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YENIKALB. 476 YERKES miles in breadth. At about 30 miles from the coast a range of wooded moun- tains (rising occasionally to 6,000 and 8,000 feet) stretches along the whole length of the country. Between this range and the sea stretches the scorch- ingly hot plain called Tehameh. Fur- ther inland the country becomes an ele- vated plateau. Though destitute of rivers, the whole region is very fertile, and coffee, tobacco, dates, gums, and spices are produced and exported in aoundance. There are valuable pearl fisheries on the coast. The inhabitants are Arabs, but possess many distinctive characteristics, and are supposed to be descended from the ancient Sabaeans. The government rests with the different sheiks or tribal chiefs, among whom the Imaun of Sana holds supreme authority. The principal tovvms are Sana, the capi- tal. Mocha, and Hodeda Mareb. Aden is not now within the limits of Yemen. The Arabia Felix of the ancients, Yemen was conquered by the Abyssinians (A. d. 525) and Persians (597). In the year 628 it submitted to Mohammed, since the 16th century has been subject to Tur- key, and after the extension of Turkish rule (1871-1873) was formed into a vila- yet. YENIKALE (yen-e-ka'la) STB AIT OF, a body of water connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Azof; is about 20 miles long, and in some parts only 2 miles broad and 2 fathoms deep. YENISEI, the longest river of Siberia, rises as the Kem to the W. of the Kosso- Kol, S. of the Gurbi Mountains, flows W. as the Ulan ("Great") Kem between the Sayan and Tangnu Mountains, then sud- denly breaks N. through the Sayan Mountains, and after a course of 3,300 miles falls into the Arctic Ocean. Its breadth varies from 3,400 feet to 14 miles, and during the last 140 miles it is so wide as to form an arm of the sea. Its depth varies from 11 to 90 feet. The waters of the Yenisei are clear and rich in fish. They are navigated by paddle steamers, drawing barges, and by a number of five or six cornered flat-bot- tomed boxes which convey flour down stream, and are broken up at their des- tinations. The Yenisei receives from the right the Upper Tunguska or Angara (the outlet of Lake Baikal), the Irkut, Middle Tunguska, and Lower Tunguska. Nor denskj old's voyage in the summer of 1875 from Tromso to the mouth of the Yenisei opened up a trade by sea with northern Siberia, in which a number of vessels are now engaged, finding six weeks in summer when the passage to and from the Yenisei can be made with little difficulty. YENISEISK, a province of eastern Siberia, Russia; bounded E. by Yakutsk and Irkutsk, S. by Mongolia, W. by Tomsk and Tobolsk, and N. by the Arctic Ocean; area, 987,186 square miles; pop. (1908) 689,700. The S. part is occupied with the Altai Hills and their oflFsets. In the Yenisei valley considerable tracts are under tillage, but N. of the town of Yeni- seisk this is succeeded first by pastur- age, then by stretches ever more and more desolate, to the frozen tundras. The chief river is the Yenisei. Smaller streams are the Taimyr, Katanga, and Anabar, which like the Yenisei, form great gulfs at their mouths. The gold washings of Yeniseisk occupy 12,000 to 15,000 men and several thousand horses. Of the native tribes, who live by hunting, fishing, and trade in fur, the most are Samoyedes and Tungus. The capital is Krasnoiarsk. YEOMAN, a term which seems, in early English history, to have been ap- plied to a common attendant menial serv- ant, but after the 15th century came to denote a class of small freeholders, forming the next grade below gentlemen. The term yeoman was also given to the 40-shinings freeholder, or, more loosely, to any small farmer or countryman above the grade of laborer. The term is also familiar in the titles of function- aries in royal households, such as yeo- man usher of the black rod, yeoman of the robes, etc. YEOMANRY, specifically, a force of volunteer cavalry first embodied in Great Britain during the wars of the French Revolution, and consisting to a great ex- tent of country gentlemen and farmers. They are liable to be called out in aid of the civil power in case of riot at any time; in case of actual invasion, or the appearance of an enemy on the coast or during a rebellion, they may be as- sembled for actual service ; they are then subject to the Mutiny Act and Articles of War, and may be called upon to serve in any part of Great Britain. YERBA MATE. See MATE. YERKES, CHARLES TYSON, an American capitalist; born in Philadel- phia, Pa., June 25, 1837; was engaged as exchange broker in 1858-1861, and as banker in 1861-188r). He failed in 1871, and for misappropi'iation of public funds was convicted and imprisoned, but was afterward pardoned. He recovered his fortune in a few years; was prorninent in street railway operations in Philadel- phia, and after 1886 in Chicago, where he was at the head of several railway corporations. In 1902 he was engaged