Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/428

ALKMAAR. C 2). It is well built, has very clean streets, and is intersected by broad canals. It possesses a town-house, ornamented with curious Gothic carving, with a tower, a museum of antiquities, and a library, and the church of St. Laurence, which dates from the fifteenth century. The inhabitants support themselves by important manufactures of sail-cloth, sea-salt, etc., as well as by trade in grain, butter, and cheese. Alkmaar exports great quantities of the last mentioned commodity, more than 5000 tons being brought into the town yearly, or over one-half the output of the province. It is the birthplace of Henry of Alkmaar. (See .) Alkmaar, first of all the Netherland cities, successfully resisted the Spanish in 1573, and the anniversary of that siege was commemorated in 1873 by the erection of a statue of Victory, by Stracké. Here, on October 18, 1799, the Duke of York signed a not very honorable capitulation, after his Russo-British army had been twice defeated by the French general Brune. Pop., 1890, 15,803; 1900, 18,275.

ALKMAAR, A Low German translator or adapter of an animal epic, Reynard the Fox (q.v.), printed in 1498. Alkmaar is said to have been a tutor of the Duke of Lorraine in the latter part of the fifteenth century.

ALKOREM'MI. In William Beckford's romance of Vathek (q.v.), the name of Vathek's palace, to which he had added five parts, corresponding to his five senses.

AL'LA, or EL'LA. In Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale, the name of the king who marries Constance.

ALLA BREVE, al'la bra'va (It. according to the breve). In music, a species of common time with a quick movement. In early ecclesi- astical music, we find no terms indicating the tempo or rate of movement, until, in the fifteenth century, the expressions augmentation and dim- inution were introduced to indicate that note- values were to be changed by lengthening or shortening. The sign of diminution was a verti- cal line drawn through the time signature; (j> for triple and (t for duple time. With this diminution, breves (q.v.) were to be taken in the time of semi-breves, thus quickening the move- ment. At that time the unit of count was a semi-breve. When the breve was "diminished," it meant that one must count "by the breve," hence the name Alla Breve.

In modern music Alla Breve measure (sometimes called Alla Cappella) is marked

4. or J and calls for two counts to the bar, with half notes taken in the time usually given to quarter notes.

AL'LAH. The Mohammedan name for God, contracted from the Arabic al ilah, the God.

ALLAHABAD, al'la-ha-bad'. A district and a division of the North-West Provinces, British India.

ALLAHABAD (Ar. Allah, God + Hind, abad, city, dwelling). The seat of the government of the North-West Provinces of British India (Map: India, D 3). It occupies the fork of the Ganges and Jumna which forms the lowest extremity of the extensive region distinguished as the Doab, or the Country of Two Rivers, lying between those natural boundaries. Its position at the confluence of the holy rivers, which has long made it a centre of superstitious reverence and

worship, and a much frequented place of pilgrim- age for the purposes of ablution, also rendered it a natural centre of commerce and civili- zation, an advantage which has been fully appre- ciated by the British Government. It commands the navigation both of the Ganges and of the Jumna. It is on the direct water route between Calcutta and the Upper Provinces, and is a main station on the Grand Trunk Road, and also on the East Indian Railway. Allahabad stands 72 miles west of Benares; is distant from Calcutta, by land, 496 miles; by water, 808 miles in the rainy season, 985 miles in the dry season. From Delhi it is distant 386 miles, and from Bombay, by the Jabalpur branch of the East Indian Railway, 840 miles. The cotton, sugar, and indigo produce of the fertile district of Allahabad is brought in large quantities into the city, to be transported thence to Calcutta and elsewhere. Steamers sail to Calcutta and barges to Delhi.

In point of appearance, Allahabad is scarcely worthy of its character and renown. With the exception of a few ancient monuments of costly, elaborate, and tasteful workmanship, the native part of the city consists of mean houses and narrow streets. The most noteworthy buildings are the Jumma Musjid, or the great mosque, and the Sultan Khossor's caravansary — a fine clois- tered quadrangle. The fort is of red stone, and is approached by a very handsome gate; it con- tains the palace or residency, and the famous Asoka or Gada Pillar, the club of Bhin Sen, 240

B.C. Below the fort, built over "the undying banyan tree," is the subterranean Chali Satum temple, which is said to communicate with Benares by an underground passage, through which flows a third holy river, the Sereswati, visible only to the eye of faith, the dropping moisture on the rocky walls pointed out as the river scarcely justifying the presumption. Allahabad possesses a hospital, theatres, bazaars, etc., and the Muir Central College, the chief educational institution in the North-West Provinces. (See the article .) As generally in the towns of India, the European quarter is vastly superior. Its nucleus appears to have been the native fort, which on the east and south rises directly from the banks of both rivers, while toward the land its artificial defenses, of great strength in themselves, are not commanded from the neighborhood by any higher ground. This citadel, described by Heber as having been at one time "a very noble castle," has lost much of its romance by having had its lofty towers pruned down to bastions and cavaliers. The Europeans of the garrison occupy well-constructed barracks. Beyond the fort are the cantonments for the native troops. In connection with these are numerous villas and bungalows, few other spots in India boasting such handsome buildings of this kind, which are rendered still more attractive and agreeable by avenues of trees winding between them and connecting them with the fort, the city, and several of the adjacent localities. Two boat bridges cross the Ganges, and the East Indian railway-bridge spans the Jumna at Allahabad. So many poor pilgrims throng the city, especially at the time of the great annual religious fair, that instead of Allahabad, the natives call it "Fakirabad," or the city of beggars. From the octroi, professional and carriage taxes, rents and proceeds of the Hindu fair, a considerable municipal revenue accrues, which is expended on police, lighting, street sprinkling, water works, maintenance