Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/536

478 A E C lation, as ascertained by a iiouse census in July 1871, of 1,762,525. South Arcot is divided into thirteen fiscal divisions or taluks, as follows: (1.) Tindevanum, (2.) Trivadi, (3.) Vilup-puran, (4.) Bhawangiri, (5.) Managudi, (6.) Chilambram, (7.) Trinsmali, (8.) Vardblchalam, (9.) Elovansa, (10.) Trikalor, (11.) Kalakurchi, (12) Chaitpet, and (13.) Cuddalor. The aspect of the district resembles that of other parts of the Coromandel coast. It is low and sandy near the sea, and for the most part level till near the western border, where ranges of hills form .the boundary between this and the neighbouring district of Salem. These ranges are in some parts about 5000 feet high, with solitary hills scattered about the district. In the western tracts, dense patches of jungle furnish covert to tigers, leopards, bears, and monkeys. The principal river is the Coleroon or Kalerun, which forms the southern boundary of the district, separating it from Trichinopoly. This river is abundantly supplied with water during the greater part of the year, and two irrigating channels dis tribute its waters through the district. The other rivers are the Vellaur, Ponnar, and Gadalum, all of which are used for irrigation purposes. Numerous small irrigation channels lead off from them, by means of which a consider able area of fresh land has been brought under cultivation. Under the East India Company, a Commercial Resident was stationed at Cuddalor, and the Company s weavers were encouraged by many privileges. The manufacture and export of native cloth have now been almost entirely superseded by the introduction of European piece goods. The sea-ports of the district of South Arcot are Cuddalor or Fort St David, with a population, in 1855, returned at 36,686; and Porto Novo, with a population estimated, in 1855, at about 12,000 souls. The other places of import ance in the district are Chilambram, Vardhachalam, Tri vadi, Tiagar, Ginji or Chenji, Trinomali, Chaitpet, Mer- kanam, and Verdur. The number of villages in South Arcot was returned, in 1850, at 3376. The total revenue of the district in that year amounted to 284,708, of which 234,055, or 82 per cent., represented the laud revenue. ARCOI CITY, the principal town in the district of North Arcot, is situated on the south bank of the Palar river, in 12 54 N. lat., and 79 24 E. long. It is a station on the line of railway from Madras to Beypur, and is also a mili tary cantonment.. The population of the town, in 1862, was returned at 53,474 souls, inhabiting 10,042 houses. Arcot occupies a very prominent place in the history of the British conquests of India. In the middle of the last cen tury, during the war between the rival claimants to the throne of the Carnatic, Muhammad All and Chanda Sahib, the English supported the claims of the former and the French those of the latter. In order to divert the atten tion of Chandd Sahib and his French auxiliaries from the .siege of Trichinopoly, Clive suggested an attack upon Arcot, and offered to command the expedition. His offer was accepted; but the only force which could be spared to him, was 200 Europeans and 300 native troops to attack a fort garrisoned by 1100 men. The place, however, was abandoned without a struggle, and Clive took possession of the fortress. The expedition produced the desired effect; Chandd Sahib was obliged to detach a large force of 10,000 men to recapture the city, and the pressure on the English garrison at Trichinopoly was removed. The siege of Arcot, in 1751, was conducted with great vigour by RAjA Sahib, son of Chanda Sahib, and is thus described by Macaulay : _ "Raja Sahib proceeded to invest the fort, which seemed quite incapable of sustaining a siege. The walls were ruinous, the ditches ury, the ramparts too narrow to admit the guns, and the battle- meats too low to protect the soldiers. The little garrison had been greatly reduced by casualties. It now consisted of 120 Europeans and 200 Sepoys. Only four officers were left, the stock of provi sions was scanty, and the commander who tad to conduct the defence under circumstances so discouraging was a young man of five-and-twenty, who had been bred a book-keeper. During fifty days the siege went on, and the young captain maintained the defence with a firmness, vigilance, and ability which would have done honour to the oldest marshal in Europe. The breach, how ever, increased day by day. Under such circumstances, any troops so scantily provided with officers might have been expected to