The scenery which accompanies the cataract, is exceedingly picturesque. In the centre a large fragment of rock, which first divides the water, at the summit of the precipice, forms a small island; and a handsome fir tree, which grows upon it, is thus placed in a most romantic situation. The forest which presses close upon the banks of the river, on each side, is covered with dark-hued foliage, and forms a striking contrast with the snowy whiteness of the falling torrent and with the columns of sparkling spray which rise in the clouds, and produce in the sunshine the most splendid variety of prismatic colors. Cataract of Tequendama. The cataract of Tequendama on the river Funza, or Bogota, about fifteen miles southwest of Santa Fe de Bogota, is an extraordinary natural curiosity. This river rises in the great plain in which the city of Santa Fe de Bogota is situated, and which is separated from the surrounding country by steep precipices, down which the river is precipitated. The breadth of the river when passing through the plain, is one hundred and forty feet; but a little above the falls, it is diminished to thirty-five feet, when with accumulated force it rushes down a perpendicular rock at two bounds, to the astonishing depth of six hundred feet, into an unfathomable gulf, out of which it issues again under the name of the Meta, and continues its course by an immense descent, till it joins the great river Magdalena. In the fall of this river may be observed a strange variety of climate. The plain of Bogota is covered with crops of wheat, with oaks, elms, and other productions of a temperate region. At the foot of the falls are seen the palms of the equinoctial low lands. The face of the rock, which finishes the borders of the vast plain of Bogota near the cataract, is so steep, that it takes three hours to descend from the Funza to the Meta. The loneliness of the spot, the deafening noise of the fall, the dense mass of vapor, and the beauty of the vegetation, render this situation one of the wildest and most picturesque scenes in the Andes. The traveller, says M. Humboldt, who views the tremendous scenery of the cataract of Tequendama, will not be surprised that rude tribes should have attributed a miraculous origin to rocks which seem to have been cut by the hand of man; to that narrow gulf into which falls headlong the mass of waters that issue from the valley of Bogota; to those rainbows reflecting the most vivid colors, and of which the forms vary every instant; to that column of vapor rising like a thick cloud, and seen at five leagues distance from the walks around Santa Fe. The cataract of Tequendama forms an assemblage of every thing that is sublimely picturesque in beautiful scenery. This fall is not, however, as it is commonly believed to be in the country, and repeated by naturalists in Europe, the loftiest cataract on the globe: the river does not rush, as Bouquer relates, five hundred or six hundred metres of perpendicular depth; but there scarcely exists a cataract which, from so lofty a height, precipitates so voluminous a mass of water. Cataracts of the Nile. This celebrated river through its long and fertile range of about two thousand British miles, in winding through abrupt and precipitous countries, exhibits very considerable cataracts, ten or twelve of which, having a descent of more than twenty feet, occur, before it reaches the level of Egypt. The one which, by way of eminence, is called the CATARACT OF THE NILE, was visited by Mr. Bruce, from whose relation the following particulars are extracted. At the distance of half a mile beneath the cataract, the river is confined between two rocks, over which a strong bridge of a single arch has been thrown, and runs into a deep trough, with great roaring, and an impetuous velocity. On ascending, the cataract presents itself amid groves of beautiful trees, and exhibits a most magnificent and stupendous sight, such as, Mr. Bruce observes, ages, added to the greatest length of human life, could not efface or eradicate from his memory. It struck him with a kind of stupor, and total oblivion of where he was, as well as of every sublunary concern. At the time of his visit, the river had been considerably increased by rains, and fell in one sheet of water, above half an English mile in breadth, and to the depth of at least forty feet, with a force and noise which were truly terrific, and which, for a time, stunned him, and made him giddy. A thick fume, or haze, covered the fall in every part, and hung over the course of the stream both above and below, marking its track, although the waters were not seen. The river, although much swollen, preserved its natural clearness, and fell, partly into a deep pool, or basin, in the solid rock, and partly in twenty different eddies to the very foot of the precipice. In falling, a portion of the stream appeared to run back with great fury on the rock, as well as forward in the line of its course, raising waves, or violent ebullitions, which chafed against each other. Cataract of the Mender. The cataract which constitutes the source of this river, the Scamander of the ancients, is thus beautifully described by Dr. Clarke. Our ascent, as we drew near to the source of the river, became steep