one of the five cities which were destroyed by fire from heaven, and buried under the waters of the Dead Sea, Gen. xiv, 2; Deut. xxix, 23. It was the most easterly of all those which were swallowed up; and there is some probability that it was not entirely sunk under the waters; or that the inhabitants of the country built a new city of the same name upon the eastern shore of the Dead Sea: for Isaiah, according to the Septuagint, says, “God will destroy the Moabites, the city of Ar, and the remnant of Adama.”

שמיר, Ἀδάμας, Ecclus. xvi, 16. A stone of impenetrable hardness. Sometimes this name is given to the diamond; and so it is rendered, Jer. xvii, 1. But the Hebrew word rather means a very hard kind of stone, probably the _smiris_, which was also used for cutting, engraving, and polishing other hard stones and crystals. The word occurs also in Ezek. iii, 9, and Zech. vii, 12. In the former place the Lord says to the Prophet, “I have made thy forehead as an adamant, firmer than a rock;” that is, endued thee with undaunted courage. In the latter, the hearts of wicked men are declared to be as adamant; neither broken by the threatenings and judgments of God, nor penetrated by his promises, invitations, and mercies. See DIAMOND.

ADAMAWA, a country of Central Africa, lies between 7° and 11° N. lat., and 11° and 16° E. long., about midway on the map between the Bight of Biafra and Lake Chad. Its boundaries cannot be strictly defined; but it stretches from S.W. to N.E. a distance of 200 miles, with a width of from 70 to 80 miles. This region is watered by the Benuwe and the Faro. The former, which ultimately unites with the Niger, flows through Adamawa, first in a northerly, then in a westerly direction; and is joined by the Faro, which rises in the south, 22 miles from Yolla, the capital of the country. Near their confluence the Benuwe is 800 yards wide, with a depth of about 11 feet; the Faro has a breadth of 600 yards, but is generally very shallow. Both rivers are subject to extraordinary floods, beginning in the end of September, and lasting forty days, during which the swamps of the adjacent country are covered for a great distance on both sides, and the Benuwe rises at least 30 feet. The most fertile parts of the country are the plains near the Benuwe, about 800 feet above the level of the sea. Further from that river the land rises to an elevation of 1500 feet, and is diversified by numerous hills and groups of mountains. Mount Alantika, about 25 miles S.S.E. of Yolla, is the loftiest mountain in Adamawa, and rises from the plain, an isolated mass, to the height of 9000 feet. The country, which is exceedingly rich, and is covered with luxuriant herbage, has many villages, and a considerable population. The grain known as Holcus sorghum or durra, ground-nuts, yams, and cotton are the principal products; and the palm and banana abound. Elephants are very numerous, and ivory is largely exported. In the eastern part of the country the rhinoceros is met with, and the rivers swarm with ...