Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Kite-Flying" to "Kyshtym" Volume 15, Slice 8

Part 2

Chapter 23,845 wordsPublic domain

See F. Bernbeck, _Kitzinger Chronik 745-1565_ (Kitzingen, 1899).

KIU-KIANG FU, a prefecture and prefectural city in the province of Kiang-si, China. The city, which is situated on the south bank of the Yangtsze-kiang, 15 m. above the point where the Kan Kiang flows into that river from the Po-yang lake, stands in 29° 42´ N. and 116° 8´ E. The north face of the city is separated from the river by only the width of a roadway, and two large lakes lie on its west and south fronts. The walls are from 5 to 6 m. in circumference, and are more than usually strong and broad. As is generally the case with old cities in China, Kiu-Kiang has repeatedly changed its name. Under the Tsin dynasty (A.D. 265-420), it was known as Sin-Yang, under the Liang dynasty (502-557) as Kiang Chow, under the Suy dynasty (589-618) as Kiu-Kiang, under the Sung dynasty (960-1127) as Ting-Kiang, and under the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) it assumed the name it at present bears. Kiu-Kiang has played its part in the history of the empire, and has been repeatedly besieged and sometimes taken, the last time being in February 1853, when the T'ai-p'ing rebels gained possession of the city. After their manner they looted and utterly destroyed it, leaving only the remains of a single street to represent the once flourishing town. The position of Kiu-Kiang on the Yangtsze-kiang and its proximity to the channels of internal communication through the Po-yang lake, more especially to those leading to the green-tea-producing districts of the provinces of Kiang-si and Ngan-hui, induced Lord Elgin to choose it as one of the treaty ports to be opened under the terms of his treaty (1861). Unfortunately, however, it stands above instead of below the outlet of the Po-yang lake, and this has proved to be a decided drawback to its success as a commercial port. The immediate effect of opening the town to foreign trade was to raise the population in one year from 10,000 to 40,000. The population in 1908, exclusive of foreigners, was officially estimated at 36,000. The foreign settlement extends westward from the city, along the bank of the Yangtsze-kiang, and is bounded on its extreme west by the P'un river, which there runs into the Yangtsze. The bund, which is 500 yards long, was erected by the foreign community. The climate is good, and though hot in the summer months is invariably cold and bracing in the winter. According to the customs returns the value of the trade of the port amounted in 1902 to £2,854,704, and in 1904 to £3,489,816, of which £1,726,506 were imports and £1,763,310 exports. In 1904 322,266 lb. of opium were imported.

KIUSTENDIL, the chief town of a department in Bulgaria, situated in a mountainous country, on a small affluent of the Struma, 43 m. S.W. of Sofia by rail. Pop. (1906), 12,353. The streets are narrow and uneven, and the majority of the houses are of clay or wood. The town is chiefly notable for its hot mineral springs, in connexion with which there are nine bathing establishments. Small quantities of gold and silver are obtained from mines near Kiustendil, and vines, tobacco and fruit are largely cultivated. Some remains survive of the Roman period, when the town was known as Pautalia, Ulpia Pautalia, and Pautalia Aurelii. In the 10th century it became the seat of a bishopric, being then and during the later middle ages known by the Slavonic name of Velbuzhd. After the overthrow of the Servian kingdom it came into the possession of Constantine, brother of the despot Yovan Dragash, who ruled over northern Macedonia. Constantine was expelled and killed by the Turks in 1394. In the 15th century Kiustendil was known as Velbushka Banya, and more commonly as Konstantinova Banya (Constantine's Bath), from which has developed the Turkish name Kiustendil.

