CAPE. 



31 



Cap of a block ; a semicircular projection from the 

 sides and round the end of a block above the pins. 



Cap-merchant ; the purser of a ship. 

 To cap verses is an exercise of the memory among 

 school-boys; the one repeating a verse, and the 

 second proceeding where he left off, and so on with 

 the rest. 



Caps were not worn by the Romans for many 

 ages. When either the rain or sun was troublesome, 

 the lappet of the gown was thrown over the head ; 

 and hence all the ancient statues appear bareheaded, 

 excepting, sometimes, a wreath or the like. The 

 same usage prevailed among the Greeks, to whom, 

 at least during the heroic age, caps were unknown. 

 The sort of caps or covers of the head in use among 

 the Romans, on divers occasions, were the pitra, 

 pileus, cttcttlltts, galerus, and palliolum, which are 

 often confounded by ancient as well as modern 

 writers. The general use of caps and hats is referred 

 to the year 1449. The first seen in Europe were 

 used at the entry of Charles VII. into Rouen. From 

 that time, they began to take the place of chaperons, 

 or hoods. When the cap was of velvet, they called 

 it mortier ; when of wool, simply bonnet. None but 

 kings, princes, and knights were allowed to use the 

 mortier. The cap was the head-dress of 'the clergy 

 and graduates. Pasquin says tliat it was anciently a 

 part of the hood worn by the people of the robe ; the 

 skirts whereof, being cut off, as an incumbrance, 

 left the round cap an easy, commodious cover for the 

 head ; which cap, being afterwards assumed by the 

 people, those of the gown changed it for a square 

 one, first invented by a Frenchman, called Patrouillet. 

 He adds, that the giving of the cap to the students 

 in the university was to denote that they had acquired 

 full liberty, and were no longer subject to the rod of 

 their superiors, in imitation of the ancient Romans, 

 who gave a pileus, or cap, to then- slaves, in the 

 ceremony of making them free : whence the proverb 

 vocare servos ad pileum : hence, also, on medals, the 

 cap is the symbol of Liberty, who is represented 

 holding a cap in the right hand, by the point. 



CAPE. Of the immense number of capes, which 

 have received names from navigators, the limits of 

 the present work will permit us to enumerate only a 

 few. 



Cape Ann ; a cape on the coast of Massachusetts, 

 hi the township of Gloucester, forming the northern 

 limit of Massachusetts bay ; lat. 42 35' N. ; Ion. 

 70 37' W. 



Cape Breton ; an island of North America, be- 

 longing to Great Britain ; situated in the gulf of St 

 Lawrence ; separated from Nova Scotia by the strait 

 of Fronsac, about three miles wide. This island is 

 about 110 miles in length, and from twenty to 

 eighty-four in breadth, fufl of mountains and lakes, 

 and intersected by a great number of creeks and 

 bays. The soil is fertile, and abounds in timber. In 

 the mountains are coal mines ; in the valleys, excel- 

 lent pasture ; and the coast abounds in fish. The 

 chief towns are Louisburg, Sydney, and Arichat. 

 Population, 30/XX). Lat. 45 34' to 47 & N. ; Ion. 

 59 to 6l 20* W. 



Cape Cod; a noted cape and peninsula on the 

 coast of Massachusetts, on the south side of Massa- 

 chusetts bay ; lat. of the cape, 42 5' N. ; Ion. 70 14' 

 W. The peninsula is sixty-five miles in length, and 

 from one to twenty in breadth, and is in the form of 

 a man's arm, bent inward both at the elbow and the 

 wrist. Though mostly sandy and barren, it is never- 

 theless populous ; and the inhabitants derive their 

 subsistence chiefly from the sea. The cape was dis- 

 covered in 1602, by Bartholomew Gosnold, who gave 

 it its name from having taken a great quantity of 

 cod-fish near it. 



