Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/827

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ARAUCARIA.
711
ARAWAKAN STOCK.

that of the tallest spruces of modern times. Throughout Mesozoic rocks of America, Europe, and Asia, the genus Araucaria and its allies have been widely recognized by their leaves, branches, fruits, and in some cases by even large trunks. The type genus Araucaria appears first in rocks of Lower Jurassic Age; it reached a considerable degree of expansion in Cretaceous time all over northern Europe and Greenland, and at the end of the Eocene Tertiary it became extinct over that region, probably because of climatic changes which forced it to migrate farther to the southward. It will hence be seen that the modern representatives of this genus are mere relics of a once extensive group of plants which in those earlier times furnished the great forest trees that covered a large part of Europe and Asia, and to a lesser degree portions also of the American continent.

Consult: F. von Mueller, Select Extra-Tropical Plants Readily Eligible for Industrial Culture (Melbourne, 1895); G. Bentham, Flora Australiensis (London, 1863-78); G. Nicholson, Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening (London, 1888); L. H. Bailey, Cyclopædia of American Horticulture (New York., 1900-01). See also article Coniferæ.


ARAUCO, a-rou'ko. A province of Chile, bounded by the provinces of Conccpcion, Bio- Bio, Malleco, and Cantin, and the Pacific Ocean (Map: Chile, C 11). Its area is 4248 square miles. It has a fertile soil and contains some minerals. Formerly the province occupied a far larger area. The population in 1895 was 59,237, excluding Indians. Capital, Lebu, with a population of 2784. See Araucania.


ARAUJO DE AZEVEDO, a-rou'zhft dS ii'- za-vfiMo, Anto.nio de ( Conde da Bnrca) (1754- 1817). A Portuguese statesman and diplomatist, born at Sa, near Ponte de Lima. In 1789 he was appointed ambassador to Thg Hague. In 1797 he negotiated at Paris a treaty with France, but it was rejected by the Directory. A few months later he went as ambassador to Berlin. After the Peace of Amiens he served as ambassador to Saint Petersburg. In 1803 he was recalled to Lisbon, to assume the office of minister of foreign affairs. As head of the State he did much for its material advancement ; but with the capture of Lisbon by Napoleon and the dethronement of the ro.yal fam- ily in 1S07. he accompanied the court to Brazil. During the first years of his residence in the New World, he devoted himself to scientific and literary pursuits. He founded at Rio de Janeiro a school of fine arts and one of medicim and chemistry. He introduced the cultivation of tea, and in many ways encouraged agriculture and industries. In 1814 he was minister of marine for the colonies of Brazil, and the next year received the title of the Count of Barea. At his death he was minister of foreign atTairs. Among his literary works were two tragedies, and translations from Horace, Gray, and Dryden. He died in Rio de .Janeiru.

ARAUJO PORTO-ALEGRE, pOr'to a-la'- gra. Mangel de (1800-79). A Brazilian ar- chitect and poet. He was born at Rio Pardo. in the Province of Sao Pedro, stiulied art at Rio de Janeiro, and art and architecture in Paris and Italy, and in 1837 was appointed professor Hi the Academy of Art at Rio de .Taneiro. He Was appointed consul-general at Stettin in 1859. He designed the church of Santa . a and the Rio Bank, wrote a numlicr of moderately successful comedies, Colombo (an iincompleted epic), and a volume of poems entitled Brasil- ianas (18G3).


ARAUNA, a'ra-oo'na. A South American tribe of Tacanan stock, living along the iladre de Dios, a northern tributary of the Ben! River, on the Peru-Bolivia frontier. Although evidently of considerable importance, contemporary ac- counts concerning them differ radically, Heath (1883) assorting that they are naked cannibals, ugly and ill-formed, while Labre ( 1885) describes them as sedentary agriculturists, and Armentia (1887) says that they are gentle and friendly, and of remarkably light complexion. According to Labre also, they have temples with images of wood and polished stone, and hold women so im- pure as to exclude them from religious rites, and not even to permit them to know the names of the gods.

ARAURE, a-rou'rfl. A town in the State of Lara, Venezuela, on the Acarigua River, twenty miles south of Barquisimeto (Map: Venezuela, D 2). The surrounding region is noted for its fertility in the production of cotton, coffee, and cattle, while near by is the scene of the battle of Arame, December 4, 1813. Population, 4000. ARAVTJLLI, ar'a-vul'le. A mountain range in Rajputana, British India, extending from about latitude 22° 40' N., longitude 74° E., to latitude 26° 50' N., longitude 75° E. (Map: India, B 3). It is about 300 miles long, with a width ranging from 6 to 60 miles. The river system of the .ravulli ilountains is very exten- sive, especially on the northern and southern slopes. The vegetation is very poor, and the valleys inclosed between the hills are mostly sandy and utterly devoid of vegetation.

ARAWAK, a'ra-wak. A tribe living on the Corentyn River in Dutch Guiana, from which the great Arawakan stock (q.v.) derives its name. The word signifies "meal eaters," in allusion to cassava bread, which forms a principal article of diet with the tribe. The Arawak cultivate both cassava and corn, biit depend largely also on hunting and fishing. They have the clan system, with descent in the female line, and practice, the couvade.

ARAWAKAN, a'ra-wii'k«n, STOCK. The most widelj' extended linguistic stock of South America, its tribes formerly reaching, with interruptions, from southern Brazil and Bolivia to the northernmost extremity of the continent, and including also, until the irruption of the Caribs, the whole of the West Indies, several villages being even established upon tlie mainland of Florida. Columbus made his first landing and earliest discoveries in Arawakan territory, and the nannes preserved from Haiti, Cuba, and the Bahamas are readily explained from the existing dialects of this stock. The Arawakan tribes were pressed upon by the Caribs from the lower Orinoco, and these fierce invaders had already seized many of the southern Antilles at the time of the discovery, the occupation being then so recent that the women of the island Caribs, most of whom were Arawak captives, still spoke that language. Physically, the Arawakan tribes are rather undersized, with apparently low vitality. Their plane of culture is