and rocky. Lofty summits towered above us, in the greatest style of Alpine grandeur; the torrent, in its rugged bed below, all the while foaming on our left. Presently we entered one of the sublimest natural amphitheatres the eye ever beheld; and here the guides desired us to alight. The noise of waters silenced every other sound. Huge craggy rocks rose perpendicularly, to an immense height; whose sides and fissures, to the very clouds, concealing their tops, were covered with pines. These grew in every possible direction, ainong a variety of evergreen shrubs; and enormous plane-trees waved their vast branches above the torrent. As we approached its deep gulf, we beheld several cascades, all of foam, pouring impetuously from chasms in the naked face of a perpendicular rock. It is said the same magnificent cataract continues all seasons of the year, wholly unaffected by the casualties of rain or melting snow. Having reached the chasms whence the torrent issues, we found, in their front, a beautiful natural basin, six or eight feet in depth, serving as a reservoir for the water during the first moments of its emission. It was so clear that the minutest object might be discerned at the bottom. The copious overflowing of this reservoir causes the appearance, to a spectator below, of different to that period; and the Poles, at this time, use a cascades falling to the depth of about forty feet, but sort of unctuous clay for the same purpose. there is only one source. Behind are the chasms whence the water issues. We entered one of these and passed into a cavern. ed, rushing with great force, beneath the rock, towards the basin on the outside. The whole of the rock about the source was covered with moss; close to the basin grew hazel and plane-trees; above were oaks and pines; and all beyond a naked and fearful precipice. CAT BIRD. A bird common in the United States, of a bluish gray colour, which makes a noise very similar to the mewing of a cat. It is a pretty good singer; its song consists of imitations of the notes of other birds. CAUSTICITY. A substance is said to be cauHere the water appear-stic when it produces the same effect on the tongue as that of actual fire, that is, an immediate sensation of burning, followed with a slight disorganization of the surface actually in contact. Thus alkalies are called caustic when deprived of carbonic acid, because when concentrated, they then burn and blister the tongue almost instantly. Caustic substances are also generally corrosive, or such as act upon organized matter, and decompose it with rapidity. The term caustic prefixed to the alkalies and earths to distinguish the pure or decarbonated state is now almost always omitted, as unnecessary by the use of the term carbonic; thus to the terms caustic potash, and mild potash are substituted those of potash, and carbonate of potash respectively. We also say lime, and the carbonate of lime. There is still some confusion, with regard to the term soda among others; soda meaning in cheCATECHUMENS. Is a name which was ap-mical language pure or caustic soda, but in complied to those converted Jews and heathens, in the merce, and in common use the mild or carbonate first ages of the church, who were to receive bap- of soda. tism, had a particular place in the church, but were not permitted to be present at the celebration of the CAVALIER. A horseman; a person mounted sacrament. Afterwards, it was applied to those on a horse, or expert in horsemanship; in fortifiyoung Christians, who, for the first time, wished cation, a work raised within the body of a place. to partake of this ordinance, and, for this pur-above the other works. pose, went through a preparatory course of instruc CATECHISM. A short system of instruction in religion, conveyed in question and answers. It is frequently applied to other subjects. tion. CATERPILLAR. The larva produced from the egg, which is transformed first into the chrysalis or nymph, and afterwards into the butterfly. CAVERNS. Among the numerous objects of curiosity and wonder, found in different parts of the earth, there are remarkable caverns. Some of them are wonderful merely on account of their great size and extent; or they are sublime, from the awful gloom, which pervades them, and the echoes, which roll like thunder through their vault CAT-GUT. This is a denomination given to small strings made for violins and other instru-ed passages. Some are of great depth; that of ments. It is formed of the intestines of sheep or lambs, dried and twisted, either singly or several together. They are also used by watch-makers, cutlers, turners, and other artificers. Great quantities are made at Lyons in France, and in Italy. CATOPTRICS. That part of optics that treats of reflex vision, and explains the laws and properties of reflection, chiefly founded upon this truth, that the angle of reflection, is always equal to the angle of incidence; and from thence deducing the magnitudes, shapes, and situations of the appearances of objects seen by the reflection of polished surfaces, and particularly plane, spherical, conical, and cylindrical ones. CAULKING, CAUKING, or CALKING. In Ship Building, the operation of driving a quantity of oakum, or old ropes untwisted and drawn asunder, into