DAMAN 253 DAMASK dam itself was carried away, and flooded the town of Johnstown, Pa., with a loss of over 2,000 lives and about $4,000,000 in property. The Walnut Grove Dam in Arizona failed on Feb. 22, 1890. This dam was a rock-fill structure, and the failure was caused by inadequate spill- way. The Colorado River Dam at Austin, Tex., failed in 1900 because of poor foundations; and because of faulty construction, the concrete dam at Austin, Pa., failed on Sept. 30, 1911, and cost 35 lives. Because of structural weak- ness caused by improper drying of the materials, the Lyman Dam across the Little Colorado river in Arizona, failed in 1915. In 1916 an old dam near Gab- lonz, Bohemia, failed, with a loss of over 300 lives. DAMAN (da-man'), or DAMAO, a fortified post and district in India, be- longing to Portugal since 1558, on the Gulf of Cambay, 100 miles N. of Bombay. The climate is generally healthy, the soil moist and fertile. The chief products are cereals, rice, tobacco, and wheat, and there are also important deep-sea fisheries and salt works. Ad- ministratively the district belongs to GOA (q. v.). Area, 170 square miles; Pop. about 75,000. DAMARALAND (da-ma'ra-) , a terri- tory in the W. of south Africa, between Namaqualand and Ovampoland proper, extending from the Atlantic to about 19° 45' E. Ion. Behind the waterless coast region (100 miles) rises a moun- tain district, with peaks over 8,500 feet above the sea; and farther inland stretch wide prairies. The mountains are rich in minerals, especially copper; vegetation is confined to their valleys, and to the prairie region, which in the N. enjoys a fine rainfall. The produce of the interior consists of ivory, feathers, skins, etc. The Damaras, properly He- rero, a Bantu stem, number about 80,- 000, of whom 50,000 live in the moun- tain district; they are nomads, and own large flocks and herds. The Hawkoin, or Hill Damaras, in the N. E., however, who are a much lower type, now speak Hottentot. The only harbor in this part of the coast is Walfish Bay, which be- longs to Great Britain. The rest of Damaraland forms part of the former German colony, German Southwest Africa (q. v.). In 1884 the desert re- gion along the coast was made a German protectorate. DAMASCUS, a celebrated city, formerly capital of the Turkish vilayet of Syria, now capital of the independent state of Syria (q. v.). It is beautifully situated on a plain which is covered with gardens and orchards and watered by the Barrada. The appearance of the city, as it first opens on the view, has been rapturously spoken of by all travelers; but the streets are narrow, crooked, and in parts dilapidated, and, except in the wealthy Moslem quarter, the houses are low, with flat-arched doors and accumu- lations of filth before the entrance. Within, however, there is often a singu- lar contrast, in courts paved with marble and ornamented with trees and spouting fountains the rooms adorned with ara- besques and filled with splendid furni- ture. Among the chief buildings are the Great Mosque and the Citadel. The bazaars are a notable feature of Damas- cus. They are simply streets or lanes covered in with high wood-work and lined with shops, stalls, cafes, etc. In the midst of the bazaars stands the Great Khan, it and 30 inferior khans being used as exchanges or market places by the merchants. One of the most important and busiest streets is "Straight Street," mentioned in connec- tion with the conversion of the Apostle Paul. Damascus is an important em- porium of trade in European manufac- tures; it is also a place of considerable manufacturing industry in silk, damasks, cotton and other fabrics, tobacco, glass, soap, etc. Saddles, fine cabinet-work, and elegant jewelry are well made; but the manufacture of the famous Damas- cus blades no longer exists. It has rail- way connections with Aleppo, Beirut, and the Hejas, and is the seat of a Mel- chite Patriarch. It is one of the holy Moslem cities, and continues to be one of the most thoroughly Oriental in all its features of any city in existence. Of its origin nothing certain is known; but it is of great antiquity, being mentioned as a jjlace apparently of importance in Gen. xiv: 15. After passing successively under the power of Israelites, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, it fell at last in 1516 into the hands of the Turks. On Oct. 1, 1918, the city was occupied by British troops. Pop. about 250,000. DAMASK, a rich silk stuff originally made at Damascus, and thence deriving its name. It had raised figures in vari- ous patterns, and flowers in their natural colors embossed upon a white or colored ground. The work was probably of the nature of embroidery in the first place, but the figures were afterward exhibited on the surface by a peculiar arrange- ment of the loom, which brought up cer- tain of the colors and depressed others, according to the requirements of the pattern. Also a woven fabric of linen, extensive- ly used for table-cloths, fine toweling, 17— Vol. Ill — Cyc
