C R tJ 



372 



C R U 



Crotchey 

 Crucifixion. 



forage are scarce. The necessaries of life are however 

 cheap; poultry, black cattle, sheep, and goats being ve- 

 ry reasonable ; and the country abounds with wild 

 geese, ducks, teal, partridges, snipes, hares, and deer. 

 The country is entirely destitute of timber, and what 

 is needed for building boats and houses is brought from 

 Malabar and Bombay. 



Crotchey formerly belonged to the Bloaches ; but it 

 was given in exchange for some other place to the 

 Prince of Scindy, who found it a convenient part for the 

 caravans from the inland countries. As the branches 

 of the Indus are too wide and deep for the camels to 

 pass, the caravans are no longer able to come from the 

 interior to Tatta ; and on this account the trade of 

 Crotchey is greatly increased. 



The imports to Crotchey from Surat, Bombay, Mus- 

 cat, and the Malabar coast, are, 



Betel nut, 



Cardamums, 



Cochineal, 



Cloves, 



Cloths, 



China ware, 



Cassia lignea, 



Copper, 



Elephant's teeth, 



Iron bars, 



Iron goods, 



Lead, 



Looking-glasses, 



Nutmegs, 



Pepper, 



Piece goods, 



Rice, 



Sandal wood, 



Japan wood, 



Saffron, 



Steel, 



Sugar, 



Timber, 



Tin, 



Tutenague, 



Vermilion. 



By means of the caravans from Cabal and Candahar, 

 they bring to Crotchey, 



Almonds, Grain, 



Cinnamon seeds, Hides, 



Dates, Oil, and 



Ghee, Piece goods. 



The exports from Crotchey, which are conveyed in 

 the fair season in dingees, (small coasting vessels, with 

 one mast and a high stern, ) to Bombay, Guzerat, and 

 the coast of Malabar, consist of the preceding articles 

 and cotton. Since the trade of Laribunder has declined, 

 in consequence of the shoals, by which the navigation 

 of the river is obstructed, the revenue arising from the 

 customs amounts to 12 5,000 rupees annually. The po- 

 pulation of Crotchey is about 9j>000, the majority of 

 whom are Hindoo merchants and mechanics. Crotchey 

 is 57 miles from Tatta, and is situated in East Long. 

 f>7° 16', and North Lat. 24° 51' 15". See Milburn's 

 Oriental Commerce, vol. i. p. 1 45, 1 46 ; and Macdonald 

 Kinneir's Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire, 

 p. 232. (*■) 



CRQTON, a genus of plants of the class Moncecia, 

 and order Monadelphia See Botany, p. 329- 



CROTONOPSIS, a genus of plants of the class 

 Moncecia, and order Pentanclria. See Botany, p. 324. 



CROUP. See Medicine. 



CROWE A, a genus of plants of the class Decandria, 

 and order Monogynia. See Botany, p. 221. 



CRUCIANELLA, a genus of plants of the class Te- 

 trandria, and order Monogynia. See Botany, p. 123. 



CRUCIBLE. See Chemistry, vol. vi. p. l6'0. 



CRUCIFIXION, a mode of inflicting capital punish- 

 ment, by affixing criminals to a wooden cross. This 

 was a frequent punishment among the ancients, and 

 practised by most of the nations whose history has 

 reached our knowledge : It is now chiefly confined to 

 the Mahometans. 



There were different kinds of crosses, though it can- 

 act be affirmed wliich was in general use ; such as that 



most familiar to us, consisting of two beams at right Crucifixion, 

 angles, and St Andrew's cross. Thus Seneca remarks, s - »~y— ■■» ' 

 '. Video i.itic cruces non unius quidem generis sed aliier 

 ab aliis fabricatas.' St Jerome and Isodorus allude to 

 both of the preceding, and Augustine describes the 

 cross on which Jesus Christ suffered as the common 

 cross, but it does not appear on what authority, and a 

 he lived in the fourth century, his information must 

 have been derived from others. Some succeeding au- 

 thors have also supposed that his feet were fixed to a 

 projection, or bracket below, so that he was crucified in a 

 standing posture, to which the same remark applies. 

 Deviations from the ordinary form and proportions were 

 adopted on particular occasions : accordingly Suetonius 

 relates, that while Galba governed a province, he con- 

 demned a guardian to crucifixion, who had poisoned 

 his ward in hopes of succeeding to his fortune. But 

 tlie delinquent claiming exemption from this punish- 

 ment, as not appropriated for a Roman citizen, Galba, 

 that it might be less degrading, ordered a cross much 

 larger than usual, and also whitened over, to be made 

 for him, quasi solatio ct hnnore aliquo pcenam levaiurus. 

 It is necessary to observe, that the numerous and diver- 

 sified crosses and crucifixes exhibited in sculpture and 

 painting are entirely fictitious. These were gradually 

 introduced as the cross itself became an object of super- 

 stitious veneration, and when the devout conceived that 

 their salvation was promoted by constantly introducing 

 some allusion to it. Thus it became an universal emblem 

 of piety among them ; and crossing the legs of an effigy 

 on a tomb-stone denoted that a Christian was interred 

 below. 



On condemnation, the criminal, by aggravated bar- 

 barity, was scourged before suffering death; and per- 

 haps this part of his punishment was scarcely inferior to 

 the other. The scourge was formed of cords armed 

 with bits of lead or bone ; or it consisted of simple 

 rods of iron and wood, which latter were called scor- 

 pions, when covered with spines. While he suffered, he 

 was bound to a column ; and that where Christ under- 

 went scourging, was still extant during the days of St 

 Jerome in the fifth century. This being the common 

 custom, and preceding not only crucifixion, but other 

 kinds of capital punishment, it is an error to suppose 

 that Pilate scourged Christ from motives of greater se- 

 verity towards him. Indeed, it is rather to be inferred 

 from the whole text of Scripture, that he yielded to po- 

 pular clamour in consigning him to the Jews. Scour- 

 ging seems to have been the prelude of death. Thus 

 Quintus Curtius relates, that a band of Sogdians long 

 resisted the progress of Alexander the Great, by taking 

 possession of a cave situated high in a lofty mountain 

 of Asia ; but that prince resolving to conquer them, se- 

 lected 300 men from his army, who had been accustom- 

 ed to a pastoral life, in rocky and precipitous countries, 

 and whom he induced, by the promise of ample rewards, 

 to ascend the mountain. This they at length accom- 

 plished with the loss of many of their number, and 

 speedily finding a way behind the cave, appeared on a 

 pinnacle above it. The Sogdian general, dreading the 

 consequences of their success, ineffectually endeavoured 

 to obtain terms of capitulation, but being compelled to 

 surrender at discretion, he descended from his strong- 

 hold, accompanied by his relatives and principal officers. 

 Alexander, by this means, having got them into his 

 power, instead of respecting their bravery as it merited, 

 inhumanly ordered them to be scourged and crucified 

 around the foot of the rock, quos omnes vrrberilms qffea* 

 tos sub ipsis radicibus peirce crucibusjussit ajjigi. The 