the seams of the planks, or into the intervals where the planks are joined to each other in the sides or decks of the ship, in order to prevent the entrance of the water. After the oakum is driven very hard into these seams, it is covered with hot melted pitch or resin, to keep the water from rotting it. The first among the ancients, who made use of pitch in caulking, were the inhabitants of Phoenicia, afterwards called Corsica. Wax and resin appear to have been commonly used previous Frederickshall, in Norway, is supposed to be 11,000 feet in depth. Others contain rivers and cataracts, which add to their beauty and grandeur. Sometimes they receive into their bosom considerable streams of water, for which there is no visible discharge. Caverns are most frequent in limestone rocks. In these instances the water trikling through the roof dissolves a portion of the lime, and again deposits it when dropping. It thus gradually forms a slender tube, like an icicle, called stalactite, of pure and brilliant whiteness. In the progress of time, these stalactites are lengthened into large pillars, hanging from the roof. The cavern most celebrated for its stalactites is the Grotto of Antiparos, on the island of the same name, in the Archipelago sea. The passage at the entrance glitters with the torch light, as if it were studded with diamonds. From this the traveller is let down several precipices, with ropes, to the depth of 1,500 feet before he reaches the principal grotto, a magnificent vault, 360 feet long, 340 wide, and 180 in height. The roof is adorned with stalactites, many of them 30 feet long, and hung with festoons of varied forms and brilliant appearance. In some parts, immense columns descend to the floor. In others is presented the appearance of trees and brooks turned to marble. In Warren County, Kentucky, is a cavern, on account of its great extent, called the Mammoth Cave. It has been explored to the distance of ten miles from its entrance. The cavern is divided into a great number of apartments, one of which comprises an area of more than eight acres, over which is a single arch, from sixty to an hundred feet in height. In other places it exhibits perpendicular banks of three hundred feet in height, of solid limestone. When the shocks of earthquakes came on, in 1802, which were so severely felt in Kentucky, there were heard, about five minutes before each shock, a heavy rumbling noise issue from the cave, like a strong wind. As that ceased, the rocks cracked, and in a moment the whole appeared going to final destruction. Dr. Ward, in the year 1816, visited this extraordinary cavern; and, among the curiosities which he obtained from it, was a mummy, in good preservation, together with the apparel and jewels that accompanied it. In South America is a cavern of several leagues in extent, which is called the Cave of Guacharo. The entrance is 80 feet broad and 72 feet high. As there is but one single channel, the light is thrown in a considerable distance. Where the light begins to fail, there is heard from afar, the hoarse sounds of the nocturnal birds, which inhabit this dismal place. They are of the size of our fowls. Their shrill and piercing cries strike upon the vaults of the rocks, and are repeated by the echo in the depth of the cavern. It is difficult to form an idea of the horrible noise occasioned by them in this dark and subterranean abode, which can only be compared to the croaking of our crows. Annually, near midsummer, the Indians enter the cavern of Guacharo, armed with poles, and destroy the greater part of their nests. At this season several thousands of the birds are killed, and the old ones, to defend their brood, hover over the heads of the savage intruders, uttering terrible cries, which would appal any heart but that of man in an uncultivated state. as barrel casks. But in the autumn, when the nights become cold without, the ice in the cavern begins to dissolve, insomuch, that when the winter sets in, it is no longer to be seen; and, the temperature is so mild, that swarms of flies, gnats, bats, owls, together with numerous hares and foxes, resort here for shelter. CAYENNE PEPPER. A powder prepared from the pods of several species of the capsicum, which originally came from Cayenne, but is now brought from both the Indies. CEDAR. A well known evergreen, very like the juniper in appearance, which delights in cold mountainous places. The leaves are much narrower than those of the pine tree, and the seeds are produced in large cones. The most celebrated species is that of Lebanon, which is also found in Russia and which is introduced by transplanting into various parts of Europe and America. CELESTIAL BIRD. A species of goldfinch in China, which has obtained this name for its surpassing beauty, and melody. Its eyes sparkle like the most brilliant ruby; it has an azure ring round its neck, and a tuft of party-coloured feathers on its head. Its wings, when it is perched, appear variegated with beautiful shades of blue, green, and yellow. It makes its nest in close thickets; it conceals itself in time of rain; but as soon as the rays of the sun begin to dart through the clouds it immediately quits its retreat, and, by its warbling, proclaims to the laborers the return of fine