and lord-lieutenant of Kinross-shire. In 1814 he became a baron of Exchequer in Scotland, and in the following year was appointed chief commissioner of the newly established Jury-Court for the trial of civil causes, over which he presided with much ability and acceptance till 1830, when it ceased to exist as a separate court, and became merged in the permanent supreme tribunal. Though little versed in the technicalities of law, he was in all practical matters an able manager; he was a shrewd observer of all that passed around him, and a most agreeable companion. He died at Edinburgh on the 17th February 1839.
Adam's Bridge, or Rama's Bridge, a chain of sandbanks, extending from the island of Manaar, near the N.W. coast of Ceylon to the island of Rameseram, off the Indian coast, and lying between the Gulf of Manaar on the S.W. and Palk Strait on the N.E. It is more than 30 miles long, and offers a serious impediment to navigation. Some of the sandbanks are dry; and no part of the shoal has a greater depth than 3 or 4 feet at high water, except three tortuous and intricate channels, a few feet deep, which in calm weather permit the passage of boats and small vessels.
Adam's Peak, a lofty mountain in Ceylon, about 45 miles E. from Colombo, in N. lat. 6° 55', E. long. 80° 30'. It rises steeply to a height of 7240 feet, and commands a magnificent prospect. Its conical summit terminates in an oblong platform, 74 feet by 24, on which there is a hollow, resembling the form of a human foot, 5 feet 4 inches by 2 feet 6 inches; and this has been consecrated as the foot print of Buddha. The margin of this supposed footprint is ornamented with gems, and a wooden canopy protects it from the weather. It is held in high veneration by the Cingalese, and numerous pilgrims ascend to the sacred spot, where a priest resides to receive their offerings, and bless them on their departure. By the Mahometans the impression is regarded as that of the foot of Adam, who here, according to their tradition, fulfilled a penance of one thousand years, while the Hindoos claim it as that of their god Siva.
Adamawa, a country of Central Africa, lies between 7° and 11° N. lat., and 11° and 16° E. long., about midway on the map between the Bight of Biafra and Lake Chad. Its boundaries cannot be strictly defined; but it stretches from S.W. to N.E. a distance of 200 miles, with a width of from 70 to 80 miles. This region is watered by the Benuwe and the Faro. The former, which ultimately unites with the Niger, flows through Adamawa, first in a northerly, then in a westerly direction; and is joined by the Faro, which rises in the south, 22 miles from Yolla, the capital of the country. Near their confluence the Benuwe is 800 yards wide, with a depth of about 11 feet; the Faro has a breadth of 600 yards, but is generally very shallow. Both rivers are subject to extraordinary floods, beginning in the end of September, and lasting forty days, during which the swamps of the adjacent country are covered for a great distance on both sides, and the Benuwe rises at least 30 feet. The most fertile pails of the country are the plains near the Benuwe, about 800 feet above the level of the sea. Further from that river the land rises to an elevation of 1500 feet, and is diversified by numerous hills and groups of mountains. Mount Alantika, about 25 miles S.S.E. of Yolla, is the loftiest mountain in Adamawa, and rises from the plain, an isolated mass, to the height of 9000 feet. The country, which is exceedingly rich, and is covered with luxuriant herbage, has many villages, and a considerable population. The grain known as Holcus sorghum or durra, ground-nuts, yams, and cotton are the principal products; and the palm and banana abound. Elephants are very numerous, and ivory is largely exported. In the eastern part of the country the rhinoceros is met with, and the rivers swarm with crocodiles, and with a curious mammal called the ayu, bearing some resemblance to the seal. Yolla, the capital of Adamawa, is situated, in N. lat. 9° 28', E. long. 12° 13', in the fertile plain between the Benuwe and the Faro. The houses are built of clay, and surrounded by court-yards, in which grain is grown; so that the town, though containing only about 12,000 inhabitants, is spread over a large extent of ground, and is 3 miles long from east to west. Turkedi (a dark-coloured cotton cloth), beads, salt, and calico are the principal articles exposed in the markets. Here and throughout Adamawa cotton is generally used as a medium of barter. A very large proportion of the population are slaves, many private individuals holding as many as 1000, while the governor is said to receive annually about 5000 in tribute. The government of Adamawa is in the hands of a Mahometan ruler, who owns a nominal allegiance to the Sultan of Sokoto, but is in reality an independent sovereign. Formerly the country was called Fumbina, and was possessed by various African tribes, until it was over run by the Fulbe, a Mahometan people. It has not been entirely subjected by them, but they have detached settlements at various places; and numerous governors, as well of the Fulbe as of outlying pagan tribes, are in subjection to the ruler of Yolla. (See Barth's Travels in Central Africa, vol. ii.)
Adamites, or Adamians, a sect of heretics that flourished in North Africa in the 2d and 3d centuries. Basing itself probably on a union of certain gnostic and ascetic doctrines, this sect pretended that its members were re-established in Adam's state of original innocency. They accordingly rejected the form of marriage, which, they said, would never have existed but for sin, and lived in absolute lawlessness, holding that, whatever they did, their actions could be neither good nor bad. During the Middle Ages the doctrines of this obscure sect, which did not at first exist long, were revived in Europe by the Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit, who in the 14th century were better known throughout Germany as Beghards. This name was originally borne by a religious party that was formed in the Netherlands a century earlier. The two sects came into contact on the Rhine frontier, associated with each other, gradually approximated in doctrine, and were at last identified by the application to both of the one name; though a distinct sect of Beghards, free from the excesses of the brethren, continued to exist in the Netherlands. Picard is simply another form which Beghard assumed in the harsh pronunciation of the Bohemians, and the common method of accounting for it by supposing a leader Picard has no sufficient warrant. The principal seat of the Picards in Bohemia was a small island in the river Luschnitz, where they lived in a state of nature, and had wives in common. In 1421 they were almost exterminated by Ziska, the leader of the Hussites, who committed many of them to the flames. In 1849 it appeared that the sect existed in a district of Austria, though small in number, and not ostentatious of its peculiar practices. (Rüdinger de Eccl. Frat. in Bohem., &c.; Bossuet's Variations of Protestant Churches.)
Adamnan or Adomnan, Saint, born in Ireland about the year 624, was elected Abbot of Iona in 679, on the death of Failbhe. While on a mission to the court of King Aldfrid of Northumberland (700–1), he was led to adopt the Roman rule in regard to the time for the observance of Easter; and on his return to Iona he tried to enforce the change upon the monks, but without success. It is said that the disappointment caused his death, which occurred in 703 or 704. Adamnan wrote a Life of St Columba, which, though abounding in fabulous matter, is of great interest and value. The best edition is that of Reeves,
