COL 



730 



COL 



go t Trinity church, which contains a monument to the 

 famous l)r Gilbert, the f : tin- icieiuv of macr- 



nctis;. : in'. i-rectcd about the yetr 1^27, which 



ii now in ruin-;, and has its tower partly composed of 

 Roman brick ; St 1'etcr'f, founded previous to the con- 

 quest ; and St Mary's, which stamls in an elevated situa- 

 tion, near the south-west corner of the town, and which 

 had its main tower raited 12 feet, was repaired in 1 



The river Colne is navigable for large vessels within 

 three miles of the town, and up to the Hythe it is ca- 

 pable of roceivii-g brigs and tm.ill vessels which come 

 close to the houses, where there is an extensive quay and 

 custom house. The principal articles of manufacture 

 re, baize, say, serges, and come other woollen articles, 

 which give employment to the inhabitants in the town 

 and its vicinity. About 100 looms are employed in silk 

 goods, and a considerable trade is carried on by means of 

 the oyster fishing, the Colchester oysters being in great 

 demand. 



The following is the population of this town in 1811 : 



Number of inhabited housee, 2111 



Number of families that occupy them, . . . 3093 



Uninhabited houses, 57 



Families chiefly employed in agriculture, . . 480 

 Families chiefly employed in trade, &c. .. 1152 



Males, 5400 



Females, 71 H 



Total population, 12544 



For a full account of the history and antiquities of 

 Colchester, ee MoraM's Ilislori/ oj Essex, vol. 1. ; ]'/ii- 

 losophical Trnnsaclinns, An-. 1 (><<); Tlir Ilislnry and 

 descrinlioH of Cf.ichrstcr, 1803 ; and Bray ley and Brit- 

 ton's Beauties ofEnglind and Wales, vol. v. p. 286. (o) 

 COLCH1CUM. a genus of plants of the class Hex- 

 andria, and order Mnnogyma. See BOTANY. 



COLCHIS, or CULCHOS, now Mingrflia, was an an- 

 cient kingdom of Asia, bounded on the east by Iberia, 

 on the south by Armenia and Pontus, on the west by the 

 Euxine Sea, and on the north by Mount Caucasus. Its 

 principal rivers, all of which disembogue themselves into 

 the Euxine, are the Ophis, the Cissa, the Phasis, the 

 Cyaneus, the Absarus, the Charistus, the Hypus, and 

 the Coraz. Its cities, which deserve notice, were Aca, 

 the metropolis of the dynasty ; Pityuus, now Pitchinda ; 

 Dioscurias-; a d Cyta, formerly Cuta, the birth-place of 

 Medea. The whole region, though remarkable for the 

 jiumber of its poisonous herbs, which perhaps gave to 

 its honey that bitter flavour which it is said to have pos- 

 sessed, was exceedingly fruitful in every necessary that 

 could administer to the comfort of its inhabitants ; and 

 as it abounded in flax, hemp, wax, pitch, and timber, it 

 was not only well adapted, by means of the rivers which 

 intersected it, for internal traffic, but likewise to carry on 

 an extensive foreign trade by navigating the Euxine. 

 Hence, along the shores of this sea, the Colchians esta- 

 blished many settlements, which served as marts for their 

 various articles of commerce ; and to which they export- 

 ed, not only the raw productions of the country, but al- 

 so the goods which they manufactured, especially linens, 

 which they carried to a great degree of perfection. They 

 were no less famous fur the exquisite figures of flowers 

 and animal* wilh which they variegated their cloths ; and 

 for the beauty and durability of their colours, which no 

 washing or length of time could efface. We may add, 

 that the mines of gold, which enriched this territory, are 

 said to hive given occasion to the voyage of the Argo- 

 nauts, which we formerly described, and which became 

 the subject of some of the most pathetic strains which 



1 iwcd from the romantic Musel of Greece nd 



most probable conjecture concerning the first 

 inhabitant!) of Colchis, it, that they were a branch of 

 the Cuthites, who, in the most remote antiquity, emi- 

 grated from tlu ir native country in Arabia, and settled 

 there. HCIKV, though they were not the real descen- 

 dants' of Mizraim, who peopled Egypt, as has been ge- 

 n- r.illy thought, they were undoubtedly a kindred race, 

 and bore a sinking resemblance to them. Herodotus 

 not to mention Diodortis, Apollotiius, Strabo, &c. wtw 

 appear to have copied him, asserts that the Colchians 

 resernbled tlie Egyptians in their form and features ; in 

 ttieir woolly hair and dark complexion ; in their language, 

 laws, and manners ; in their manufactures and com- 

 merce. Nor can we omit, that this region, before its 

 name degenerated into Colchis, was denominated Cuteis, 

 or Cutais ; and one of its chief cities, Cuta, or Cutaia ; 

 appellations, in all probability, derived from Cush, the 

 founder of the Cuthites. From Herodotus we likewise 

 learn, that long after this emigration, Sesostris, king of 

 Egypt, when warring with the Scythians, left a part of 

 his army in Colchis to defend the passes, who settled in 

 that region ; and that colonies of the Ampreutz, the 

 Lazi, the Heniochi, the Istri, the Marsi, the M>>schi, 

 and the Manrala:, from the last of whom some deduce 

 the name of Mingrelia, at different periods, increased the 

 original inhabitants of the country. 



That Colchis was at first governed by independent 

 princes, must be admitted, but their names and exploits 

 have not descended to our times. OEetes swayed the 

 sceptre, when the Argonauts landed upon his shores, and 

 deprived him of the golden fleece, and the beautiful Me- 

 dea. At his death, according to Strabo, the kingdom 

 was divided into several petty dynasties ; but we find it 

 again united in the time of Xenophon, who informs us, 

 that when he penetrated, under Cyrus, into Asia, a de- 

 scendant of CEetes, who bore the same name, reigned 

 there. Mithridates the Great, in his first career of vic- 

 tory, overran the country ; but when he was forced to 

 yield to the superior destiny of Rome, the Colchians 

 again asserted their freedom. Peace being obtained from 

 Sylla, Mithridates led his forces to take vengeance on the 

 Colchians, who, afra d of his arms, offered to receive his 

 son, who bore the njme or his father, as their king, pro- 

 vided that the independence of the crown should be ac- 

 knowledged. The king of Pontus seemingly agreed to 

 this request, and the Cblcbiios laid down their arms; but 

 the haughty soul of the invader cherished in secret a 

 deep-rooted resentment, not only agaiiiot the state who 

 made the proposal, but against the son, who seemed to 

 be preferred to himself. When the young prince was 

 about to take possession of his kingdom, his father, 

 yielding to the dictates of jealousy and ambition, loaded 

 him with fetters of gold, and at last put him to death. 

 The spirit of the Colchians, roused at this unworthy 

 treatment, Bet at defiance the power of Mithridates, which 

 he led tu subdue them ; but his army, which he conduct- 

 ed through the hostile territory of the Achzans, a peo- 

 ple situated on the eastern shore of the Euxine, was al- 

 most annihilated by the ambushes of the inhabitants and 

 the rigours of the climate ; and the Colchians were de- 

 livered from his arms. Olihaces, who afterwards mount- 

 ed the throne of Cxlchis, entered, however, into an al- 

 liance witli Mithrdates, in a subsequent war with the 

 Romans ; but his forces yielded to the legiuns of Pom- 

 pey, who took him prisoner, a. id led him in triumph. 

 As the reward of services rendered to Pompey lu that 





