CAN 



365 



CAN 



with which tlie island abounds. " The most fertile 

 of Canary," says Mr Glas, " is the mountain of 

 Doramil, situated about two leagues from the city 

 of Pahnas. It is shaded by groves of different kinds 

 of fragrant trees, \vlin.,e lofty boughs arc so thickly 

 interwoven as to exclude the rays of the sun. The 

 rills that witer those shady groves, the whispering 

 of the lirre/.e among the trees, and the melody of the 

 11 y birds, form a most delightful concert. When 

 a 'person is in one of these enchanting solitudes, he 

 cannot fail of calling to remembrance, the fine things 

 the ancients have written of the Fortunate Islands." 



The sugar plantations, which were formerly nu- 

 merous and extensive in this island, and which em- 

 ployed fourteen large manufactories, have now, in a 

 great measure, given place to the cultivation of the 

 vine. The wines and brandies of Grand Canary have 

 always been in great demand in the Spanish West 

 Indies, and the inhabitants find it more profitable to ex- 

 change these for sugar than to raise it in their own 

 country. The wine of Grand Canary, however, though 

 good, has not such a body as that of Teneriffe, and 

 is consequently not so fit for exportation. The ani- 

 mals of Grand Canary are camels, horses, asses, 

 mules, bullocks, a few sheep, &c. also turkeys, geese, 

 fowls, ducks, partridges, and Canary birds. Popu- 

 lation 40,000. See CANARY ISLES, and the references 

 subjoined to that article, (p) 



CANCER. See SBRGERY. 



CANCER. See CRUSTACEA. 



CANCER, or theCRAD, in astronomy, is the name 

 of one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The par- 

 ticular arrangement of the stars in this constellation 

 is supposed by some to have been the origin of the 

 name, from their fancied resemblance to a crab; 

 while others ascribe it to the analogy between the 

 retrograde motion of this animal, and the motion of 

 the sun which begins to recede from the earth when it 

 enters the sign Cancer. In Ptolemy's catalogue this 

 constellation contains 29 stars, in Tycho's 15, in 

 Bayer's and Hevelius's 29, in Flamstead's 83, and in 

 the catalogue which we have given in the article 

 ASTRONOMY, at p. 762, it contains 87 stars. (n>) 



CANDAHAR, or KANDAKAR, the capital of a 

 country of Asia of the same name, situated between 

 Persia and Hindostan, and supposed to be a part of 

 the Paropamisus of the ancients. The city of Can- 

 dahar, which is both populous and flourishing, is 

 built of a square form, and is comprehended within 

 an ordinary fortification of about three miles in cir- 

 cumference. From its favourable situation on the 

 great road which connects India with Persia and 

 Tartary, this city has long been a distinguished mart 

 of trade. Many Hindoo families, principally of the 

 Moultan and the Rajepoot districts, have established 

 themselves here. By their industry and mercantile 

 knowledge, they have greatly increased the trade and 

 opulence of Candahar ; and the extensive range of shops 

 which they occupy, and the ease and contentment ex- 

 pressed in their deportment, is a sufficient testimony 

 of the liberty and protection which they enjoy. This 

 city is likewise frequented by the Turcoman mer- 

 chants of Bucharia and Samarkand, who carry away 

 into their own country a great quantity of the in- 

 digo with which Candahar is annually supplied from 



the various parts of upper India. Provision* are her* 

 much cheaper than in most places on the west side 

 of the Indus, and the supply is also more abundant. 

 Candahar stands in an extensive plain, intersected 

 wjth numerous stream:., and covered with fruit gar- 

 dens and cultivated ground, which produces grapes 

 and melons of the finest flavour. This plain is in- 

 terspersed with hills near the site of the old fortress, 

 but they arc moderately high, and do not form a 

 barrier of difficult access. This fortress, which it 

 about two or three miles north of Candahar, stands 

 on the summit of a rocky hill of moderate height, 

 but abrupt elevation. It was destroyed by Nadir 

 Shah, who founded a new city called Nadirabad. 

 This city was completed by Ahmed, who gave it 

 the name of New Candahar, and intended it fpr the 

 capital of Afghanistan. The road is here carried 

 over a stony ascent of easy access, and is sheltered 

 on each side with scattered hills and wide intervals 

 of level land. On the road from Ghizni to Can- 

 dahar, the general aspect of the country is barren, 

 and the supply of wood and water ia scanty. From 

 this scarcity of water, the buildings are constructed, 

 as in Cabul, of bricks burnt in the sun, and are co- 

 vered in with a flat arched roof of the same materials. 

 The climate of Candahar is considerably temperate, 

 and neither equals the heat of India nor the cold of 

 Ghizni. 



A son of Tirnur Shah governs this city and a tract 

 of the adjacent country, which is said to bring in an 

 annual revenue of eighteen lacs of rupees. East 

 Long. 65 33', North Lat. 33. See Forster's Jour, 

 ney from Bengal to England, vol. ii. Lett. xiv. p. 

 115; and Decouve'te de I' Empire dii Candahar, 

 Paris 1730, 12mo. (o) 



CANDIA, the ancient CRETE, a rich and exten- 

 sive island in the Mediterranean Sea, lies between 

 231 and 26^- degrees E. Long., and forms as it were 

 a base to the Grecian Archipelago. Its length from 

 its most western coast to Cape Samonium on the east 

 is about 60 leagues ; and it is nearly 15 at its great- 

 est breadth, from Cape Sassoso on the north to Cape 

 Matala on the south. A chain of mountains, called 

 the White Mountains, or the mountains of Sphachia, 

 traverses the greatest part of the island. During 

 half the year it is covered with snow, great quanti- 

 ties of which are piled up by the inhabitants in deep 

 vales, exposed to the north, where it condenses and 

 hardens, and is then used for cooling their liquors in 

 summer. From these mountains flow numberless 

 streams, which, during winter, are swelled into tor- 

 rents by the rains, and, in the spring, by the melt- 

 ing of the snow, and rushing with dreadful impetu- 

 osity down the steep declivities, do not stop till they 

 lose themselves in the ocean. Many of them, how- 

 ever, are completely dried up during the summer ; 

 and the water with which the inhabitants then re- 

 fresh their lands is drawn from the springs that issue 

 from the bottom of the hills. The coast of Candia 

 is indented with numerous harbours and roadsteads, 

 which afford excellent and safe anchorages. The 

 principal of these are, Grabusa on the west ; the 

 bay of Suda on the north ; and Paleo Castro on the 

 east. On the south, however, there are few places, 

 where a ship can ride in safety. 



< aj.UM. 



