Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/752

738 OUACiHTA OUDE shortly after disbanded, he returned to London miserably poor, and began again to write. In 1680 he produced the tragedy of " Caius Ma- rius," which met with considerable success. In this play and in " The Poet's Complaint to the Muse," published the same year, he sati- rized the whig party. His tragedy of " The Orphan" appeared in 1680. In 1681 he pro- duced "The Soldier's Fortune," and in 1684 its second part, " The Atheists," both of which were successful. His greatest work, "Ven- ice Preserved," was first performed in 1682, and is still frequently acted. Otway wrote also some minor poems, and translated from the French the " History of the Triumvirate." His latter days were passed in great poverty, but the story that he died of starvation is now discredited. Pope says that he died of a fever. OUACHITA. I. A N. parish of Louisiana, in- tersected by the Washita river ; area, about 650 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 11,582, of whom 7,823 were colored. Pine, oak, and hickory are very abundant. The North Louisiana and Texas railroad runs to the county seat. The chief productions in 1870 were 211,505 bushels of Indian corn, 17,124 of sweet potatoes, 1,987 Ibs. of wool, and 14,239 bales of cotton. There were 828 horses, 1,498 mules and asses, 1,606 milch cows, 3,805 other cattle, 1,952 sheep, and 7,127 swine. Capital, Monroe. II. A S. W. county of Arkansas, bounded N. partly by the Little Missouri river, and S. E. partly by the Washita, which also intersects it; area, 750 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 12,975, of whom 5,458 were colored. The surface is moderately hilly and the soil generally fertile. The chief pro- ductions in 1870 were 279,589 bushels of Indian corn, 20,680 of sweet potatoes, 20,933 Ibs. of butter, and 6,467 bales of cotton. There were 1,550 horses, 1,179 mules and asses, 3,574 milch cows, 6,554 other cattle, 5,382 sheep, and 24,600 swine. Capital, Camden. OVDE, or Ondh (Sanskrit, Ayodhya, invinci- ble). I* A province of British India, formerly a native kingdom of Hindostan, lying between lat. 25 34' and 29 6' N., and Ion. 79 30' and 83 11' E., bounded by the Northwest Provinces on all sides but the north and northeast, where it adjoins Nepaul; area, 23,973 sq. m.; pop. in 1872, 11,220,747. It is divided into four commissionerships, as follows: Lucknow, pop. 2,583,019 ; Seetapore, 2,603,426 ; Fyzabad, 3,384,130; Rai Bareilly, 2,650,172. The den- sity of population is 468 to the square mile. Oude is situated mostly within the great plain of Hindostan, which slopes S. W. from the sub-Himalaya range, and along the Nepaulese border is fringed by the malarious forest tract known as the Terai. Except in this frontier region, the scenery, of the whole country is exceedingly flat and monotonous. The prin- cipal rivers are the Ganges, which forms the S. W. boundary; the Goomtee, on which is situated Lucknow, the capital of the province ; the Gogra, the Raptee, and the Ramganga. All of them flow southeasterly, and are tortu- ous streams of considerable magnitude, vary- ing greatly in volume and navigability at differ- ent seasons of the year. Small nodules, called Icanlcar, formed of the elements of chalk and oolite, are found in great quantities, and serve a useful purpose in giving sufficient consisten- cy to some of the river banks to keep them in permanent channels. Ridges of them two or three yards wide intersect the bed of the Goom- tee every five or six miles; and they have formed in different parts of the country hil- locks from 70 to 80 ft. high. There are no per- manent lakes, but large ponds called jhils are formed by the rains in the wet season, and generally dry up or are drained off by the riv- ers in hot weather. The largest of these, 8 m. N. W. of Manikpoor, in a deserted channel of the Ganges, is 16 m. long and 8 m. broad, and in the dry season is converted into a pestilen- tial marsh in which rice is sown. The climate is generally dry and subject to great extremes of heat and cold, the thermometer sometimes rising to 112 and falling to 28. November, December, January, and February are the cold- est months, and the next four the hottest, a sultry west wind, loaded with fine gray dust, blowing at noon, and ceasing toward evening, or a damp malarious east wind from the swamps of Bengal and Assam occasionally prevailing all day. The power of the hot winds annually increases with the diminution of rain. Violent hurricanes and thunder storms are sometimes experienced. The rainy season begins about the middle of June and lasts from two to four months. The forests are mainly confined to the high region adjoining Nepaul, and are im- portant sources of fuel. The saul tree affords the most valuable timber. The forest conser- vancy has effected a demarcation of the tracts reserved to the state, which have been thor- oughly cleared of injurious creepers. Among the wild animals are the elephant, tiger, rhi- noceros, wolf, hyaena, jackal, fox, hare, deer, nilgau, wild hog, porcupine, otter, mongoose, squirrel, rat, muskrat, wild cat, bat, and flying fox. The tigers and wolves cause great de- struction of life. Of the numerous varieties of birds, the parrots, which do great damage to the crops, and the kingfishers, which exist in many splendid species, are the most de- serving of mention. Reptiles and insects abound. Crocodiles haunt the larger rivers. The soil is probably not surpassed in fertility by that of any other province of India; but it is of various qualities, and in some places must be abundantly irrigated. An irrigation canal connects the Ganges with the Goom- tee at Lucknow. In 1872 there were 12,673 sq. m. of cultivated lands in Oude, and 5,588 sq. m. additional capable of cultivation. The crops consist principally of rice of remarka- ble delicacy and whiteness, various kinds of na- tive grain, oil seeds, pulses, barley, maize, mil- let, wheat, opium, cotton, indigo, hemp, and to- bacco. Excellent fruit trees are found in dif- ferent parts of the country, among which are