lakes, many of large size, and streams without number. Most of these are navigable by the birch canoe, and are made by temporary dams to drift down the pine logs which are cut by the lumber- men in the winter, and hauled down upon the ice in readiness to be floated as this breaks up in the spring. kATKK, Henry, an English mathematician, born in Bristol, April 16, 1777, died in Lon- don, April 26, 1835. In his youth he spent some time in a lawyer's office, but upon the death of his father in 1794 he procured a com- mission in a regiment stationed in India, and was for some years employed in the trigonomet- rical survey of that country, when he returned