Guillaume de St., a canon of Beauvais in the thirteenth century, who distinguished himself greatly by his defence of the privileges of the university of Paris against ecclesiastical encroachments.

or AMUR, a great river of Chinese Tartary, which has its rise in the central deserts of northern Asia, among the mountains of Daouria, in about Long. 109. E. and Lat. 49. N. It has a winding course; flowing first in a northerly direction; and afterwards making a long detour towards the east; then turning to the north, it falls into the sea of Okhotsk, about Lat. 53. N., opposite to the middle of the island or peninsula of Saghalien. This river is called Amur by the Russians, after the confluence of the Argun and the Schilka; and still higher up the Schilka is formed by the union of the Onon and Irwoda. It is called Schilka by the Tungoose; Saghalien Oula, or Black Mountain River, by the Tartars; and Ghelon Kiangh, or the Dragon River, by the Chinese. It was first known to the Russians in 1639; and they resolved to annex to their empire the territory through which it flows, on account of the valuable furs with which it was known to abound. Many sanguinary conflicts accordingly took place between them and the Chinese, which ended in a treaty in 1689, by which the Russians abandoned their settlement on its banks, from which they were wholly excluded until the year 1847, when the navigation of this river was by treaty again opened to them. The river, which pours out an immense body of water, is navigable for large vessels as far as the Russian town of Nertschink, 1600 miles from the sea, though its stream is rapid, and it is annually frozen for some time. The length of its course is upwards of 2200 miles.