which the clergy wcio fnrlpiilden in the fourth century to luako, under jKiin of deprivation of holy orders, and tlie weaiinj;' of whieli was sol- emnly condemned by a council in 721. But in the East the practice still flourishes, as well as in primitive parts of southern Europe. Consult: KincT, History of Precious Stones and Gems (London, 187.3) ; and Wachsmuth in the Athe- nwum (Berlin), Volume II., pp. 209 foil.
AMUNATEGUI, a'muo-na'tft-ge, Miguel
Lui.s (1S2S-8S). . Chilean author, born at San-
tiago. He studied at the National Institute and
was appointed professor there in 1847. He won
a prize in 1850, olVered by the Institute for the
best history of the Spanish conquest of 1814-17,
with his La recoiirjuista Espailola (1850). He
became a member of the philosophic faculty of
the Institute in 1851, was appointed Assistant
Secretary of the Interior and of State In 1802,
and held several important public offices. He
published La Dietailura itc O'Him/ins (1854),
Biografias Americanas (1855), Cotn/iendio de
historia politica y ecclesidstica en Chile (1850),
Los Prccursorrs de la I ndependencia de Chile
(1870-72) and other wwks.
AMUR, ;i-mo(7i'. A province of eastern Si-
beria (q.v. ), situated north of the River Amur;
area, 172,848 square miles. It was ceded by
China to Russia in 1858. The capital is Blagov-
yestchensk. Pop., 1891, 87,705; 1897, 118,570.
AMUR'. A river of Asia, formed by the junc-
tion of the Shilka and Argun rivers, near the
Russian village of Ust-Strielka, at the north end
of the Khingan Mountains, lat. 53° 20' N. and
long. 121° 28' E. (Map: Asia, N 4). From the
point of Junction of the two rivers the Amur
flows at first east and then southeast along the
northern boundary of Manchuria. At the east-
ern extremity of Manchuria it turns northward
and near Fort Nicolayevsk, in lat. 53° 20' N., it
empties into the strait which separates the
island of Saghalien from the mainland, near the
point where that channel opens into the Sea of
Okhotsk. Including its headstream of Argun,
the Amur has a total length of nearly 2800 miles
and its basin is estimated at about 750,000
square miles. The principal tributary of the
Amur is the Sungari, which joins it on the right
near the |)oint at which the Amur begins its
great bend toward the north. Another impor-
tant affluent from the right is the Ussuri. The
chief affluents on the left are the Seya and the
Bureya. The river is very wide in the lower
part of its course, and there are many islands
in it. The great station of the steamers that
navigate the Amur and the Ussuri is Khabar-
ovsk (formerly called Khabarovka), w-hich is
connected by rail with Vladivostok. On the left
bank of the Amur, near the parallel of .50°, Is
Blagovyestchensk, the capita! of the Amur ter-
ritory: A short distance below this town, on
the opposite bank, is Aigun. The Amur is nav-
igable for smaller vessels through its entire
course, and steamers can ascend the Shilka be-
yond the town of Strietensk. The Amur is open
for navigation only for about six months in the
year. The region through which it flows is
partly covered with thick forests, and but few
settlements are found on its banks.
As early as 1030. several Russian adventurers, attracted by rumors of the wealth of the regions to the southeast of Lake Baikal, made excursions into the Chinese territories on the Lower Amur by way of the Shilka River. In 1649 Khabarofl' descended tlie Amur, subdued the native tribes, and erected a number of forts at the junction of its tributaries. In 1658, Ner- tchinsk on the Shilka was founded, and about 1065 Fort Albasin was erected. The Chinese, who had watched the Russian advance with great uneasiness, now took up arms, attacked Fort Albasinrepeatedly,andin the peace of Neitchinsk (1089) succeeded in closing the Amur to the Russians, who for more than one hundred and fifty years made no conquests in Manchuria, and contented themselves with extending their in- fluence through commerce, missionary work, and diplomacy. With the appointment of Count Nicholas MuraviefT to the governorship of East Siberia, active operations recommenced. A line of forts was constructed on the Amur, the coast of the Gulf of Tartary, and the island of Sag- halien. In four expeditions undertaken in 1854 and subsequent years Muravieff established the authority of Russia over the Amur region, and some slight attempts were made at colonizing the country with Russian settlers. With the English and French marching upon Peking, China could not resist the Russian encroachments. The treaties of Aigun and Tien-tsin concluded in 1858, and the supplementary treaty of Peking in 1800, in ceding Eastern Manchuria to the Russians, merely gave formal recognition to an accom- plished fact. By these treaties Russia obtained possession of all the country between the Pacific and the Amur, the Ussuri and the Tiumen rivers down to the Korean frontier. In this manner the long-desired goal of Russian foreign policy, an outlet and an ice-free port on the Pacific, was attained. The new territory was divided into two regions, the Amur Territory and the Jlari- time Province. In 1861, Vladivostok (Mis- tress of the East), was founded on the Gulf of Peter the Great, in the extreme southeast of Russian territory; strongly fortified, it became the chief military centre and arsenal of the Russians in the East, while its port was made the rendezvous for the Russian Asiatic fleet. Con- sult: Schrenek, Reisen and Forschungen im Amur Lnnde (St. Petersburg, 1858-92) ; Shirnkievitch, "Reisen bei den Amur-Volkern," in pt. 74, Globus (Brunswick, 1898). See also Siberia ; Manciiukia.
AMURATH, ii'moo-rat', or MURAD' I.
( 1319-89) . Sultan of the Ottoman Eni])ire from
1359 to 1389, succeeding his father Orkhan. He
was the first to lead a powerful Turkish army
into Europe, and in 1361 took Adrianople and
fixed there his residence. He completed the sub-
jugation of Asia Minor, and in 1389 his army
dealt a crushing blow to the kingdom of Servia
in a battle fought at Kossovo. The great Sultan
himself was slain on the field of battle, stabbed,
according to the common accoimt. by a wounded
Servian nobleman as he was surveying the scene
of his victory. Amurath was illiterate, signing
treaties by dipping his hand in ink and making
a mark with three fingers together, with the
fourth finger and thumb stretched wide apart.
AMURATH, or MURAD II. (1401-51). The tenth Sultan of the Turks. He succeeded his father, Mohammed I., in 1421. In 1422 he contended against a pretender, Mustapha (the legitimate Mustapha having previously died), but overcame him without bloodshed. He took Salonica from the Venetians in 1430. and opened the
