Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/270

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258 INDUS INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITIONS Soohan, and expands again to 1,500 ft. with an average depth of 60 ft. For the next 350 m., to Mittun Kote, the Indus takes a more south- erly course, and separates into numerous arms, enclosing fertile islands, which are covered du- ring the summer inundations with an immense sheet of water, extending over the level coun- try of the E. bank. The main channel near Kaheree is 3,000 ft. wide and 12 ft. deep. Near Mittun Kote occurs the influx of the Punjnud, which carries into it the waters of the Jhylum, Ohenaub, Ravee, Beas, and Sut- lej, the five rivers of the Punjaub. The In- dus swells here in its lowest stage to a width of 6,000 ft., and spreads in times of inundation over 20 m. on the W. and 10 or 12 m. on the E. side. A S. "W. course of about 50 m. carries it into the arid, rainless, alluvial plain of Sinde, where extensive irrigation works have been con- structed by the British government, and others are in progress. The river has so frequently changed its direction in flowing through this region that traces of ancient channels are very numerous, the main channel being now consider- ably further W. than formerly. Its banks are higher than the adjacent tracts, the surface of which slopes away from the river. This pecu- liarity is due to the silt brought down by the waters of the Indus and deposited in conse- quence of the decreased rapidity of its current in this nearly level country. These silt depos- its are constantly forming new land in some localities and causing the river to break through its banks in others. From Mittun Kote to the sea the Indus flows over a distance of about 450 m. The East Narra is an ancient channel which separates from it near Soodaja, and ex- tends S. E. through the desert of Thur ; it is now supplied with water by canals connecting with the Indus. The West Narra branches oil 18 m. below Roree, follows a tortuous S. course of about 160 m., forms the Mantchoor lake, and returns to the Indus near Sewan, 10 m. below. From this point the bed of the Indus is depressed 16 to 18 ft. below the adjacent lands. The Fulailee was originally a natural branch of the Indus on the E. side, returning to it about 16 m. below Hydrabad, the capital of Sinde, which is situated on the tract of land thus turned into an island. It has been converted into a main feeder for irrigation canals, S. and E. of that city. The delta of the Indus consists of numerous mouths be- tween Hydrabad and the Arabian sea, and is about 100 m. long and 130 m. wide. The principal mouths are the Koree, the Seer, the Mooll or Maw, the Kookeewarree, the Kedy- warree, the Rechel, the Pinteeanee, and the Pittee. The last is at present the widest and deepest, and always navigable ; the Hujamree was the most important till 1838, when a sud- den change in the channel rendered it entirely useless. The tide rises as far as Tattah, about 70 m. from the sea. The Indus is not naviga- ble above Roree for vessels of more than 4 ft. draught. The entire length of the Indus is about 2,000 m., and the area of its drainage basin is estimated at 372,000 sq. m. The rise of the river commences in May, and its waters subside in the latter part of August. The 1,700 m. of railroad now in operation through Bom- bay, Sinde, and the Punjaub render the Indus less important as a means of transportation than as a means of irrigation in a sultry cli- mate where rain seldom falls. The water is very unwholesome in the early part of the in- undation, and at other times it is wholesome only if kept until the earthy and vegetable admixtures subside. Fish are abundant, and form a large portion of the sustenance of the population of the adjacent country. The alli- gators in it are long-snouted, of the kind called gavial. In the Vedic writings the Indus is called the king of rivers, and the Ganges as well as the other streams sing praises unto it. It is generally designated in them as Sindhu, " the river." The ancient inhabitants had no more definite name for their country bordering on the Indus than Sapta Sindhavas, " the seven rivers," counting with it the Cabool and the five chief streams of the Punjaub. INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITIONS, public competi- tive displays of products for the encourage- ment of arts and manufactures, local, national, and international. The first industrial exhibi- tion was held in Paris in 1798, and comprised chiefly specimens of French art manufactures, not contributed by their producers, but loaned by owners. This display led in the same year to a larger exhibition of all kinds of French manufactures, and the utility and success of the show prompted the more extended exposi- tions, under the consulate of Napoleon, in 1801 and 1802. Thereafter exhibitions intended to be triennial, but interrupted by political causes or by war, were held from 1806 to 1849, the llth and last exceeding all former ones. The first industrial exhibition in Great Britain was opened under royal patronage in London in 1828, but was not successful. Local exhibi- tions of the industry of manufacturing districts were held at Manchester in 1837, at Leeds in 1839, and at Birmingham in 1849. The royal society of Dublin began in 1829 a series of trien- nial exhibitions of Irish manufactures. Similar local exhibitions were held at Ghent in 1820, at Berlin in 1834, and at Vienna in 1835. The first international exhibition at Paris in 1844 was so successful as to commend the scheme to the London society of arts, and in 1849 it matured a plan for a "world's fair," which was presented to the public by the president of the society, Prince Albert, who declared that the time had come to prepare for a great exhibition, " not merely national in its scope and benefits, but comprehensive of the whole world." A royal commission was issued Jan. 3, 1850, and the queen headed a subscription list with 1,000. A building popularly known as the " crystal palace " was erected in Hyde Park, from designs of Mr. (afterward Sir Joseph) Paxton, composed, excepting the floor-