KIVU, a considerable lake lying in the Central African (or Albertine) rift-valley, about 60 m. N. of Tanganyika, into which it discharges its waters by the Rusizi River. On the north it is separated from the basin of the Nile by a line of volcanic peaks. The length of the lake is about 55 m., and its greatest breadth over 30, giving an area, including islands, of about 1100 sq. m. It is about 4830 ft. above sea-level and is roughly triangular in outline, the longest side lying to the west. The coast-line is much broken, especially on the south-east, where the indentations present a fjord-like character. The lake is deep, and the shores are everywhere high, rising in places in bold precipitous cliffs of volcanic rock. A large island, Kwijwi or Kwichwi, oblong in shape and traversed by a hilly ridge, runs in the direction of the major axis of the lake, south-west of the centre, and there are many smaller islands. The lake has many fish, but no crocodiles or hippopotami. South of Kivu the rift-valley is blocked by huge ridges, through which the Rusizi now breaks its way in a succession of steep gorges, emerging from the lake in a foaming torrent, and descending 2000 ft. to the lacustrine plain at the head of Tanganyika. The lake fauna is a typically fresh-water one, presenting no affinities with the marine or "halolimnic" fauna of Tanganyika and other Central African lakes, but is similar to that shown by fossils to have once existed in the more northern parts of the rift-valley. The former outlet or extension in this direction seems to have been blocked in recent geological times by the elevation of the volcanic peaks which dammed back the water, causing it finally to overflow to the south. This volcanic region is of great interest and has various names, that most used being Mfumbiro (q.v.), though this name is sometimes restricted to a single peak. Kivu and Mfumbiro were first heard of by J. H. Speke in 1861, but not visited by a European until 1894, when Count von Götzen passed through the country on his journey across the continent. The lake and its vicinity were subsequently explored by Dr R. Kandt, Captain Bethe, E. S. Grogan, J. E. S. Moore, and Major St Hill Gibbons. The ownership of Kivu and its neighbourhood was claimed by the Congo Free State and by Germany, the dispute being settled in 1910, after Belgium had taken over the Congo State. The frontier agreed upon was the west bank of the Rusizi, and the west shore of the lake. The island of Kwijwi also fell to Belgium.

See R. Kandt, _Caput Nili_ (Berlin, 1904), and _Karte des Kivusees_, 1: 285,000, with text by A. v. Bockelmann (Berlin, 1902); E. S. Grogan and A. H. Sharpe, _From the Cape to Cairo_ (London, 1900); J. E. S. Moore, _To the Mountains of the Moon_ (London, 1901); A. St H. Gibbons, _Africa from South to North_, ii. (London, 1904).

