Part 48

KWANGCHOW BAY (KWANGCHOW WAN), a coaling station on the south coast of China, acquired, along with other concessions, by the French government in April 1898. It is situated on the east side of the peninsula of Lienchow, in the province of Kwang-tung, and directly north of the island of Hainan. It is held on lease for 99 years on similar terms to those by which Kiaochow is held by Germany, Port Arthur by Japan and Wei-hai-wei by Great Britain. The cession includes the islands lying in the bay; these enclose a roadstead 18 m. long by 6 m. wide, with admirable natural defences and a depth at no part of less than 33 ft. The bay forms the estuary of the Ma-Ts'e river, navigable by the largest men-of-war for 12 m. from the coast. The limits of the concession inland were fixed in November 1899. On the left bank of the Ma-Ts'e France gained from Kow Chow Fu a strip of territory 11 m. by 6 m., and on the right bank a strip 15 m. by 11 m. from Lei Chow Fu. The country is well populated; the capital and chief town is Lei Chow. The cession carries with it full territorial jurisdiction during the continuance of the lease. In January 1900 it was placed under the authority of the governor-general of Indo-China, who in the same month appointed a civil administrator over the country, which was divided into three districts. The population of the territory is about 189,000. A mixed tribunal has been instituted, but the local organization is maintained for purposes of administration. In addition to the territory acquired, the right has been given to connect the bay by railway with the city and harbour of Ompon, situated on the west side of the peninsula, and in consequence of difficulties which were offered by the provincial government on the occasion of taking possession, and which compelled the French to have recourse to arms, the latter demanded and obtained exclusive mining rights in the three adjoining prefectures. Two lines of French steamships call at the bay. By reason of the great strategical importance of the bay, and the presence of large coal-beds in the near neighbourhood, much importance is attached by the French to the acquirement of Kwangchow Wan.

KWANG-SI, a southern province of China, bounded N. by Kwei-chow and Hu-nan, E. and S. by Kwang-tung, S.W. and W. by French Indo-Chino and Yun-nan. It covers an area of 80,000 sq. m. It is the least populous province of China, its inhabitants numbering (1908) little over 5,000,000. The Skias, an aboriginal race, form two-thirds of the population. The provincial capital is Kwei-lin Fu, or City of the Forest of Cinnamon Trees, and there are besides ten prefectural cities. The province is largely mountainous. The principal rivers are the Si-kiang and the Kwei-kiang, or Cinnamon River, which takes its rise in the district of Hing-gan, in the north of the province, and in the neighbourhood of that of the Siang river, which flows northward through Hu-nan to the Tung-t'ing Lake. The Kwei-kiang, on the other hand, takes a southerly course, and passes the cities of Kwei-lin, Yang-so Hien, P'ing-le Fu, Chao-p'ing Hien, and so finds its way to Wu-chow Fu, where it joins the waters of the Si-kiang. Another considerable river is the Liu-kiang, or Willow River, which rises in the mountains inhabited by the Miao-tsze, in Kwei-chow. Leaving its source it takes a south-easterly direction, and enters Kwang-si, in the district of Hwai-yuen. After encircling the city of that name, it flows south as far as Liu-ch'eng Hien, where it forms a junction with the Lung-kiang, or Dragon River. Adopting the trend of this last-named stream, which has its head-waters in Kwei-chow, the mingled flow passes eastward, and farther on in a south-easterly direction, by Lai-chow Fu, Wu-suan Hien, and Sin-chow Fu, where it receives the waters of the Si-kiang, and thenceforth changes its name for that of its affluent. The treaty ports in Kwang-si are Wu-chow Fu, Lung-chow and Nanning Fu.

