CABOT CACAO. 



785 



liberty of domestic and international commerce. Mr f 

 Cabot was a prominent member of the state con- 

 vention assembled to deliberate on the adoption of the 

 federal constitution, and, soon after that event took 

 place, was elected a senator of the United States, an 

 office which his sense of public duty caused him to 

 accept, although against his inclinations. In that sta- 

 tion he enjoyed the unlimited confidence, not only of 

 the body of which he was a member, but also of 

 Washington and Hamilton; and to his commercial 

 knowledge and profound views of finance and politi- 

 cal economy, the latter was greatly indebted in the 

 formation of his financial system. With Fisher Ames, 

 also, Mr Cabot was long linked by ties of the most 

 affectionate friendship. Mr Cabot died at Boston, 

 April 18, 1823, in the seventy-second year of his age. 

 In public life he was pure and disinterested, all his 

 exertions tending to one single object public good ; 

 in private he was endeared to his family and his 

 friends by his kindness, urbanity, and benevolence. 

 The study of political economy and the science of 

 government was his favourite pursuit. His eloquence, 

 which was oftener displayed in private than in public, 

 was remarkable for its beauty and simplicity. 



CABOT, Sebastian, a navigator of great eminence 

 and abilities, was born at Bristol about the year 1-177. 

 He was the son of John Cabot, a Venetian pilot, who 

 resided at Bristol, and was highly esteemed for his 

 skill in navigation. Sebastian was early instructed in 

 the mathematical knowledge required by a seaman, 

 and, at the age of seventeen, had made several voy- 

 ages. In 1495 John Cabot obtained from Henry VII. 

 letters patent empowering him and his three sons, 

 Lewis, Sebastian, and Sanctius, to discover unknown 

 lands, and conquer and settle them. In consequence 

 of this permission the king supplied one ship, and the 

 merchants of London and Bristol a few smaller ones, ! 

 and, in 1496, John and Sebastian sailed to the north- 

 west. In July of the same year they discovered 

 Newfoundland, and explored it up to latitude 67. 

 The accounts of this voyage are attended with much 

 obscurity ; but it seems that, in a subsequent voyage, 

 the father and son sailed as far as cape Florida, and 

 were actually the first who saw the main-land of Ame- 

 rica. Little, however, is known of the proceedings of 

 Sebastian Cabot for the ensuing twenty years ; but it 

 seems that, in the reign of Henry VIII., by the patron- 

 age of Sir Thomas Peart, vice-admiral of England, 

 he procured another ship to make discoveries, and at- 

 tempted a southern passage to the East Indies, in 

 which he failed. This disappointment is supposed to 

 have induced him to quit England and visit Spain, 

 where he was treated with great respect, and appoint- 

 ed pilot-major. An opulent company of Spanish 

 merchants soon after gave him the command of an 

 expedition to the Spice islands, through the newly 

 discovered straits of Magellan. Accordingly, in 

 1525, he sailed from Cadiz to the Canaries and Cape 

 de Verd islands ; and, failing, from the opposition of 

 his crew, in his view of reaching the Spice islands, he 

 proceeded to the river La Plata, where he discovered 

 St Salvador, and erected a fort there. He subse- 

 quently reached the great river Paraguay, and re- 

 mained on the American coast a considerable time, 

 with the view of forming an establishment. Being 

 disappointed in the expected aid from Spain, he ulti- 

 mately returned home with all his crew, but was not 

 very favourably received, owing to his failure in re- 

 spect to the Spice islands, and his severe treatment of 

 the mutineers of his crew. He notwithstanding con- 

 tinued in the service of Spain for some years longer, 

 but at length returned to England towards the latter 

 end of the reign of Henry VIII. At the beginning 

 of the reign ofEdward V I ., he was introduced, by the 

 protector Somerset, to the young king, who took 



much pleasure in his conversation, and settled a pen- 

 sion on him as grand-pilot of England. From this 

 time he was consulted on all questions relating to 

 trade and navigation; and, in 1552, being governor 

 of the company of merchant adventurers, he drew up 

 instructions, and procured a license for an expedition 

 to discover a passage to the East Indies by the north. 

