CAT 



. .tafomhs. the Roman emperors were deposited in the cata ;mbs 

 *' ot the Vatican. There the body of Honoring was disco- 

 ! I I I I \ i ars subsequent to his decease, with many 

 jewel; and ornaments in his torn!), weighing forty 

 pounds of solid gold. It is inferred from a passa, 

 Cicero's Orations, that the catacombs of Rome were 

 not in his time the ordinary places of sepulchre : but 

 it is concluded, that, from the middle of the second 

 century, they were the common cemetery of the city 

 fur several hundred years ; that the custom was then 

 interrupted, and occasionally revived, as is seen by an 

 in.-cription on the sarcophagus of Theobald bishop 

 ot ' Ostia, who died in 1158. It appears, that some 

 sarcophagi have received bodies for which they were 

 not originally designed, and that inscriptions of far 

 more recent date than the period of interment have 

 been engraven on certain tablets. 



It is generally believed, that the catacombs served 

 both as a place of performing their religious myste- 

 ries, and for a retreat to the Christians during per- 

 secution. Gregory of Tours relates, that two mar- 

 tyrs having been interred in a certain crypt or nich, 

 which was greatly resorted to by Christians on days 

 of festival as a consecrated spot, one of the Roman 

 emperors watched their motions. When the greatest 

 number had collected together, he ordered a wall 

 to be suddenly built against the entrance to the ca- 

 tacombs, and covered by a hill of sand. The mi- 

 eel able devotees were thus condemned to a cruel and 

 inevitable death ; but when persecution ceased, and 

 their bones were discovered, the place was held in 

 still greater veneration. 



One part of the catacombs is supposed to have 

 been appropriated for the Jews inhabiting Rome. 

 The inscriptions are in Greek, which indeed are fre- 

 quent throughout the whole recesses ; but this is not 

 supposed to invalidate the fact. 



Among the various catacombs with which certain 

 parts of the world abound, those of Malta are in 

 the highest preservation. They are cut in the rock, 

 and so white and entire, as to seem just newly exe- 

 cuted. The smallness of the galleries, admitting only 

 one person at a time, their nearly equal distribution, 

 circular vaults, niches for lamps for illuminating the 

 .passages, and the regularity of the tombs, seem to 

 indicate that they have been purposely excavated. 



Regular parallel streets, recesses, and chambers, 

 are seen in the catacombs of Syracuse, the roof of 

 the latter being flat, circular, and vaulted, with a hole 

 at the top to admit light. The tombs, many of 

 which are excavated from solid stone, arc ranged 

 around in regular order. Some of these chambers ap- 

 pear to have had a door, by which they could be 

 locked up by their various owners. The door of 

 certain catacombs in Syria and Palestine, is a large 

 thick flat stone, moving on two pivots as hinges. 



Catacombs have been devoted not only to receive 

 the mortal remains of the human race, but even the 

 carcases of the brute creation. Man, ever supersti- 

 tious and fearful, has sought to propitiate the 

 Deity by the adoration of inanimate plants, of gro- 

 velling reptiles, or beasts of the earth. The an- 

 cient Egyptians have formed immense excavations, in 

 which to deposit mummies of jackals, mice, croco- 

 diles, birds, and fishes, with as much care as they be- 

 stowed on their own friends and relatives. The ibis, 



VOL. V. PAKT. If. 



CAT 



in particular, being an object of veneration, lias been 

 embalmed in thousands in the extensive catacombs of I 

 Memphis. The galleries there divide into many '* 

 branches, with recesses on each side, about six feet 

 by eight in si/.e, containing rows of baked earth, 

 rn un.s or pots, somewhat of a conical form, all a- 

 long the walls. In each of these, which is from 1 .' 

 to 20 inches high, is a mummy of the sacred bird, 

 frequently in perfect preservation, and exhibiting all 

 the original colours of the plumage. The pots arc 

 regularly arranged, tier over tier, in regular order. 



Almost all catacombs have been violated in search 

 of treasure, and they have sometimes been converted 

 to less pacific purposes than for mansions of the dead. 

 It is not long since a formidable band of robbers was 

 organized in those of Rome, by a Portuguese lead- 

 er, who, on the day of their admission to his corps* 

 impressed certain mystic characters on the arm of 

 each with a hot iron. They stored up provisions 

 for several months, and have been known to remain 

 above fifteen days unseen in their subterraneous re- 

 treats among the tombs. After committing innumer- 

 able depredations, their leader having endeavoured to 

 save a Portuguese gentleman who was attacked, some 

 of his party were displeased, and fired upon him : 

 he returned their fire ; they fled, and the whole se- 

 parated, never to meet again. The French, also, 

 during their invasion of Egypt, frequently took up 

 their abode in the catacombs. Sec Ditnlorua Siculus, 

 lib. i. cap. 4. ; Denon Voyage dans /' Egypt e; Po- 

 cock's Travels ; Norden's Travels ; Ripaud, Report 

 of the Commission; Gregorius Turonensis de gloria 

 marti/nim ; Bosio Roma Sotteranca. Voyage duns 

 les Catacombcs de Rome; D'Orville Sicula ; Houel 

 Voyage piltoresque ; Mack Gregory On the Sepulchres 

 of the Ancients, (r) 



CATALOGUES OF STARS. See ASTRONOMY, 

 and STA*. 



CATALONIA, a province of Spain. It occu- 

 pies the north-east extremity of the peninsula, and 

 is bounded on the north by the Pyrenees, which se- 

 parate it from France ; on the east by the Mediter- 

 ranean, on the south by Valencia, and by Arragon 

 on the west ; extending from east to west about -10 

 leagues, and 44 from south-west to north-east. This 

 province is almost throughout extremely mountain- 

 ous, but interspersed with many rich and well-culti- 

 vated plains and vallies, which are watered and fer- 

 tilized by numerous rivers. Its mountains, however, 

 are merely branches of the Pyrenees, which, stretch- 

 ing far into the country, form second rate mountains, 

 of which the chief are, Mon-Ncgre, Valgorguina, 

 San- Gran, Alsinellas, Requesens, Monseny, and 

 Montserrat. Of these, Montserrat is the most re- 

 markable, both for its situation, its appearance, and 

 the composition and arrangement of its rocks. It is 

 about 3300 feet above the level of the sea, and ap- 

 pears to stand completely insulated and unconnected 

 with any other mountain, rearing its base and rugged 

 head above a hilly country, like a pile of Gothic 

 spires. Its huge cliffs shoot up to a stupendous ele- 

 vation, and their blanched and naked summits are 

 split into a variety of shapes. Some of these rocks 

 are composed ot limestone of different colours, ce- 

 mented together by sand and a yellow calcareous 

 earth, and others of freestone and white quartz, 



