Slike strani
PDF
ePub

name, called also Alvellos; which is inhabited by Indians of different tribes, who manufacture various kinds of earthenware, and a species of butter from turtles' eggs, which they send to Para and Maranhao. COAST-RANGE, a name frequently given to that range of mountains in North-Western America, which extends, with occasional interruptions, from the straits of De Fuca to the 34th parallel. Its most northern peak, Mount Olympus, on the peninsula of Cape Flattery, attains an alt. of 8,197 ft. The range is much broken; and is generally interrupted by spurs whose direction is at right angles with itself, and between which lie a succession of valleys through which the streams descending from the Cascade mountains find their way to the ocean. The principal of these spurs are the Elk and the Shaste mountains, and the Boundary range. The Coast-range, upon its entrance into California, rises to the snowline, and continues in close proximity to the coast, forming an elevated and iron-bound shore. The bay of San Francisco forms some interruption to its course, by dividing it into two arms which enclose the common estuary of the Sacramento and San Joachin rivers; but these again meet, and finally unite with the Californian range. The width of the range varies from 10 to 30 m.

COAST RANGE, a name sometimes applied, in Australian geography, to the range which, between the parallels of 26° and 32° S, divides the waters flowing E into the ocean, from those which flow towards the interior to join the Macquarie, or the Darling. The general direction of this range is NNE. COAT, a hamlet in the p. of Martock, Somerset. Pop. 175.

COATE, a hamlet in the p. of Bampton, Oxfordshire. Pop. 204.-Also a hamlet in the p. of Durrington, Sussex. Pop. 62.-Also a tything in the p. of Bishop's Cannings, Wilts. Pop. 303.

COATES, a parish of Gloucestershire, 3 m. WSW of Cirencester, on the Thames and Severn canal. Area 2,330 acres. Pop. 373.-Also a parish of Lincolnshire, 9 m. NW of Lincoln. Area 950 acres. Pop. 47.-Also a parish of Sussex, 3 m. SSE of Petworth, on the Rother. Area 510 acres. Pop. 67. Also a township in the p. of Barnoldswick, W. R. of Yorkshire, 8 m. WSW of Skipton. Area 700 acres. Pop. 101.

COATES (GREAT), a parish of Lincolnshire, 2 m. W of Great Grimsby. Area 2,200 acres. Pop. 245.

COATES (LITTLE), a parish of Lincolnshire, 2 m. W of Great Grimsby. Area 1,060 acres. Pop. 40. COATES (NORTH), a parish of Lincolnshire, 9 m. NNE of Louth. Area 2,420 acres. Pop. 225. COATHAM (EAST and WEST), a hamlet in the p. and township of Kirk-Leatham, N. R. of Yorkshire. Pop. 371.

COATHAM-MUNDEVILLE, a township in the p. of Houghton-le-Skerne, 4 m. N of Darlington, on the Skerne, and on the Great North of England railway. Area 1,500 acres. Pop. 138.

ČOATHILL, or COTEHILL, a township in the p. of Wetheral, Cumberland. Pop. 253.

COATICOOK, or KAWATIKOUCH, a river which takes its rise in the state of Vermont, U. S.; runs NE; passes into Lower Canada; crosses Stanstead co.; and falls into the St. Francis, near the v. of Lennoxville, in Ascot township, Sherbrooke co.

COATSVILLE, a village of Chester co., in the state of Pennsylvania, U. S., 62 m. ESE of Harrisburg, on the W branch of Brandywine creek. It is noted for a chalybeate spring in the environs.

