Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/105

 GONDAR GONDS 97 the only public buildings of note. The harbor is commodious, and the view on the bay de- lightful. There are mineral springs near, and excellent public baths in the town. Coffee is the chief export ; cotton and indigo are raised, but not largely exported, as formerly. Haytian independence was declared here in 1803. GONDAR, a town of Abyssinia, the seat of the dbuna, or archbishop of the Abyssinian church, and formerly the residence of the negus or king, about 25 m. N. of Lake Tzana or Dem- bea ; lat. 12 35' N., Ion. 37 50' E. ; pop. about 7,000. It is built on a hill 1,000 ft. above the lake, which is itself upward of 6,000 ft. above the sea. The town consists of a number of scattered groups of houses, occupying an area of about 11 m. in circumference. The Debra Mrkan, " hill of light," is the principal quarter, situated S. W. of the ruins of a palace of the former Abyssinian kings, built in the 16th century by the Portuguese. On the east of the town flows the Magetzeh, on the west the Gaha, which after uniting in one stream empty into Lake Tzana. The houses, of which but few are two stories high, are built of rough blocks of volcanic stone. There are 44 church- es and 1,200 clergy. The churches are round, and have conical thatched roofs projecting beyond the walls, with rows of wooden pillars for support, forming a circular alley in which the women remain while the men worship within. The Jews and Mohammedans have their own temples, and are allowed considera- ble religious liberty. There are manufactures of cotton goods, ornaments, jewelry, parch- ment, saddles, parasols, and braided ware. The currency consists partly of European gold and silver coin, and partly of lumps of rock salt. Gondar was during the ,middle ages, and as late as the 18th century, the capital of the Abyssinian kingdom, and contained more than 50,000 inhabitants. It became afterward the capital of the independent state of Amhara, which Theodore subdued in 1853, making Gondar once more the capital of Abyssinia, which it continued to be till his death in 1868. GOiYDOKORO, a town in the territory of the Bari negroes, on the White Nile, which is here called Yubiri or Kidi, lat. 4 54' N., Ion. 31 46' E. It is a station of the ivory traders, who occupy it for two months each year, after which it is deserted. It has only a few miser- able huts; the country around it is a desert, and the climate unhealthy. A Catholic mission was established there in 1853 by Knoblecher, but was discontinued in 1858. In 1873 Sir Samuel Baker visited it, broke up the slave trade, and proclaimed its incorporation with the dominions of the khedive of Egypt. GONDOLA, a light and swift kind of boat, used on the canals of Venice and supplying the place of carriages. They are usually 25 or 30 ft. long, 5 ft. wide in the middle, and sharp at both ends, which are curved upward, the bow being ornamented with a high serrated iron plate something like the letter S in form. Near the middle is a small cabin for the use of passengers. Formerly immense sums were sometimes expended by the great nobles on the decoration of these cabins ; and this extrava- gance was carried so far that it was found neces- sary to pass a law compelling uniformity in style, no distinction of ornament or color being per- mitted except in the gondolas of foreign am- bassadors and in that of the patriarch, who, if Gondola. a cardinal, was allowed to use red silk or wool in the decoration of his cabin. Since that time all have been painted black and their cabins hung with black cloth. They are pro- pelled sometimes by a single gondolier, stand- ing at the stern, and sometimes by two, one at the stern and one at the bow. At the begin- ning of this century there are said to have been more than 6,000 gondolas in Venice, and the gondoliers formed an important body, no- ted for their wit and humor as well as for their skill with the oars. They were celebra- ted also for their singing and their recitations of passages from Tasso and Ariosto, but their songs are now seldom heard. GONDS, an aboriginal tribe inhabiting the highlands of the Central Provinces of India, whence that region derives the name of Gond- wana or Gundwana. The earliest authentic records represent them as already affected by intermarriage and association with the Hin- doos, and within the historic period their original characteristics have been still further modified by the same influences. The true Gonds, however, appear to be allied to the Dravidian races of southern India. They are a comparatively rude people, sturdy, restless, hardy, and fearless. The skin of the Gond is brown, and his hair is straight and black. He seldom exceeds 5 ft. 2 in. in height. The entire number of Gonds now dwelling in the hill tracts of central India is estimated at over 800,000. Their condition varies greatly in different localities. Near the Hindoo boun- daries large numbers of them are engaged as agricultural laborers; the inhabitants of the interior are more secluded, wild, and indepen- dent. The Eaj Gonds, in the eastern part of Gondwana, have sprung from the intermixture of the aborigines and Rajpoots. The Gonds possess no written language; they are gene- rally somewhat familiar with Hindostanee, but