

CAICOS : 



CA1TII 



ratht hank of th* rivrr Lot, on a small peninsula formed by a bend 

 tathe stream, n 44* M' 52 26' 52' E. long., 105 miles 



K. by S. from Bordeaux, 858 mile* & by W. from Paris, and has 

 1X1 inhabitant* including the whole commune. Cahon U a very 

 aarirot place. lu name U erroneously written Bibona in the Theo- 

 doeian table. Ausoniu* in hi* ' CUne Urbe*' give* it the tru. 

 BMif. Dirouf, and explains the meaning to be ' a fountain sacred to 

 thegooV It WM the capital of the Cadurd, from whom the modern 

 name of the town, C*hon. and that of the province, Querd, are both 

 derived. On the downfal of the Roman empire it came successively 

 into the hand, of Goths and Frank* ; was afterwards subiect to the 

 counts of Toulouse, then to it* own bishop ; was taken by the English 

 during their wan in Franc*, and retaken from them ; and carried by 

 awult and pillaged in 1580 by Henry IV. 



The town is situated partly on a rooky eminence, and has steep, 

 narrow, crooked stresU. The houses in what is called the upper 

 town are commonly built with terrace* commanding a wide prospect 

 There are few remarkable buildings : the cathedral ia supposed to be 

 th* remain* of an ancient temple, with the addition of a portico and 

 other part* of modem date ; the theological seminary is a fine and 

 large building. The other noteworthy objects in the town are the 

 farmer epuoopal palace, now the residence of the prefect of the 

 department ; th* theatre ; the public library ; and an obelisk erected 

 hi memory of Ptfnelon in 1820, who studied in the university of 

 Cahon, which was founded by Pope John XXII., and has been long 

 aunnriesed Four Roman roads met at Cahors, and one of the greatest 

 of Roman aqueduct* brought water to the town from a distance of 

 1 9 mile* by a very winding course across valleys and along mountain 

 sides. It crossed the valley of La Roque, near Cahors, by a bridge 

 of three tier* of arches, the summit of which was nearly 1 80 feet high. 

 There are still some remains of this magnificent work. There are also 

 a ruined theatre and baths ; a marble altar in honour of Lucterius 

 Leo, a native of Divona, has been found in Cahors, and some beautiful 

 mosaic* on the site of the Roman baths. The fountain Divona is still 

 an abundant spring, now called Des-Chartreux, from its having for- 

 merly belonged to the Carthusian convent Tho stream from it drives 

 several mill* before its clear blue waters join the muddy Lot This 

 fountain is onUide the modern town. The Lot is crossed at Cahors 

 by three bridges, one of which called Pont Louis-Philippe replaces 

 the old bridge of Notre-Dame. The Pont Valendrd, so called from 

 th* person who constructed it in the 13th century, is surmounted by 

 three square towers, one at each end and one in the centre. The old 

 rampart* are formed into a public promenade. Cahors has given 

 title to a bishop since about A.D. 257 ; the diocese includes the depart- 

 ment of Lot The town is the seat of tribunals of first instance and 

 of commerce, of a provincial university and an endowed college. The 

 chief manufactures of Cahors are china-ware and delft, cotton-yarn, 

 some woollen studs, and leather ; there is also a considerable trade in 

 Uaf-tooaoco, wine, brandy, truffles, oil, cattle, and hides. The wine 

 of the neighbourhood of Cahon combines deep colour with good 

 swour and strength : a great quantity is sent to Paris. 



CAICOS ISLANDS. [BAHAMAS.] 



iXOORM. [ABERDEEN-SHIRK; BANrrsmRB.] 



