This section is from the book "Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World", by David Patrick. Also available from Amazon: Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World.
Amboise, a French town in the dep. of Indre-et-Loire, on the Loire, 15 miles by rail E. of Tours. The town is memorable for the Huguenot conspiracy (1560), which cost the lives of 1200 Protestants. The castle of Amboise from 1431 was a frequent residence of the Valois kings; and since the days of Louis XL, 15,000 prisoners are said to have been confined in its subterranean 'oubliettes.' Pop. 4580.
Amboyna, the most prominent of the Moluccas or Spice Islands belonging to the Dutch, lies SW. of Cerani, and NW. of Banda. Area, 365 sq. in. Pop. about 38,000, nearly a third Mohammedans. Amboyna is mountainous, well watered, fertile, and healthy. Clove, sago, mango, and cocoa-nut trees are abundant, also fine timber for cabinet-work. The Dutch took Amboyna from the Portuguese in 1605. The British settlement was destroyed by the Dutch in the infamous Amboyna massacre of 1623, for which, in 1654, Cromwell exacted compensation. The British held the island in 1796-1802. It became finally Dutch in 1814. - Amboyna, capital of the Dutch Moluccas, on the bay of Amboyna, has a good roadstead; pop. about 9000.
Ambriz, the northernmost division of the Portuguese territory of Angola, West Africa, extending from the Congo to the river Ambriz. The town of Ambriz has a pop. of 5000. See Angola.
Amersfoort, an ancient town of the Netherlands, 14 miles NE. of Utrecht by rail. It has a large trade in grain; and manufactui'es of brandy, cotton, and woollen goods, leather, soap, and beer. Here was born the statesman Olden-barneveld. Pop. 18,182.
Amersham, a town of Bucks, 7 1/2 miles ENE. of Wycombe. Pop. 3210.
Amesbury Amesfeury, a coursing ground in Wiltshire, near Stonehenge, and 7 1/2 miles N. of Salisbury.
Amesbury, a township of Massachusetts, 38 miles by rail N. of Boston, with woollen and carriage factories. Pop. 9473.
Amha'ra ('the high lands'), the middle and largest of the three divisions of Abyssinia, extending from the Tacazze to the Blue Nile, and embracing the beautiful Lake Tzana. Capital, Gondar (q.v.).
Amherst, a seaport of Tenasserim, Burma, on the Bay of Bengal, at the mouth of the Salwin,, 80 miles S. of Maulmain. Founded in 1S26 as capital of the newly-ceded province, it was next year superseded by Maulmain. Pop. 3000.
Amherst, a seaport of Nova Scotia, at the head of Cumberland Basin, an inlet of the Bay of Fundy; pop. 5000.
Amherst, in Massachusetts, 20 miles N. of Springfield, is seat of Amherst College (Congregational) and of an agricultural college; pop. 5000.
Amherstburg, a town of Ontario, Canada, at the head of Lake Erie, 4 miles S. of Detroit; pop.2272.
Amirante Islands, a group of eleven low, wooded islands lying SW. of the Seychelles, opposite the east coast of Africa. Area, 32 sq. m.; pop. 100 French-speaking half-breds. They fell to Great Britain in 1814, and form a dependency of Mauritius.
 
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