Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/881

* YU. 745 YUCATAN. form of the tax contrihution of the ilifTerent lo- calities. Thrifc lie passed liis own door without stopping, though he heard the wailing of his infant son within. In B.C. 2278 he announced the completion of his labors, and received the I'rincipality of Ilia (or ?Isia) as his reward. In B.C. 2224 he became the colleague and suc- cessor of Shun, and in 2205, after ihnv years' mourning for his colleague, he fouiuled the Ilia (or Hsia), the first of the twenty-live dynasties of China. The greatest of the engineering feats attributed to Yii is the opening of the great gorge or defile on the Yang-tse through the Wu Mountains above I-Chang (q.v. ). See the Tribute of Yii in vol. iii. of Legge's Chinese Classics (London and Hong Knng, 1865). YUAN SHIH-KAI, wiln she'ki'. A Chinese statesman, a native of lionan, who from 1884 to 1893 was Minister Resident at Seoul, the capital of Korea, where he gained much distinction during the disturbances there. Returning to China, he was placed at the head of the foreign-drilled troops at Tien-tsin, and in 1894 became cliief of the military sec- retariate in ilanchuria. In 1895 he was again made commandant of the foreign-drilled troops. During the Boxer troul)les he was Governor of the Province of Shantung, whence he was later promoted to be Governor-General of the metro- politan Province of Chi-li, holding also an im- portant position in the general Government and being at the head of the army. YUCATAN, yoo'ka-tan'. A large peninsula projecting northeastward from the south- eastern extremity of Jlexico, and separated from the western extremity of Cuba by the Yucatan Channel, 140 miles wide (Map: Jlexico, P 8 ) . With the peninsula of Florida it incloses the Gulf of Jlexico. The penin- sula of Y'ucatan is about 400 miles long and 200 miles wide, with an area of about 80,000 square miles. It forms a portion of a great bank of coralline limestone which has been raised above sea-level in geologically recent times. The bank, covered with shallow- water in which coral formation is still actively going on, extends 150 miles into the Gulf along the northern and western coasts of the penin- sula, and along its margin the sea bottom falls suddenly from a depth oif 600 to one of 6000 feet. The surface of the peninsula is accordingly very low and level, the undulations in the interior ris- ing only a few hundred feet above the sea, except in the extreme southern part, where there are projecting spurs of the Central American Cor- dillera. Forests are confined mainly to these southern mountains, the rest of the peninsula being almost treeless, except in the marshy tracts along the coast, and of a monotonous and arid aspect. This is scarcely due to the climate, which is hot and humid, but rather to the pecu- liar Karst formation of the limestone composing the peninsula, which is perforated by numerous caverns and underground channels. These re- ceive the rainwater, .so that the peninsula is practically without rivers or running surface water, and the nati^s depend almost wholly upon the underground reservoirs for their water supply. Sisal hemp is the principal agricultural product. Politically the greater part of the penin.sula belongs to Mexico, and consists of the States of Campeche and Y'ucatan (qq.v.). The southeastern jiart is divided between British Honduras and Guatemala. The total population is estimated at about 370,000, most of whom are aborigines. Yucatan was the principal seat of the iViaya civilization, the highest form of native civilization existing in North America at the time of the discovery. See Yucatan, Antiqui- TIKK OF; JIayA; JIaVAN StOCK. YUCATAN. A State of Mexico, occujiying the northeastern part of the peninsula of Yucatan (q.v.), bounded on the north by the Gulf of Mexico, on the east by the " Car- ibbean Sea, on the south by British Hon- duras and Guatemala, and on the west by the State and Gulf of Campeche (Map: Mexico, P 8). Area, 35,203 square miles. Agriculture and .stock-raising form the chief industries. The cultivation of henequen is by far the most important feature of the agriculture, the crop for 1897 being estimated at a value of $6,932,327. Other important productions are sugar, tobacco, and vanilla, and in the north- eastern section dye and cabinet woods. Popu- lation, in 1900, 312,264. A large portion of the State is still held by uncivilized Indians. Cap- ital, Merida. YUCATAN, Antiquities of. The peninsula of Yucatan, which was divided into a number of independent States, was occupied by the Maya peo])le at the time of the discovery of America. Tlieir most trustworthy tradition states that they entered the country from the northwest, and. this migration was in comparatively recent times. There is evidence to show that the ruined cities of the Maya race, in the State of Chiapas, the Republic of Guatemala, and in Xorthern Hon- duras, are more ancient than the cities of Yucatan. ( See Maya ; Mayan Stock. ) Shortly before the Spanish conquest the country was partly overrun by Nahua hordes (see Xaiiuat- lan Stock), and the population decimated by famine, pestilence, and intertribal warfare, so that the ancient civilization appears to have been on the wane at the beginning of the six- teenth century. In no other ])art oif Jlexico are there so many remains of ancient cities to be found, attesting a large population at the time of their building and occupancy. At the present time the greater part of the countiy is covered with a dense forest, completely concealing the ruins. Climatic conditions seem to have changed since the pre-Cohunbian period of occupancy, and many of the anciejit cities could not support, at present, a large population. The peculiar conditions with regard to a supply of water evi- dently influenced the distribution of the larger centres of population. There a.re no surface riv- ers or lakes, with the exception of several in the southern part of the peninsula, but water is found in rivers flowing underground, which make their way to the surface in caves, called cenotes. Near these cenotes are found the greatest ruins, and the water supply was obtained in other por- tions of the country by the use of bottle-shaped cisterns called chultuns. The JIayas of ancient times reached the high- est level of civilization attained by any of the peoples of the New World. Their magnificent temples and palaces, their complicated system of hieroglyphic writing, and their surprising-