Amundsen
ROALD, a polar exness, witchcraft, or other evils, amulets were common in the ancient world, and they are so yet in nations where igno- 1872. He studied medicine for two years in the University of Christiania. The CAPTAIN ROALD AMUNDSEN call of the sea, however, made itself felt, and he became a member of the Norwegian navy. His first seagoing experience dates from 1893. Four years later he was made first officer of one of the Vessels of the South Polar expedition.
AMUNDSEN In This cruise covered the period 1897-1899, and determined his future career. 1903 he undertook an expedition in a small vessel, the "Gjoa," with the design proved invaluable to him in his subseof relocating the magnetic North Pole. quent work. He was the first man to For more than a year and a half he surveyed an extensive district in the regions about the Pole, and gathered data which thread the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. On Aug.
When he he reached Herschel Island. His desire There remained, however, the field of val Peary's discovery by to discover the Pole remained unabated, Antarctic exploration, and he determined if possible to rival Peary's discovery by reaching the South Pole. When he started out, it was generally believed that he was aiming for the Arctic, and and he was planning an expedition with this in view, when Peary's discovery of the Pole was announced to the world. if possible to rival reaching the South Pole. ug. 13, 1905, started out, it was generally believed it was only when his vessel reached Madeira that he disclosed the real that he was aiming for the Arctic, and Whales on Jan. 14, 1911. Nearly a year his expedition. He reached the Bay of took four companions and started for the was spent at this base, before he was Pole, which he reached Dec. 14, 1911. ready to make the final dash for the took four companions and started for the Pole, which he reached Dec. 14, 1911. by weather South Pole. When at last his prepararels of the discovery would have fallen to his English competitor, Captain Scott. While Amundsen was favored by weather tions were completed in October, 1911, he his English competitor, Captain Scott.
While Amundsen was favored by conditions, this detracted no whit from the greatness of his achievement, which called into play all his native qualities of daring and persistence. The story of his adventures was told in lectures after his return, and embodied in a book, entitled "The South Pole" (1912). Shortly afterward after he planned a trip to the Arctic regions, and the project was well under way, $40,000 having been appropriated by the Norwegian Government for the purpose, when the outbreak and carrying of the World War made a postponement necessary. On June 28, 1918, Amundsen, with a crew of eight men an with him two airplanes, set sail on the ment for the purpose, when the outbreak of the World War made a postponement necessary. On June 28, 1918, Amundsen, Circle. On Sept. 1 he took on oil and supplies at Dixon Island in the White Sea, north of Russia, and sailed northeast. He then pushed east along the north coast of Siberia, until his ship northeast. He then pushed east along was what he desired, for he believed that the ship would be carried by the floes around the northern end of Nova Zembla and from there to the Liakoff Islands on the northern coast of Siberia. From that time no word of the expedition came AMUR from the Arctic silences until March 25, 1920. Then a wireless message from Amundsen was picked up at Cordova, Alaska, from the radio station on St.
Paul's Island, which reported that the expedition was icebound in the Kolyma river. No details were given as to the experiences or discoveries of the party, but it was gathered that the attempt to sail farther north had been abandoned, and that Amundsen was contemplating a return to the United States. It was understood that the object of his expedition had been not to reach the North Pole, but to explore the deep sea that covered the polar circle, to take soundings to determine the shape of the bottom, the temperature and direction of the winds, and other meteorological data. See ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC EXPLORATIONS.
AMUR (am-ör'), a river formed by the junction (about 53° N. lat., and 121° E. long.) of the Shilka and the Argun, which both come from the S. W. -the former rising in the foothills of the Yablonoi Mountains. From the junction, the river flows first from S. E. and then N. E., and, after a total course of 3,060 miles, falls into the Sea of Okhotsk, opposite the island of Sakhalin. Its main tributaries are the Sungari and the Ussuri, both from the S. Above the Ussuri, the Amur is the boundary between Siberia and Manchuria; below it the river runs through Russian territory. It is very valuable for navigation, and carries a considerable fleet of steamers. The river is frozen for six months of the year; in summer there are extensive inundations.
From as early as 1636, Russian adventurers made excursions into the Chinese territories of the lower Amur. In 1854- 1856 two military expeditions were conducted by Count Muravieff, who twice descended the river, unopposed by the Chinese, and established the stations of Alexandrovsk and Nikolaevsk. In 1858 China agreed to the Treaty of Tientsin, by which the boundaries of Russia and China were defined. The left bank of the Amur, and all the territory N. of it, became Russian; and below the confluence of the Ussuri, both banks. In 1860, after the occupation of Pekin by the British and French, General Ignatieff secured the signature of Prince Kung to a treaty, by which Russia acquired the broad and wide territory comprised between the river Amur and the mouth of the Tumên, extending 10° of latitude nearer the temperate regions, and running from the shore of the North Pacific eastward to the banks of the river Ussuri, a principal affluent of the Amur.
AMURATH In September, 1900, Russia took formal possession of the right bank of the river.
This vast territory was divided into two Russian provinces-the Maritime province between the Ussuri and the sea, and the government of Amur, N. of the river. The latter has an area of 175,000 square miles. Pop. about 250,000. The country is richly timbered, and is admirably adapted for pasturage and agriculture. Fur bearing animals are still plentiful, and the river abounds in fish.
The capital is Blagovestschensk. Nikolaevsk, once the only important place in these regions, is on the Amur, 26 miles from its mouth, where the river is 14 miles wide, and in places 15 feet deep; but the political center tends southward to the more temperate maritime province (area, 730,000 square miles), near the southern end of which is situated the important harbor of Vladivostok ("Rule of the East"), or Port May, which, in 1872, was placed in telegraphic communication with Europe by the China submarine cable, and is now the capital of the Amur provinces. As a result of the World War and the Russian revolution the political future of the region is doubtful. Japan has made steady inroads, but may not be able to maintain herself eventually.
AMURATH I. (am-ö-rät'), a sultan of the Turks; succeeded his father Orchan in 1360. He founded the corps of Janissaries, conquered Phrygia, and, on the plains of Kossovo, defeated the Christians. In this battle he was wounded and died the next day, 1389.
AMURATH II., one of the more illustrious of the Ottoman emperors, succeeded his father, Mohammed I., in 1421, at the age of 17. In 1423 he took Thessalonica from the Venetians; in 1435, subdued the despot of Servia, besieged Belgrade, which was successfully defended by John Hunniades; defeated the Hungarians at Varna, in 1444, and slew their king, Ladislaus. He died at Adrianople in 1451. AMURATH III., succeeded his father, Selim II., in 1574. His first act was the murder of his five brothers. He added several of the best provinces of Persia to the Turkish empire. He died in 1595.
AMURATH IV., succeeded his uncle, Mustapha X., 1623. After two unsuccessful attempts he took Bagdad from the Persians in 1638, and ordered the massacre of 30,000 prisoners who had surrendered at discretion. He died in AMYGDALIN a AMYGDALIN (C20H27NO113H2O), crystalline principle existing in the kernel of bitter almonds, the leaves of the nel of bitter almonds, the leaves of the prunus laurocerasus, and various other plants, which, by distillation, yield hydrocyanic acid. It is obtained, by extraction with boiling alcohol, from the traction with boiling alcohol, from the paste or cake of bitter almonds, which remains after the fixed oil has been separated by pressure. When obtained pure, it has a sweetish, somewhat bitter taste, and is not poisonous, and, when treated with alkaline solvents, ammonia is expelled, and amygdalic acid, C20H20O12, is produced.