COATZACOALCOS, a river of Mexico, rising in the Sierra-Madre, and flowing N across the isthmus of Tehuantepec to the gulf of Mexico. At its conflu

ence with the Chimalapilla, to the SSE of SantaMaria-Chimalapa, it has an alt. of 119 metres = 390 ft. above sea-level. After receiving the Jumuapa, its rapids become inconsiderable. From the Malatengo to the Jumuapa it has a course from S to N of about 38 m.; it thence runs NW to the junction of the Jaltepec, and NE from that point of confluence, to the bar, 63 m. After the confluence of the Jaltepec, its current is scarcely perceptible, and during the dry season shoals are to be met with below this point with only 18 inches of water over them. At La Horqueta the river divides into two branches, which reunite after having formed the island of Tacamichapa. From the N point of this island to the bar, the river is navigable for every class of ships. The shallowest water on the bar is 19 ft. 10 in. It has been proposed to establish a communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific by means of this river, and the river Chicapa. See CHICAPA. TWO parties are reported to have recently crossed the isthmus by the route of these rivers, in 8 days, performing 58 leagues of the journey in canoes, and 37 leagues on horseback.

COAZZE, a town of the Sardinian states, in the prov. and 16 m. ESE of Susa, near the confluence of the Sangone and the Sangonetto. Pop. 3.000.

COBADONGA, or COVADONGA, a village of Spain, in the prov. of Oviedo, 4 m. SE of Cangas-de-Ones. Pop. 638. Here Pelayo gained a great victory over the Moors in 718.

COBAL, a river of Benguela, on the W coast of Africa, flowing from the SE into the Rio-dos-Mortes, after a course of 210 m.

COBAN. See VERA-PAZ.

COBB, a county of the state of Georgia, U. S., comprising an area of 480 sq. m., bordered on the SE by the Chattahoochee river; by the affluents of the river on the S; and by the Coosa on the N. Pop. 7,539. Its cap. is Marietta.

COBBEH, a town of Central Africa, the capital of Darfur, or the chief residence of its merchants, in N lat. 14° 11', E long. 28° 8'. It was visited in 1793 by Browne, who describes it as a town about 2 m. in length, built on a plain, and during the rainy season surrounded with a torrent. Its houses stand apart, each occupying a considerable portion of ground, and shaded by trees: hence the pop. was comparatively small, not exceeding, in his estimate, 6,000, of whom the greater proportion were slaves; while few, if any, of the inhabitants were natives of Fur, but had emigrated from Dongola, Mahass, and the borders of the Nile as far as Sennár. Fronting the town to the E is a chain of low rocky hills running N and S for several miles. To the W and SW, the plain of C. is bounded by a chain of rocky hills, called Gkerdah and Malha, 20 m. distant. To the S, at a distance of 12 m., is Jebel-Cusa; and on the SE, JebelWana.

COBEQUID MOUNTAINS, a broad range of hills in Nova Scotia, occupying the centre of Cumberland co. They are covered with remarkably fine timber, among which the black birch and the maple in particular attain a large size. The great northern road pursues a hilly and irregular course over these mountains for 18 m.

COBERN, or COVERN, a town of Prussia, in the prov. of the Rhine, gov. of Coblenz, on the 1. bank of the Moselle, 6 m. SW of Coblenz. Pop. 1,500.

COBHAM, a parish and village in Kent, 5 m. W of Rochester. Area 2,800 acres. Pop. 758.-Also a parish and village in Surrey, 5 m. WNW of Leatherhead. Area 5,240 acres. Pop. 1,617.

COBI, a town of Western Africa, on the Joliba, near the frontiers of Banan.-Caillie. COBL. See GOBI.

COBIJA, or PUERTO-DE-LA-MAR, a town of Bolivia, in the dep. of Potosi, 50 m. SSW of Atacama, in S lat. 22° 34', W long. 70° 21', at the mouth of the Rio Salado. It is a small place, but, as the only legal seaport in Bolivia, is of rising importance. Pop. in 1843, 793. See BOLIVIA, p. 849.

COBLENZ, a village of Switzerland, in the cant. of Aargau, 2 m. ESE of Waldshut, at the confluence of the Aar and the Rhine.

COBLENZ, COBLENTZ, or KOBLENZ, an administrative subdivision of Prussia, in the prov. of the Rhine, comprising the 12 circles of C., St. Goar, Kreuznach, Simmern, Zell, Kochheim, Mayen, Adenau, Ahrweiler, Neuwied, Altenkirchen, and Wetzlar. Area 109-64 German sq. m. Pop. in 1831, 417,333; in 1837, 449,125; and in 1846, 485,000, of whom about three-fifths were Catholics.

