Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/95

F E R F E R 85 possesses mineral springs, a cathedral, and some interesting remains of the ancient Ferentinum. These consist chiefly of the old walls built somewhat in the cyclopean style, a kind of citadel on the top of the hill, on which the cathedral now stands, and various other portions of old Roman buildings containing numerous inscriptions. The ancient Ferentinum at one time belonged to the Volsci, but soon after the defeat of that people by the Romans in 413 B.C. it was made over with the adjoining territory to the Hernici. It was taken by the Romans in 3G1 B.C., but so leniently dealt with that, when the Hernici rebelled for the third and last time, Ferentinum was one of the three Hernician cities that refused to join the revolt. In con sideration of this the inhabitants were allowed to retain their own laws, which they preferred to the Roman code ; but after the social war they accepted the franchise. The population in 1871 was 8360. FERENTO, the remains of a city of Etruria whose ancient name was Ferentinum. They are situated on the northern slope of the Ciminian hills, about 5 miles from Viterbo, and the same distance from the banks of the Tiber. The ancient city was the birthplace of the emperor Otho, and possessed a very old and splendid temple of Fortune. In the llth century the city was destroyed by the inhabit ants of Viterbo, and it is now uninhabited. Various por tions of its walls and gates are still extant, but the prin cipal building of which the remains still exist is a theatre of very peculiar construction. FERGHANA, now a province of Russian Turkestan, is the valley containing the head waters of the Sir Darya or Jaxartes (one of the two great feeders of Lake Aral), and lies among the western ranges of the Thian Shan mountains, which inclose it on every side except at its west extremity, where the river emerges, passing Khojend, into the plains of western Turkestan. It is of oval form, and extends approxi mately from 70 to 74" E. long., and from a little below 40 to 42 N. lat , having on the N. the mountains which separate it from the valleys of the Chirchik and the Tabs, and on the S. the comparatively unbroken chain which divides it from the mountain state of Karategin, and further east from the long highland strath or steppe of the Alai. There is only one road into Ferghana practicable for wheeled vehicles, viz., that from Khojend. The road from Bokhara to Kashgar enters the valley at the same place, and passing along its entire length crosses the southern border range by the Terek pass. This road, which passes through the chief towns of the province, was before our era perhaps the most important route of the active trade between China and the West, and has ever since been much frequented for general purposes. The direct road from Bokhara to Kuldja also runs through Ferghana, but the longer and easier route by TasUkend is usually preferred. Roads to Badakhshan and the south cross the Alai range by passes 12,000 to 14,000 feet high. The Sir Darya rises in the south-east corner of the valley, but only takes that name after joining the Naryn, a much longer and more considerable stream, having first given off several large canals for irrigation. Its affluents from the north are few and unimportant; about one-third of the valley lies to the north of the Sir, where, except in the rich districts round and to the eastof Namanghan.the land is usually poor, hilly, and ill-watered. On the south, however, along the foot of the hills, a rich belt of cultivation 10 to 27 miles wide extends with few interruptions for about 1GO miles. For luxuriant beauty this region is unequalled in Central Asia, and its wealth, being the combined result of climate, soil, and abundant water, might be developed indefinitely. The banks of the Sir (like those of the Naryn) are almost every where sandy and sterile, for its waters are scarcely used for irrigation except near its source, and countless streams flow ing from the southern mountains are absorbed by irrigation before reaching it. These mountains fall gradually towards the valley (whose greatest width is about Go miles) in a succession of minor parallel ranges, inclosing terraces or valleys, each usually with its village, and cultivated up to over 4000 feet. These valleys are of easy slope; the trans verse valleys through which the streams force their way to the plain are shorter, steeper, and less capable of cultivation. Rich alpine pastures occur at the heads of the valleys; the barren tracts in the plain are used for winter grazing. Agricultural Produce, &c. All the products of the valley (which is 1200 to 1500 feet above sea-level) are cultivated up to 3000 or 4000 feet. Grapes, indeed, ripen at 5800 feet, and barley at 8500. Produce is classed for taxation under three heads field produce, garden produce, and fruit- trees. Among the first are wheat, barley, rice, pulses, maize, corghum, and millet ; among the second, melons, water melons, pumpkins, pease and beans, onions, garlic, carrots, red-pepper, madder and other dye plants, cotton, tobacco, flax, and oil-seeds. Among the fruits are excellent grapes, apples, pears, plums, peaches, almonds, mulberries, figs, and pomegranates. Climate. The climate generally is healthier and more equable than that of Russian Turkestan. The winters are milder, and in summer, though the heat is oppressive, the nights are cool. Little rain falls except in the mountains. The sky is sometimes darkened by a dry mist of fine dust, to which, in great measure, Richthofen attributes in other parts of Asia the formation of vast deposits of loess (see vol. v. p. G32). Towns. The principal towns, which nearly all lie in the fertile belt above described, are Khokand, the late capital of the khanate, with a population of 50,000 to 70,000 ; Namanghan, the only important place north of the Sir Darya, 20,000 ; Andijan, the capital in Baber s time, 20,000 ; and Marghilan, the chief seat of the silk manufac ture, 30,000. Ush, with Usgand, Gulsha, and other smaller places in the hill district to the south-east, is frequented by the Kirghiz, who cultivate their barley and wheat in the neighbourhood. Usgand appears, from its architec tural remains of the 12th century, to have been a place of considerable extent. Kassan, in the north, is a very ancient Tajik town. Population. The population of Ferghana, which for Central Asia is a thickly-peopled region, is about 900,000, of which perhaps two-thirds are settled and the remainder nomad. The settled population consists chiefly of Tajiks and Uzbegs ; the former, the early Aryan inhabitants, are found in greatest purity in the lower mountain valleys ; those in the chief towns and central districts, who are known as Sarts, show a large infusion of Uzbeg and other Turki blood. The Uzbegs, who predominate in numbers, are here much more modified by the Tajik element than they are in Bokhara. Being the dominant race, their name is assumed by the various other Turk and Tatar elements, which in successive waves have swept over or occupied this region for more than 2000 years. There are also settlements of Kashgaris, who have fled from Chinese oppression. The nomads are mainly Kipchaks and Kara Kirghiz or Buruts; the former, the braver and more capable race, is indeed only half nomadic, occupying chiefly the northern and eastern districts of the valley. The others have their summer quarters in the surrounding mountains and high plateaus, chiefly in the Alai and Pamir, and winter in the valley, where they eke out a livelihood by cultivating patches of barley, wheat, and lucerne, thus becoming amen able to taxation and control. They are poorer than the settled population, who are usually well-to-do. The towns people especially are fond of good living and sociable, and being, like the Sarts everywhere, keen traders, drive good