Page:EB1911 - Volume 26.djvu/408

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TAMATAVE—TAMAYO Y BAUS
387

ends of the branches or from the trunk. Each has 4-5 free sepals, and as many petals springing with the 4-10 stamens from a fleshy disk. In Tamarix the stamens are free, while in Myricaria they are united into one parcel. The free ovary is one-celled, with basal placentas, and surmounted by 3-5 styles. The fruit is capsular, and contains numerous seeds, each usually with a long tuft of hairs at one end. The great value of these shrubs or trees lies in their ability to withstand the effects of drought and a saline soil, in consequence of which they grow where little else can flourish. On this account the common tamarisk, T. gallica, is planted on sea-coasts, and affords shelter where none other could be provided. Some species produce galls, valued for their tannin, while the astringent bark of others has occasionally been used for medicinal purposes. The ashes of the plant, when grown near the sea, are said to contain soda. For tamarisk manna, see Manna.


TAMATAVE (called by the natives Tòamàsina), the chief seaport of Madagascar, situated nearly on the centre of the eastern coast in 18° 10' S., 49° 32' E. It owes its importance to the existence of a coral reef, which forms a spacious and fairly commodious harbour, entered by two openings. The town is built on a sandy peninsula which projects at right angles from the general coast-line. On this are crowded together a considerable number of houses, with good shops and merchants' offices in the main thoroughfares. Tamatave is the seat of several foreign consuls, as well as of numerous French officials, and is the chief port for the capital and the interior. Imports consist principally of piece-goods, farinaceous foods, and iron and steel goods, and exports of gold dust, raffia, hides, caoutchouc and live animals. Communication with Europe is maintained by steamers of the Messageries Maritimes and the Havraise companies, and also with Mauritius, and from thence to Ceylon, by the British Union-Castle line. Of the whole foreign trade of Madagascar, 46 per cent, is through Tamatave. Owing to the character of the soil and the formerly crowded native population, the town has often been attacked by epidemics: the plague broke out in 1898, and again in 1900; but since the draining of the neighbouring marshes, there has been improvement. Since 1895 the native population has been removed from the town and settled in a new village to the north-west. A telegraph, 180 miles in length, connects Tamatave with the capital. There is also a service, partly by railway and partly by steamer, along the coast lagoons, connecting the port with Antanànarìvo. Pop. about 4600.


TAMAULIPAS, a northern Gulf-coast state of Mexico, bounded N. by Texas, U.S.A., E. by the Gulf of Mexico, S.E. by Vera Cruz, S. by San Luis Potosi, W. by Nuevo Leon, and N.W. by Coahuila. Area 32,128 sq. m. Pop. (1900) 218,948. The central and southern parts of the state are mountainous, but there are extensive fertile plains in the N. sloping gently N.E. toward the Rio Grande, and the coastal zone is sandy, much broken by lagoons and uninhabited. Except in the N. this coastal zone is only 5 to 7 m. wide, but the foothills region back of this is usually well wooded and fertile, and the low alluvial river valleys penetrate deeply into the sierras. There are four navigable rivers in the state — the Rio Grande del Norte, or Rio Bravo, which forms the boundary line with the United States, the Conchas or Presas, the Soto da Marina, and the Tamesi. The Panuco forms the southern boundary for a short distance. A peculiar feature of the hydrography of Tamaulipas is the series of coastal lagoons formed by the building of new beaches across the indentations of the coast. The largest of these is the Laguna de la Madre, 125 m. long, which receives the waters of the Rio Conchas, and is separated in places from the Gulf by only a narrow ridge of sand dunes. The climate is hot, humid and malarial on the coast, but is pleasant on the more elevated lands of the interior. On the plains bordering the Rio Grande frosts are frequent. The rainfall is abundant, especially on the mountain slopes of the south. The principal industry is agriculture. Sugar, cereals, tobacco, cotton and coffee are produced, and probably fruit may be raised successfully. Stock-raising receives some attention and hides and cattle are exported. The preparation of ixtle fibre for export is becoming an important industry. Copper is mined and extensive deposits of petroleum and asphalt are being exploited. Railway communication is provided by the Mexican National which crosses the northern end of the state, the Belgian line from Monterrey to Tampico, and a branch of the Mexican Central from San Luis Potosi to Tampico.