weather. CELESTIAL BODIES. When we direct our eyes towards the heavens, we perceive an apparent hollow hemisphere, at an infinite distance, of which each spectator seems to constitute the centre. The earth stretches like an immense plane, and at a certain distance appears to meet and to bound the celestial concavity. In Bavaria are caverns remarkable for contain- The most obvious celestial phenomena are the ing great quantities of fossil bones and stalactites. daily rising of the sun in the east, and its setting in The entrance is situated at the foot of a large rock the west; next to which we also see the moon and of limestone, and is seven and a half feet high. Im- stars rise and set in like manner, keeping the same mediately beyond the opening is a magnificent grot-westerly course. These cannot be long observed, to, about 300 feet in circumference. Beyond this the traveller passes a succession of caverns, some of them being of the most frightful appearance. before we perceive that neither the sun nor the moon always rise exactly in the same point of the horizon, nor ascend to the same height. be found to rise daily more northward, to continue longer above the horizon, and to be more elevated at mid-day, till near the end of June, when it will be observed to move backwards in like manner, till near the end of the year. The last one to be entered is more than 40 feet If, in these northern parts of the world, we ob square, and is 28 feet in height. In this, and sev-serve the sun from the beginning of the year, it will eral of the others are found vast numbers of teeth, jaws, and other bones, prodigious quantities of animal earth, and an immense grouping of stalactites. The animal earth reaches to a great depth, and hundreds of cart-loads of bony remains might be removed. Large numbers of animal teeth and bones are also imbedded in the solid rocks and in the stalactites. When the new moon first becomes visible, it appears in the western part of the heavens, not far from the setting sun. Every night it increases in In Hungary is a cavern, composed entirely of size, and removes to a greater distance from the solid rock. As far as it has been explored, the sub-setting sun; till at last it appears in the east part terraneous passages are found to be 300 feet in of the horizon, just at the time the sun disappears height, and 150 in breadth. It is observed, as a in the west. most extraordinary fact, that the greater the heat is without, the more intense is the cold within; so that, in dog-days, every part of the cavern is covered with ice, icicles hanging from the roof as large In an unclouded evening the hemisphere is seen studded with stars, and its appearance is changing every instant. New stars are continually ascending in the east, while others are descending in the west. Those stars, that towards the beginning of the evening were just visible in the east, are seen late at night over our heads, and may be traced moving gradually westward, till at last they disappear altogether. CEMETERY. A place appropriated for the reception of the dead. In order to free the living of the dangerous and offensive miasmata of dead bodies, almost all nations have done something towards their speedy removal or destruction. If we look to the north, we may perceive that Some cast them into the waters, others carry them many stars in that quarter never set at all, but move from their dwellings to sequestered places, and round, describing a complete circle in every twenty-some reduce them to ashes, or deposit them entire four hours. These stars will be found to describe in the earth. their circles round a fixed point of the heavens, near which is a star of the second magnitude, called the north or pole star. Thus the heavenly sphere appears to turn round two fixed points, called the poles, once every twenty-four hours. The imaginary line which joins these points is called the axis of the world. The chief part of the stars keep their places with respect to each other, Thus, if two stars have a certain apparent distance from each other on one night, they keep the same distance every night, and are called fixed stars. But some of the stars are not of this fixed kind. They change their places, as well with regard to the fixed stars, as to one another. These are called planets. CEMENT. Comprehends mortar, solder, glue, &c.; but has been soinetimes restrained to compositions used for holding together broken glasses, china, and earthenware, For this purpose the juice of garlic is recommended as exceedingly proper, being both very strong, and, if the operation is performed with care, leaving little or no mark. Quicklime and the white of an egg mixed together, and expeditiously used, are also very proper for this purpose. Dr. Lewis recommends a mixture of quicklime and cheese, in the following manner-Sweet cheese shaved thin and stirred with boiling hot water, changes into a tenacious slime, which does not mingle with the water. Worked with fresh quantities of hot water, and then mixed upon a hot stone with a proper quantity of unslacked lime, into the consistence of a paste, it proves a strong and durable cement for wood, stone, earthenware, and glass. When thoroughly dry, which it will be in two or three days, it is not