KWANG-TUNG, a southern province of China, bounded N. by Hu-nan, Kiang-si and Fu-kien, S. and E. by the sea, and W. by Kwang-si. It contains an area, including the island of Hainan, of 75,500 sq. m., and is divided into nine prefectures; and the population is estimated at about 30,000,000. Its name, which signifies "east of Kwang," is derived, according to Chinese writers, from the fact of its being to the east of the old province of Hu-kwang, in the same way that Kwang-si derives its name from its position to the west of Hu-kwang. Kwang-tung extends for more than 600 m. from east to west, and for about 420 from north to south. It may be described as a hilly region, forming part as it does of the Nan Shan ranges. These mountains, speaking generally, trend in a north-east and south-westerly direction, and are divided by valleys of great fertility. The principal rivers of the province are the Si-kiang, the Pei-kiang, or North River, which rises in the mountains to the north of the province, and after a southerly course joins the Si-kiang at San-shui Hien; the Tung-kiang, or East River, which, after flowing in a south-westerly direction from its source in the north-east of the province, empties itself into the estuary which separates the city of Canton from the sea; and the Han River, which runs a north and south course across the eastern portion of the province, taking its rise in the mountains on the western frontier of Fu-kien and emptying itself into the China Sea in the neighbourhood of Swatow. Kwang-tung is one of the most productive provinces of the empire. Its mineral wealth is very considerable, and the soil of the valleys and plains is extremely fertile. The principal article of export is silk, which is produced in the district forming the river delta, extending from Canton to Macao and having its apex at San-shui Hien. Three large coal-fields exist in the province, namely, the Shao-chow Fu field in the north; the Hwa Hien field, distant about 30 m. from Canton; and the west coast field, in the south-west. The last is by far the largest of the three and extends over the districts of Wu-ch'uen, Tien-pai, Yang-kiang, Yang-ch'un, Gan-p'ing, K'ai-p'ing, Sin-hing, Ho-shan, Sin-hwang, and Sin-ning. The coal from the two first-named fields is of an inferior quality, but that in the west coast field is of a more valuable kind. Iron ore is found in about twenty different districts, notably in Ts'ing-yuen, Ts'ung-hwa, Lung-men, and Lu-feng. None, however, is exported in its raw state, as all which is produced is manufactured in the province, and principally at Fat-shan, which has been called the Birmingham of China. The Kwang-tung coast abounds with islands, the largest of which is Hainan, which forms part of the prefecture of K'iung-chow Fu. This island extends for about 100 m. from north to south and the same distance from east to west. The southern and eastern portions of Hainan are mountainous, but on the north there is a plain of some extent. Gold is found in the central part; and sugar, coco-nuts, betel-nuts, birds' nests, and agar agar, or sea vegetable, are among the other products of the island. Canton, Swatow, K'iung-chow (in Hainan), Pakhoi, San-shui are among the treaty ports. Three ports in the province have been ceded or leased to foreign powers--Macao to Portugal, Hong-Kong (with Kowloon) to Great Britain, and Kwangchow to France.

KWANZA (COANZA or QUANZA), a river of West Africa, with a course of about 700 m. entirely within the Portuguese territory of Angola. The source lies in about 13° 40´ S., 17° 30´ E. on the Bihe plateau, at an altitude of over 5000 ft. It runs first N.E. and soon attains fairly large dimensions. Just north of 12° it is about 60 yds. wide and 13 to 16 ft. deep. From this point to 10° it flows N.W., receiving many tributaries, especially the Luando from the east. In about 10°, and at intervals during its westerly passage through the outer plateau escarpments, its course is broken by rapids, the river flowing in a well-defined valley flanked by higher ground. The lowest fall is that of Kambamba, or Livingstone, with a drop of 70 ft. Thence to the sea, a distance of some 160 m., it is navigable by small steamers, though very shallow in the dry season. The river enters the sea in 9° 15´ S., 13° 20´ E., 40 m. S. of Loanda. There is a shifting bar at its mouth, difficult to cross, but the river as a waterway has become of less importance since the fertile district in its middle basin has been served by the railway from Loanda to Ambaca (see ANGOLA).

KWEI-CHOW, a south-western province of China, bounded N. by Sze-ch'uen, E. by Hu-nan, S. by Kwang-si, and W. by Yun-nan. It contains 67,000 sq. m., and has a population of about 8,000,000. Kwei-yang Fu is the provincial capital, and besides this there are eleven prefectural cities in the province. With the exception of plains in the neighbourhood of Kwei-yang Fu, Ta-ting Fu, and Tsun-i Fu, in the central and northern regions, the province may be described as mountainous. The mountain ranges in the south are largely inhabited by Miao-tsze, who are the original owners of the soil and have been constantly goaded into a state of rebellion by the oppression to which they have been subjected by the Chinese officials. To this disturbing cause was added another in 1861 by the spread of the Mahommedan rebellion in Yun-nan into some of the south-western districts of the province. The devastating effects of these civil wars were most disastrous to the trade and the prosperity of Kwei-chow. The climate is by nature unhealthy, the supply of running water being small, and that of stagnant water, from which arises a fatal malaria, being considerable. The agricultural products of the province are very limited, and its chief wealth lies in its minerals. Copper, silver, lead, and zinc are found in considerable quantities, and as regards quicksilver, Kwei-chow is probably the richest country in the world. This has been from of old the chief product of the province, and the belt in which it occurs extends through the whole district from south-west to north-east. One of the principal mining districts is K'ai Chow, in the prefecture of Kwei-yang Fu, and this district has the advantage of being situated near Hwang-p'ing Chow, from which place the products can be conveniently and cheaply shipped to Hankow. Cinnabar, realgar, orpiment and coal form the rest of the mineral products of Kwei-chow. Wild silk is another valuable article of export. It is chiefly manufactured in the prefecture of Tsun-i Fu.

