Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/162

154 NASSAU ISLANDS 18,950 tons; imports, $911,582; exports, $1,- 446,456, including cotton $915,297, pineapples $252,332, and sponge $91,953. A falling off of $558,567 from the imports of 1871 is due to a decrease in the number of wrecks. The increase in exports over 1871 was $456,627. Wrecking, formerly extensively followed, is now much less profitable, and more attention is paid to agri- culture. The French and Spaniards destroyed Nassau in 1703. It was rebuilt in 1718, fortified in 1740, and declared a free port in 1787. It was made a bishopric of the church of Eng- land in 1861. During the American civil war Nassau was a resort for blockade runners. NASSAU (or Foggy) ISLANDS, two islands off the W. coast of Sumatra; pop. about 1,000. The northern island is situated between lat. 2 32' and 2 52' S., and the southern between 2 50' and 3 20' S. ; they are separated by a narrow strait, and both are included between Ion. 99 37' and 100 41' E. They consist of high steep hills, covered with timber of very large size, and well suited for masts and spars. Cocoa- nuts abound, and pepper is cultivated. The sago tree constitutes the chief article of food. The natives are divided into small tribes, each tribe living in one village. NASSAU HALL. See PRINCETON. NASS1CK, or Nashik, a town of British India, in the province and about 100 m. N. E. of the city of Bombay, capital of a collectorate of the same name (pop. in 1872, 672,791), on the Go- davery river and the Great India Peninsula railway; pop. about 25,000. It is celebrated for its Brahmanical temples and Buddhist ex- cavations. Its proximity to the sources of the | Godavery, and the legendary associations of the place, render it extremely sacred in the estima- tion of the Hindoos, who come as pilgrims to Nassick in large numbers. Their wealthy and numerous black basalt temples line both banks of the river. In the vicinity of the town, about 5 m. distant, are the Buddhist rock caves, which are believed to have been excavated in the 2d or 3d century of our era. There are more than 13 apartments, one of which is 45 ft. square, profusely ornamented with sculptures and colossal stone figures. NAST, Thomas, an American artist, born in Landau, Bavaria, Sept. 27, 1840. He came to the United States in 1846, and at the age of 14 found employment as a draughtsman on "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Paper." In 1860 he went to England to illustrate the Heenan and Sayers prize fight, his sketches appearing in the " New York Illustrated News." Imme- diately afterward he went to Italy to follow Garibaldi, entered Naples with him, was pres- ent at the sieges of Capua and Gaeta, and exe- cuted sketches of the war for the " New York Illustrated News," the "Illustrated London News," and Le Monde Illustre of Paris. Re- turning to New York, he began in July, 1862, a series of war and political sketches in " Har- per's Weekly," and since then has been one of the principal artists on that journal. In NASTURTIUM 1866 he executed for the Bal d? Opera in New York 60 caricatures of prominent poli- ticians, editors, artists, and actors. Some of these pictures measured 3 ft. by 4, others 4 ft. by 6, and all of them were painted in wa- ter colors in 30 days. In 1873 he appeared as a public lecturer in leading cities through- out the United States, illustrating his lectures by caricatures drawn on the stage. Among some of his best known sketches in "Har- per's Weekly" are "Santa Glaus in Camp " and " Christmas Eve " (1863) ; " New Year's Day North and South" (1864); "President Lin- coln entering Richmond" (1865); and an ex- tended series of political pictures. He illustra- ted " The Tribute Book " and Nasby's " Swing- ing round the Cerkle;" contributes a cartoon and other illustrations every month to the "Phunny Phellow;" and has issued annually since 1872 "Nast's Illustrated Almanac." NASTURTIUM, the generic name of a plant of the crucifercB or mustard family, and the common name of the widely different genus tropceolum. The genus nasturtium (Lat. nasus tortus, a tortured nose, some of the plants be- ing exceedingly pungent) includes among other plants the well known water cress and horse radish, both of which are described under their proper titles. The old herbalists, who classi- fied plants by their sensible properties rather than by their structure, finding the species of tropoBolum to possess a pungency similar to that of the cruciferous plants, included them under nasturtium, a name which in this or its altered form of sturtion they have retained, in spite of the fact that the books give Indian cress as their suitable common name. In the most recent revision of genera tropceolum (Gr. rp6Traiov, a trophy, the leaves of some resem- bling a shield, and the flowers a helmet) is placed in the geraniacece ; it includes tender South American herbs, most of which climb by means of their long leaf stalks, and have a pungent watery juice with the taste and odor of cress. There are about 35 species, most of which are in cultivation, besides numerous garden varieties. Some are treated as garden annuals, others as greenhouse plants ; a num- ber of the species produce tubers. The flow- ers consist of five sepals, united at the base and extended at the upper side of the flower into a long spur ; petals five or fewer, usually with claws, the upper two somewhat different from the others and inserted at the mouth of the spur ; stamens eight, unequal ; ovary three- lobed with a single style, and in fruit forming three fleshy separate carpels. The common garden nasturtium (T. majus) is one of the most generally cultivated annuals ; the stem climbs 6 or 8 ft., and is often planted near fences, or provided with brush, which it soon covers with its peltate foliage ; the flowers vary from yellow to orange, scarlet, and crimson; the three lower petals have longer claws than the others, and are fringed at the base. There is a double variety, and dwarf forms which do