C E V 
CE'TON, a town of France, in the department of the 
Orne, and chief place of a canton, in the diftridt of Bel- 
lelfne: ten miles fouth-ealt of Bellel'me. 
CET / TE, a fea-port town of France, on the coaft of 
the Mediterranean, in the department of Hfrault, and 
chief place of a canton, in the diftrift of Montpellier: 
the canal of Languedoc begins at this place : it is fmall, 
and hardly contains 700 inhabitants. It was taken in 
S710, by a detachment of troops fent to affift the inha¬ 
bitants of the Cevennes, then in arms againft Louis 
XIV. This detachment was commanded by major-gene¬ 
ral Seilfan, a native of Languedoc, and convoyed by the 
Englifli fleet, under Sir John Norris5 but the duke de 
Roquelare, with fome militia, retook the place, and 
made about 300 men prifoners. Fourteen miles fouth-weft 
of Montpellier, and ten north-eaft of Agde. Lat. 43. 
23. N. Ion. 21; 22. E. Ferro. 
CE'TUS, the Whale, a fouthern conftellation, and 
one of the 48 old afteriiins. In the neck of the whale is 
a remarkable ftar, Collo Ceti, which appears and difap- 
pears periodically, or rather grows brighter and fainter 
by turns, owing it is fuppoled to the alternate turning of 
Its bright and dark fides towards us, as it revolves upon 
its axis, or elfe owing to the ftar having a flattifli form. 
The period of its changes is about 312 days. The ftars 
In the conftellation cetus, in Ptolemy’s catalogue, are 
twenty-two, in Tycho’s twenty-one, in Hevelius’s for¬ 
ty-five, and in the Britannic catalogue ninety-feven. 
CE'TUS is reprelented by the poets, as the fea-mon- 
fter which Neptune, at the fuit of the nymphs, fent to 
devour Andromeda for the pride of her mother, and 
which was killed by Perfeus. This term has alfo been 
ufed in a figurative or metaphorical fenle, on many diffe¬ 
rent occafions. The ark, in which mankind was preferv- 
ed, has been defcribed under the emblem of a large filh, 
which Pliny terms fabnlofa seta ; and from this repre- 
fentation (hips, which were unwieldy, and of great bur¬ 
then, were often called cetense. In ancient times great 
depredations were committed by rovers at lea, who con¬ 
tinually landed, and laid people under contribution upon 
the coaft. Piracy and plunder were of. old elleemed ho¬ 
nourable. Many migrations were made by perfons, who 
were obliged to fly, and leave their wives and'effebts be¬ 
hind them. Such Ioffes were to be repaired, as loon as 
they gained a fettlement. Hence, when they infefted 
any country, and made their levies upon the natives, one 
of their principal demands was women; and of thefe the 
moft noble and fair. Such depredations gave rife to the 
hiltories of princeffes being carried away by banditti; 
and of king’s daughters being expofed to fea-monfters. 
The monfters alluded to were nothing more than mariners 
and pirates, ftyled Cetei, Ceteni, and Cetones, from 
Cetus, which fignifies a fea-monfter, or whale; and alfo 
a large Ihip. They were Ceteans, and Cetonians ; fome 
of whom fettled in Phrygia, and Myfia, where they con¬ 
tinued the like pra&ices, and made the fame demands. 
Their hiftory feems alluded to by Homer in the paf- 
fage, Od. iv. 518. 
CE'VA, a city and fortrels of Italy, in the principali¬ 
ty of Piedmont, and comte of Afti, lituated on the Ta~ 
naro, the capital of a marquifate, in a plain, furrounded 
on all fides with hills, at the extremity of the country, 
which extends from the Apennines to the Tanaro, and 
from thence to the northern part of the Maritime Alps. 
It was anciently celebrated for its cheefe, made of ewes- 
milk. This cheefe, called by the Italians rubiola, is 
much efteemed even now, and fold not only into Pied¬ 
mont and the Milanefe, but other parts more diftant. 
The hills about Ceva produce excellent wine: great 
quantities of chefnuts grow at the foot of the mountains, 
and excellent truffles are found in the neighbouring 
plains. It was formerly an independent ftate, but a great 
part of the domain was fold to the town of Afti in 1295, 
whence, in the year 1531, it came to the houfe of Savoy. 