KYAUKPYU, a district in the Arakan division of Lower Burma, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal. It consists of, first, a strip of mainland along the Bay of Bengal, extending from the An pass, across the main range, to the Ma-i River, and, secondly, the large islands of Ramree and Cheduba, with many others to the south, lying off the coast of Sandoway. The mainland in the north and east is highly mountainous and forest-clad, and the lower portion is cut up into numerous islands by a network of tidal creeks. Between the mainland and Ramree lies a group of islands separated by deep, narrow, salt-water inlets, forming the north-eastern shore of Kyaukpyu harbour, which extends for nearly 30 m. along Ramree in a south-easterly direction, and has an average breadth of 3 m. The principal mountains are the Arakan Yomas, which send out spurs and sub-spurs almost to the sea-coast. The An pass, an important trade route, rises to a height of 4664 ft. above sea-level. The Dha-let and the An rivers are navigable by large boats for 25 and 45 m. respectively. Above these distances they are mere mountain torrents. Large forests of valuable timber cover an area of about 650 sq. m. Kyaukpyu contains numerous "mud volcanoes," from which marsh gas is frequently discharged, with occasional issue of flame. The largest of these is situated in the centre of Cheduba island. Earth-oil wells exist in several places in the district. The oil when brought to the surface has the appearance of a whitish-blue water, which gives out brilliant straw-coloured rays, and emits a strong pungent odour. Limestone, iron and coal are also found. Area 4387 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 168,827, showing an increase in the decade of 2.3%.

The chief town, Kyaukpyu, had a population in 1901 of 3145. It has a municipal committee of twelve members, three _ex officio_ and nine appointed by the local government, and there is a third-class district gaol. Kyaukpyu is a port under the Indian Ports Act (X. of 1889), and the steamers of the British India Navigation Company call there once a week going and coming between Rangoon and Calcutta.

KYAUKSE, a district in the Meiktila division of Upper Burma, with an area of 1274 sq. m., and a population in 1901 of 141,253. It is also known as the _Ko-kayaing_, so called from the original nine canals of the district. It consists of a generally level strip running north and south at the foot of the Shan Hills, and of a hilly region rising up these hills to the east, and including the Yeyaman tract, which lies between 21° 30' and 21° 40' N. and 96° 15' and 96° 45' E., with peaks rising to between 4500 and 5000 ft. This tract is rugged and scored by ravines, and is very sparsely inhabited. The Panlaung and Zawgyi rivers from the Shan States flow through the district and are utilized for the numerous irrigation canals. Notwithstanding this, much timber is floated down, and the Panlaung is navigable for small boats all the year round. Rain is very scarce, but the canals supply ample water for cultivation and all other purposes. They are said to have been dug by King Nawrahta in 1092. He is alleged to have completed the system of nine canals and weirs in three years' time. Others have been constructed since the annexation of Upper Burma. At that time many were in serious disrepair, but most of them have been greatly improved by the construction of proper regulators and sluices. Two-thirds of the population are dependent entirely on cultivation for their support, and this is mainly rice on irrigated land. In the Yeyaman tract the chief crop is rice. The great majority of the population is pure Burmese, but in the hills there are a good many Danus, a cross between Shans and Burmese. The railway runs through the centre of the rice-producing area, and feeder roads open up the country as far as the Shan foot-hills. The greater part of the district consists of state land, the cultivators being tenants of government, but there is a certain amount of hereditary freehold.

KYAUKSE town is situated on the Zawgyi River and on the Rangoon-Mandalay railway line, and is well laid out in regular streets, covering an area of about a square mile. It has a population (1901) of 5420, mostly Burmese, with a colony of Indian traders. Above it are some bare rocky hillocks, picturesquely studded with pagodas.

