Part 106 (1/2)

CAPE COLONY (1,527), comprises the extremity of the African continent south of the Orange River and Natal, and is nearly twice the size of the United Kingdom; the Nieuwveld Berge, running E. and W., divides the country into two slopes, the northern slope long and gradual to the Orange River, the southern shorter and terraced to the sea; two-thirds of the country is arid plain, which, however, only requires irrigation to render it very fertile; the climate is dry and healthy, but hot in summer; the prevalent vegetation is heath and bulbous plants.

Sheep and ostrich farming are the chief industries; wool, goats' hair, ostrich feathers, hides, diamonds from Kimberley and copper from Namaqualand are the chief exports; two-thirds of the people are of African race, chiefly Kaffirs, who flourish under British rule; the remainder are of Dutch, English, French, and German origin; Cape Town is the capital, Kimberley and Port Elizabeth the only other large towns, but there are many small towns; roads are good; railway and telegraph communication is rapidly developing. The government is in the hands of a governor, appointed by the crown, a.s.sisted by an executive council of five and a parliament of two houses; local government is in vogue all over the country; education is well cared for; the university of the Cape of Good Hope was founded in 1873. Discovered by the Portuguese Diaz in 1486, the Cape was taken possession of by the Dutch in 1652, from whom it was captured by Great Britain in 1805. Various steps towards self-government culminated in 1872. In recent years great tracts to the N. have been formally taken under British protection, and the policy of extending British sway from the Cape to Cairo is explicitly avowed.

CAPE HORN, a black, steep, frowning rock at the SE. extremity of the Fuegean Islands; much dreaded at one time by sailors.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, a cape in South Africa, discovered by Diaz in 1486; called at first ”Cape of Storms,” from the experience of the first navigators; altered in consideration of the promised land reached beyond.

CAPE TOWN (84), capital of Cape Colony, situated at the head of Table Bay, on the SW. coast, with Table Mountain rising behind it; is a regularly built, flat-roofed, imposing town, with handsome buildings and extensive Government gardens; well drained, paved, and lit, and with a good water supply. The Government buildings and law courts, museum and art gallery, bank and exchange, are its chief architectural features. It has docks, and a graving dock, and is a port of call for vessels of all nations, with a thriving commerce.

CAPE VERDE ISLANDS (110), a group of mountainous, volcanic islands, belonging to Portugal, 350 m. from Cape Verde, on the W. of Africa, of which 10 are inhabited, the largest and most productive Santiago and St.

Vincent, with an excellent harbour, oftenest visited. These islands are unhealthy, and cattle-breeding is the chief industry.

CAPELL, EDWARD, an inspector of plays, born at Bury St. Edmunds; spent 20 years in editing the text of Shakespeare, in three vols., with notes and various readings (1713-1781).

CAPELLA, a reddish star of the first magnitude in the northern constellation of Auriga.

CAPELLA, an encyclopaedist, born in North Africa in the 5th century; author of a work called the ”Satiricon,” a strange medley of curious learning.

CAPERCAILZIE, the wood-grouse, a large game-bird found in fir woods in mountainous districts, and highly esteemed for table.

CAPERNAUM, a town on the N. side of the Sea of Galilee, the centre of Christ's labours, the exact site of which is uncertain.

CAPET, the surname of Hugh, the founder, in 987, of the third dynasty of French kings, which continued to rule France till 1328, though the name is applied both to the Valois dynasty, which ruled till 1589, and the Bourbon, which ruled till 1848, Louis XVI. having been officially designated as a Capet at his trial, and under that name sentenced to the guillotine.

CAPGRAVE, JOHN, Augustine friar, wrote ”Chronicle of England,” and voluminously both in French and English (1393-1464).

CAPISTRANO, GIOVANNI DA, an Italian Franciscan, a rabid adversary of the Hussites, aided John Hunniades in 1456 in defending Belgrade against the Turks (1385-1456).

CAPITOL, a temple and citadel erected by Tarquin on the Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome, and where victors who were voted a triumph were crowned; terminated at its southern extremity by Tarpeian Rock, from which criminals guilty of treason were precipitated; hence the saying, ”The Tarpeian Rock is near the Capitol,” to denote the close connection between glory and disgrace.

CAPITULARIES, collections of royal edicts issued by the Frankish kings of the Carlovingian dynasty, with sanction of the n.o.bles, for the whole Frankish empire, as distinct from the laws for the separate peoples comprising it, the most famous being those issued or begun by Charlemagne and St. Louis.

CAPO D'ISTRIA, COUNT OF, born in Corfu; entered the Russian diplomatic service; played a prominent part in the insurrection of the Greeks against Turkey; made President of the Greek Republic; a.s.sa.s.sinated at Nauplia from distrust of his fidelity (1776-1831).