Milan and Lyons; but his plans were frustrated by the failure of the French army in Italy. Cardinal Amboise was a dexterous, experienced, and ambitious statesman. He governed France wisely, introduced reforms in the judicial system, reduced taxation, and by his benevolence earned the respect of the whole nation. Consult: Le Gendre, Vie du Cardinal d'Amboise (Rouen, 1726); Hardouin, Le Cardinal d'Amboise (Rouen, 1875).
AM'BOY CLAYS. A great series of upper Cretaceous clay deposits found extensively developed in northeastern New Jersey, especially in the region around Perth Amboy, whence the name. The beds, which are of non-marine origin, are also known as the Raritan clays, because the Raritan River flows through the area in which they outcrop, and their total thickness, including the interbedded sands, is about 350 feet. A few of the beds contain an abundance of plant remains, as well as some of mollusks. The Amboy clays are of great economic value, being used in the manufacture of chinaware, firebricks, stone ware, brick, and tile. Large pits have been opened in the deposits at Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Woodbridge, and other points. The clays are used chiefly within the State, but large quantities are also sent to neighboring States. See Cretaceous System; Fireclay; Clay.
AMBOY'NA (Malay Ambun), Apon,or Thau.
The most important of the Moluccas, belonging to
the Dutch, and lying southwest from Ceram, and
northwest from Banda. The island covers an
area of 264 square miles and is divided by the bay
of Amboyna into two unequal peninsulas (Map:
East India Islands, G 5), Hitu, the larger,
and Leitimor, the smaller. The surface is highly
mountainous, and traversed by numerous streams
abounding in fish. The soil is fertile and pro-
duces coffee, pepper, indigo, and rice. But the
main product of the island is the clove, which
grows there in abundance, and constitutes the
chief article of commerce. A great part of the
island is covered with forests full of valuable
woods. The inhabitants in 1891 numbered 30,-
380. They are physically and linguistically
Malayan, although some Papuan admixture from
Ceram has occurred. They have also some Portu-
guese blood. Their language contains a consider-
able Portuguese element, and their religion is
Protestantism (introduced by the Dutch), with
the addition of rites and ceremonies borrowed
from the Portuguese Catholics, and inherited
from their aboriginal past. The residency of Am-
boyna comprises besides the Amboyna Island, the
Southern Moluccas, the Banda group (q.v.),
Ceram, Buru, Kei Islands (q.v.), Aru Islands,
and a few other islands, with a total area
of over 18,000 square miles and a popula-
tion of over 200,000. The capital of the island
and of the residency is Amboyna (q.v.) The his-
tory of Amboyna is similar to that of the Moluc-
cas, except for the massacre of the British set-
tlers by the Dutch in 1623, for which the Dutch
Government was compelled by Cromwell in 1654
to pay the sum of £300,000, in addition to a small
island, as a compensation to the families of the
massacred. Consult: The Barbarous Proceed-
ings Against the English at Amboyna (London,
1651); Beaumont, Dutch Alliances (Lonlon,
1712); Verbeek, "Over de geologie van Ambon,"
in volumes 6 and 7, Koninklijke akademie van
wetenschappen (Amsterdam, 1899).
AMBOYNA. The capital of the Dutch residency of that name, situated near the middle of the northwest shore of Leitimor, one of the peninsulas of the island of Ambovna. in 3° 41' S. lat., and 128° E. long. It is well-built, has wide streets, and contains a church, several schools, a hospital, and an orphan asylum. The government buildings are situated in Fort Victoria. The roadstead is spacious and affords safe anchorage. The town suffered considerably during an earthquake in January, 1898. Its population is about 9000.
AMBOYNA WOOD. See Kiaboucca.
AMBKA'CIA (Gk. 'A/iiSpaKia, Ambrakia) . A
Greek city in the southern part of Thesprotia,
on the Arachthus River, about ten miles
from the mouth of the river. It was colonized
by the Corinthians, under the leadership of Gor-
gus, son of Cypselus, in the last half of the
seventh century B.C., and soon rose to a position
of great wealth and power. Pyrrhus of Epirus
made it his capital, and enriched it with many
public buildings and works of art. The latter
were removed and carried to Rome when the
town was taken by the Romans in 189 B.C. After
Augustus, in 31 B.C., transferred the inhabitants
of Ambracia to the newly founded city of Nicop-
olis, the former town sank into insignificance.
The modern town is Arta.
AMBRA'CIAN GULF. See Arta, Gulf of.
AM'BREE, Mary. The subject of a ballad included in Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry; a woman who to avenge the death of her lover is said to have disguised herself as a soldier and fought against the Spaniards at the siege of Ghent in 1584. Though unknown in history, she is frequently alluded to by the poets, especially by Ben Jonson, who refers to her in his Epicœne (iv. 2). Tale of a Tub (i. 2), and Fortunate Isles, by Fletcher, in his Scornful Lady (Act v.), and by others of the period, to whom she became a sort of typical virago.
AMBRIZ, am-brez'.
A seaport town, the capital of a district of the same name, in Portuguese Angola, West Africa. It has a large export trade in coffee. ivory, and gums. Extensive copper deposits exist in the district. Its occupation dates from 1855. Pop.. 2500.
AMBROGIO IL CAMALDOLESE, am-bro'-
j6 el ka-miU'do-la'za ( properly Ambrogio Tra-
versari) (1378-1439). An Italian humanist and
Greek scholar, born in the Romagna. He early
entered the Convent degli Angel i at Florence,
studied the Greek ecclesiastical writers in the
original when a knowledge of Greek was rare
even among scholars, and in 1431 was appointed
Director General of the Canialdolese Order by
Eugenius IV. A member of the circle which
Cosinio de' Medici had assembled at Florence for
the restoration of the studies of antiquity, he pre-
pared at the request of Cosimo a translation of
Diogenes Laertius. Synionds refers to him as a
"little, meagre, lively, and laborious man."
AMBROS, iim'bios,
August Wilhelm (1816-76). A musical historian, critic, and composer. He was born at Mauth, Bohemia. His History of Music, on which he was engaged from 1860, was left unfinished with the fourth volume, reaching the seventeenth century. This masterly work has been completed in five volumes by W. Langhans. Die Grenzen der Musik und Poesie (1856), a reply to Hanslick's (q.v.) ultra-purist
