situated towards the heart of the island, 1718 ft. above the sea. It lies round the margin of an artificial lake constructed by the last king of Kandy in 1806, and is beautifully surrounded by hills. The most striking objects are the temples (of which twelve are Buddhist and four Brahman), the tombs of the Kandian kings, and the various buildings of the royal residence, partly allowed to fall into disrepair, partly utilized by the government. Of the temples the Dalada Malagawa is worthy of particular mention; it claims, as the name indicates, to be in possession of a Buddha tooth.
Kandy was occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch in 1763; but in both instances the native kings succeeded in shaking off the foreign yoke. The British got possession of the place in 1803, but the garrison afterwards capitulated and were massacred, and it was not till 1814–15 that the king was defeated and dethroned. The British authority was formally established by the convention of March 2, 1815. In 1848, owing to an attempt at rebellion, the town was for a time under martial law. It has been greatly improved of recent years. Sir William Gregory when governor did much to restore the ancient Kandy decorations, while the Victoria Jubilee Commemoration Building, including “Ferguson Memorial Hall,” and two fine hotels, add to the improvements. The Royal Botanic Gardens are situated at Peradeniya, 3 m. distant. Kandy is a uniquely beautiful, highland, tropical town, full of interesting historical and Buddhistic associations. A water supply and electric lighting have been introduced. Roman Catholic missions are active in the work of education, for which a large block of buildings has been erected. Church of England, Wesleyan and Baptist missions are also at work. The population of the town in 1900 was 26,386; of the district, 377,591. Average annual rainfall, 8112 in.; average temperature, 75.3. There is a branch railway from Kandy, north to Matale, 17 m.
KANE, ELISHA KENT (1820–1857), American scientist and explorer, was born in Philadelphia on the 20th of February 1820,
the son of the jurist John Kintzing Kane (1795–1858), a friend
and supporter of Andrew Jackson, attorney-general of Pennsylvania
in 1845–1846, U.S. judge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
after 1846, and president of the American Philosophical
Society in 1856–1858. Young Kane entered the university of
Virginia and obtained the degree of M.D. in 1842, and in the
following year entered the U.S. navy as surgeon. He had
already acquired a considerable reputation in physiological
research. The ship to which he was appointed was ordered to
China, and he found opportunities during the voyage for indulging
his passion for exploration, making a journey from Rio
de Janeiro to the base of the Andes, and another from Bombay
through India to Ceylon. On the arrival of the ship at its destination
he provided a substitute for his post and crossed over
to the island of Luzon, which he explored. In 1844 he left
China, and, returning by India, Persia, Syria, Egypt, Greece,
Austria, Germany and Switzerland, reached America in 1846.
In that year he was ordered to the west coast of Africa, where he
visited Dahomey, and contracted fever, which told severely on
his constitution. On his return in 1847, he exchanged the naval
for the military service, and was sent to join the U.S. army in
Mexico, where he had some extraordinary adventures, and where
he was again stricken with fever.
On the fitting out of the first Grinnell expedition, in 1850, to search for Sir John Franklin, Kane was appointed surgeon and naturalist under Lieut. de Haven, who commanded the ships “Advance” and “Rescue.” The expedition, after an absence of sixteen months, during nine of which the ships were ice-bound, returned without having found any trace of the missing vessels. Kane was in feeble health, but worked on at his narrative of the expedition, which was published in 1854, under the title of The U.S. Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin. He was determined not to give up the search for Franklin, and in spite of ill-health travelled through the States lecturing to obtain funds, and gave up his pay for twenty months. At length Henry Grinnell fitted out an expedition, in the little brig “Advance,” of which Kane was given the command. She sailed in June 1853, and passing up Smith Sound at the head of Baffin Bay advanced into the enclosed sea which now bears the name of Kane Basin, thus establishing the Polar route of many future Arctic expeditions. Here, off the coast of Greenland, the expedition passed two winters, accomplishing much useful geographical, as well as scientific, work, including the attainment of what was to remain for sixteen years the highest northern latitude, 80° 35′ N. (June 1854). From this point a large area of open water was seen which was believed to be an “open Polar Sea,” a chimera which played an important and delusive rôle in subsequent explorations. After enduring the greatest hardships it was resolved to abandon the ship, Upernivik being reached on the 5th of August 1855, whence a relief expedition brought the explorers home. Medals were authorized by Congress, and in the following year Dr Kane received the founder’s medal of the Royal Geographical Society, and, two years later, a gold medal from the Paris Geographical Society. He published The Second Grinnell Expedition in 1856. Dr Kane died at Havana on the 16th of February 1857, at the age of thirty-seven. Between his first and second arctic voyages he made the acquaintance of the Fox family, the spiritualists. With one of the daughters, Margaret, he carried on a long correspondence, which was afterwards published by the lady, who declared that they were privately married.
See Biography of E. K. Kane, by William Elder (1858); Life of E. K. Kane and other American Explorers, by S. M. Smucker (1858); The Love-Life of Dr Kane, containing the Correspondence and a History of the Engagement and Secret Marriage between E. K. Kane and Margaret Fox (New York, 1866); “Discoveries of Dr Kane,” in Jour. of the Roy. Geog. Soc., vol. xxviii. (reprinted in R. G. S. Arctic Papers of 1875).
KANE, a borough of McKean county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.,
about 90 m. E.S.E. of Erie. Pop. (1890), 2944; (1900), 5296,
(971 foreign-born); (1910) 6626. It is served by the Pennsylvania,
the Baltimore & Ohio, the Kane & Elk, and the Big Level
& Kinzua railways. It is situated about 2015 ft. above the
sea in a region producing natural gas, oil, lumber and silica, and
has some reputation as a summer resort. The borough has
manufactories of window glass, plate glass and bottles, and
repair shops of the Pennsylvania railroad. Kane was settled
in 1859, and was incorporated as a borough in 1887. It was
named in honour of its founder Gen. Thomas L. Kane (1822–1883),
brother of Elisha Kent Kane.
KANGAROO, the universally accepted, though not apparently
the native, designation of the more typical representatives of the
marsupial family Macropodidae (see Marsupialia). Although
intimately connected with the cuscuses and phalangers by
means of the musk-kangaroo, the kangaroos and wallabies,
together with the rat-kangaroos, are easily distinguishable from
other diprotodont marsupials by their general conformation, and
by peculiarities in the structure of their limbs, teeth and other
organs. They vary in size from that of a sheep to a small rabbit.
The head, especially in the larger species, is small, compared with
the rest of the body, and tapers forward to the muzzle. The
shoulders and fore-limbs are feebly developed, and the hind-limbs
of disproportionate strength and magnitude, which give the
animals a peculiarly awkward appearance when moving about on
all-fours, as they occasionally do when feeding. Rapid progression
is, however, performed only by the powerful hind-limbs, the
animals covering the ground by a series of immense bounds,
during which the fore part of the body is inclined forwards, and
balanced by the long, strong and tapering tail, which is carried
horizontally backwards. When not moving, they often assume
a perfectly upright position, the tail aiding the two hind-legs to
form a tripod, and the front-limbs dangling by the side of the
chest. This position gives full scope for the senses of sight,
hearing and smell to warn of the approach of enemies. The
fore-paws have five digits, each armed with a strong, curved
claw. The hind-foot is extremely long, narrow and (except in
the musk-kangaroo) without the first toe. It consists mainly
of one very large and strong toe, corresponding to the fourth of
the human foot, ending in a strong curved and pointed claw
