537 



COLUMBIA RIVER. 



COMO. 



538 



COLUMBIA RIVER is the largest of the American rivers which 

 fall into the Pacific, running probably more than 800 miles. Its 

 numerous upper branches rise in the Rocky Mountains between 42 

 and 54 N. Int., and are at their source about 650 miles from the 

 Pacific in a straight line. The principal branch rises in a lake near 

 50" N. lat., and runs first in a north-north-western direction along the 

 base of the Rocky Mountains ; but in the neighbourhood of Mount 

 ISrown (near 52" N. lat) it suddenly turns to the south, and continues 

 in that direction through more than three degrees of latitude till it 

 meets another of its great branches, the river Clarke, which also rises 

 in the Rocky Mountains near 45 N. lat., and traverses more than 

 three degrees of latitude in a north-western direction. At the point 

 of junction the Columbia turns to the west, but by degrees declines 

 again to the south, so that at its junction with the river Lewis or 

 Saptin, which also rises in the Rocky Mountains, it has a complete 

 southern course. At their junction the width of the Columbia is 

 above 3000 feet, and its level 1286 feet above the Pacific. Between 

 the mouths of the Clarke River aud the Lewis, in its passage through 

 the Cascade Mountains, occur the greatest impediments to navigation. 

 Not far below the mouth of the Clarke River are the Kettle Falls, 21 

 feet high ; and above that of the Lewis are other cataracts, where the 

 descent in 1200 yards is 37 feet 8 inches, aud where the rapids extend 

 from three to four miles. From the lowest of these rapids to the 

 , a distance of 120 miles, the Columbia, though in many places 

 obstructed by sand-bars, is navigable for vessels drawing under 12 

 feet of water. In this part it is from one to three miles wide, 

 embracing a number of islands, some of which are of considerable 

 extent. It empties itself into thu Pacific a little north of 46. At its 

 mouth it is seven miles wide, but from each of the opposite points, 

 Cape Adams and Cape Disappointment, there extends a sand-bar 

 which renders the navigable channel very narrow. Throughout its 

 course the Columbia receives a vast number of tributaries, some of 

 which are considerable streams. The Columbia forms the boundary 

 n the United States territories of OBKGON and WASHINGTON. 

 The Indian name of the river is Oregon. 



COLUMBUS. [OHIO, State of.] 



COLVILLE. [PRINCE EDWARD'S ISLAND.] 



COLYTON, Devonshire, a small market-town in the parish and 

 hundred of Colyton, is situated on the little river Colv, a feeder of 

 tli.- Axe, in 50 44' N. lat, 3 a 4' W. long., distant 22 miles E. from 

 Exeter and 151 miles S.W. by W. from London. The population of 

 the pari.-h of Colyton, including the tithing of Colyford, in 1851 was 

 2504. The living is a vicarage, with the perpetual curacies of 

 Moncton and Sbute annexed, in the archdeaconry and diocese of 

 Exeter. Colyton is pleasantly situated in a vale through which run 

 the two email rivers the Axe and the Coly. The houses are built 

 mostly of flint and roofed with thatch. The church is a cruciform 

 edifice in the perpendicular style. In the interior are a fine stone 

 screen and seme interesting monuments. The Independents and 

 Unitarians have places of worship. There is an Endowed school for 

 25 boys. The parish of Colyton contains much good dairy land, and 

 the inhabitants are chiefly employed in agriculture. The market 

 days are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and fairs for cattle are 

 held on May 1st and November 30th. In the pariah is the village of 

 Colyford, which is incorporated, and has a mayor, who receives the 

 profit of a large cattle fair held annually. Near the town is Colcombo 

 Castle, once the seat of the Courtcnays, earls of Devonshire, now 

 converted into a farm-house. 



COMANTK. [ViH'.ix ISLANDS.] 



COMBK MARTIN. [DEVONSHIRE.] 



COMBHER. [BiiCRTi'ooii.] 



COMBRAILLES, a district in Lower Auvergne, in France. Its 

 capital was Evaux. Combrailles now forms the enstern part of the 

 department of Creuse. [CiiErsi:.] 



COMMAGK'NE, a small but rich and fertile district in ancient 

 Syria, was bounded N. by the Taurus, E. by the Euphrates, \V. by 

 the Amanus Mountains, which divided it from Cilicia, and S. by the 

 great western bend of the Euphrates, and Cyrrhettica a country 

 which lay between the southern part of Amanus Mountains nnd the 

 Euphrates in its southern course below Zeugma. Commagene was 

 annexed to Syria under the Seleucidse : but in the disorders that followed 

 upon the dissensions of Grypus and his brothers it recovered its inde- 

 pendence, which it maintained for upwards of a century. During 

 this period it was ruled by kings. Upon the death of Antiochus III. 

 A.D. 17, the kingdom of Commagene was reduced to a Roman province, 

 but in A.D. 38 it was restored by Caligula to Antiochus IV., whose 

 territories were enlarged by grants of a part of Cilicia, and afterwards 

 of a part of Armenia, on account of his services under Corbulo in the 

 Parthian War, A.D. 69. In A.D. 73 Antiochus was deposed on a charge 

 f conspiring with the Parthians, and his kingdom was finally reduced 

 to the condition of a province. 



The district of Cyrrhestica (so named from one of its chief towns 

 Cyrrhus, ruins of which are seen at the village of Khoros, about 30 

 miles S.W. from Aintab and near 37" E. long.), was united by Con- 

 stantine to Commagene: the united territory which was called 

 Kii|iliratensis was placed under a Prases, and had Hierapolis instead 

 of SamoHata for its capital. Cyrrhestica was the scene of the campaign 

 between the Romans and Parthians, which ended in the utter defeat 



of the latter under Pacorus, who was slain in the battle. The Romans 

 were commanded by Publius Veutidius Basaus. 