COBLENZ, an ancient and picturesque town, the cap. of the above circle, and of the prov. of the Lower Rhine, in N lat. 50° 21', E long. 70° 30', finely situated on the point of land formed by the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle or Mosel, and, from this circumstance, called Confluentes or Confluentia by the Romans. A wooden bridge (a a a), supported on boats, 485 ft. in length, crosses the Rhine; and one of stone (bb b), 480 paces long, and consisting of 14 arches, the Moselle. The surrounding country is fer

|

London; conducts an active commerce in grain, Seltzer water, oil, and gypsum; and is the staple place for the Rhine and Moselle wines. Through C. the Dutch receive a great portion of their timber and iron. Few manufactures exist in C., excepting those of cotton, linen, tobacco, Japan ware, and iron and bronze trinkets. A large woollen fair is held on the 15th, 16th, and 17th of July. An aqueduct conveys good spring-water from a hill in the vicinity of Metternich, across the bridge of the Moselle, to all parts of the town.-Drusus erected on the r. bank of the Moselle a castle called Confluens, which became the nucleus of the future city. The Alton hof, or old town, was the seat of a general council in 860. In 1018 Henry II. gave this town to the archb. of Treves. It was early fortified, and has at various times felt the desolating power of war. During the Thirty years' war it passed successively to the Swedes, the Imperialists, the French, and the German Protestants. In 1688, the French under Boufflers almost reduced it to ashes by a bombardment of 15 days. C. was the point of reunion for the French emigrés who composed the army of Condé in 1792; and formed the head-quarters of the Prussians when they invaded France in 1792; but was taken by the troops belonging to the French republic about two years afterwards, and remained annexed to France till restored to Prussia in 1815.-Extensive works on every side protect C., which is now one of the strongest places in the Prussian monarchy. The castle of Ehrenbreitstein, on the opposite side or r. bank of the Rhine-the works of which have again risen in considerable strength--forms one of its outworks; and on Mont St. Peter, or Fort Kaiser Franz, on the 1. bank of the Moselle, are strong works commanding the road to Treves and Cologne.-C. was the birthplace of Prince Metternich.

COBLESKILL, a township in Schoharie co., in the state of New York, U. S., 42 m. W of Albany. Pop. 3,583. It is watered by a stream of the same name, an affluent of Schoharie creek.

COBOLO, a town of Western Africa, on the Kates river, to the E of the territory of Sierra Leone. COBOS-DE-RIO-FRANČO, a village of Spain, in the prov. of Burgos, 6 m. ESE of Palenzuela.

COBRANA, a town of Spain, in the prov. of Leon, partido and 5 m. NE of Ponferrada, and 17 m. E of Villafranca-del-Vierzo, between the Boeza and the Sil, and to the S of the mountains to which it gives its name.

COBRAS (ILHA-DAS-), an island and fortress of Brazil, in the bay of Nitherôhi, in the prov. of Riode-Janeiro. It contains, exclusive of the ordinary garrison, 300 inhabitants. The fortress has accommodation for 1,000 men and 100 pieces of artillery. The excavation of an extensive dock on the N side of the island was commenced by D. Pedro L., but is still unfinished.

[graphic]

tile and beautiful, and many of the inhabitants find employment in cultivating the vine. The streets of C. are regular but narrow, the houses are well-built, and the public buildings handsome. One of the most conspicuous of the public buildings is a palace (P) built by the elector of Treves in 1779. It stands on the 1. bank of the Rhine, near an eminence crowned with the remains of an ancient castle; and has its principal front towards the Schloss platz or Grand square (4). The church of St. Castor (c), at the angle formed by the junction of the two rivers, is remarkable for its great antiquity. The French, while they held the city, converted this building into barracks. It is now appropriated to the civil and criminal courts. There were formerly a Jesuits' college, several monasteries, and other ecclesiastical establishments in C.; but most of these were suppressed during the period when both it and the surrounding country were in the hands of the French. A handsome quay extends along the Rhine, and another borders the Moselle, both of which are used as promenades, as well as for commercial purposes. Near the confluence of the two rivers stands "a small and simple pyramid," erected to General Marceau.-C. is the seat of a justiz-senat or court-of-appeal for the regency, of an Evangelical consistory, and a Catholic gym- COBRE, a town in the island of Cuba, 12 m. N of nasium with 274 pupils in 1836, an elementary school, Santiago-de-Cuba, built for the occupancy of the and a seminary for schoolmasters. The town-library copper-miners in this district, and already containing is valuable. Pop. in 1831, 12,214; in 1837, 13,696. from 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants. The ancient copThe situation of this city gives it easy communica-per-mines here were reopened by an English comtion with France by the Moselle, and with Germany and Switzerland by the Rhine. It has communication by steam-boats with Manheim, Mayence, Strasburg, Treves, Cologne, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and

