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TAHITI 231 TAIPINGS 12,000. Chief town Papeete, pop. 3,600. Exports consist of copra, mother-of-pearl, vanilla, cocoanuts, and oranges. Value, $2,000,000 annually. TAHOE, LAKE, a beautiful body of water at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains, on the boundary line between Placer co., Cal., and Douglas and Orms- by COS., Nev. It is about 20 miles long and 12 miles wide, and about 6,250 feet above sea-level. The scenery about it is strikingly picturesque. Its outlet is the Truckee river. TAILOB BIRD, the Orthotomus su- torius, a small bird about 6 inches long; general color olive greenish; wings brown, edged with green; crown of the head rufous, inclining to gray on the nape; tail light brown; outer feathers narrowly tipped with white; under sur- face of the body white ; legs flesh-colored. The male has the two center tail-feathers lengthened. A native of India, the East- ern Peninsula, China, etc. It is found in gardens, hedgerows, orchards, jun- gles, etc., sometimes in pairs, sometimes in small flocks, feeding on ants, cicadel- las, and other small insects. Its name of tailor bird is derived from its nest, which is enclosed in leaves sewn with cobwebs, silk from cocoons, thread, wool, and vegetable fiber. The nest itself is formed of cotton-wool with fine loose hairs, etc. Eggs 3 or 4; in different nests they are of different colors, some being white, spotted with rufous or reddish-brown, others bluish-green. TAIMYR (ti'mer), a peninsula of Northern Siberia, extending into the Arctic Ocean, between the mouth of the Yenisei and Khatang Gulf, and contain- ing Cape Chelyuskin, the most N. land in Asia. TAINE (tan), HIPPOLYTE ADOLPHE, a French writer; born in Vouziers, Ardennes, France, April 21, 1828 ; was educated at the College Bour- bon and the Ecole Normale. In 1854 his first work, an "Essay on Livy," was crowned by the Academy; in 1864 he was appointed professor in the School of Fine Arts in Paris; and in 1878 he was elected to a. seat in the Academy. His "History of English Literature," one of the best and most philosophical works on the subject, appeared in 1864 (4 vols.) ; his "Philosophy of Art" in 1865; his "Notes on England" in 1872; and his "Origins of Contemporary France" in 1875-1884. He died in Paris March 5, 1893. TAIPINGS, the name given by for- eigners to the followers of Hung Hsiu- ch'wan (S'eiw-tseuen), who raised the standard of rebellion in China in 1851, and whose enterprise was finally sup- pressed in 1865. The leader Hung was born in 1813 in a poor agricultural village of the dis- trict of Hwa, in Canton province. His only chance of rising in the world being by literary distinction, he became a diligent student, but he never succeeded in taking the first degree at the provin- cial capital. Returning home from an- other disappointing competition in 1837, he fell into a long illness in which he saw visions, and conceived the idea of changing the religion of the empire and subverting the ruling Manchau dynasty. In 1844 in company with the elder of the two converts, Hung went into the adjacent province of Kwang-hsi, where they made many converts, and gathered them into communities which they called "Churches of God." Hung began also to give forth arrangements and decrees as revelations communicated to him by "the Heavenly Father," and the "Heavenly Elder Brother." After some years of uncertain struggle with the official authorities, the insur- gents (for such they were now) took possession of the district city of Yung- an. There they hailed their leader as emperor of the dynasty of Taiping (Grand Peace), and adopted T'ien Kwo (Kingdom of Heaven) as the name of his reign. After being kept for some time in a state of siege in the city by their opponents, on the night of April 7, 1852, they burst forth, scattered their besiegers, and commenced their march to the N. They passed from Kwang-hsi into Hii-nan, got command of the Hsiang river, and before the end of the year had reached the great Yang-tsze river. Launching forth on it, and taking on the way the capitals of Hu-pei and An- hui, they encamped before Nanking on March 8, 1853. Within 10 days it had fallen into their power, and every man of the Manchau garrison been put to the sword. Their host, grown in the 12 months from under 10,000 probably to more than 100,000, proclaimed the Taiping dynasty anew, and swore fealty to the heavenly king. In a few months a large force was dispatched N. to terminate the contest by the capture of Peking. This expedi- tion did wonders, traversed the two prov- inces of An-hui and Honan, then marched W. to Shan-shi, from which, turning E. again, it penetrated into Chih-li and finally occupied an en- trenched position only about 20 miles from Tientsin. But the rebellion had there reached the limit of its advance. Though the expedition met with no great defeat, sufficient re-enforcements did not