cnssiMUA/AK 



COSTA RICA 



503 



es flctl to the Cossack country ; and more 

 on tli' Tartar compio! of Muscovy. Tin- number* 

 of the ( '..--.i.-ls- \\ero also recruited from time to 

 time by adventurers or fugitives from Poland, 

 Hungary, \Yullachia, and elsewhere; but in pb>- 

 ique, aw in language and religion, the Cons;u-k> 



have always I n mainly Russian. They distin- 



vui-he.l themselves in war against Turks ami 

 Tartars, and were known as a powerful military 

 confederacy in the 15th century. The kings 

 <>f Poland and the czars of Muscovy employed 

 them largely to defend their frontiers, especially 

 jigainst nomadic neighbours ; but the connection 

 between the Cossacks and their lords paramount 

 \\a^ al\\a\> very elastic, and was frequently repu- 

 diated to suit the convenience of either party. 

 The Cossacks are still the outposts of Russian 

 authority in Siberia, Central Asia, and the 

 Caucasus. Living near, or, as ' free Cossacks ' 

 amongst, hostile peoples, they developed their 

 peculiar military organisation either forming a 

 cordon of military settlements along the confines 

 of occupied territory, or isolated camps in the 

 nomad country beyond. Agriculture they es- 

 chewed ; self-reliance and readiness at all times 

 for defence or assault were their chief character- 

 istics ; though such of them as inhabited the banks 

 of the Don and Dnieper, and their islands, became 

 And still are skilful boatmen and fishers. Their 

 political constitution was completely democratic ; 

 all offices were elective for one year only, and 

 every Cossack might be chosen to any post, in- 

 cluding the supreme one of Attaman or Hetman. 

 This organisation they have in great measure re- 

 tained, though the office of Hetman was abolished 

 by the Emperor Nicholas, except as a title here- 

 ditary in the imperial family. There have been 

 two main branches of the Cossacks the Little 

 Russian, or Ukraine, and the Don Cossacks. To 

 the first belonged the Zaporogian Cossacks, those 

 dwelling near the Porogi or rails of the Dnieper. 

 From them again are descended the Tscherno- 

 merian Cossacks, those of the Kuban Valley and 

 of Azov. From the Don Cossacks spring^ those of 

 the Volga or of Astrakhan, of the Terek Valley, 

 of Orenburg, of the Ural, and of Siberia. They 

 furnish a large and valuable contingent of light 

 cavalry to the Russian army, and are very patient 

 of fatigue, hunger, thirst, and cold. The Don Cos- 

 sacks give name to a province with an area of 61,886 

 sq. m., and a population of over 1,450,000 inhab- 

 itants, of whom 20,000 are Kalmucks. Though 

 the Cossacks have generally been represented in 

 the west of Europe as little better than fierce 

 savages, they have left a very favourable im- 



Sression on those who have dwelt amongst them, 

 onas Hanway found them in 1743 ' a civilised, and 

 very gallant as well as sober people ; ' and many 

 more recent travellers agree in asserting that in 

 intelligence, cleanliness, refinement, and enterprise 

 they are greatly the superiors of the average Rus- 

 sians. See Springer, Die Kosaken ( Vienna, 1877); 

 Wallace Mackenzie's Russia ( 1877) ; and Erckert, 

 Der Unsprung der Kosaken (Berlin, 1882). 



Cossimbazar (Kaimbdzur) is a decayed 

 city, which at the end of the 17th century was 

 the chief English agency in Bengal. It stood on 

 the Bhagirathi near Murshidabad (q.v.); but its 

 site is now a swamp. 



fossns. See GOAT MOTH. 



Costa, ISAAC DA. See DA COSTA. 