COBRE, a river of Guatemala, in the prov. of Veragua, which runs S, and after a course of 45 m., falls into the Pacific opposite the group of the Contreras islands. Also an extensive mountain-range of the island of Cuba, in the Departamento-Oriental, running NE about 57 m., and connected on the W with the Sierra-de-Tarquino, and on the E with the range of Las Cuchillas.

pany in 1833, and have been wrought with increasing activity ever since. All the principal mines are concentrated within a space of 1,200 by 600 yards. The cupriferous repositories are enclosed in green slate,

which is penetrated with crystalline sulphuretted iron. The transportation of the ores to the sea is now facilitated by a railroad which follows the valley of the Rio-del-C. It was formerly carried by mules to Santiago at an average cost of a dollar per cwt. See article CUBA.

two form one chamber of 17 members, viz., 6 deputies from the nobility, and 11 from the towns and rural districts. The assent of the deputies is necessary to the imposition of taxes. The ministry is composed of a minister-of-state, and 3 privy councillors. Each duchy has its own system of internal COBURG, a town of Upper Canada, in the town- administration, taxation, and excise; but there is ship of Hamilton, on Lake Ontario, 103 m. from only one high consistorial court for ecclesiastical Kingston, and 72 m. from Toronto. It is a neat and affairs and public instruction. It is understood that thriving town, with a good harbour. Pop. 3,347. A negotiations for forming a closer union among the large cloth factory has recently been erected here. small Thuringian states have recently been brought The chief exports are flour and pork. The Wesleyan to a conclusion. They are 8 in number, viz., Weimar, conference founded Victoria college here in 1835. It Meiningen, Altenburg, Coburg-Gotha, Rudolstadt, is a handsome building, and received a charter in Sondershausen, Reuss of the elder, and Reuss of the 1842. younger line. The difference in the laws of these minor powers has created the necessity of establishing one general code for all of them, which is to be drawn up by a body composed of the representatives of the different governments and collective committees elected from the several chambers. It will be competent to this assembly to revise the different penal systems of the states, to assimilate them, and to carry the same revision through all the other tion. The political independence of the several states will not be affected by this arrangement, which is, in fact, an application to the internal laws of the various duchies of a principle similar to that which established the Zollverein with regard to the imports of commerce. The contingent army of the united duchies is 1,366 men, and the annual revenue about £50,000. The debt on 1st July, 1849, amounted to 2,934,384 thalers, of which 540,000 thalers were contracted on account of the Thuringian railway. There are in the united duchy 9 towns, 10 market-towns, and 429 villages and hamlets, the chief of which are Coburg and Gotha.