KYD, THOMAS (1558-1594), one of the most important of the English Elizabethan dramatists who preceded Shakespeare. Kyd remained until the last decade of the 19th century in what appeared likely to be impenetrable obscurity. Even his name was forgotten until Thomas Hawkins about 1773 discovered it in connexion with _The Spanish Tragedy_ in Thomas Heywood's _Apologie for Actors_. But by the industry of English and German scholars a great deal of light has since been thrown on his life and writings. He was the son of Francis Kyd, citizen and scrivener of London, and was baptized in the church of St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, on the 6th of November 1558. His mother, who survived her son, was named Agnes, or Anna. In October 1565 Kyd entered the newly founded Merchant Taylors' School, where Edmund Spenser and perhaps Thomas Lodge were at different times his school-fellows. It is thought that Kyd did not proceed to either of the universities; he apparently followed, soon after leaving school, his father's business as a scrivener. But Nashe describes him as a "shifting companion that ran through every art and throve by none." He showed a fairly wide range of reading in Latin. The author on whom he draws most freely is Seneca, but there are many reminiscences, and occasionally mistranslations of other authors. Nashe contemptuously said that "English Seneca read by candlelight yeeldes many good sentences," no doubt exaggerating his indebtedness to Thomas Newton's translation. John Lyly had a more marked influence on his manner than any of his contemporaries. It is believed that he produced his famous play, _The Spanish Tragedy_, between 1584 and 1589; the quarto in the British Museum (which is probably earlier than the Göttingen and Ellesmere quartos, dated 1594 and 1599) is undated, and the play was licensed for the press in 1592. The full title runs, _The Spanish Tragedie containing the Lamentable End of Don Horatio and Bel-imperia; with the Pitiful Death of Old Hieronimo_, and the play is commonly referred to by Henslowe and other contemporaries as _Hieronimo_. This drama enjoyed all through the age of Elizabeth and even of James I. and Charles I. so unflagging a success that it has been styled the most popular of all old English plays. Certain expressions in Nashe's preface to the 1589 edition of Robert Greene's _Menaphon_ may be said to have started a whole world of speculation with regard to Kyd's activity. Much of this is still very puzzling; nor is it really understood why Ben Jonson called him "sporting Kyd." In 1592 there was added a sort of prologue to _The Spanish Tragedy_, called _The First Part of Jeronimo, or The Warres of Portugal_, not printed till 1605. Professor Boas concludes that Kyd had nothing to do with this melodramatic production, which gives a different version of the story and presents Jeronimo as little more than a buffoon. On the other hand, it becomes more and more certain that what German criticism calls the _Ur-Hamlet_, the original draft of the tragedy of the prince of Denmark, was a lost work by Kyd, probably composed by him in 1587. This theory has been very elaborately worked out by Professor Sarrazin, and confirmed by Professor Boas; these scholars are doubtless right in holding that traces of Kyd's play survive in the first two acts of the 1603 first quarto of _Hamlet_, but they probably go too far in attributing much of the actual language of the last three acts to Kyd. Kyd's next work was in all probability the tragedy of _Soliman and Perseda_, written perhaps in 1588 and licensed for the press in 1592, which, although anonymous, is assigned to him on strong internal evidence by Mr Boas. No copy of the first edition has come down to us; but it was reprinted, after Kyd's death, in 1599. In the summer or autumn of 1590 Kyd seems to have given up writing for the stage, and to have entered the service of an unnamed lord, who employed a troop of "players." Kyd was probably the private secretary of this nobleman, in whom Professor Boas sees Robert Radcliffe, afterwards fifth earl of Sussex. To the wife of the earl (Bridget Morison of Cassiobury) Kyd dedicated in the last year of his life his translation of Garnier's _Cornelia_ (1594), to the dedication of which he attached his initials. Two prose works of the dramatist have survived, a treatise on domestic economy, _The Householder's Philosophy_, translated from the Italian of Tasso (1588); and a sensational account of _The Most Wicked and Secret Murdering of John Brewer, Goldsmith_ (1592). His name is written on the title-page of the unique copy of the last-named pamphlet at Lambeth, but probably not by his hand. That many of Kyd's plays and poems have been lost is proved by the fact that fragments exist, attributed to him, which are found in no surviving context. Towards the close of his life Kyd was brought into relations with Marlowe. It would seem that in 1590, soon after he entered the service of this nobleman, Kyd formed his acquaintance. If he is to be believed, he shrank at once from Marlowe as a man "intemperate and of a cruel heart" and "irreligious." This, however, was said by Kyd with the rope round his neck, and is scarcely consistent with a good deal of apparent intimacy between him and Marlowe. When, in May 1593, the "lewd libels" and "blasphemies" of Marlowe came before the notice of the Star Chamber, Kyd was immediately arrested, papers of his having been found "shuffled" with some of Marlowe's, who was imprisoned a week later. A visitation on Kyd's papers was made in consequence of his having attached a seditious libel to the wall of the Dutch churchyard in Austin Friars. Of this he was innocent, but there was found in his chamber a paper of "vile heretical conceits denying the deity of Jesus Christ." Kyd was arrested and put to the torture in Bridewell. He asserted that he knew nothing of this document and tried to shift the responsibility of it upon Marlowe, but he was kept in prison until after the death of that poet (June 1, 1593). When he was at length dismissed, his patron refused to take him back into his service. He fell into utter destitution, and sank under the weight of "bitter times and privy broken passions." He must have died late in 1594, and on the 30th of December of that year his parents renounced their administration of the goods of their deceased son, in a document of great importance discovered by Professor Schick.