Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/68

 62 KUMISS gold is chiefly found in the sands of the Aluk- nunda. The principal manufactures are blan- kets, coarse linens and cottons, and bamboo mats and baskets. A large portion of the in- habitants are engaged in the transit trade be- tween East Turkistan and India. A corrupt form of Brahmanism is the dominant faith. Kumaon is famous for the number of its shrines and temples, mostly situated at the confluence of its rivers. Those most celebrated as places of pilgrimage are Kedarnath, Badri- nath, Deoprayag, Rudraprayag, and Vishnupra- yag. Kumaon was never conquered by the Mo- guls, but was subdued by the Gorkas in the latter part of the 18th century. It became a British province in 1815. Capital, Almorah. KUMISS, an alcoholic liquor distilled by the Calmuck Tartars from mares' milk as it is un- dergoing fermentation. It is said that 21 oz. of milk yield 14 oz. of low wines, which by rectification give 6 oz. of pretty strong alco- hol. Cows' milk, probably from its containing less saccharine matter, yields much less spirit. KUNERSDORF, a village of Prussia, near Frankfort - on - the - Oder, noted for a battle fought Aug. 12, 1759. After the failure of Gen.. Wedel (July 23) to prevent the junction of the Russians and Austrians on the Oder, Frederick instructed Prince Henry to replace him in watching the main Austrian army un- der Daun, while he crossed the Oder and gave battle to the allies. Despite a furious fire, he stormed the Muhlberg, turning the Russian left wing, and considered the day his, when, owing both to the difficulties of the ground and the wearied condition of his troops, with whom he now assailed the strongly posted right wing, the tide turned in favor of the allies. The lat- ter, out of an army variously estimated at from 60,000 to 90,000, lost 18,000, and according to some authorities 24,000; while the Prussians, out of an army of 40,000 to 50,000 men, lost in killed and wounded 19,000, or according to others 26,000, and almost all their batteries. Gen. Puttkammer and the poet Chr. Ewald von Kleist fell. Frederick had two horses shot under him, and escaped capture only through one of his officers. The principal Russian com- mander was Soltikoff, and the victory was chiefly decided by the panic created among the Prussians by the Austrian general Laudon's impetuous cavalry attack on their flank. KUNG, Prince (KUNG-CHIEN-WANQ), a Chinese statesman, born in 1835. He is the brother of Hien-fung, emperor of China from 1850 to 1861, and the uncle of Tung-che, the present ruler. ^ On the death of Hien-fung, almost immediately after the close of the war against England and France, the heir to the throne was a child seven years old. In the regency which was at once established, Prince Kung, who had previously occupied a high official position at court, but had not been an active member of the executive government, received a power nominally equal to that of the young emperor's mother and aunt, who were asso- KUR ciated with him ; but he immediately became recognized as the actual head of affairs, and, though frequently hampered in his action by the opposition of his two companions in pow- er, he continued to be de facto ruler until the emperor attained his majority, Feb. 23, 1873. His policy was throughout this period enlight- ened and progressive, and whatever advance was made in the political improvement of China and her relations with foreign powers is undoubtedly chiefly due to him ; while he con- sistently opposed all conservative action and the policy of seclusion previously practised. Many of the more liberal treaty stipulations, the establishment of a college at Peking, and the sending of an embassy to foreign powers in 1868, were largely owing to his efforts. After the accession of the emperor, Prince Kung re- mained at the head of the foreign office. KUNTH, Karl Sigismnnd, a German botanist, born in Leipsic, June 18, 1788, died in Berlin, March 22, 1850. Alexander von Humboldt enabled him to study in Berlin, and he joined him in Paris in 1813 to continue, after Will- denow's death, the editing of Humboldt and Bonpland's botanical collection. He return- ed to Berlin in 1819, and became professor of botany and vice director of the botanical garden. His works include Nova Genera et Species Plantarum (7 vols., Paris, 1815-'25), and Enumeratio Plantarum omnium hucusque cognitarum (5 vols., Stuttgart, 1833-'50) ; and he continued Bonpland's monographs of me- lastomse and equinoctial plants, altogether in- cluding 6,000 specimens. KUOPIO. I. A S. Ian or government of Finland, Russia; area, about 17,000 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 222,321, mostly Lutherans. A large part of the surface is occupied by lakes, and the rest consists generally of large sandy plains, diversified by hills and forests. The Vuoxen traverses the Ian, flowing southward into Lake Saima and thence eastward into Lake Ladoga. The principal occupations are rearing of cattle and horses, agriculture, and fishing. II. A town, capital of the Ian, pleas- antly situated on a W. promontory of Lake Kalla, 225 m. N. W. of St. Petersburg; pop. about 5,000. It contains a church and a gym- nasium, and exports resin and timber. The periodical fairs are numerously attended. KIR, Koor, or Knra (anc. Cyrus), a river of Russian Georgia, which rises in the moun- tains W. of Kars, in the Turkish vilayet of Erzerum. It flows N". E. into Transcaucasia until it approaches the S. base of the Caucasus, when it turns E. S. E. and runs nearly par- allel with that range to the Caspian sea, which it enters by three mouths 80 m. S. S. W. of Baku. It is about 800 m. long, and navigable 66 m. from its mouth by small vessels. Its banks are high, and well wooded except near its mouth. Its waters are yellowish and turbid, and the current, though smooth, is rapid. Its principal affluents are the Aras and Alazan, Gori and Tiflis are on its banks.