COBURG, or SACHSEN-COBURG-GOTHA, a sovereign duchy of Central Germany. It forms a compact territory on the N border of Bavaria, but is composed of two distinct portions of territory,-the principality of Gotha-and that of Coburg. The duke of Sachsen-Gotha, who holds the 12th place in the confederacy, was the chief of the second branch of the Ernestine line. His possessions were the two principalities of Gotha and Altenburg, lying in Thu-judicial and financial departments of the administraringia. These were quite separated: the W part, or the principality of Gotha, being surrounded by Prussia, Schwartzburg, Weimar, Hessen-Cassel, and Meiningen; while the E, or the principality of Altenburg, composed of two districts, was enclosed by Prussia, Saxony, Reuss, Weimar, Schwartzburg, and Coburg. The surface of these two principalities was nearly 1,100 British sq. m.; with a pop. in 1818 of about 193,000. The succession was in the male line; but Duke Frederic IV. died in 1825, and with him this branch of the Ernestine line was extinguished. The government of these territories was then administered under the name of Meiningen, Coburg, and Hildburghausen, till some difficulties about the succession of these side-lines were decided by a family compact, in which Coburg Proper was made over to the house of Saxe-Coburg in exchange for the duchy of Saalfeld, which was ceded to Meiningen. The principality of Lichtenburg was ceded to the duke by the Congress of Vienna in 1816, but sold to the king of Prussia. The existing arrangement has united the principalities of Coburg and Gotha; the former on the S side of the Thuringerwald, and within the basin of the Rhine, and including the newly-acquired territories of Konigsberg and Sennenfeld, containing about 200 sq. m.; and the latter, on the N side of the Thuringerwald, and within the basin of the Weser, containing 590 sq. m., being a total of 790 sq. m. with a pop. in 1841 of 144,045; and in 1846 of 147,195. This pop. is chiefly of the Protestant religion; the Catholics, in 1837, amounting only to 2,238.-Part of this state consists of fertile valleys and plains, which are productive of grain, flax, hops, potatoes, carrots, aniseed, woad, fruit, and most of the other common products of Germany. Other parts are hilly or mountainous, especially that part of Gotha which comprises a portion of the ancient Thuringian forest. The upland tracts are either covered with pine forests, or afford good pasturage for sheep. The principal minerals are iron, copper, coal, manganese, marble, alum, gypsum, and chalk. The manufactures are leather, glass, wire, gunpowder, soap, and paper, and particularly potash, which, with cattle, grain, wool, slates, linen thread, and woollen articles, constitute the principal exports. The rivers Steinach, Itz, and Rodach, are tributary branches of the Mayne. The Werra afterwards becomes, under the name of Weser, one of the great rivers of Germany.-The government of this state is an hereditary constitutional monarchy. Each of the principalities has its own elective assembly; and the

COBURG, the capital of the above duchy, is a wellbuilt town, situated in a pleasant valley, watered by the Itz, 106 m. E by N of Frankfort-on-the-Mayne, and 40 m. S of Gotha. The market-place forms a handsome square, and contains the town-hall and government-offices. The palace or castle, built in 1549, the usual residence of the reigning prince, is a noble structure. There are 5 churches, a gymnasium founded in 1605, an academy, a normal school, an observatory, theatre, 2 public libraries, and a cabinet of natural history. The residences of the better classes are distinguished by much elegance; and there is no poverty or squalor, but, on the contrary, much appearance of substantial comfort in those of the lower. Of course C. cannot compete in size with the capital towns of larger states; it is, in fact, a sort of miniature city, in which everything is pleasing, although on a somewhat small scale. It has its historical associations too. Wallenstein besieged it in vain in the Thirty years' war, and it boasts of being able to show the room where Luther slept while in concealment here, and the pulpit from which he preached. Among its manufactures are those of woollen, linen, and cotton fabrics, and porcelain. It has 6 annual fairs, and a considerable trade in wool. The pop. is about 9,700, many of whom are employed in marble quarries, and iron and copper works, in the neighbourhood. In the vicinity are the castle of Callenburg, and the palace of Roseneau. From the castle a view is obtained of an immense expanse of country on all sides. Immediately at the foot of the hill on which the fortress stands, lies the city of C., embosomed in hill and woodland. In other parts of the landscape are rich fertile plains stretching for miles towards the horizon; and these again are varied by well-wooded hills, and valleys of picturesque beauty. The interior of the fortress amply repays a visit; many parts of it are kept as they were two or

three centuries ago. A room called the Horn room, is lined with oak, inlaid with different sorts of wood; and along the walls, at intervals, are panels formed of a sort of mosaic of wood, each representing incidents of the chase. In another room are some fine portraits of the heroes of the Thirty years' war, Tilly, Wallenstein, Duke Bernard of Saxe Weimar, Gustavus Adolphus, &c. There is also the room which Luther occupied; and his bedstead and table, and some other veritable relics are carefully preserved here.