KIWI, or KIWI-KIWI, the Maori name--first apparently introduced to zoological literature by Lesson in 1828 (_Man. d'Ornithologie_, ii. 210, or _Voy. de la "Coquille," zoologie_, p. 418), and now very generally adopted in English--of one of the most characteristic forms of New Zealand birds, the _Apteryx_ of scientific writers. This remarkable bird was unknown till George Shaw described and figured it in 1813 (_Nat. Miscellany_, pls. 1057, 1058) from a specimen brought to him from the southern coast of that country by Captain Barcley of the ship "Providence." At Shaw's death, in the same year, it passed into the possession of Lord Stanley, afterwards 13th earl of Derby, and president of the Zoological Society, and it is now with the rest of his collection in the Liverpool Museum. Considering the state of systematic ornithology at the time, Shaw's assignment of a position to this new and strange bird, of which he had but the skin, does him great credit, for he said it seemed "to approach more nearly to the Struthious and Gallinaceous tribes than to any other." And his credit is still greater when we find the venerable John Latham, who is said to have examined the specimen with Shaw, placing it some years later among the penguins (_Gen. Hist. Birds_, x. 394), being apparently led to that conclusion through its functionless wings and the backward situation of its legs. In this false allocation, James Francis Stephens also in 1826 acquiesced (_Gen. Zoology_, xiii. 70). Meanwhile in 1820 K. J. Temminck, who had never seen a specimen, had assorted it with the dodo in an order to which he applied the name of _Inertes_ (_Man. d'Ornithologie_, i. cxiv.). In 1831 R. P. Lesson, who had previously (_loc. cit._) made some blunders about it, placed it (_Traité d'Ornithologie_, p. 12), though only, as he says, "par analogie et _a priori_," in his first division of birds, "Oiseaux Anomaux," which is equivalent to what we now call _Ratitae_, making of it a separate family "Nullipennes." At that time no second example was known, and some doubt was felt, especially on the Continent, as to the very existence of such a bird [1]--though Lesson had himself when in the Bay of Islands in April 1824 (_Voy. "Coquille," ut supra_) heard of it; and a few years later J. S. C. Dumont d'Urville had seen its skin, which the naturalists of his expedition procured, worn as a tippet by a Maori chief at Tolaga Bay (Houa-houa),[2] and in 1830 gave what proves to be on the whole very accurate information concerning it (_Voy. "Astrolabe,"_ ii. 107). To put all suspicion at rest, Lord Derby sent his unique specimen for exhibition at a meeting of the Zoological Society, on the 12th of February 1833 (_Proc. Zool. Society_, 1833, p. 24), and a few months later (_tom. cit._, p. 80) William Yarrell communicated to that body a complete description of it, which was afterwards published in full with an excellent portrait (_Trans. Zool. Society_, vol. i. p. 71, pl. 10). Herein the systematic place of the species, as akin to the Struthious birds, was placed beyond cavil, and the author called upon all interested in zoology to aid in further research as to this singular form. In consequence of this appeal a legless skin was within two years sent to the society (_Proceedings_, 1835, p. 61) obtained by W. Yate of Waimate, who said it was the second he had seen, and that he had kept the bird alive for nearly a fortnight, while in less than another couple of years additional information (_op. cit._, 1837, p. 24) came from T. K. Short to the effect that he had seen two living, and that all Yarrell had said was substantially correct, except underrating its progressive powers. Not long afterwards Lord Derby received and in March 1838 transmitted to the same society the trunk and viscera of an _Apteryx_, which, being entrusted to Sir R. Owen, furnished that eminent anatomist, in conjunction with other specimens of the same kind received from Drs Lyon and George Bennett, with the materials of the masterly monograph laid before the society in instalments, and ultimately printed in its _Transactions_ (ii. 257; iii. 277). From this time the whole structure of the kiwi has certainly been far better known than that of nearly any other bird, and by degrees other examples found their way to England, some of which were distributed to the various museums of the Continent and of America.[3]

In 1847 much interest was excited by the reported discovery of another species of the genus (_Proceedings_, 1847, p. 51); and though the story was not confirmed, a second species was really soon after made known by John Gould (_tom. cit._, p. 93; _Transactions_, vol. iii, p. 379, pl. 57) under the name of _Apteryx oweni_--a just tribute to the great master who had so minutely explained the anatomy of the group. Three years later A. D. Bartlett drew attention to the manifest difference existing among certain examples, all of which had hitherto been regarded as specimens of _A. australis_, and the examination of a large series led him to conclude that under that name two distinct species were confounded. To the second of these, the third of the genus (according to his views), he gave the name of _A. mantelli_ (_Proceedings_, 1850, p. 274), and it soon turned out that to this new form the majority of the specimens already obtained belonged. In 1851 the first kiwi known to have reached England alive was presented to the Zoological Society by Eyre, then lieutenant-governor of New Zealand. This was found to belong to the newly described _A. mantelli_, and some careful observations on its habits in captivity were published by John Wolley and another (_Zoologist_, pp. 3409, 3605).[4] Subsequently the society has received several other live examples of this form, besides one of the real _A. australis_ (_Proceedings_, 1872, p. 861), some of _A. oweni_, and one of a supposed fourth species, _A. haasti_, characterized in 1871 by Potts (_Ibis_, 1872, p. 35; _Trans. N. Zeal. Institute_, iv. 204; v. 195).[5]

The kiwis form a group of the subclass _Ratitae_ to which the rank of an order may fitly be assigned, as they differ in many important particulars from any of the other existing forms of Ratite birds. The most obvious feature the _Apteryges_ afford is the presence of a back toe, while the extremely aborted condition of the wings, the position of the nostrils--almost at the tip of the maxilla--and the absence of an after-shaft in the feathers, are characters nearly as manifest, and others not less determinative, though more recondite, will be found on examination. The kiwis are peculiar to New Zealand, and it is believed that _A. mantelli_ is the representative in the North Island of the southern _A. australis_, both being of a dark reddish-brown, longitudinally striped with light yellowish-brown, while _A. oweni_, of a light greyish-brown transversely barred with black, is said to occur in both islands. About the size of a large domestic fowl, they are birds of nocturnal habit, sleeping, or at least inactive, by day, feeding mostly on earth-worms, but occasionally swallowing berries, though in captivity they will eat flesh suitably minced. Sir Walter Buller writes (_B. of New Zealand_, p. 362):--

