Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/717

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OKMSBY England; yet he was created marquis and made lord lieutenant of Ireland in 1644. After the success of the parliamentary party, he re- signed his office and retired to France. Re- turning to Ireland, he attempted to restore the royal power, caused Charles II. to be pro- claimed, and made an unsuccessful effort to capture Dublin. After the restoration he was raised to a dukedom. He was again appointed lord lieutenant of Ire- land in 1662, and held the office seven years. In 1670, while riding in his carriage in London, he came near being as- sassinated by the noto- rious Col. Blood and five accomplices. (See BLOOD, THOMAS.) He was again lord lieuten- ant of Ireland from 1676 to 1685. He survived his son, " the gallant " earl of Ossory, eight years. Ormond's life and the history of his Irish ad- ministration was written by Thomas Carte (3 vols. fol., London, l735-'6 ; new ed., 6 vols. 8vo, Oxford, 1851). ORNSBY, a W. county of Nevada, separated from California on the west by Lake Tahoe ; area, 172 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 3,668, of whom 769 were Chinese. It embraces a portion of the valley of Carson river, locally known as Eagle valley, containing many fine farms and gardens. In the E. part is the Nut Pine range, once covered with valuable wood ; the W. part is crossed by one of the ridges of the Sierra Nevada, which is covered with pine. Silver, copper, and iron are found, but the mines have been little developed. Limestone and freestone are quarried. The chief produc- tions in 1870 were 3,705 bushels of wheat, 1,245 of Indian corn, 2,270 of oats, 9,320 of barley, 22,947 of potatoes, and 901 tons of hay. The value of live stock was $77,968. There were 2 planing mills, 4 saw mills, 6 quartz mills, a brewery, and a soap and candle factory. Capital, Carson City, which is also the capital of the state. ORMUZ, or Hoi-muz, an island of Persia, on the N. side of the strait of the same name, leading from the Arabian sea to the Persian gulf, about 5 m. from the coast; lat. 27 5' K, Ion. 56 29' E. ; area, about 15 sq. m. ; pop. about 300. It is nearly circular, and the surface is almost equally divided between hill and plain. The S. and S. W. sides present a mass of hills from 300 to 400 ft. high, of re- markable geological character, consisting chiefly of rock salt worn into fantastic outlines and honeycombed by the rains, incrusted with bright-colored earths, and destitute of vegeta- 622 VOL. xii. 45 OEMUZ 703 tion. On the N. and E. sides of the island the shores form a low plain, which projects on the north in a sharp point. On the end of this are the remains of the once important Portuguese fortress, a quadrilateral bastioned fort, 750 ft. long by 620 ft. broad, separated Old Portuguese Fort, Ormuz. from the mainland by a moat now filled with sand. S. of it are the ruins of the Arab city of Ormuz, consisting chiefly of mounds strewn with pottery, many water cisterns, and a mina- ret 70 ft. high. On the S. E. end of the island are the remains of one of the palaces of the old kings. The village near the site of the city is only a collection of mat huts, whose inhabitants export salt, salt fish, and a kind of red earth used in Calcutta for staining and seasoning wood. A few soldiers hold the fort as a military post for the governor of Bunder Abbas. (See OMAN.) Ormuz is probably the Ogyris of Strabo and the Organa of Arrian and Ptolemy. At a later period it was called Jerun. In the beginning of the 14th century Ayaz, king of old Ormuz, a town on the main- land which was known to the ancients as Har- mozia, suffering from the incursions of the Tartars, removed to the island and built there a new Ormuz, which eventually became the capital of a kingdom comprising a consider- able part of Arabia and of Persia. In the 15th century it had acquired great prosperity, and was the entrepot of the commerce between India and Persia and of the trade of Samar- cand and Bokhara. At the beginning of the 16th century its reputed wealth and splendor attracted the cupidity of the Portuguese, and in 1507 Albuquerque sailed against it, but found the city defended by 30,000 men. In 1515 he returned with 27 ships, reduced it, and built the fortress. In 1543 the island paid to Portu- gal an annual tribute of 100,000 ducats. Its commerce soon began to decline, the Portu- guese allowing no ships to navigate those wa- ters except under oppressive conditions; but