CAGOTS

Cagots. An unfortunate race of men, resemblingthe Cretins. They are found in the south of France,near the Pyrenees. They are mostly poor beggars,performing* the meanest offices, and covered withleprosy, king’s evil, and vermin ; confined to thecoarsest food, waudering about without habitation,without clothes or tire in the depth of winter, barelycovered with dirty rags, retiring in the night to barnsand hovels ; of a thin and pale aspect, generally mu-tilated, lamed in their limbs, despised, insulted, orpitied; cast out of the race of men as unworthy oflife; given up to the most beastly excess, and accusedof the most horrid crimes with which the human racecan be stained. In former ages they were shut outfrom society as lepers, cursed as heretics, abhorred ascannibals and pederasts ; their feet were bored withan iron, and they were forced to wear an egg-shell ontheir clothes, by way of distinction. The very nameCagot, which Scaliger derives from cants gottus, is aproof of the detestation in which they were held.

Opinions are much divided with regard to theorigin of this miserable race, living in the midst of ahighly-cultivated people. The most plausible con-jecture is that which derives them from some northernbarbarians, who migrated into the south of Europe inthe third or fourth century. More accurate researcheshave established the fact, that they are not withoutcapacity to become useful members of human society;and that, to accomplish this, it is only necessary toremove them from the condition in which they sufferso much misery and contempt, which alone wouldbe sufficient to hinder them from developing theirtalents, if, indeed, they are inferior to those of othermen.

Cahors. A town of France, in Guienne, formerlythe district of Quercy, and now of the department ofthe Lot. It stands on the river Lot, and part ofit is built on a steep eminence, surrounded nearly onall sides by the river. It had, in 1815, 10,136 inha-bitants, and contains several manufactures; brandyand oil are also prepared here. In the adjoiningcountry is raised the famous red wine, called vin deGrave, which is exported by Bordeaux to Englandand Holland. Cahors had formerly a university,which was united with that of Toulouse in 1751 ; butit is still the seat of a bishop. Cahors was taken by theEnglish in the year 1159, and by Henry IV. in 1580,when mortars first came into use. 25 miles N. W. ofAlbv, and 63 N. of Toulouse. Lon. 1° 30' E., lat.44° *26' 59" N.

Caicos, or Cayos. A cluster of small islands orrocks, called Little and Great Caicos, between Hayti,or St. Domingo and the Bahama islands. The largestcalled Grand Caico, is 60 miles long, and tw'O or threebroad. St. George’s Key is the principal harbour.Lon. 72° W., lat. 21° 36'. N.

Cai-Fong, or Kai-Fong. A city of China, andcapital of the province of Honan. It is about twoleagues distant from the Hoang-ho, or the Yellowriver, but it is situated so low, that the river occupieshigher ground than the city, and to guard againstinundations, therefore, strong dykes or embankmentshave been constructed, extending above ninetymiles. Cai-F bng having been besieged by an armyof 100,000 rebels in 1642, the commander of a bodyof forces sent for its relief, resolved to attempt drown-ing the enemy, by breaking down the embankmentol the river. His stratagem was successful ; but pro-bably he did not anticipate its full effects, for, while

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the enemy was destroyed, the ruin of the city fol-lowed, and the inundation was so sudden that 300,000of the inhabitants perished. At that time it was ninemiles in circumference, as is testified by the ruins.Subsequent to that disaster it was rebuilt, but in astyle much inferior to its original state ; and at pre-sent it possesses nothing whereby it is distinguishedfrom the ordinary cities of China, excepting the extentof its jurisdiction, which comprehends four cities ofthe second class, and thirty of the third. Distant 315miles S. W. of l’ekin. Lon. 114° 28' E., lat. 34° 53'N.

Cailas, or Cailasa. The loftiest ridge of theHimalaya mountains. On its eastern side is a re-markable peak, called the Lingam of Siva or Maha-deva, an object of great veneration to his votaries. Itis the favourite abode of Siva, and blooms with eternalspring.

Caique, Grand. A small island among the Baha-mas ; Ion. 70° W., lat. 19° 50 N. The Little Caiquelies south-west of the former.

Ca-Ira. These famous revolutionary couplets werewritten on the occasion of the celebration of the cap-ture of the Bastile, when the civic oath was takenbefore the altar of the country. The celebration tookplace on the Champ de Mars, July 14, 1790, in themidst of torrents of rain. The refrain, or chorus, runsthus:—

Ah! 9a ira, 9a ira, 5a ira,

En depit d’ z’aristocrat’ et d’ la pluie.

Ah! 9a ira, &c.

Nous nous mouillerons, mais 9a fhiira.

This, it will be seen, was directed against the aristo-crats. The famous Marseillaise, or Marseilles hymn,which resounded throughout Europe during the warsof the young republic against the coalition of sove-reigns, was directed against foreign, as the ga-ira wasagainst the domestic, enemies of the revolution. Theauthor and composer of the Marseillaise (llouget del’Isle), an officer of the engineers, narrowly escapedwith his head, during the reign of terror. These poemswere proscribed by the directory in 1797, and havenot, oi course, been restored to favour by the consulate,the empire, or since the restoration.

Cairn. A name given to heaps of stones, commonin Great Britain, particularly in Scotland and Wales,generally of a conical form, and crowned by a flat stone,They are of various sizes, and were probably con-structed for different objects. Some are evidentlysepulchral, containing urns, stone chests, bones, &c.Others were erected to commemorate some remark-able event, and others appear to have been intendedfor religious rites. See Tumuli.

Cairngorm, or Blue Mountain. A mountain ofScotland, belonging to the Grampian hills. It is par-ticularly celebrated for the crystals found in it, calledcairngorms, of various colours and sizes. They have,however, now become scarce. They are, in general,of a smoky or yellowish hue (smoky quartz and yellowquartz), and are used for seals and other trinkets.

Cairo (in Arabic, Kahira, which signifies victori-ous), the capital city of Egypt, and one of the largestcities in the w'orld. It lies on the east bank of theNile, in a sandy plain, and contains Old Cairo, Boulac(the harbour), and New Cairo, which are, to a consi-derable degree, distinct from each other. The cityitself, separate from the gardens and plantations whichsurround it, is three leagues and a quarter in circuit,has thirty-one gates, and 2400 irregular unpavedj streets, which, during the night, are closed at the end

— CAIRO.