Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/408

* NEOTKOPICAL REGION. 358 NEPAL. known only in .Uulaja) and the peccary. In birds the case is even more extraordinary. About twenty-five of its families are not known elsewhere, including such large or peculiar groups as the plant-cutters, manakins, cotiuga, ant-thrushes, tree-creepers (Dendrocolaptidu;), toucans, todies, mot-mots, curassows, tinamous, sun-bitterns, and many others; while it possesses the great majority of several groups, such as the humming-birds, only scantily present in North America, and not known at all in the Old World. A similar account might be given of regional peculiarities in the departments of reptiles, am- pliibians, fishes, and the many branches of in- vertebrate life. The West Indies, as a part of this region, present some extraordinary peculiar- ities. Though so near to the shores" of Xorth Anierica, their zoological afllnities are distinctly Xeotropical, and they present curious rcseni- blanccs to the island fauna of iladagascar. See America, paragraph Fauna; Zoiigeographical Jfap under Distributiox of Animals; and con- sult the authorities there cited. NEOZO'IC (from Gk. 1.^05, iieos, new + fa,^, zOv. life). A term introduced by Edward Forbes to include all the strata from the Trias to the most recent deposits. It has been occasionally used as a substitute for Cenozoic (q.v.), and for the Tertiary system (q.v.). NEPAL, ne-pnl', or NIPAL. An independent State on the southern slope of the Himalayas, bordering on Xorthern India (Jlap: India, D 3). It is bounded by Tibet on the north, by the native State of Sikhim and Bengal on the east, and by Bengal and the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh on the south and west. Its area is esti- mated at .54,000 square miles. The southern portion, known as the tcrai, is a level strip of laud, partly covered with forests and well cultivated. The "rest of the country be- longs to the region of the Himalayas (q.v.),' and contains some of the highest mountains in the world, such as Jlount Everest (29.000 feet) and Dhawalagiri, which are covered with perpetual snoy. There are a number of minor ranges inter- secting each other and inclosing numerous val- leys. The country belongs to the basin of the (Janges, its chief rivers being the Karnali and the Sarju in the west, the fJandak in the centre, and the Kusi in the east. The climate varies consid- erably in accordance with the configuration of the' surface. In the mountainous part it is naturally cold, while in the flat region along the southern boundary and in some of the valleys of the in- terior it is hot and humid. The average tem- perature at Khatnuindu (over 4300 feet) is about 02°. Deposits of iron, lignite, copper, lead, anil zinc are found and exploited to some extent by the natives. There arc also manv mineral springs and some deposits of gold and silver. The chief occupation of the inhabitants is agri- culture: although carried on in a primitive wa.v. it is highly intensive, owing to the scarcity of ngriculliiral land. Tlie slopes of the hills "and ledyes even. dilTicult of access, are utilized for ngririiltural purposes, and the methods employed for diverting mountain torrents for irrigational needs exhibit noticeable anil varying degrees of ingenuity. The chief crops in the central valleys are sev- eral varieties of rice, wheat, pulse, corn, sugnr- cnne, potatoes, and various vegetables. In the terai region are cultivated tea, cotton, tobacco, etc. Many European fruits are successfully cul- tivated. The chief manufactures are coarse cloth, paper, brass bells, utensils, and ornaments. Ex- cellent pottery is produced in some parts of the country and the wonderful wood-carving found in the temples testifies to the skill of the natives. The commerce of Nepal is chiefly with British India and Tibet. From British India are im- ported cotton goods, silver, spices, salt, brass, cop- per, sugar, iron, leather goods, etc. These are j)artly reexported to Tibet, which sends in return drugs, tea. woolen cloth, salt, paper plant, do- mestic animals, honey, wax, silver, gold, etc. The chief exports to British India are rice, oil seeds, cattle, tobacco, hides, timber, and glue. The exports to and imports from British India amounted in 1900-01 to $5,987,040 and .$5,257,372 respectively. Goods are usually transported by human carriers or pack animals. Theoretically Nepal is an absolute monarchy, but the actual rulers of the State are the Prime Minister and his party. There are a State Coun- cil and a number of courts. The savage native code has been humanized by British influence. The revenue of the Govemment is derived chiefly from land tax. customs, mines, forests, and monopolies. There is an ellicient army of about 50.000. which can be greatly enlarged in case of necessity in view of the fact that the Gurkhas (q.v.) are all eflicient fighters. No reliable figures as to the population of Nepal are available. Native statistics place it at 5.000,000, hut these figures are probably exag- gerated. The great mass of the popiil.-ition of Nepal are hy some considered to be Mongolic, with large infusions of Dravidian and Aryan blood, while others regard them as a mixed race of Indo-Afghan and Mongolic descent. The chief divisions are the Kulu-lahuli and Paharias in the west, and the Mangars and Gurkhas in the east. Some of the hill-tribes have, perhaps, more of Mongolian than other blood, hut the effects of the Hindu invasions from the twelfth century down are seen everywhere. The typical representatives of the Ncpalese are the Gurkhas (q.v.), whose Aryan ancestors from Rajputana mixed with the aborigines. In religion the majority of the Ncpalese are Hindus, but there are also several hundred thousand Buddhists. The Kululahulis are dolichocephalic and below the average in stature. Education is entirely in the hands of the [iriests and the bulk of the population are illiterate. The children of the wealthy classes are .sent to the educational establishments of British India. Capital. Khatmandu (q.v.). History. Various ruling d.^Tiasties from a re- mote period are given in the native literature, but the first authentic mention of a ruler — An- Quvarma of the Thakuri dynasty — is made by lliuen Tsang. the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, who visited Nepal in the seventh century. In 1324 the country was invaded ami occupied by Hari- sinha-deva. Raja of Simraungarh. Modern his- tory begins in 17<>8 with its conqiest by the Gurkhas, who originally were driven from Rajpu- tana by the Mohammedan invasion. Gurkha ag- gressions on Tibetan territory in 1790 led to their defeat by Cliina. and the limitation of their northern boundary. In I. SI 4. by way of reprisals, the British invaded the country', but were de- feated ; the following year, however, advancing on