NAGASAKI (61), one of the six treaty ports of Japan, on the NW. of the island Kiushiu; has a beautiful and extensive harbour, within which lies the island of Deshima; manufactures “egg-shell” china, exports coal, tea, &c., and possesses an excellent dockyard; American and English missions are carried on.

NAGPUR or NAGPORE (117), capital of the Central Provinces of British India, and of a district and division of the same name; an important railway terminus, 450 m.  NE. of Bombay; is noted for the manufacture of fine cloth, and carries on a brisk trade in wheat, salt, spices, &c.

NAHUM, one of the minor prophets of the Old Testament; appears to have been a contemporary of Isaiah, and to have prophesied after the destruction of Samaria and the defeat of Sennacherib before Jerusalem in the reign of Hezekiah.  His mission as a prophet was to console the people in the presence of the formidable power of Assyria, and to predict its downfall, and especially that of its capital city Nineveh, an event which happened under Cyaxares the Mede 603 B.C.  His thought is forcible, his expression clear, and his diction pure, all three worthy of the classical age of Hebrew literature.

NAIADS, nymphs of the fresh-water fountains and streams, and as such endowed with prophetic power, and associated with other deities in the sphere of nature gifted with the same power; are represented as lovely maidens in a nude or semi-nude state.

NAIRN (4), chief town of its county, prettily situated at the entrance of the Nairn into the Moray Firth, 16 m.  NE. of Inverness; is frequented by summer visitors, and has a harbour and golf links.

NAIRNE, BARONESS, Scottish poetess, born at Gask, Perthshire, third daughter of Laurence Oliphant of that Ilk, of Jacobite proclivities; known for her beauty as the Flower of Strathearn; was married to the sixth Lord Nairne, whom she survived; wrote 78 songs, the most famous among them being “The Land o’ the Leal,” “The Laird o’ Cockpen,” “Bonnie Charlie’s noo awa,” “Caller Herrin’,” and “The Auld Hoose”; died at Gask (1766-1845).

NAIRNSHIRE (9), a northern county of Scotland, fronts the Moray Firth, wedged in between Elgin on the N. and Inverness on the W. and S.; the surface rugged and mountainous in the S. and E., slopes towards the Firth, and is traversed by the rivers Nairn and Findhorn; Loch Loy is the largest of several small lochs; scarcely one-fifth of the soil is devoted to the raising of cereals, but more attention is given to stock-raising; Cawdor and Auldearn are places in it of historic and antiquarian interest.

NAIRS, Hindus of high caste, claiming to rank next the Brahmans, who lived on the Malabar coast of India; among them polyandry prevailed, and the royal power descended through the female line.

NAMAQUAS, a pastoral people of South Africa; one of the principal branches of the Hottentot race, and inhabiting Great Namaqualand.