COBURG PENINSULA, an arm of land projecting about 50 m. NNW from the mainland of Australia, between Mount-Norris bay on the NE, and Van Diemen's gulf on the S. Its greatest breadth is 15 m. It is joined to the main by a neck of land 5 m. in length, and only 24 m. in breadth. On the N side of this peninsula, 274 m. to the W of Cape Croker its NE extremity, is situated Port Essington. See PORT ESSINGTON.

|

pesa, now generally called Cochabamba, built in a beautiful but marshy valley, on a small river, in N lat. 17° 22′ 33′′ [Angelis], 150 m. NW of La Plata. COCHABAMBA, a large river of Bolivia, which rises in the S declivity of the Sierra-Nevada-de-C.; and running E by S, and being swelled by numerous tributaries, assumes the name of the Rio-Grande. It then sweeps round to the town of Santa-Cruz-de-laSierra, at the eastern extremity of the Sierra, whence it runs NW, and after uniting with the Chaparé receives the name of Mamoré. See MAMORE'.

COCHE, a small island of the Caribbean sea, lyNing WNW and ESE, between Margarita and the shore of Cumana. Its SE end is in 10° 44' N lat., and 63° 59′ W long. It was first discovered by Columbus; and, with the adjacent islands of Cubagua, Los Testigos, and Los Trayles, constituted a valuable acquisition to Spain. At this time the coast of the Spanish main, from Paris to Cape Vela, was named Costa-de-las-Perlas; and so actively was the fishing for pearls carried on in these islands that, at the Conquest, Coche alone furnished 1,500 marks a-month; the yearly fifth of the king amounted to 15,000 ducats; and until 1530 the fishery averaged £173,000 annually, whilst the American mines only yielded, during the same period, £434,000 sterling. This productive source of revenue had become nearly extinct in 1683: the destruction of the oysters themselves probably contributing as much to this decay as the cutting and setting diamonds, which had become common in the 16th cent. Till lately, the Indians of C. occasionally resumed this traffic, and sometimes pro

COCA, a town of Spain, in Old Castile, in the prov. and 25 m. NW of Segovia, partido of SantaMaria-de-Nieva, at the confluence of the Eresma with the Bottoya. Pop. 500. It contains an ancient castle, a church, and a convent.

COCA, a river of New Grenada, in the intendancy of Ecuador, formed by the junction of the Maspa and Cosanga, which take their rise in the Andes, in the prov. of Pichincha, and which unites with the Napo 65 m. W of Napotoa.

COCACHACRA, a village of Peru, on the road from Lima to Pasco by the quebrada of Matucanas, 12 leagues E from Lima and 3 W from San-Gerom-cured a few pearls, generally, however, of the seed mo-de-Surco, near the Rio-de-San-Mateo. It has an alt. of 5,386 ft. above sea-level.

COCAES, a parish of Brazil, in the prov. of Minas-Geraes, 90 m. NNE of Villa-Rica. It contains gold mines.

COCAGNE, a harbour on the NE coast of New Brunswick, in the parish of Dundas. It has a wide mouth, with 10 ft. water upon the bar at its mouth at low water, and 14 ft. at high water. Its chief export is timber. The river of the same name is occupied by mills, and the scanty pop. along its course are chiefly English.

COCAL, a parish of Brazil, in the prov. and 200 m. NNE of Goyaz, 20 m. E of Agua-Quente. It contains gold-mines.

COCCAGLIO, a town of Venetian Lombardy, in the gov. of Milan, deleg. and 12 m. W of Brescia. Pop. 1,800.

COCCONATO, a town of the Sardinian states, in the prov. and 20 m. NNW of Asti. Pop. 3,000.

kind, which they sold at Cumana for 5s. a dozen. When the republic of Columbia assumed the sole right of fishery on this coast, its government farmed this right to the house of Rundell and Bridge of London. The isle is of considerable height except in its NW point, which is low, and from which a bank of sand extends NW about 3 m.

