Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/352

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GUR—GUR

S. by the Muttra district of the North-Western Provinces, on the E. by the river Jumna, and on the N.E. by Delhi, the district of Gurgaon comprises the southernmost corner of the Punjab province, and stretches away from the level plain towards the hills of Rajputuna. Two low rocky ranges enter its borders from the south and run northward in a bare and unshaded mass toward the plain country. East of the western ridge the valley is wide and open, and essentially extends to the banks of the Jumna. To the west lies the subdivision of Rewari, consisting of a sandy plain dotted with isolated hills. Numerous torrents carry off the drainage from the upland ranges, and the most important among them empty themselves at last into the Najafgarh ,//*/. This swampy lake lies to the east of the civil station of Gurgaon, and stretches long arms into the neighbouring districts of Delhi and Rolitak. Salt is manu factured from lime in wells at several villages. The mineral products are iron ore, copper ore, plumbago, and ochre. Wolves, leopards, deer, jackals, hares, and foxes are found in the district. In 1803 Gurgaon district passed into the hands of the British after Lord Lake s conquests, and under their influence improvements made steady and rapid pro gress. On the outbreak of the mutiny at Delhi in May 1857, the nawab of Farrukhnagar, the principal feudatory of the district, rose in rebellion. The Meos and many Rajput families followed his example. A faithful native officer preserved the public buildings and records at Rewari from destruction ; but with this exception, British authority became extinguished for a time throughout all Gurgaon. After the fall of the rebel capital, a force marched into the district and either captured or dispersed the leaders of rebellion. The territory of the nawab was confiscated on account of his participation in the mutiny. Civil admini stration was resumed under orders from the Punjab Govern ment, to which province the district was formally annexed

on the final pacification of the country.


The census of 1868 was taken over an area of 2015 square miles, and it disclosed a population of 696,646 persons males, 370,251 ; females, 326,395. The Hindus number 480,307; Mahometans, 216,147; Sikhs, 130 ; and "others," 62. In 1875-76 there were four municipal towns, with populations as follows : Rewari, 25,237; Ferozepore (Firozpur), 10,580; Palwal, 13,542; Farrukh nagar, 10,611. Gurgaon, the administrative headquarters, had in 1868 a population of 3539. Out of a total area of 1,267,335 acres, as many as 967,440 were returned in 1875-76 as under cultivation. The principal products are wheat, barley, jour, bdjra, gram, oil-seeds, pulses, cotton, and tobacco. Owing to the deficiency of artificial irrigation, Gurgaon must always be exposed to drought. Seven periods of dearth have occurred since the disastrous year of 1783. In 1833 and 1837 many villages, according to report, lost their whole population through death and emigration. The traffic of Gurgaon district centres entirely upon the town of Rewari, which ranks as one of the chief trading emporiums in the Punjab. Its merchants transact a large part of the commerce between the states of Eajputana and the northern provinces of British India. Salt from the Sainbliar Lake, together with iron, forms the principal import; sugar and English piece-goods form the chief items of the return trade. In 1871-72 the imports of Rewari were valued at 208,892, and the ex ports at 99,028. The means of communication are not of the highest order. One good metalled road traverses the district, from Delhi to Muttra, but the lines of greatest mercantile importance are unmetalled. The Rajpiltand State Railway now passes through the district, with stations at Gurgaon, Jharsa, Jataoli, Kalipur, and Rewari. The total revenue in 1875-76 was 111,885. In the same year 13 civil and revenue judges had jurisdiction, and the police force numbered 605 men, supplemented by a body of village watch men. The number of schools was 66, with a joint roll of 3560 pupils. The summer heat of Gurgaon reaches a great intensity; no record of temperature, however, exists. The average annual rain fall for the eight years ending 1873-4 was 23 52 inches. The district contained 4 charitable dispensaries, affording relief (1875) to 18,034 persons.

GURNALL, William (1616–1679), author of the Christian in Complete Armour, was born in 1616 at Lynn, Norfolkshire. He was educated at the free grammar school of hia native town, and in 1631 was nominated to the Lynn scholarship in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1635 and M.A. in 1639. Nothing is known of his history from the time that he left the uni versity till 1644, when he was made rector of Lavenham in Suffolk; but it would appear from one of his letters that when he received that appointment he was officiating as minister at Sudbury. At the Restoration he signed the declaration required by the Act of Uniformity, and on this account he was the subject of a libellous attack, published in 1665, entitled Covenanl-Renouncers Desperate Apostates. He died October 12, 1679, and was buried at Lavenham. The woik by which Gurnall is principally known, The Christian in Complete Armour, was published in three separate volumes in 1655, 1658, and 1662, and soon became so popular that in 1679 a sixth edition had been called for. In consists of a series of sermons on the latter portion of the 6th chapter of Ephesians, and is more fully described in the title page as a "Treatise of the Saint s War against the Devil ; wherein a discovery is made of that grand enemy of God and his people, in his policies, power, seat of his empire, wickedness, and chief designs he hath against the saints;" and a "Magazine from whence the Christian is furnished with spiritual arms for the battle, helped on with his armour, and taught the use of his weapon ; together with the happy issue of the whole war." The work is more practical than theological; and its quaint fancy, graphic and pointed style, astonishing variety of scriptural application and allusion, and fervent religious tone render it still papular with a certain class of readers.


An Inquiry into the Life of the Rev. W. Gurnall, by H. M Keon, appeared a Wood bridge in 1830, and a biographical introduction by the Rev. J. C. Ryle, chiefly founded on this pamphlet, was pre- lixcd to an edition of the ChrisUan in Complete Armour published in London in 1865.

GURNARD (Triyla). The gurnards form a group of the family of "mailed cheeks" (Triglidoe), and are easily recognized by three detached finger-like appendages in front of the pectoral fins, and by their large, angular, bony head, the sides of which are protected by strong, hard, and rough bones. The pectoral appendages are provided with strong nerves, and serve not only as organs of locomotion when the fish moves on the bottom, but also as organs of touch, by which it detects small animals on which it feeds. Gurnards are coast-fishes, generally distributed over the tropical and temperate areas ; of the forty species known seven occur on the coast of Great Britain, viz., the red gurnard (T. pini], the streaked gurnard (T. lineata),iQ I sapphirine gurnard (T. hinmdo), the grey gurnard (7 T . j gurnardiis), Bloch s gurnard (T. cuculus), the piper (T. lyra), and the long-finned gurnard (T. obscura or T. hicerna).



Trigla pleuracanlhica.


Although never found very far from the coast, gurnards descend to depths of several hundred fathoms ; and as they are bottom-fish they are caught chiefly by means of the trawl. Not rarely, however, they may be seen floating on the surface of the water, with their broad, finely-coloured pectoral fins spread out like fans. In very young fishes, which abound in certain localities on the coast in the months of August and September, the pectorals are com

paratively much longer than in the adult, extending to the