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* KARR. 405 KARSTEN. favorable reception accorded to this novel resulted in a copious flou of mediocre fiction characterized by a fantastic huiuor and a stinging irony that half justify the comparison he himself suggests with the Wasps of Aristophanes. He took Les Guepes for the title of a monthly satirical journal begun in 1839. From Les Guepes several volumes were reprinted. These with the Bourdonnemetits (Buzzings) reprinted from the Steele (after 1S52 ), and his sketches of life at Nice, where he resided in later years, are the most attractive portions of his work. He was an enthusiastic gardener, and has given his name to several flowers, notablj- a kind of dahlia, KARROO, "kar'roo (from Hottentot kanisa, hard, arid). The barren tablelands or steppes in the southern part of Cape Colony, which mark the rise in elevation from the seacoast to the level of the interior plateau. The Little Karroo forms the first stage, bordering the shore-slope, and is succeeded on the north by the Great Karroo, which includes the area between the Zwarte and Xieuweld mountain ranges, with an average width of 60 miles. The Karroo region is dry and subject to gi-eat extremes of heat and cold. It has a barren, stony soil, but after rains a lux- uriant vegetation quickly springs up and gives the whole country an appearance of fertility, A species of acacia is the only tree growing in the region. See C'.irE Colony. KARROO BEDS, The name given to a series of nearly horizontal sandstones and shales which extend over wide areas in the Transvaal, Orange River, and Cape colonies of South Africa, The beds contain interesting fossil remains of amphib- ians and reptiles, and are traversed by volcanic pipes that contain the South African diamond deposits. They are generally assigned to the Triassic system, KARS, kjirs. A province of Transcaucasia, Russia, bounded by the governments of Kutais and Tifiis on the northwest and north, Erivan on the east, and Asiatic Turkey on the south and west (Map: Russia, F 6)," Area, 7188 square miles. The surface is extremely mountainous, exceeding in its highest peaks 10,000 feet. It is watered by the Kur, Aras, Arpa, and Olti rivers. In the north is Lake Tchaldir. The climate is very hot in summer and very cold in winter. The chief occupations are agriculture, gardening, and cattle-raising. In the southern part of the province are found deposits of salt. Commerce and manufactures are little developed. Popula- tion, in IS'JT, 292,498, consisting chiefly of Turks, -Armenians, Kurds, Tatars, and Greeks, Capital, Kars (q.v. ). KARS, Capital of the province of the same name (q.v. i in Transcaucasia, Russia, a first- class frontier fortress, situated about il5 miles southwest of Tifiis (Map: Russia, F 6). It is on a high barren tableland, which, however, is well watered and made productive in the vicinity of Kars. It is a ilohanmicdan holy city, with a cheerless appearance. The Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles, built in the eleventh century, and the citadel towering over the town, are among the principal features. There are some manufactures of carpets and coarse cloths, and some transit trade. The town is connected by rail with Tifiis. Population, in 1897, 20,891. "Kars is an ancient place. It wa? the capital of an in- dependent Armenian principality during the ninth and tenth centuries. It passed to Turkey in 1546, and was fortified in 1579 by the Sultan Amurath 111, In 1828 it was taken from the Turks by the Russians under Paskevitch. Kars was brilliantly defended by the Turks imder the English General Williams for six months in 1855, but finally had to surrender to the Russians, At the begin- ning of the war of 1877-78 it was invested by the Russians, but was relieved in July by JIukhtar Pa.sha. Besieged again in the autumn, it was carried by storm Xovember 18, 1877, By the Berlin Congress of 1878 it was ceded to Russia, KAR'SA. Thecorsac (q.v.) of Tibet, so called by the Mongols, KARSCHIN, kar'shen, or KARSCH, karsh, A.XNA LuiSE (1722-91), A German poet, born near Schwiebus, Brandenburg, the daughter of a tavern-keeper, after whose death she served for three years as a cowherd, and during that time composed her first verses. After an un- happy union contracted when only seventeen, she married a tailor, Karsch, who was a confirmed drunkard. In 1760 she was taken to Berlin by the Baron von Kottwitz and introduced into the best society where all were delighted with her readiness in improvising. She was taken up by Ramler, Mendelssohn, and Gleim, and the latter published a collection of her Auserleseiie Gedichte (Selected Poems, 1764), Her verses have no per- manent value, KARSHI, kar'she. A iovm of Bokhara, Asia, .■situated on a small stream, about 93 miles southeast of Bokhara, the capital (Map: Asia, Central, K 2). It is defended by a citadel, and contains a, palace and a well-stocked bazaar. The chief product of the place is cutlery, which is manufactured here with a considerable degree of skill, and is exported over a large part of Central Asia. Karshi is the seat of a beri, and its popu- lation is estimated at from 25,000 to ,50,000, for the most part L'zbegs, with a mixture of Tadjiks, Hindus, Afghans, and Jews, The town, the Persian Nezef, was one of the places of residence of Tamerlane, KARST, TiiE, A limestone plateau in the southern part of Austria around the head of the Gulf of Trieste, and at the base of the Istrian peninsula, covering portions of the crownlands of Carniola, Istria, and Gorz and Gradisca. Here are shown more strikingly than anywhere else the peculiar formations which are common to many limestone regions, and which from the name of this district have been called Karst-phenomena. They consist in the hollowing out of the lime- stone plateau into deep pits and fantastic caves and grottoes. The pits vary in diameter from a few feet to several miles, some of them having forests and agricultural lands at their bottoms. The plateau itself is barren and very sparsely watered, and the streams run either partly or entirely underground. Among the numerous grot- toes those of Adelsberg, in Carniola, are the best known. The region was formerly well wooded, and its denudation is believed to have been brought about by the Romans and the Venetians, KARSTEN, kiir'sten, Her.m. x (1S17— ), A German naturalist. He was born at Strals<ind, and studied at Rostock and Berlin, devoting him- self chieflj' to botany. In 1843-47. and apain in 1.848-56, he was occupied with journeys through the norihern portion of South America. He made a jirofound study of palms and of the flora of the L'nited States of Colombia, and after his re-