ISANDHLWANA

isandhlwana, an isolated hill in zululand, 8 m. s.e. of rorke's drift across the tugela river, and 105 m. n. by w. of durban. on the 22nd of january 1879 a british force encamped at the foot of the hill was attacked by about 10,000 zulus, the flower of cetewayo's army, and destroyed. of eight hundred europeans engaged about forty escaped (see zululand: _history_). isar (identical with _isere_, in celtic "the rapid"), a river of bavaria. it rises in the tirolese alps n.e. from innsbruck, at an altitude of 5840 ft. it first winds in deep, narrow glens and gorges through the alps, and at tolz (2100 ft.), due north from its source, enters the bavarian plain, which it traverses in a generally north and north-east direction, and pours its waters into the danube immediately below deggendorf after a course of 219 m. the area of its drainage basin is 38,200 sq. m. below munich the stream is 140 to 350 yards wide, and is studded with islands. it is not navigable, except for rafts. the total fall of the river is 4816 ft. the isar is essentially the national stream of the bavarians. it has belonged from the earliest times to the bavarian people and traverses the finest corn land in the kingdom. on its banks lie the cities of munich and landshut, and the venerable episcopal see of freising, and the inhabitants of the district it waters are reckoned the core of the bavarian race. see c. gruber, _die isar nach ihrer entwickelung und ihren hydrologischen verhaltnissen_ (munich, 1889); and _die bedeutung der isar als verkehrsstrasse_ (munich, 1890).