COCHECTON, a township of Sullivan co., in the state of New York, U. S., 131 m. SW of Albany, bounded by the Delaware river on the W. Pop. 622. COCHEIM. See KOCHHEIM.

COCHEREL, a hamlet of France, in the dep. of Eure, com. of Houlbec-Cocherel, on the r. bank of the Eure, 12 m. E of Evreux.

COCHIN-from CACH'HI or KоCH'HI, 'a morass,' with the nasal termination frequently added by the Portuguese,—a small principality on the coast of Malabar, between the parallels of 9° 30′ and 10° 30′ N, and the meridians of 76° and 77°; bounded by Malabar prov. on the N; by Dindegul on the E; and by Travancore on the S; and by the sea on the W. Its area amounts to about 3,000 sq. m., of which about one-fourth was annexed to the district of Malabar in 1791, when the raja of C. placed himself under the protection of Great Britain, as a safe-guard against

COCHABAMBA, a department of Bolivia, comprehending the greater part of the valley of the river of the same name, and the N declivity of the Sierrade-Santa-Cruz. Its area has been estimated at 55,200 sq. m. The climate is mild and healthy; and the soil produces sugar, cocoa, fruit, and grain, so abun-the dantly, that the district obtained the name of the granary of Peru. Large herds of cattle are reared in it; and, besides its magnificent river, it is watered by numerous small streams, which flow through spacious valleys, that of Arqua being the most celebrated, in which the richest estates are situated, and several valuable sugar farms. Of late, the inhabitants have directed their attention to the growing of cotton, and manufacturing coarse cotton cloths called tucuyos. Salt, and a variety of other minerals, are found in Cochabamba; and the woods produce many of the best dyeing drugs. One gold and several silver mines were formerly worked in this prov., and were productive. The pop. of the dep. is estimated at 250,000. It is divided into the 6 provinces of Sacaba, Tapacari, Arque, Palia, Clissa, and Misque.-The cap. is Oro

aggressions of Tippu. Its eastern boundary is formed by the Western Ghats, and by some of their inferior branches, which are covered with woods similar to those of Malabar, and affording jack-wood, (Artocarpus integrifolia) fit for builders and cabinetmakers, viti or black wood, poon, teak, and crambo or iron-wood; but the timber is generally found inferior to that felled in the British provs., chiefly, perhaps, on account of damage received in its being dragged to the water's edge. The teak is also said to be deficient in an essential oil peculiar to that wood, and useful as a preservative of iron from rust. The iron-wood is little used on account of its excessive weight. The forests of C. may be regarded as a continuation of a line of forest commencing at Cape Comorin on the S, and joining the Company's forests at Eruad on the N; from 15 to 30 m. distant from

the sea on one side, and on the other extending to the foot of the Western Ghats. The timber felled in the raja of C's. forests is floated down the backwater to the depot at the town of C. Towards Cacadu, the hills are covered with grass, and the soil appears good. In the N there are some narrow valleys in which rice is successfully cultivated.

Many foreigners have been naturalized in this territory; among them the Jewish and Christian colonies are the most remarkable. The Jews are divided into two classes: the Jerusalem or White Jews, and the ancient or Black Jews. The latter are despised by their fairer brethren as an inferior race, and bear so close a resemblance to the Hindus, as not to be easily distinguishable from them. The period at which their ancestors were established in Malabar is not known; but their own traditions, as well as the jealousy of the other Jews, who are evidently a more recent colony, render it highly probable that their religion was introduced at a very early period. Matancheri, about a mile above the town of C., is the principal settlement of these Jews; but they are also numerous at Tritur, Parur, Cinotta, and Maleh The Christians are descendants of those converted by the Nestorian missionaries or exiles in the 5th cent. They inhabit villages peculiar to themselves, which are called towns of the Nasr'anes or Christians; and their numbers, though much reduced by persecution, are still considerable.

