WAGRAM 266 WAINWRIGHT to a size for a book; that is, about SVi inches on a side. The cane is used in preference to steel, as the gold does not adhere to it. WAGRAM, a village of Lower Aus- tria; on the left bank of the Rossbach; 12 miles N. E. of Vienna; famous for the great battle in 1809 between the French under Napoleon and the Aus- trians under the Archduke Charles, each about 15,000 strong. The battle was well contested, but the result gave Napoleon a decisive victory, which was follov/ed up by an armistice and the treaty of Schonbrunn (Oct. 14). WAGTAIL, a name of birds included in the family of the warblers, and so termed from their habit of jerking their long tails when running or perching. They inhabit meadow lands and pastures, frequent water pools and streams, are agile runners, and have a rapid flight. The food consists of insects. Their nests, built on the ground, contain from four to six eggs. These birds belong to both Old and New Worlds and migrate S. in winter; but the pied wagtail (Motacilla Yarrellii) is a permanent resident in Great Britain. It is almost wholly black on the upper parts; the under parts are grayish white. Other representative va- rieties, distributed principally over the European continent and the East, are the white wagtail (M. alba) ; the gray wagtail (M. campestris or Boarula) ; and the yellow or Ray's wagtail (M. sulphu- rea or Budytes Rayi). WAHABI, or WAHABEE, in the plural in Mohammedanism, a sect found- ed by Abdul Wahhab, born toward the end of the 17th century, near Der'aiyeh, the capital of Nejd, in Arabia. During the Saracen period the Mohammedan sacred places were in Arab custody. When the Saracen was succeeded by the Turkish power they passed over into Turkish keeping. It is obligatory on every Mussulman who can afford the expense, to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his life. The Arabs were greatly scandalized by the moral laxity of some of the pilgrims, and it became painfully apparent that even the best of them had largely departed from the purity of the faith, according divine honors to Mohammed, elevating tradition to the same level as revealed scripture, and quietly ignoring any precept of the Koran which required self-denial for its performance. Abdul Wahhab felt it a duty to make a determined effort to re- store Mohammedanism to its pristine purity, and the most earnest Moslems gradually became his followers. Con- verting to his views Mohammed Ibu Saud, the powerful Sheikh of Der'aiyeh, whose daughter he married, he induced his father-in-law to draw his sword for the establishment of a pure Moham- medan theocracy. The Bedouins flocked to his standard; the towns of Arabia, less inclined to adopt the new faith, had to be con- quered. The Pasha of Bagdad, A. D. 1748 and 1749, somewhat retarded, but did not permanently arrest their prog- ress. In A. D. 1765 (1172 of the Hegira) the father-in-law died, and on June 14, 1787 (A. H. 1206), the revivalist or re- former. The former was succeeded by his son, Abdul-Aziz. In 1797 the Waha- bees pillaged the town and tomb of Husein; in 1803 they captured Mecca, and in 1804 Medina, where they plun- dered the tomb of Mohammed himself. By this time Abdul-Aziz had been suc- ceeded by his son Saud, by whose orders the Khootba (public prayer) was no longer allowed to be offered in the name of the Sultan. With the exception of the territory subject to the Imam of Muscat, all Arabia now submitted to the Waha- bees. They also captured some Arabic towns on the coast of Persia, and Waha- bee pirates infested the Persian Gulf. In 1809 these pirates were severely pun- ished by the British, in conjunction with the Imam of Muscat. The same year Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, prepared to attack them. In 1812 he took Medina, and in 1813 Mecca. In 1816 Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mehemet Ali, assumed the command of the Egyptian troops and entering Arabia, took Der'aiyeh in 1818, and capturing Abdullah, son and suc- cessor of Saud, sent him to Constanti- nople, where he was beheaded. In 1827, 1834, 1838, and 1839 the Wahabees at- tempted to excite insurrections, and re- quired continual vigilance from Egypt. In 1862 and 1863 Palgrave found them numerous in Arabia. WAIKATO, the principal river of the North Island of New Zealand; flows first into Lake Taupo, and then out of it N. to Manakan harbor, with a total course of 170 miles. Between the Upper Waikato, Lake Taupo, Mount Ruapehu, and the W. coast lies the mountainous and picturesque "King Country," occu- pied mainly by Maoris under their king, who till 1884 resolutely opposed the sur- vey or settlement by Europeans of the lands within their aiikati or frontier. WAINWRIGHT, JONATHAN MAY- HEW, an American clergyman; born of American parents in Liverpool, Eng- land, Feb. 24, 1793; was graduated at Harvard College in 1812; studied theo-«