Cape Fear; a dangerous cape on the coast of 

 North Carolina, being the southern extremity of 

 Smith's island, at the mouth of Cape Fear river : lat. 

 33 32' N. ; Ion. 78 25' W. 



Cape Fear ; a river of North Carolina, the largest 

 and most important that flows wholly within that 

 state. The north-west, or principal branch, rises in 

 the northern part of the state, flows southerly, pass- 

 ing by Fayetteville, and above Wilmington. Thirty- 

 five miles from its entrance into the ocean, it is 

 joined by the north-eastern branch. The Cape Fear 

 is navigable for vessels of 300 tons to Wilmington, 

 and for steam-boats to Fayetteville. 



Cape Francois. See Cape Haytien. 



Cape of Good Hope; in the southern part of 

 Africa ; Ion. 18 24' E. ; lat. 33 55' S. Bartholo- 

 mew Diaz discovered it in 1 493. The tempestuous 

 sea which beat against it prevented him from land- 

 ing ; he therefore called it Cabo dos Tormentos (see 

 Camoens) ; but John II. changed it to Cabo da Bona 

 Esperanza. It was first doubled by Vasco de Gama. 

 The Portuguese never formed any permanent settle- 

 ment here. See next article. 



Cape of Good Hope; a British colony, near the 

 southern extremity of Africa. The Dutch, who had 

 early fixed upon this point as a watering-place for 

 their ships, first colonized it in the middle of the 

 seventeenth century. Reducing the Hottentots 

 (q. v.) to slavery, or driving them beyond the moun- 

 tains, they extended the Cape settlement to nearly 

 its present limits. It was captured by the British in 

 1795, restored at the peace of Amiens, 1802, and 

 again taken in 1806; since which tune it has re- 

 mained in then- possession. The colony extends 

 about 230 miles from north to south, and 550 from 

 east to west; from 30 to 34" 30' S. lat., and from 

 18 to 28 E. Ion. The space included within these 

 limits is about 120,000 square miles, with a popula- 

 tion of about one to a square mile. On the west 

 and south, it is washed by the ocean, and, on the 

 north, it is bounded by a range of lofty mountains. 

 The principal bays on the coast are Saldanha, Table, 

 Plattenburg, Algoa bays. Cape Aguillas is the 

 most southern point of the old world. In the ulte- 

 rior, almost every variety of soil and surface is found. 

 Several ranges of mountains, running nearly parallel 

 to the southern coast, divide the country into succes- 

 sive terraces, between which lie belts of fertile land, 

 or vast barren plains. One of these, called the 

 Great Karoo, is 300 miles long and 100 broad, pre- 

 senting a scene of complete desolation. In feet, 

 according to Barrow, nearly seven-tenths of the 

 colony are destitute of vegetation during a great 

 part of the year. The summits of the Nieuweldt 

 Gebirgte, the highest chain of southern Africa, are 

 covered with perpetual snow. The Table mountain 

 is a stupendous mass of naked rock, rising, almost 

 perpendicularly, about 3585 feet in heignt. The 

 colony is deficient hi navigable rivers for vessels of 

 any considerable burden. The principal streams 

 are the Doom and the Berg, flowing into the Atlan- 

 tic; the Breede, Groot, and Great Fish, emptying 

 themselves into the Indian ocean. The last, in part 

 of its course, separates the Cape colony from Caffra- 

 ria. The spring and autumn are temperate, and the 

 most agreeable part of the year. The heat is exces- 

 sive in summer, and, on account of the elevation of 

 the surface, many parts experience the extreme of 

 cold in winter. The soil is, of course, various, but 

 its general character is not that of fertility. The 

 cultivation is very imperfect, the inhabitants depend- 

 ing principally on pasturage. Wheat and maize 

 thrive well ; the vine flourishes luxuriantly ; oranges, 

 lemons, and figs are good, but all kinds of nuts 

 have failed. The aloe and the myrtle grow to a 