 These instructions, which are preserved in Hackluyt's 

 collection of voyages, form a very honourable proof 

 of his sagacity and penetration. He was also gover- 

 nor of the Russian company, and was very active in 

 their affairs. He is supposed to have died in the year 

 1557, at a very advanced age, leaving behind him a 

 high character, both as a skilful seaman and a man 

 of great general abilities. He was the first who no- 

 ticed the variations of the compass ; and, besides the 

 ordinances to be found in Hackluyt, he published a 

 large map of the world, as also a work under the title 

 of Navigazione nelle parte Septentrional*, per Sebasti- 

 ano Cabota (fol., Venice, 1583). See a Memoir of his 

 Life, published at London, 1831, 8vo. 



CABRERA ; one of the Balearic isles in the Mediter- 

 ranean, belonging to Spain ; Ion. 3 E. ; lat 39 7' N. 

 See Baleares. 



CABUL, or CATTBUL, capital of the kingdom of Af- 

 ghanistan, is a very ancient city, situated in a spacious 

 and well watered plain, enclosed on three sides by 

 a semicircular range of hills, on the summit of which 

 is a fortification. The Bala Hissar, or Upper Fort, 

 contains the palace and other public buildings. The 

 houses are mean, the bazars well supplied, and 

 crowded by Usbecks, Afghans, and Hindoos. Tho 

 vicinity is famous, in the East, for flowers and fruits. 

 Cabul is a great mart for horses from Tartary, which 

 are brought for exportation to Hindostan. (See El- 

 phinstone's Caubul, ch. viii xi.) Lon, 69" 1 S 7 E. ; 

 lat. 33 SO* N. 



CABULISTAN. The country comprehended under 

 this name has already been described in the articles 

 Afghanistan and Belujisian. It is sometimes called 

 Cabul, or Caubul, from the capital ; sometimes Cabu- 

 listan ; sometimes Candahar, from another capital. 

 It was formerly, also, called G/tizne, from another 

 city, for the same reason. The origin of the name 

 Afghans is unknown. Their own name for their na- 

 tion is Pooshtoon, whence, probably, the Indian name 

 for them, Patans. See Afghans. 



CACAO. Chocolate is a kind of cake, or hard paste, 

 the basis of which is the pulp of the cacao, or choco- 

 late nut, a production of the West Indies and Soiilh 

 America. The cacao-tree (theobroma cacao), both in 

 size and shape, somewhat resembles a young cherry- 

 tree, but separates, near the ground, into four or five 

 stems. The leaves are about four inches in length, 

 smooth, but not glossy, and of a dull green colour. 

 The flowers are saffron-coloured, and very beautiful. 

 The fruit of the cacao-tree somewhat resembles a cu- 

 cumber in shape, but is furrowed deeper on the sides. 

 Its colour, while growing, is green ; but, as it ripens, 

 this changes to a fine bluish-red, almost purple, with 

 pink veins ; or, in some of the varieties, to a delicate 

 yellow or lemon colour. Each of the pods contains 

 from twenty to thirty nuts or kernels, which, in shape, 

 are not much unlike almonds, and consist of a white 

 and sweet pulpy substance, enveloped in a parch- 

 ment-like shell. These are the cacao or chocolate 

 nuts. Plantations of cacao are numerous on the banks 

 of the river Magdalena, in South America. They are 

 usually formed in morassy situations, and are sheltered 

 from the intense heat of the sun by larger trees, 

 which "are planted in them. There are two principal 

 crops of cacao in the year ; the first in June, and the 

 second in December. As soon as the fruit is ripe, it 

 is gathered, and cut into slices ; and the nuts which 

 are, at this time, in a pulpy state, are taken out, and 