Commagene is now usually considered part of Asia Minor. Cyrrhes- 

 tica is included partly in the pashalic of Aleppo, and partly wo 

 believe in the pashalic of Marash. 



The chief town was Samosata, a fortified place, which contained a 

 royal residence; it was the birthplace of Lucian. The Zeugma, or 

 one of the great passes of the Euphrates, was in Commagene. 

 COMMENTRY. [ALLIER.] 

 COMMERCY. [MEUSE, Department of.] 

 COMMINES. [FLANDERS, WEST; NORD.] 



COMMINGES, a district of the former province of Gascogue, in 

 France, which is now chiefly included in the departments of Haute- 

 Garoune and Ariege. Among the towns comprehended in this district 

 were St.-Bertrand the capital, on the Garonne, and Lombes, which was 

 formerly of episcopal rank; St.-Girous, on the Salat, and St-Gaiulens, 

 on the Garonne. 



COMO, a province of Austrian Italy, is bounded N. by the province 

 of Valtellina, and the Swiss cantons of Grisous and Ticino, from 

 which it is separated by several offsets of the Rhsetian Alps; W. by 

 the Lago Maggiore, which divides it from Piedmont, S. by the 

 Milanese, and E. by the province of Bergamo. The length of the 

 province from Mount S. Giori, on the frontiers of the Orisons, to the 

 borders of the province of Milan, near Missaglia is about 40 miles. 

 Its breadth is very irregular. The area is 1090 square miles, and the 

 population according to the official returns of 1850 and 1851 was 

 423,206. 



The east or larger division of the province incloses the whole length 

 of the Lago di Como, the Lacus Larius of the Romans, a fine piece of 

 water, long, narrow, and tortuous, shut in between shores which are 

 richly diversified by numerous promontories, gulfs, and little bays. 

 Its most northern extremity called Laghetto (or 'small lake') is 

 joined to the other part by a narrow channel. At the junction of the 

 Laghetto with the wide part of the lake, the Adda, coming from 

 Valtellina, enters it on the east side. The lake then extends nearly 

 due south for 15 miles; after which it divides into two branches: 

 one to the south-west, which is about IS miles in length, retains the 

 name of Lago di Como, the city of Como being at the extremity of 

 it ; the other branch runs south-east for 12 miles, and is called Lago di 

 Lecco, from the town of Lecco. The Adda issues out of the lake at 

 Lecco. The breadth of the lake is very unequal ; towards the middle, 

 just above the separation of the two branches, it is about 3 miles, 

 but in most other places it is only between one. and two miles. A 

 steamer plies between the city of Como and the several towns along 

 the shores of the lake. 



Two projections of the Rluetian Alps encompass the basin of the 

 lake. One of these proceeding from the group of the Splugeu runs 

 parallel to the western shore, and divides it from the basin of the 

 Lake of Lugano, the level of which is more than 200 feet above that 

 of the Lake of Como : the highest summit in this ridge, called Monte 

 S. Giori, or lori Berg, is about 9000 feet above the sea. The eastern 

 ridge is an offset of the chain which divides Valtellina from Lombardy, 

 and in Monte Legnone, to the north-east of the Lake of Como, rises 

 to about 9000 feet above the sea ; it thence runs south, parallel to the 

 eastern shore of the lake, dividing the province of Como from the Val 

 Brembana, in the province of Bergamo. These two ridges sink lower 

 and lower as they advance to the south, until at last both merge 

 into the great plain of Lombardy. They send out many offsets 

 towards the lake, forming transverse valleys, which are drained by 

 numerous streams that empty themselves into the lake. The neigh- 

 bourhood of the Lake of Como is one of the most delightful regions 

 of Italy, the climate being mild and genial, the soil productive in fruits 

 and \ egetables, and the country studded with thriving villages, with 

 fine villas and mansions. Among the latter may be mentioned the 

 Villa d'Este, in which Queen Caroline of England long resided, aud 

 on the east bank, near the pretty village of Torno, the villa culled 

 Pliniana, on account of the intermittent spring which Pliny the 

 naturalist (ii. 103) describes, and which continues to exhibit the same 

 phenomena : these are described also, though with some discrepancy, 

 by the younger Pliny (iv. 30). On the promontory which divides the 

 two branches of Lecco and Como, is Bellagio, where Pliny's seat, which 

 he called ' Comaxlia," is believed by some to have been, on account 

 of the gay appearance of the landscape. His other villa, which he 

 calls 'Tragcedia,' was probably at Lenno, on the west bank, where the 

 landscape is wild and stern. The most northern part of the province 

 includes the lower heights of the Alps, which are covered generally with 

 forests of larch, fir, birch, oak, and chestnut; while the slopes and 

 valleys are covered with pasture. The southern declivities of the moun- 

 tains are formed into terraces, and cultivated with great labour. At 

 Bellagio also is the Villa Melzi, once inhabited by the vice-president 

 of the Italian republic in the first years of Bonaparte's dominion. 

 Farther north on the east bank is a fine cascade, called Fiume di 

 Latte, with a glass manufactory near it ; next comes Varena, in a 

 sheltered warm situation, where the olive, vine, and orange and lemon 

 trees, and other southern plants are seen thriving. Higher up on the 

 same side is Bellano, at the entrance of the Val Sassina; a district 

 subject to very cold winds from the Alps. A wild romantic spot in 

 this neighbourhood, where the stream Piovema forms a cascade among 



