344 



CALIFORNIA CAMBRIDGE. 





times in which much less was known concerning 

 these points than in the present age ; and a mistake 

 was then made in fixing the time of our Saviour's 

 birth which has never since been corrected. 



The manner in which this mistake was brought 

 to light is a fine illustration of the advantages of 

 science. Who would suppose that astronomy 

 could have pointed out an error in chronology? 

 and yet so it was. Dionysius fixed the 1st year 

 of Christ in the 4714th of the Julian period. But 

 Josephus mentions that during Herod's last illness 

 there was a remarkable eclipse of the moon. On 

 consulting astronomical tables, we are enabled to 

 ascertain the date of that eclipse to the day and 

 hour; we find that it took place in the 4710th 

 year of the Julian period, on the 13th of March, 

 three hours past midnight at Jerusalem. Now we 

 know that our Saviour was born before Herod 

 died ; so that he must have been born at least four 

 years earlier than that which was fixed upon as 

 the first of the Christian era. He must have been 

 born sometime before the death of Herod, since his 

 parents took him into Egypt to save him from that 

 tyrant's malice, and kept him there till Herod died. 

 So that astronomy makes it perfectly clear that 

 our Saviour was born at least four, possibly five 

 years earlier than the time assigned by the nativity ; 

 and if the Christian era had been correctly deter- 

 mined, the year 1840 would be 1844, or possibly 

 1843. The reason why the mistake, though 

 universally admitted, never has been corrected, is, 

 that we cannot fix the precise year, in the first 

 place, and in the second, the error has prevailed 

 for 1200 years through the dates of all histories, 

 so that much confusion would be made in chrono- 

 logy without any correspondent gain. 



CALIFORNIA, (a.) The Indians of California 

 may, without injustice, be classed lower in the scale 

 of mankind even than the Esquimaux. Equally 

 inanimate and filthy in habit, they do not possess 

 that ingenuity and perseverance which their 

 northern neighbours can boast; sullen and lazy, 

 they only rouse themselves when pressed by want; 

 and in the settlements of the missioniares, called 

 missions, where the cravings of hunger and thirst 

 are satisfied, coercion alone goads them on to labour. 

 The men are large but not muscular, nor of a 

 manly apparance; their complexion is very dark, 

 and their features partake of the negro cast ; the 

 hair is long, but not coarse. The women are also 

 large, their limbs and features regular, but not 

 handsome : they perform all the household work, 

 and are quite slaves to the other sex. Both sexes 

 tattoo, but without any regular design in the marks 

 on the skin ; they perforate the lobes of the ears, 

 and wear in them pieces of wood four to six inches 

 in length, ornamented with feathers ; their head- 

 dresses and waist-belts are also adorned with deco- 

 rated wood and pieces of bone, teeth of animals, 

 and mother-of-pearl. They use no pottery, or 

 earthenware, but work baskets so close as to con- 

 tain fluids. Bows and arrows are their only wea- 

 pons ; they are of fir, and slightly made ; but, to 

 give toughness to the bow, which is about three 

 feet in length, the back part of it is strengthened 

 with a glutinous composition of deer-sinews. The 

 arrows are about the same length, very slender, and 

 armed at the points with small pieces of flint jagged 

 at the edges. 



The use of the temiscal, or vapour-bath, of which 

 they are passionately fond, is peculiar to this part 

 of America. It consists of a structure of mud, the 



floor of which is sunk from four to five feet below 

 the surface of the earth, of a circular form, about 

 fifteen or eighteen feet in diameter. Besides the 

 entrance, which is provided with a short passage to 

 check the too ready admission of the external air, 

 there is a small orifice in the top to allow of the 

 escape of the smoke from a fire kindled in the 

 centre of the temiscal. Around this fire, and with 

 their feet towards it, the Indians lie wrapped in 

 their thick woollen blankets, and continue so till 

 the whole frame is reduced to a nervous debility by 

 excessive perspiration : in this state they quit their 

 warm retreat, and plunge themselves into a stream 

 of cold water, near which they are careful always 

 to place their temiscal. 



The Indians pay their adorations to an evil spirit, 

 who is supposed to preside over every thing, ami 

 whose displeasure they wish to avert by worship. 

 This spirit is believed to be supreme, and unassisted 

 in his office by any inferior agents. They have a full 

 conviction of a future existence, and expect to en- 

 joy happiness after this life in some delightful island 

 in the sky, which happiness, being measured by 

 their present ideas, consists in sensual gratification. 

 Immediately after the breath has left the body, the 

 corpse is burned without removing it from the spot; 

 and, as their huts are not of laborious structure, 

 they share in the conflagration. 



The number of petty tribes is almost countless ; 

 and, what is singular, almost every tribe speaks a 

 language, or perhaps dialect, which is not under- 

 stood by the rest. Some dialects have the harsh 

 sound of the Esquimaux, the words generally ter- 

 minating in ah, ik, uk; while others are soft and 

 full of vowels. Their huts are formed of stakes 

 driven into the ground, generally circular, and 

 thatched with straw ; facility of construction being 

 desirable, on account of the tribes frequently 

 changing their stations. From the vermin which 

 abound in these rude dwellings, it becomes neces- 

 sary to fire them occasionally. Although the 

 country is overrun with horses, the Indians make 

 no use of them. 



CALNE; an ancient borough town in the 

 county of Wilts, England. It consists principally 

 of one long street, partially lighted but not paved. 

 The houses are in general of stone, and well built. 

 It is amply supplied with water, having, besides 

 a number of springs, the Marian, which a little far- 

 ther on falls into the Avon, running through it. A 

 branch of the Wilts and Berks canal passes through 

 the town, which, uniting with the Rennet and 

 Avon canal, and the latter with the Thames at 

 Abingdon, affords an easy communication with 

 London, Bristol, and the intermediate places ; with 

 all these advantages its manufactures, which were 

 chiefly woollen and very extensive, have of late 

 been considerably limited. The articles made are 

 principally broad cloths, kerseymeres, and serges. 

 The market-day is Tuesday. 



Calne is famous as the place where the contro- 

 versy was terminated between St Dunstan, then 

 archbishop of Canterbury, on the part of the bene- 

 dictine monks, and the secular friars. Calne has 

 been much benefited by the marquess of Lansdowne, 

 whose mansion is in the neighbourhood. Three 

 miles to the east of the town is a remarkable figure 

 of a horse cut in a chalk hill, 157 feet in length. 

 The vicinity abounds in curious and beautiful fos- 

 sils. Population in 1831, 4795. 



CAMBRIDGE (a.) The university of Cam- 

 bridge consists of seventeen colleges, each of which 



