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De Quincey, Thomas, 1785-1859

"De Quincey's Revolt of the Tartars"

Compare note on _aggravate_, p. 26, l. 28.
32 23. Bactrian camels. There are two species of camel, the
dromedary, single humped, and the Bactrian, with two humps. The former
is native to Arabia, the latter to central Asia. The dromedary is the
swifter of the two. _Bactria_ is the ancient name of that district
now called Balkh, in Afghanistan.
33 7. evasion. Compare with its positive correspondent _invasion_;
compare _decrement_, p. 31, l. 11.
34 8. champaign savannas. Both words mean about the same, an open,
treeless country, nearly level. What is the linguistic source of both
words?
37 19. hills of Moulgaldchares. Spurs of the Urals running southwest.
38 10. Polish dragoons. "The adjective refers not to the
nationality, but to the equipment of the cavalry. Thus there was at
one time in the French army a corps called _Chasseurs d'Afrique_, and
in both the French and that of the Northern troops in our own Civil
War a corps of Zouaves. Similarly at p. 53, l. 24, De Quincey speaks
of _yagers_ among the Chinese troops. Perhaps both Polish dragoon and
yager were well-known military terms in 1837. At any rate there is no
gain in scrutinizing them too closely, since the context in both cases
seems to be pure invention."--BALDWIN.
38 11. cuirassiers. From the French. Soldiers protected by a
cuirass, or breastplate, and mounted.
38 20. River Igritch. The Irgiz-koom.
39 21. concurrently. Etymology?
39 33. sad solitudes, etc. Notice this as one of the points in a
very effective paragraph.


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