The capital of Tamaulipas is Ciudad Victoria (pop. in 1900, 10,086), a small sierra town on the Monterrey and Tampico railway about 120 m. from Tampico. Its public buildings are good and it has the improvements of a modern town. It has a fine climate, a good trade, and is a summer resort for residents of the coast. The city is near the Rio Santander, and was once called Nuevo Santander. Among other towns in the state may be mentioned: Matamoros (q.v.), on the Rio Grande; Tampico (q.v.), on the Panuco, the principal port of the state; Tula (6935 in 1900); Jaumave (about 10,000 in 1900, chiefly Indians), 38 m. S.W. of Ciudad Victoria, in the heart of a prominent ixtle-producing region; Mier (7114 in 1895), on the Rio Grande, 95 m. E.N.E. of Monterrey; San Carlos (6871 in 1895), 57 m. N.E. of the capital; Camareo (6815 in 1895), on the San Juan near the Rio Grande, once the old Spanish mission of San Augustin Laredo; and Reynosa (6137 in 1895). 54 m. W.N.W. of Matamoros.


TAMAYO Y BAUS, MANUEL (1820-1898), Spanish dramatist, was born at Madrid on the 15th of September 1829. He came of a family connected with the theatre, his mother being the eminent actress Joaquina Baus. It is interesting to note that she appeared as Geneviève de Brabant in an arrangement from the French made by Tamayo when he was in his twelfth year. Through the influence of his uncle, Antonio Gil y Zárate, minister of education, Tamayo's independence was secured by his nomination to a post in a government office. The earliest of his printed pieces, Juana de Arco (1847), is an arrangement from Schiller, and Una Aventura de Richelieu, which the author has not cared to preserve, is said to be an imitation of Alexandre Duval. The general idea of his Angela (1852) was derived from Schiller's Kabale und Liebe, but the atmosphere is Spanish, the situations are original, and the phrasing is Tamayo's own. His first great success was Virginia (1853), a dramatic essay in Alfieri's manner, remarkable for its ingenuity and noble diction. In 1854 Tamayo was expelled from his post by the new Liberal government, but was restored before long by Cándido Nocedal, a minister who had been struck by the young man's talent. He collaborated with Aureliano Fernández-Guerra y Orbe in writing La Ricahembra (1854), a historical drama which recalls the vigour of Lope de Vega. La Locura de Amor (1855), in which Juana la loca, the passionate, love-sick daughter of Isabel the Catholic, figures as the chief personage, established Tamayo's reputation as Spain's leading playwright. Hija y Madre (1855) is a failure, and La Bola de Nieve (1856) is notable solely for its excellent workmanship. It is unfortunate that Tamayo's straitened means forced him to put original work aside and to adapt pieces from the French. Examples of this sort are fairly numerous. Lo Positivo (1862), imitated from Adrien-Augustin-Léon Laya's Duc Job, is well-nigh forgotten, though the Spanish version is a dexterous piece of stagecraft and contains some elements of original value. Del dicho al hecho (1864) is from La Pierre de touche of Jules Sandeau and Émile Augier, and a pleasing proverb, Más vale Maña que Fuerza (1866) is a great improvement upon Mme Caroline Berton's Diplomatie du Ménage. The revolution of 1868, which cost Tamayo his post at the San Isidro Library, is indirectly responsible for No hay mal que por bien no venga (1868), a clever arrangement of Le Feu au Convent, by Henri Murger's friend, Théodore Barrière. During these seven years Tamayo produced only one original piece, Lances de Honor (1863), which turned upon the immorality of duelling, and led to a warm discussion among the public. Written in prose, the piece is inspired by a breath of medieval piety which had not been felt in the Spanish theatre since the 17th century. This renascence of an old-world motive has induced many critics to consider Lances de Honor as Tamayo's best work, but that distinction should be accorded rather to Un Drama nuevo (1867), a play in which the author has ventured to place Shakespeare and Yorick upon the scene. Los Hombres de bien (1870) was