show signs of insubordination ; and the danger was peculiarly great in a force composed of men differing widely from each other in extrac tion, colour, language, manners, and religion. But the devotion of the little band to its chief surpassed anything that is related of the Tenth Legion of Caesar, or the Old Guard of Napoleon. The Sepoyg came to Olive, not to complain of their scanty fare, but to propose that all the grain should be given to the Europeans, who required more nourishment than the natives of Asia. The thin gruel, they said, which was strained away from the rice would suffice for them selves. History contains no more touching instance of military fidelity, or of the influence of a commanding mind. An attempt made by the governor of Madras to relieve the place had failed; but there was hope from another quarter. A body of COOO Marhattas, half soldiers, half robbers, under the command of a chief named Murari Rao had been hired to assist Muhammad Ali ; but thinking the French power irresistible, and the triumph of Chanda Sahib certain, they had hitherto remained inactive on the frontiers of the Carnatic. The fame of the defence of Arcot roused them from their torpor ; Murari Rao declared that he had never before believed that Englishmen could fight, but that he would willingly help them since he saw that they had spirit to help themselves. Raja Sahib learned that the Marhattas were in motion, and it was necessary, for him to be expeditious. He first tried negotiations, he offered large bribes to Clive, which were rejected with scorn ; he vowed that if his proposals were not accepted, he would instantly storm the fort, and put every man in it to the sword. Olive told him, in reply, with characteristic haughtiness, that his father was a usurper, that his army was a rabble, and that he would do well to think twice before he sent such poltroons into a breach defended by English soldiers. Raja Sahib determined to storm the fort. The day was well suited to a bold military enterprise. It was the great Mahometan festival, the Muharram, which is sacred to the memory of Husain, the son of All. Clive had received secret in telligence of the design, had made his arrangements, and, exhausted by fatigue, had thrown himself on his bed. He was awakened by the alarm, and was instantly at his post. The enemy advanced, driving before them elephants whose foreheads were armed with iron plates. It was expected that the- gates would yield to the shock of these living battering-rams. But the huge beasts no sooner felt the Eng lish musket balls than they turned round and rushed furiously away, trampling on the multitude which had urged them forward. A raft was launched on the water which filled one part of the ditch. .Clive perceiving that his gunners at that post did not understand their business, took the management of a piece of artillery himself, and cleared the raft in a few minutes. Where the moat was dry, the assailants mounted with great boldness ; but they were received with a fire so heavy and so well directed, that it soon quelled tho courage even of fanaticism and of intoxication. The rear ranks of the English kept the front ranks supplied with a constant succession of loaded muskets, and every shot told on the living mass below. The struggle lasted about an hour ; 400 of the assailants fell ; the garrison lost only five or six men. The -besieged passed an anxious night, looking for a renewal of the attack. But when day broke, the enemy were no more to be seen. They had retired, leaving to the English several guns and a large quantity of ammunition." Arcot was afterwards captured by the French; but in 1760 was retaken by Colonel Coote after the battle of Wandiwash. It was also taken by Haidar Ali when that in vader ravaged the Carnatic in 1 780, and held by him for some time. The town of Arcot, together with the whole of the territory of the Carnatic, passed into the hands of the British in 1801, upon the formal resignation of the government by the Nawab, Azim-ud-daula, who received a liberal pension. ARCTIC OCEAN. The Arctic Circle (66 30 ) being taken as a boundary, the whole of the ocean lying to the north is called the Arctic Ocean. From a physical point of view this limit is hardly satisfactory, since between Green land and Europe the Atlantic, with its Gulf Stream, makes an inroad on the Arctic territory, and the southern extremity of Greenland brings down the Arctic region beyond the Arctic limit; but the other parallel of latitude (70) which

ha,s been chosen as a southern limit is perhaps still more