CAIRO. [KAHH.A.J 



CAISTOR, or CASTOR, Lincolnshire, a market-town and the seat 

 of a Poor-Law Union, in the pariah of Caistor, chiefly in the wapen- 

 take of Yarborough (a portion of the parish being in the wapentake 

 of Walsbcroft) and in the parts of Lindsey, is situated in 53 s 80' N. 

 ht, 18' W. long., distant 24 miles N.N.E. from Lincoln, and 158 

 mfles N. by W. from London by rosd : the population of the parish 

 of Oalstor in 1851 was 2407. The living U a vicarage held with the 

 y*** * Holton-le-Moor and Clixby in the archdeaconry and 

 ios)s of Lincoln. Caistor Poor-Law Union contains 78 parishes and 

 township., with an area of 164,890 acres, and a population in 1851 



Otistor _is supposed to have been the site of a Roman station. It 

 * ^* >on * Thong Castor. Rom<n and Saxon anti 

 discovered in the vicinity. The town stands on an 

 The parish church, dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, 

 S* 1 * H " 1 ' wiUlln the * incloeed in ancient time* by a 

 s. The loww part of the tower i* Norman, the nave and 

 Ian early English, with insertions ,! additions in the deco- 

 ind perpendicular styles. The Independent* and Wealeyan and 

 n ll*thodi*ta hare place, of worship. The Grammar school, 

 1 K * ll J r " > "** " 'noome of 200/. a year for the 

 "^"iL, I? ** * oood mMt r : ** number of scholars in 

 Oatator ha. improved in appearance of late yean. The 

 * chain of dm and ash U carried on to a considerable 

 XMl Saturday U th* market-day, but the market is small. Fairs. 

 hjefl, >kr cattle, an held on the Saturday, before Palm Sunday 

 ;/' on old Michaelmas Day : these fain are well 



IHTOR^ [ Xcmrout.] 



the most northern county of the mainland of Scot- 

 l " by Satherlaodahire and N. and B.E. bv the North 

 DHWM V 5' and 68 4V N. Ut, 8 0' and 8 55 

 ' ^25: In I "" 'V U trtu ul r . arin to greatest length along 

 the coast on the south-east It* length bom north to south U about 



WM called by 



, .-),-.. 



10 miles, and it* breadth from east to west about 80 miles. Tho i 

 of Caithness is 818 square miles, or 395,080 acres, of which upwards 

 of 100,000 are cultivated or in pasture, the rest being moor and 

 mountains. The population in 1851 was 38,709. 



Cofut-laK. The coast line is in general bold and rocky, and presents 

 numerous indentations or bays. <Mi th-- north, wluT<> it i- separated 

 'rom the Orkneys by the Pentland Frith, the ]> 

 'orm two bold precipitous headlands; the one on the north 

 called Dnncansbay Head (58 39' N. Int., 3 1' \V. 1. 

 the north-west, called Dunnet Head (58" 40' N. lit., :r 21' \V. ! 

 and the most northern point of Great Britain. Th. .'n-- m . 1.. 

 !hee two promontories is about 18 miles. The small i-l::iul of StromH, 

 which is part of the county, and is about a mile in length iuid half n 

 mile in breadth, lies about S mfles oft" the mainland. The navi. 

 of the Pentland Frith U somewhat dangerous from the strength of 

 the currents, and the reefs. On the north side of Strums, there is a 

 small vortex or whirlpool, named Swalchie, and nearer the mainland 

 there are breakers, called the Merry Hen of Mcy, which are probably 

 produced by a current setting strongly on a hidden reef. The tall 

 white steeple of Canisbay, near Duncansbay Head, serves as a land- 

 mark, and there is a lighthouse on Dunnet Head. The Stalks of 

 Duncansbay ore two insulated columns of freestone, detached from 

 the cliff, of which they originally formed n part; they are iuh 

 during the summer by thousands of aquatic birds. > nsbay 



Head is the ferry to the Orkneys, a village consisting of a few houses, 

 and a place of entertainment, called the Houna Inn. What is termed 

 John O'Oroat's House is a piece of green turf on the cast side of 

 Duncansbay Head, on which it ia possible a house may have stood, 

 but there has long ceased to be any trace of it 



Formerly the only harbour on the east coast was at the mouth of 

 the river of Wick, 58* 24' N. lat, 8 5' W. long. It was small and 

 inconvenient. In 1810, a harbour capable of containing a h" 

 decked vessels was constructed at a cost of 14,000f., but being found 

 inadequate, a new one was planned aixl completed in 1831, at a cost 

 of upwards of 40.0007. There are small harbours at Sm 

 miles to the south of Wick, and at Staxigoe a few miles to the > 

 On the north coast, in addition to the harbour of Thurso (58 35' 