"The kiwi is in some measure compensated for the absence of wings by its swiftness of foot. When running it makes wide strides and carries the body in an oblique position, with the neck stretched to its full extent and inclined forwards. In the twilight it moves about cautiously and as noiselessly as a rat, to which, indeed, at this time it bears some outward resemblance. In a quiescent posture, the body generally assumes a perfectly rotund appearance; and it sometimes, but only rarely, supports itself by resting the point of its bill on the ground. It often yawns when disturbed in the daytime, gaping its mandibles in a very grotesque manner. When provoked it erects the body, and, raising the foot to the breast, strikes downwards with considerable force and rapidity, thus using its sharp and powerful claws as weapons of defence.... While hunting for its food the bird makes a continual sniffing sound through the nostrils, which are placed at the extremity of the upper mandible. Whether it is guided as much by touch as by smell I cannot safely say; but it appears to me that both senses are used in the action. That the sense of touch is highly developed seems quite certain, because the bird, although it may not be audibly sniffing, will always first touch an object with the point of its bill, whether in the act of feeding or of surveying the ground; and when shut up in a cage or confined in a room it may be heard, all through the night, tapping softly at the walls.... It is interesting to watch the bird, in a state of freedom, foraging for worms, which constitute its principal food: it moves about with a slow action of the body; and the long, flexible bill is driven into the soft ground, generally home to the very root, and is either immediately withdrawn with a worm held at the extreme tip of the mandibles, or it is gently moved to and fro, by an action of the head and neck, the body of the bird being perfectly steady. It is amusing to observe the extreme care and deliberation with which the bird draws the worm from its hiding-place, coaxing it out as it were by degrees, instead of pulling roughly or breaking it. On getting the worm fairly out of the ground, it throws up its head with a jerk, and swallows it whole."

The foregoing extract refers to _A. mantelli_, but there is little doubt of the remarks being equally applicable to _A. australis_, and probably also to _A. oweni_, though the different proportion of the bill in the last points to some diversity in the mode of feeding. (A. N.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Cuvier in the second edition of his _Règne Animal_ only referred to it in a footnote (i. 498).

[2] Cruise in 1822 (_Journ. Residence in New Zealand_, p. 313) had spoken of an "emeu" found in that island, which must of course have been an _Apteryx_.

[3] In 1842, according to Broderip (_Penny Cyclopaedia_, xxiii. 146), two had been presented to the Zoological Society by the New Zealand Company, and two more obtained by Lord Derby, one of which he had given to Gould. In 1844 the British Museum possessed three, and the sale catalogue of the Rivoli Collection, which passed in 1846 to the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia, includes a single specimen--probably the first taken to America.

[4] This bird in 1859 laid an egg, and afterwards continued to lay one or two more every year. In 1865 a male of the same species was introduced, but though a strong disposition to breed was shown on the part of both, and the eggs, after the custom of the _Ratitae_, were incubated by him, no progeny was hatched (_Proceedings_, 1868, p. 329).

[5] A fine series of figures of all these supposed species is given by Rowley (_Orn. Miscellany_, vol. i. pls. 1-6). Some others, as _A. maxima_, _A. mollis_, and _A. fusca_ have also been indicated, but proof of their validity has yet to be adduced.

KIZILBASHES (Turkish, "Red-Heads"), the nickname given by the Orthodox Turks to the Shiitic Turkish immigrants from Persia, who are found chiefly in the plains from Kara-Hissar along Tokat and Amasia to Angora. During the wars with Persia the Turkish sultans settled them in these districts. They are strictly speaking persianized Turks, and speak pure Persian. There are many Kizilbashes in Afghanistan. Their immigration dates only from the time of Nadir Shah (1737). They are an industrious honest folk, chiefly engaged in trade and as physicians, scribes, and so on. They form the bulk of the amir's cavalry. Their name seems to have been first used in Persia of the Shiites in allusion to their red caps.

