Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/705

* TJFFIZI. 611 UGANDA PROTECTORATE. TJFFIZI, Palazzo Degli. A celebrated Flor- entine palace, containing one of the finest collec- tions of sculpture anil paintini; in the world. It was erected in loU0-7U, after the designs of Giorgio Vasari for the Government oliiccs of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The ground story is one of the most beautiful open halls of Italy; it is roofed with barrel vaulting supported by heavy Doric pillars which extend the height of the en- tire facade. The top story, now containing the gallery, was originally an open loggia. In the vestibule and court are many statues of cele- brated Tuscans. The nucleus of the gallery was a part of the celebrated collections made by the Medici in the fifteenth century. Additions were acquired or inherited by many of the Jledicean dukes, and the c(dlection was bequeathed to the State by the last representative of the line in 1737. It is especially rich in antique statuary, possessing the celebrated Xiobid group, the "Boy Drawing Out a Thorn," the "Apollino," the "MediciTan Venus," "Sat.yr," "Wrestlers." the "Grinder," and "Dying Alexander." The collection of paintings pos- sesses numerous works by artists of tin- early Florentine Renaissance, such as Fra Aiigelico, Filippo and Filippino Lippi, Domenico Ghir- landajo, and especially Sandro Botticelli. The High Renaissance is well represented by Michel- angelo, Fra Bartolommeo. Andrea del Sarto, Ra- ]iliael, Giorgione, Titian, and Correggio, the gal- lerj' being especially rich in masterpieces of Titian and Raphael. There is also a fine collec- tion of Flemish and Dutch masters. The cele- brated "Tribuna" of the Uffizi is a small room containing many of the masterpieces of painting and sculpture. An interesting feature of the gallery is a unique collection of portraits of great masters by themselves. A passageway connects the Uffizi with the Pitti Collection. (See Pitti Palace. ) The second story of the Uffizi contains the Biblioteca Nationale, containing 300.000 vol- umes and 14,000 manuscripts. Its nucleus w'as the Maglialecchiana Collection, to which, in 1S62, was added the Royal Library of the Pitti Palace. The Uffizi also houses the Florentine State archives, one of the richest collections of docu- ments in the world. UGANDA (wgiin'da) PROTECTORATE. A British protectorate in British East Africa, con- sisting of the native kingdom of Uganda and sev- eral adjacent States. It is bounded by the paral- lel of o" north latitude (Egyptian Sudan) on the north, the Congo Free State on the west, and the German East African frontier (in part following the parallel of 1° south latitude) on the south (Map: Congo Fiee State, F 3). The eastern boundary is marked by a line drawn through the middle of Lake Rudolf, and by what is known as the Eastern Province. The protectorate covers 80.000 square miles (estimated). Uganda is very mountainous, its mean alti- tude being given as over 3000 feet. It is a re- markably diversified country, with snow peaks, elevated plains, vast forests, and low swamps; and it also embraces the very arid depression around Lake Rudolf. The variety of climate it offers is likewise exceptionally great. The Lake Rudolf region has an average altitude of 2000 feet, is tropically hot, and is the most barren and hopeless section. The Mount Elgon region and that north of the Victoria Nyanza are much more favorable to development, owing to the ample rainfall and well-watered conditions. But the climate here is generally dam]), hot, and pro- ductive of nuilarial fevers. This region, west- ward of the extinct volcano -Mount Elgon — a gi- gantic mass 14,000 feet high, with a crater sev- eral miles wide — has an average elevation of some 4000 feet, and possesses dense forests, nurshes, and many good agricultural districts. The course of the Nile from the Hipon Falls (its exit from the Victoria Nyanza) to Lado is within or con- tiguous to. this region. The western jiart of the protectorate, distinguished by the Albert and Al- bert Edward lakes, the niugMiticent snowy Ku- wenzori (thought to exceed Ki.OOO feet in eleva- tion), and the deep-forested valley of the Semliki, forms a remarkable region rich in liossibilities. S])lendid plateaus and charming small lakes here abound. Cooling breezes make Aidcori and Toro not only habitable, but inviting. In the Nile Val- ley to the north the heat is extreme, the rainfall abundant. The northern part of the protector- ate is generally forbidding. The waters of the many lakes which characterize the pro- tectorate are partly fresh and partly salt. Kioga- Kwania and Deveru may be mentioned in addi- tion to the lakes already named. Except in the Rudolf district, the flora, which is in general kindred to that of West Africa, is rich and abundant, Init there is no oil palm. Papyrus covers the swampy Nile Valley. The lofty mountains explain the presence of the al- pine vegetation in the higher parts, and of the witch-hazel and trees of kindred classes on the plateaus. Uganda has a peculiar long grass, from 10 to 15 feet high, which is used for build- ing purposes by the natives. The fauna is allied to that of equatorial Central Africa and the Congo Basin, in conformity with the moist and forested character of the region, A list of the birds and quadrupeds would include most of those of Africa which are not strictly desert or sea- coast forms. Lions and leopards are numerous, living upon antelopes and wild and tame cattle; and the rivers and lakes abound in crocodiles, feeding upon the fish, many of which are whole- some for food. There are no anthropoid apes, l)Ut many monkeys, of which the guerza is most notable. Large collections of insects and land shells have been nurde, but much remains to be learned of the smaller life of the region. In the eastern sections of the protectorate granite and gneiss are prominent ; in the central regions, quartz, sandstone, and basalt are added; around Lake Rudolf lava and tuff are superim- posed on the foregoing formations. Iron ore abounds. Gold has been discovered in the north, and there are promising indications that many va- rieties of precious stones and metals will be found. The soil is of great fertility. Cofl'ee of an excellent kind is indigenous, and much of it is being cultivated. Not a little has been done toward improving the country by building substantial houses, making good roads, etc. Rubber, ivory, and hides are ihe leading articles of trade. The commerce is chiefly in the hands of Germans, British Indians, and native dealers, and is slowly developing. The total value in 1901-02 was about f. 5.50,000, £.50,000 being exports. Steamers ply between the northern bovmdary and Khartum. The so-called Uganda Railway lies wholly within the British East Africa Protectorate (q.v.).