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AMOOR AMORETTI 433 mechanics. He wrote several important trea- tises upon scientific subjects, and constructed some new instruments in physical science. He conceived the idea of communicating between distant points by signals to be observed through magnifying glasses, and made successful exper- iments before the royal family, though the use of the signal telegraph was not introduced till nearly a century afterward. A HOOK, Amur, or Saghalien, a river in 1ST. E. Asia, formed by the confluence of the river Shilka, flowing N. E. from the Trans-Baikal region in central Siberia, and the river Argoon, coming from Mongolia nearly in the same direc- tion. The two rivers unite at the spot called Streletchnaya Stanitza (Shooter's Post), in about lat. 53 20' N., and Ion. 121 30' E. The Amoor runs between the Russian Amoor Country and northern Mantchuria, making an arc, and pene- trating S. as far as lat. 47 30' ; then flowing N. E. it empties in nearly the same latitude with its rise, in Ion. 141 E., into the gulf of Amoor, W. of the island of Saghalien, a gulf connected by straits N. and S. with both the sea of Okhotsk and the sea of Japan. The whole length of the river is about 2,400 m. Its principal northern affluents are the Oldo, Jenkiri, Bureya, and Amgoon; its southern, the Songari and Usuri. The Amoor is naviga- ble for its whole length ; its estuary, however, is filled with sand and soft mud, rendering the passage difficult for 30 to 40 m. from the mouth. It freezes throughout its course at the beginning of November, and remains frozen till March, forming a highway for sledges. During whiter the shores are visited by heavy snow storms, called in Siberia purga. Both shores are cov- ered with thick forests of pine, oak, lime, ma- ple, and cork trees. The river abounds with fish, and contains some previously unknown species of sturgeon. A steamer called the America, built in New York for the navigation of this river, first ascended it in 1857. AMOOR COUNTRY, that part of Mantchuria recently annexed to Russia. It embraces all the territory on the left bank of the Amoor, together with the coast districts east of it and of its affluent the Usuri, as far south as the river Tumen on the frontier of Oorea. In its widest sense, it is situated between lat. 42 and 57 N., and Ion. 120 and 145 E. By a ukase of Dec. 20, 1858, the country was divid- ed into the "province of the Amoor," and the "sea district of the Amoor Country." The latter forms a part of the "littoral province of East Siberia." The province of the Amoor embraces the country on the left bank of the Amoor ; capital, Blagovieshtchensk ; area esti- mated at 109,053 sq. m. ; pop. in 1867, 22,297. The principal towns in the sea district of the Amoor Country are Nikolayevsk and Sofyevsk. The island of Saghalien is generally included in the territory of the Amoor Country, the whole of which has an area of about 276,- 300 sq. m. The principal mountains are the Stanovoi along the northern frontier, and off- 29 VOL. i. 29 shoots of the Chingan mountains in the west. The winters are very severe, and navigation is generally closed from the end of October to the beginning of May. The soil is fertile. Many plants of southern Asia are met with ; the rivers swarm with fish ; and extensive gold fields have recently been discovered. Although the Russian government has endeavored to de- velop the resources of the country, its com- merce made no progress during the period from 1860 to 1870. The native population consists of about 10,000 Tungusians, divided into eight tribes. In September, 1860, the Russian gov- ernment organized a force of Cossacks of the Amoor to defend the southern frontier and to settle the territory. The first knowledge of the country of the Amoor was obtained by the Russian authorities in East Siberia, in 1639. Several expeditions, undertaken by Russian adventurers, led to protracted hostilities with the Chinese, until in 1689 the peace of Nertchinsk secured the whole territory to the Chinese. In 1849 the Russian plans of conquest were resumed. After exploring the coast for several years and establishing the forts of Nikolayevsk and Mariinsk, a large military force was sent in 1854 into the coun- try of the Amoor, and established the Russian rule upon a lasting basis. A ukase of Oct. 31, 1856, proclaimed the union of the lower part of the Amoor Country with Kamtchatka, and made Nicolayevsk the seat of government. By the treaty of Aigoon, May 28, 1858, ratified by the commercial treaty of Tientsin, June 13, the whole country of the Amoor was ceded by China to Russia. The eastern and western line between Russia and China was regulated by a treaty concluded at Peking on Nov. 14, 1860. For an account of the attempt to construct a telegraph from Nikolayevsk to San Francisco in 1863-'7, see TELEGRAPH. Concerning the country and river, see Collins, "Exploration of the Amoor River" (Washington, 1858), and " A Voyage down the Amoor, with a Land Jour- ney through Siberia," &c. (New York, 1860). AMOR. See EROS. AMORETTI. I. Carlo, an Italian scholar, born at Oneglia, March 13, 1741, died in Milan, March 24, 1816. In 1757 he joined the order of St. Augustine, and some years later became professor of canon law in the university of Par- ma; but in 1772 he obtained a dispensation from his monastic vows, and entered the ranks of the secular clergy. He was appointed cura- tor of the Ambrosian library at Milan in 1797, and was the first to make known its treasures to the world. He published from the manu- scripts in this collection voyages of Pigafetta and Ferrer Maldonado ; wrote an excellent life of Leonardo da Vinci, from original materials ; and prepared several treatises on natural sci- ence. His Nuova scelta, (Popuscoli interessanti sulle scieme e sulle arti (27 vols. 4to, l775-'88) familiarized the Italians with the scientific progress of other nations. II. Maria Pellegrina, niece of the preceding, who bestowed great