C A I 



20D 



C A I 



and GABI, are different names which have 

 been given to a tea-port town of Palestine, situated 

 ;>t tlic foot of Mount Carmel, and opposite to Acre f 

 from which it is separated by the bay of Acre. 



This place was formerly but a wretched village, 

 constructed from the ruins of the ancient Porphyria, 

 the remains of which may be still seen within leis 

 than a mile of Caifa. The ruins of the metropolitan 

 church of Porphyria are still in existence ; and it 

 would appear that this place was the Sicammon of 

 Ptolemy. The houses of Caifa are irregularly scat- 

 tered, and are small and flat roofed ; and, in summer, 

 the inhabitants were accustomed to sleep in arbours, 

 formed of the boughs of trees. Since Caifa came 

 into the possession of the chief of Acre, a custom- 

 house has been established, and the town has been 

 defended by a citadel, and by walls towards the sea. 



As the anchoring ground near Caifa is much supe- 

 rior to that at Acre, the corsairs formerly put in 

 here to sell their prizes, which generally consisted of 

 rice and slaves ; and one of the Carmelites usually 

 lent his aid as an interpreter between the pirates and 

 the inhabitants. As the port of Acre has been 

 choked up, and is not able to receive large ships, 

 the vessels which trade with- that place cast anchor 

 in the bay of Acre, during the good months of May, 

 June, July, August, and September ; but during the 

 other seven months of the year, they are under the 

 necessity of loading and unloading the merchandise 

 of Acre at Caifa, and of transporting it from one 

 place to another in small barks. The town of Caifa 

 exacts a certain tribute from travellers, who visit the 

 church upon Mount Carmel ; but the Europeans set- 

 tled in the town are free from this exaction. The in- 

 habitants are principally Mahometans, Catholics, and 

 Greeks. Distance from Acre, 8 miles south-west. 

 W. Long. 35 10', N. Lat. 32 44'. See Acne and 

 CARMEL. (j) 



CA1FONG. See KAIFONG. 



CAILLE, NICHOLAS LEWIS r>E I.A, a celebrated 

 French astronomer, was born at Rumigny, in the 

 department of the Aisne, on the 15th of March 

 1713. The example of his father, who, after quit- 

 ting the army, dedicated his leisure hours to mathe- 

 matical and mechanical pursuits, excited in the mind 

 of his son an ardent passion for the same studies. 

 After having gone through the usual course at school, 

 where he gave manifest indications of his future ta- 

 lents, he went to Paris in 1729, to perfect himself 

 in the study of the classics and philosophy. Being 

 intended for the church, La Caille was sent to study 

 theology at the college of Lisieux ; but his love for 

 astronomy became so great, that he declined entering 

 into priest's orders, lest his religious duties should 

 be sacrificed to his ardour for science. At the early 

 age of 18 La Caille lost his father, and was left 

 without any means of support. The Duke de Bour- 

 bon, however, by whom his father had been patro- 

 nised, generously extended the same kindness to the 

 son, and provided for all his wants. In 1736 he be- 

 came acquainted with Bailly, by whom he was recom- 

 mended to James Cassini, who obtained for him an ap- 



pointment in the observatory ; and by hit valuable in- 

 structions, he acquired much additional knowledge of 

 his favourite science, and obtained a thorough acquaint- 

 ance with the difficult art of observation. During the 

 year 1739, he was engaged, along with M. Cassuti de 

 Thury, the brother of his friend, in the general survey 

 of France, an account of which was publuhed in 1744, 

 under the title of Meridienne de I'OLtervatoire Royal 

 de Part* vcrijite ; and, in the Mine ytar, be was 

 appointed to the professorship of mathematics 10 the 

 college of Mazarine. La Caille was, on the 3d 

 May, 174-1, admitted a member of the Academy of 

 Sciences, and he has enriched the memoirs of that 

 learned body with many valuable communications. In 

 1743, he published his LtfOiu de Mecaniqut. His 

 Legons Etementaire d'Astroxomif, which has been 

 translated into English by Robertson, appeared in 

 1746; a second edition was published in 1755, and a 

 third edition by La Lande in 1780. The LtfOnt . 

 mentuires d'Op/ique of La Caille were published at 

 Paris in 1750. For the work entitled L'Art de ten- 

 Jier les dates, which was published at Paris in 1750, 

 La Caille computed all the eclipses of the sun and 

 moon from the commencement of the Christian sera. 

 He likewise calculated a volume of ephemcrides from 

 1 7 1 . j to 1 755, another from 1 755 to 1 764, and a third 

 from 1765 to 1775. His Tabulae Solar e* guat e *6- 

 vissimis suis obscrvaiionibus deduxit, were published 

 in 1758. 



After having continued for several years to carry 

 on his observations at the observatory of the Maza- 

 rine college, he proposed to the French court the 

 project of visiting the Cape of Good Hope, for 

 the purpose of settling the positions of the stars in 

 the southern hemisphere. This plan having met 

 with the approbation of the minister, he set out 

 for the Cape on the 21st November, 1750 ; and du- 

 ring his residence at that settlement and in the isles 

 of France and Bourbon, he observed the places of 

 no fewer than 10,000 stars which are invisible in 

 our latitude, and made a number of important ob- 

 servations on the parallaxes of the planets, the ob- 

 liquity of the ecliptic, and astronomical refraction*. 

 Having thus completed the object of his voyage be- 

 fore the arrival of the vessel that was to carry him 

 back to Europe, he resolved to employ the rest of his 

 time in measuring a degree of the meridian. By means 

 of a base of 38,802 feet, which was measured three 

 times, he found that the distance between the Cape 

 and a place called Klip-Fontyn, was 410,814 feet; 

 and hence he obtained the length of a degree of the 

 meridian, in the latitude of 33 18' south, to be about 

 342,240 Paris feet, or 57,04O toises. La Caille' s in- 

 struments, however, were by no means excellent; and 

 La Lande observes, that the toise which he made use 

 of was too great * 



After an absence of four years, La Caille returned 

 to France in 1754, and employed himself in prepa- 

 ring for publication the numerous observations whidi 

 he made at the Cape. In 1757, he published his 

 Astronomice Ftmdamenla novissimis tolis ct stfllamm 

 ubservutiuiiibus stabilila. In this valuable work of 



See Men. Acad. Par, 1751, p. 135; and Agronomic par La Lande, torn. Hi. part. 2G45, 2698. 

 VOL. V. PART I. 2 D 