See Ernest Chantre, _Recherches anthropologiques dans l'Asie occidentale_ (Lyons, 1895).

KIZIL IRMAK, i.e. "Red River" (anc. _Halys_), the largest river in Asia Minor, rising in the Kizil Dagh at an altitude of 6500 ft., and running south-west past Zara to Sivas. Below Sivas it flows south to the latitude of Kaisarieh, and then curves gradually round to the north. Finally, after a course of about 600 m., it discharges its waters into the Black Sea between Sinope and Samsun, where it forms a large delta. The only important tributaries are the Delije Irmak on the right and the Geuk Irmak on the left bank.

KIZLYAR (KIZLIAR, or KIZLAR), a town of Russia, in Caucasia, in the province of Terek, 120 m. N.E. of Vladikavkaz, in the low-lying delta of the river Terek, about 35 m. from the Caspian. The population decreased from 8309 in 1861 to 7353 in 1897. The town lies to the left of the main stream between two of the larger secondary branches, and is subject to flooding. The town proper, which spreads out round the citadel, has Tatar, Georgian and Armenian quarters. The public buildings include the Greek cathedral, dating from 1786; a Greek nunnery, founded by the Georgian chief Daniel in 1736; the Armenian church of SS Peter and Paul, remarkable for its size and wealth. The population is mainly supported by the gardens and vineyards irrigated by canals from the river. A government vineyard and school of viticulture are situated 3½ m. from the town. About 1,200,000 gallons of Kizlyar wine are sold annually at the fair of Nizhniy-Novgorod. Silk and cotton are woven. Kizlyar is mentioned as early as 1616, but the most notable accession of inhabitants (Armenians, Georgians and Persians) took place in 1715. Its importance as a fortress dates from 1736, but the fortress is no longer kept in repair.

KIZYL-KUM, a desert of Western Asia, stretching S.E. of the Aral Lake between the river Syr-darya on the N.E. and the river Amu-darya on the S.W. It measures some 370 by 220 m., and is in part covered with drift-sand or dunes, many of which are advancing slowly but steadily towards the S.W. In character they resemble those of the neighbouring Kara-kum desert (see KARA-KUM). On the whole the Kizyl-kum slopes S.W. towards the Aral Lake, where its altitude is only about 160 ft. as compared with 2000 in the S.E. In the vicinity of that lake the surface is covered with Aralo-Caspian deposits; but in the S.E., as it ascends towards the foothills of the Tian-shan system, it is braided with deep accumulations of fertile loess.

KJERULF, HALFDAN (1815-1868), Norwegian musical composer, the son of a high government official, was born at Christiania on the 15th of September 1815. His early education was at Christiania University, for a legal career, and not till he was nearly 26--on the death of his father--was he able to devote himself entirely to music. As a fact, he actually started on his career as a music teacher and composer of songs before ever having seriously studied music at all, and not for ten years did he attract any particular notice. Then, however, his Government paid for a year's instruction for him at Leipzig. For many years after his return to Norway Kjerulf tried in vain to establish serial classical concerts, while he himself was working with Björnson and other writers at the composition of lyrical songs. His fame rests almost entirely on his beautiful and manly national part-songs and solos; but his pianoforte music is equally charming and simple. Kjerulf died at Grefsen, on the 11th of August 1868.

KJERULF, THEODOR (1825-1888), Norwegian geologist, was born at Christiania on the 30th of March 1825. He was educated in the university at Christiania, and subsequently studied at Heidelberg, working in Bunsen's laboratory. In 1858 he became professor of geology in the university of his native city, and he was afterwards placed in charge of the geological survey of the country, then established mainly through his influence. His contributions to the geology of Norway were numerous and important, especially in reference to the southern portion of the country, and to the structure and relations of the Archaean and Palaeozoic rocks, and the glacial phenomena. His principal results were embodied in his work _Udsigt over det sydlige Norges Geologi_ (1879). He was author also of some poetical works. He died at Christiania on the 25th of October 1888.