was secured, and Aahmes united the whole land under his sway. See Amasis; and Tanis.
AVARS, il'varz, or AVA'RI. A tribe of Eastern origin, which made its appearance a century later than the Bulgarians in the countries about the Don, the Caspian Sea, and the Volga. One part of them remained at the Caucasus, another part pressed forward (about A.D. 555) to the Danube, and settled in Dacia. Here they served in Justinian's army, and assisted the Lombards to overturn the kingdom of the Gepidæ; and, about the end of the Sixth Century, under the mighty Khan Bayan, they conquered Pannonia. Later they made themselves masters of Dalmatia; pressed devastating incursions into Germany, as far as Thuringia, and into Italy, where they warred with the Franks and Lombards; and extended their dominion over the Slavs living on, and southward from, the Danube, as well as over the Bulgarians as far as the Black Sea. These nations at last rose against them, and in 640 drove them out of Dalmatia. Confined to Pannonia, they were subdued by Charlemagne, and well-nigh extirpated by the Moravians, so that after 827 they disappear from history. They usually surrounded their settlements with fortilications of stakes driven into the ground, some traces of which, under the name of 'Avarian rings,' are yet found in the countries formerly occupied by them. The results of the most recent criticism show that in all probability the Avars belonged to the same great Turanian stock as the Huns, and that their original residence was the land lying east of the Tobol, in Siberia.
AVARS. One of the Lesghian tribes of Daghestan, in the Caucasus, estimated to number about 100,000. They profess Mohammedanism, and possess a written language with Arabic characters. They are noteworthy from the fact that the great Lesghian warrior and patriot, Schamyl (died 1871), who led the peoples of the Caucasus in their struggle against Russia, was an Avar. Some make the Avars one branch of a Turanian people, the other of which is represented by the Avars who preceded the Magyars into Central Europe, the invading horde dividing on the western shore of the Caspian. But proof of the identity of these two peoples is lacking. The facial characters of many of the Avars suggest Mongoloid affinities, or at least an admixture of Mongolian blood. See Lesghians.
AVATAR, av'a-tar'
(from Skt. avatāra; ava, down + tar, to pass over). A term which primarily signifies, in Sanskrit, a descent, but is specially applied to the descent of a Hindu deity upon the earth in a manifest shape, either for beneficent or for retributive ends. It is thus almost synonymous in its signification with the Christian term incarnation. The word is sometimes rhetorically employed in English literature. The avatars of Vishnu (q.v.) are the most famous in Hindu mythology.
AVATCHA, a-va'cha.
A bay of considerable dimensions in the Sea of Kamchatka, in latitude 53° N., by far the largest on the shores of the peninsula. It is about 31 miles in circumference. On its shores are four volcanoes. It abounds in seal (Phoca nautica).
AVATCHA. A great active volcano, with two craters, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, in latitude 53° 18' N., and longitude 158° 47' E. In many respects it resembles Vesuvius. Its height is variously estimated from 8360 feet to 10,840 feet. The most violent eruption occurred in 1737, and the most recent in 1855.
AVEBURY, a'ber-I,
or ABURY. A small village in Wiltshire, England, 25 miles north of Salisbury, and 6 miles west by north of Marlborough (Map: England, E 5). It is the site of megalithic structures of ancient date. An earthen rampart 40 feet in height originally inclosed a circle about 1100 feet in diameter, outlined by stones averaging 16 feet in height. Within the large circle were two smaller double circles, with monuments at the centre. An avenue of similar stones led from the outer ring in a southeasterly direction to Silbury Hill, the largest artificial hill in Europe, supposed to be a British barrow. Avebury Circle is popularly conjectured to be the remnant of a Druid temple, but its real date or character has not been ascertained. It gives its name to the title of the scientist. Sir John Lubbock (Lord Avebury).
AVEIRO, ava'e-rij.
A seaport and seat of a bishopric in Portugal, in the Province of Beira, 31 miles northwest of Coimbra (Map: Portugal, A 2). It is situated at the mouth of the Vouga, on the Rio d'Aveiro, a salt lake or lagoon, extending five leagues to the north, and separated from the sea by a narrow bar of sand. It has a brisk export trade in salt, olive-oil, wine, and oranges. Population, in 1890, 10,000.
AVÉ-LALLEMANT, a'va' lal'miiN',
Friedrich Christian Benedict (1809-92). A German criminologist. He was born in Lübeck, studied at Jena, became advocate at Lübeck in 1834, and was a police magistrate in that city from 1851 to 1868. His chief work is Das deutsche Gaunertum (4 vols. Leipzig, 1858-62), a study of the history of crime in Germany, with interesting researches into the dialect of criminals. Among his other works are Die Krisis der deutschen Polizei (Leipzig, 1861), and Die Reform der Polizei in Hamburg (Hamburg, 1862). He also wrote a series of detective stories.
AVÉ-LALLEMANT, Robert Christian Benedict (1812-84). A German physician and traveler, brother of Friedrich Christian Benedict Avé-Lallemant. He practiced medicine for many years at Rio Janeiro. His principal works are Reise durch Südbrasilien (1859); Fata Morgana (1872), and Wanderungen durch die Pflanzenwelt der Tropen (1880).
AVELLANEDA, jl-va'lya-na'DA,
Alonzo Fernandez de. The pseudonym of the author of a second part of Don Quixote, published a year before Cervantes's own sequel appeared. The real name of this writer is not definitely known, but is supposed to be either Juan Blanco de Paz, a Dominican friar, or Luis de Aliaga, who was the King's confessor. See Cervantes.
AVELLANEDA, Gertrudis Gomez de (1816-73). A Spanish poet and novelist, born on the island of Cuba, the daughter of a Spanish naval officer. In 1840 she went to Madrid, and in the same year produced a successful drama, Leonicia. She wrote several other dramas and many lyrics, which are much praised. Her novels include Dos mujeres, Espatolino (1844), and El mulato Sab (1841), the latter a tale resembling Uncle Tom's Cabin.
