ASSAIi 306 ASSAYING ASSAL, a large salt lake in the dis- trict of Ada!, in eastern Africa, nearly 9 miles from the coast of the Bay of Tajurrah. It is nearly 600 feet below the level of the sea. Abyssinian caravans resort to Assal for the purpose of carry- ing oflF the salt, which is thickly incrusted on its shores. ASSAM, a province at the N. E. ex- tremity of British India, stretching in N. lat. between 23"* and 28"", and in E, long, between 89° and 97° with an area of 61,471 square miles and a population of about 7,500,000. In 1874 it was formed into a separate administration (including Cachar) under a chief commissioner. It consists of a fertile series of valleys, watered by the Brahmaputra and more than 60 lesser rivers. It is thus very fertile, and abounds in wood. The tea- plant is indigenous and Assam's tea culture has become of first importance. The other products are rice, mustard, gold, ivory, amber, musk, iron, lead, pe- troleum, and coal. From Bengal, the prin- cipal imports are woolens, India fabrics, salt, opium, glass, earthenware, tobacco, betel, etc. The development of the rich coal fields is of increasing importance. In 1826, at the close of the first Burmese war, Assam was ceded to the British. But it was only in 1838 that the entire country was placed under British administration. Since then, the province has exhibited a noticeable improvement. The population being rural and agricul- tural, the only towns of any size are Gauthati and Sebsagar. The peasantry are indolent, good-natured, and fairly prosperous, short and robust in person, with a flat face and high cheek-bones, and coarse, black hair. A majority of the people are Hindus. One of the most striking features of Assam is the abun- dance of wild animals, such as tigers, rhinoceroses, leopards, bears, buffaloes, and elephants. Many people are killed by wild animals, but snakes are most de- structive to human life. The forests teem v/ith game, and the rivers with fish. ASSASSINATION", the act of taking the life of anyone by surprise or treach- erous violence either by a hired emissary, by one devoted to the deed, or by one who has taken the task upon himself. Gen- erally, the term is applied to the murder of a public personage by one who aims solely at the death of his victim. In ancient times, assassination was not un- known, and was often even applauded, as in the Scriptural instances of Ehud and Jael, and in the murder of Hip- parchus by Harmodius and Aristogeiton ; but assassination by enthusiasts and men devoted to an idea first became really prominent in the religious struggles of the 16th and 17th centuries. To this class belong the plots against the life of Queen Elizabeth of England; while the horrible succession of assassinations of Roman emperors is simply a series of murders prompted by self -interest or revenge. In modern times assassination is usually based on political motives. See Anarchism. ASSASSINS, or ISMAILI, a sect of re- ligious fanatics who existed in the 11th and 12th centuries. They derived their name of assassins originally from their immoderate use of hasheesh, which pro- duces an intense cerebral excitement, often amounting to fury. Their founder and law giver was Hassan-ben-Sabah, to whom the Orientals gave the name of Sheikh-el-Jobelz, but v%ho was better known in Europe as the "Old Man of the Mountain"; he was a wily impostor, who made fanatical and implicit slaves of his devotees, by imbuing them with a religion compounded of that of the Christians, the Jews, the Magi, and the Mohammedans. The principal article of their belief was that the Holy Ghost was embodied in their chief, and that his orders proceeded from the Deity, and were declarations of the divine will. They believed assassination to be meri- torious when sanctioned by his command, and courted danger and death in the execution of his orders. In the time of the crusades, they mustered to the num- ber of 50,000. So great was the power of the Sheikh, that the sovereigns of every quarter of the globe secretly pensioned him. For a long time this fearful sect reigned in Persia, and on Mt, Lebanon. Holagoo, or Hulaka, a Mogul Tartar, in 1254, dispossessed them of several of their strongholds; but it was not till some years after that they were extir- pated partially by the Egyptian forces sent against them by the great Sultan Bibars. A feeble residue of the Ismaili has survived in Persia and Syria. The Sjrrian Ismaili dwell around Mesiode, W. of Homar, and on Lebanon; they are under Turkish dominion, with a sheikh of their ovra, and formerly enjoyed a productive and flourishing agriculture and commerce. ASSAYING, the estimation of the amount of pure metal, and especially of the precious metals, in an ore or alloy. In the case of silver, the assay is either by the dry or by the wet process. The dry process is called cupellation, from the use of a small and very porous cup, called a cupel, formed of well burned and finely ground bone ash made into a