It was befieged by the FrencJi in 1543, but the enemy 
were compelled to retire without fuccefs. A fudden 
inundation, on the 6th of July, 1584, beat down great 
part of the walls, deftroyed the bridges, houfes, and 
churches, and drowned a great number of the inhabi¬ 
tants ; and, in 1625 and the five following years, a pef- 
tilential difeafe carried off the greater part of the furvi- 
vors. It has one collegiate church, and three convents. 
In April 1796, this city was taken by the French repub¬ 
licans under Buonaparte. Forty miles weft Genoa, and 
twenty-five fouth-fouth-eaft Turin. Lat. 44. 20. N.. 
Ion. 25. 37. E. Ferro. 
CEVER/TA, a town of Italy in the kingdom of Na¬ 
ples, and province of Calabria Ultra : ten miles north- 
north-eaft of Bova. 
CEU'TA, a feaport town of Africa, on the fouth 
coaft of the Mediterranean, in the kingdom of Fez, be¬ 
longing to Spain, with a good harbour for fmall veffels, 
the lee of a bifhop, fuffragan ofLilbon. This town was 
taken from the Moors in 1409, by John king of Portu¬ 
gal, and continued annexed to that crown till the revo¬ 
lution in 1640, when it fell to Spain, and was finally- 
ceded to that country by the treaty of Lifbon, in 16S8. 
It withftood a vigorous fiege againft the Moors in 1697 ; 
it is lituated in the narrowed part of the Mediterranean,., 
not above five leagues from Gibraltar. Lat. 35. 48. N„ 
Ion. 5. 25. W. Greenwich. 
CEYTON, an extenfive ifland in the Indian ocean,, 
lituated to the fouth-eaft of the peninfula of India, 
from which it is only feparated by a narrow fea, about 
fixty miles wide. This ifland is called by the Arabians, 
Serendib ; but it was known to the ancients by the name 
of Tabrobana. The Portuguefe were the firft of the Eu¬ 
ropean nations who vifited Ceylon. It was difcovered 
by Laurence Almeyda, in 1505, who was driven acciden¬ 
tally from his cruize off the Maidive ifles, by the violence 
of the currents, into a port called by the natives Gaba- 
lican. The ruling prince was then, and is now, ftyled 
emperor, and is lord paramount over the minor chiefs; he is 
ftyled moft great, invincible, and tailed, the firft of his 
race being laid to have come from Siam, with a tail a 
foot long, pendent from behind; his pofterity in due 
time (according to lord Monboddo’s fyftem) Hied.their 
tails, and became as capable of the arts of government 
as any European monarch whatfoever. Almeyda was. 
received by the governor with the utraoft courtely. He 
fent Pelagio Souza, one of his officers, to the royal refi- 
dence at Colombo, where he was introduced to the em¬ 
peror. He met with a moft favourable reception, form¬ 
ed a league with his imperial majelty, who agreed to pay 
Emmanuel annually 250,000 pounds weight of cinna¬ 
mon ; on condition, that the fleets of Portugal Ihould 
defend his coafts from all hoftile invafions. The Portu¬ 
guefe foon made themfelves matters of the principal ports, 
and engrafted the whole trade of this valuable bark. The 
Moors, or Arabs, afterwards exerted every effort to 
prevent them from eftablilhing themfelves in Ceylon. 
This highly concerned the Arabs, who before that time 
were the foie venders of the cinnamon, which they car¬ 
ried to Suez, from whence it was conveyed over the ifth- 
mus, and from Alexandria to all parts of Europe ; but 
all their endeavours were to no purpofe ; that rich trade 
became monopolized by thefe new rivals. 
The Dutch firft landed here in 1603, and vifited the 
emperor. In 1632 they received a formal invitation from, 
the ruling monarch to aflift him againft the Portuguefe ; 
and in confequence they appeared off the coaft with a 
potent fleet. They confederated with the king of Ceylon, 
and after a ftruggle of feveral years, with great blood- 
flied, they expelled the Portuguefe, whofe power ended 
in the taking of Colombo, in 1656, after a fiege of feven 
months, in which the Portuguefe exerted all that fpirit 
and valour which originally made them lords of the In¬ 
dies. The emperor repaid the Dutch all their expences 
in cinnamon, and other productions of the ifland ; and 
iuvefted them with many privileges 5 but in return he 
found 