 N. lat, 8 82' W. long.) where vessels of 12 feet draught of 

 may lie, a commodious harbour has been constructed by the enter- 

 prise of a private gentleman, at Sandside Bay (58 32' N. lat, 3 47' 

 W. long.). On the south-east coast of the county, at Clyth (58 18' 

 N. lat, 3 13' W. long.) there ia a a small pier, and at Lybster (58 17' 

 X. lat, 3 16' W. long.) a small stone pier has been built, forming a con- 

 venient harbour. Scrabster roads, in the Bay of Thurso, afford good 

 and safe anchorage for vessels of any size. 



Purfacc and Otology. The surface of Caithness is in general flat 

 and uninteresting ; the greater portion being moorland, and there 

 being but few trees. The mountain-range which separates the i 

 land of Sutherland from the plains of this county attains a mountain 

 character in the southern parts of Caithness, where it turns I 

 east, forming two distinct aud high ridges, of which the north, m 

 contains the Maiden Pops, with the high summit of Morbh 

 Morven, rising about 2334 feet above the sea ; and the south* TH 

 terminates on the east coast with the Ord of Caithness, which advances 

 into the sea. The plain of Caithness, which lies between the ridge of 

 the Maiden Paps, the Pentland Frith, and the mountains tlut lnnind 

 the county on the west, comprises about four-fifths of the county, luit 

 it is not a level Where it borders on the mountains to the south it 

 contains many small hills, which form nearly a continuous 

 terminating in the Cape of Clyth Ness. North of this roiif 

 county extends in wide levels, covered with moors, and slopes, 

 gradually to the bods of the rivers. A few insulated hills are of 

 moderate elevation. Agriculture is confined to the tracts of level 

 land along the water-course*, and to the slopes of the elevated plains. 

 These elevated moorlands sink lower towards the north-east, and ter- 

 minate in a low plain between Sinclair Bay on the east coast, aud 

 Dunnet Bay on the north coast From the innermost part of Dunnet 

 Bay there extends a very low tract of land, covered with heath and 

 rough grass, and about two miles wide, in a straight line to Keiss 

 Castle on Sinclair Bay. North of this tract th. i/.-niii-nU inclosed 

 between Sinclair and Dunnet Bays runs to the PentUnd Frith and 

 terminates in Duncansbay Head and Dunnet Head. The greater and 

 more elevated part, which may bo 100 feet above the spa, has a light 

 sandy soil, and contains a considerable amount of hind u nder cultivn- 

 ti..n. Limestone is found on the north coast and is m\uch used in 

 agriculture. Sandstone ia found in some places ; and slate\ freestone, 

 and flagstone quarries are wrought in two or three parts of the county. 

 The** stones are shipped to Lcith, Aberdeen, London, Newcastle, aud 

 Glasgow. 



Hydrography. There are several sheets of water througl.iout the 

 county, but none are of any extent or remarkable for beauty. , Many 

 of them contain excellent trout. There are no navigable riverfJ- The 

 waters of Dunbeatfa, Berriedale, and Langwell rise in the mo untains 

 in the south-west part of the shire, and fall into the sea, the (former 

 at Duubeath, a small bay capable of being formed into an excellent 

 harbour, and the two latter at Berriedale, both places on the 

 eastooast These streams abound with trout. The river of .^ " !>. 

 from the inland loch of Wattin, falls into Wick Bay ; in its 