Costa, SIR MICHAEL, a popular musical con- 

 ductor and composer, was oorn at Naples, 4th 

 February 1810. As he early showed a decided 

 talent lor music, he was sent to the Royal 

 Academy in his native citv for education, where 

 lie greatly distinguished himself and produced 



various composition* (1825-29). He nettled in 

 England, ami in IH.'Jl bin ballet of Ki-nilu-nrtli wa 

 produced with success. He was conductor at the 

 King's Theatre ( 1832), at Covent (harden ( 1840), to 

 tin- I'liilliarmonie Concerto (1846), and to the 

 Sacred Harmonic Society ( 1848). Hi* great work, 

 tin- oratorio Kli, produced at the Birmingham 

 Festival of 185") (where he conducted till 1879), 

 rai-ed him to eminence as a composer. A'///"/., 

 which was less successful, was first sung in Bir- 

 mingham in 1864. From 1H57 till 1877 he con- 

 ducted at the Handel Festival, and in 1871 he 

 became director of Her Majesty's Opera. He was 

 knighted by the Queen in 1869. Costa was the 

 author of several 1 Millets, and of some oj 

 including Malek Adhel (1838) and Don Ottrtot 

 (1844). As a composer he holds a respectable 

 place in the second rank, but it is as a conductor 

 that he will be longest remembered, Meyerbeer, in 

 1862, styling him 'the greatest chef d'orchestre in 

 the world.' He died 29th April 1884. 



Costa Rica, the most southerly of the five 

 republics of Central America. It is divided into 

 six provinces, and occupies the entire breadth 

 from sea to sea between Nicaragua on the one 

 side and Colombia on the other, with an area of 

 21,495 miles, or about two-thirds that of Ireland. 

 The population, which is mostly concentrated 

 in a central plateau of about 3500 sq. m., was 

 in 1885 officially estimated at 213,785, including 

 some 10,000 uncivilised Indians; but in 1886, 

 again, an official estimate gave only 196,270. 

 Tne whites are mostly of pure Spanish descent. 

 Except on the coast, the country is generally 

 mountainous, with many volcanoes, all under 

 11,500 feet; on the Atlantic slope dense forests 

 prevail, but wide savannahs are more frequent on 

 the Pacific side. The climate is mild and temper- 

 ate in proportion to the elevation, and the sou of 

 the valleys and uplands is very fertile. Prior to 

 the discoVery of gold in 1823, Costa Rica was a 

 land of poverty, owing its title of 'The Rich Coast' 

 solely to the anticipations of its first Spanish 

 settlers ; since then, foreign capital has opened up 

 much of the country, and brought its products 

 within reach of a market. Although rich in gold, 

 silver, copper, and other metals, its chief industry 

 is agriculture ; but the population is very scanty, 

 and only a twentieth part of the land is under culti- 

 vation. Besides valuable timber and dye-woods, it 

 yields tobacco, sugar, bananas, cacao, caoutchouc, 

 sarsaparilla, and vanilla, which, with hides, tortoise- 

 shell, and mother-of-pearl, are largely exported. 

 But the staple of trade is coffee, to which is princi- 

 pally due the reviving prosperity of ' the Coffee 

 Republic.' Of a total annual export of 1,131,845 

 (1898) coffee represents four-fifths. The imports, 

 chiefly manufactured goods from Great Britain, and 

 wheat and other products from the United States. 

 amounted in the same year to 851,780. The chief 

 ports are Punta Arenas and Limon (q.v.); the 

 other places of any note are San Jose, the capital, 

 and the cities of Cartago, Alajuela, and Heredia. 



Discovered by Columbus in 1493, and prolmbly 

 first settled on his fourth voyage, in 15thJ, ('<ta 

 Rica has had much the same history as its neigh- 

 bours: pronimciamientos have been frequent ; 

 its present constitution is the ninth since the 

 declaration of inde|>endence in 1821 ; and for the 

 ten years preceding 1883 that constitution was 

 practically suspended. The government is now, 

 nowever, accounted the best and most liberal in 

 Central America. The president is chosen every 

 four years, and the members of congress are elected 

 for the same term. There is a small standing army 

 of 600 men, besides 12,000 militia, which embrace^ 

 all males lietween the ages of eighteen and thirty, 

 while those from thirty to fifty-five form tfie 