[ocr errors]

dry season shoals in many places to 2 ft., and even to only 6 inches in some parts where it disembogues into the sea at Palliport 14 m. N, and at Allepi 45 m. S of C. It empties itself into the sea by 6 mouths, of all which the only navigable one for ships is that on the S bank of which C. is situated. The anchorage is 2 or 3 m. off the bar in 5 fath., and is good and safe from September till the end of May. The flow of the tide is 3 ft., and, during full moon and change, 4 ft., which gives a mid-night tide of 16 ft. Within the bar, the Backwater expands into a fine estuary 12 m. long, and from 3 to 6 m. wide, with depth for large ships. The position of C. was too advantageous to escape the notice of the Portuguese, who, taking advantage of a difference between the raja of C. and his neighbour the Zamorin, offered their assistance to the former, and in return obtained permission to build a fort near his capital in A. D. 1503. It soon became a flourishing place under the protection of the Portuguese; but they were obliged to surrender it to the Dutch on the 7th of January, 1663. It was reduced in size, and fortified by its new masters; but was even then considered as "almost a little Batavia," being surpassed in extent and importance by no town on the coast except Goa. It was the principal Dutch settlement in the peninsula, till the war with Holland in 1795, when it was occupied by the British troops; but it was not finally ceded to Great Britain till 1814. The Portuguese or Dutch town was regularly built, and had many handsome public edifices; but has been in a state of decadence since 1806, when orders were given to destroy all the fortifications and public buildings. At a small distance SE of the Portuguese town, is Matan-Chini (m), or the Malabar town, the houses of which are built in the Indian style. The pop. of C. is very large, and very poor, comprehending Mahommedans, Jews, and Christians, among the latter a body of Protestants, descendants or converts of the Dutch settlers. The trade, though diminished since this place lost its political importance, is still considerable. The exports are tim

The government of C. is a sort of feudal despotism, such as prevailed in the other states into which the W coast of the peninsula was divided before the invasion and conquest of Tippu. The raja had few privileges beyond those of other nazirs, or nobles, except the right of calling on them for military service in time of war, and collecting some trifling tolls and duties. The language of the natives of C. is the Mayálan or Maleyaïm, often called Malabar by the European settlers, a dialect widely diffused, and nearly allied to the Támul, spoken on the opposite coast. The Sanscrit is the language of literature and religion. The principal towns in C. are Cochin, Diam-ber, sandal-wood, pepper, cardamoms, cassia, with the per, Cranganore, and Virapelly.

The city of COCHIN, whence the principality derives its name, is no longer included within its limits. It is in N lat. 9° 56', and E long. 76° 16′ 15′′; 150 m. NW of Cape Comorin, on the S entrance (a a a) of a lagune, called the Backwater of C., formed by a sudden inundation of the river Coch'hi, in the middle of

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

various products of the palm. Ships from Bombay to England get fresh supplies here at a very low rate, and without sending a boat on shore. The harbour, so conveniently situated near the forests on the neighbouring mountains, affords great facility for shipbuilding; and, in 1800, vessels were completely equipped and sheathed in the docks at C., at the rate of £14 per ton, including all charges. C. is the see of a Roman Catholic bishop, whose diocese includes Ceylon.

COCHIN-CHINA, one of the three great political and administrative divisions of the empire of ANNAM, [see that article,] as it is called by the natives and the Chinese, or the Cochin-Chinese empire, as it is still frequently termed by European writers. It forms the central division of the empire; and the natives call it Dang-traoing or the Central country,' in opposition to Tonquin, which they distinguish as 'the Exterior country.' The name Cochin-China was introduced by the Portuguese, who, finding the country called Koe-chen or Cochin, added the word China to distinguish it from the then important port and district of Cochin in South Malabar. It is bounded on the N by Tonquin; on the E and S by the Chinese sea; on the SE by the Cambodian prov. of Saigun or Dongnai; and on the W by Cambodia and Laos.

Physical features.] Nature has divided this country, extending from about the parallel of 18° to 11° S, into highlands and lowlands, the former lying to the W and bordering on Cambodia, the latter stretching along the coast. The principal mountains from Cape St. James to the city of Hué appear to be composed of granite or syenite; some of the lower hills

« PrejšnjaNaprej »