in the least acted upon by water. Cheese barely beaten with quicklime, as directed by some of the chemists for luting cracked glasses, is not near so efficacious.' A composition of the drying oil of linseed and white lead is also used for the same purposes, but is greatly inferior. In a savage state, each member of a family is interred by his immediate relatives near the spot of his decease; or bodies are, in the same way, consumed by fire. Thus the untutored native of the Australasian regions, as we have seen, raised a bier for his departed wife, and, unassisted, consigned her ashes to the dust. The remote inhabitants of the north, precluded by perpetual frosts from penetrating the ground, cover their deceased with the branches of trees, to prevent them from being devoured by beasts of prey. Though the ties of consanguinity be recognised by mankind farther advanced in civilisation, it does not appear that they are careful to deposit the bodies of relatives in the immediate vicinity of each other. Hence particular cemeteries, or those for common use, are unknown. Yet it has anxiously been desired by men in general, that their bones should rest in the soil of their nativity. When the Nomadic tribes of South America, wandering many hundred miles from their proper boundaries, lose one of their number, they make a skeleton of his bones, and carry it on his favorite horse to the cemetery of his family, however distant. Certain tribes make skeletons of all their deceased, which are placed in a sitting posture, clothed in robes and feathers, in the cemetery. Every year the cemetery is opened, and the skeletons are cleansed and clothed anew. In another portion of that vast continent a pious festival is celebrated, wherein each person carries the putrid and decaying carcass of his father on his shoulders in solemn procession, and again returns it to the earth. The cemeteries of the Jews, were caves and grounds apart from their cities. Abraham, we are told, purchased the field of Mackpelah, and there buried Sarah his wife in a cave, wherein he himself was afterwards deposited. The Israelites buried the bones of Joseph which they had brought out of Egypt, "in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamon;" and the Jewish laws particularly ordained the interment of criminals who died by the cord. CENOTAPH, A monument erected in honor of a deceased person, but not containing his body. Other ancient nations, such as the Greeks and Some of these monuments were erected in honor Romans, though they burned their dead, had ceof persons buried elsewhere, others for persons meteries without the cities for depositing the urns whose bodies were not interred. The ancients containing the fragments of bones and ashes. believed that, when the body was not buried, the Cremation did not invariably prevail, and it was soul could not be admitted into the abodes of the not unusual even to make the house or garden of blessed. When a body could not be found, it was the deceased his cemetery. But among the Rosupposed that some rest was afforded to the suf-mans, the emperor Adrian prohibited sepulture ferer by erecting him a cenotaph, and calling out his name three times with a loud voice. Such monuments were distinguished by a particular sign, usually a piece of a shipwrecked vessel, to denote the death of the deceased in a foreign land. The Pythagoreans erected cenotaphs to those who had quitted their sect, as if they were actually dead. within the city, and there was a cemetery beyond its walls appropriated for the poor; the other cemeteries for persons of rank or fortune were generally near a highway. The Campus Martius was the cemetery of distinguished characters. The modern Turks and Chinese imitate the Greeks and Romans, in placing their cemeteries without their cities. They are generally situated on eminences, and abound with cypress trees. The Chinese never inter in a grave previously occupied, at least before all the remnants of the former body have disappeared, and therefore their cemeteries occupy a large surface of ground. If unfortunate in life, the son sometimes digs up his father from the grave, to propitiate his destiny. The danger of burying in churches, and of having cemeteries in large towns, has sometimes been fatally exemplified. Some years ago, on preparing a grave for a person of rank in a church near Nantes, the body of a near relation, who had died nine months preceding, was displaced. The coffin was accidentally shattered, and an infectious principle instantly diffused itself around, with such virulence, that no less than fifteen persons of those attending the funeral died within eight days. In most nations a custom has prevailed, of planting public cemeteries with trees, though one of the continental councils pronounced a decree against it in 1565. The cypress was an emblem of mourning among the Romans: The cemeteries of the Turks and Chinese are planted with cypress trees: in Britain, for centuries past, the yew has been chosen. An opinion has been entertained, though with little reason, that an evergreen has thus been selected as an emblem of the immortality of the soul; and hence the practice of decking the coffin with bays, and carrying branches before the bier. Perhaps it may have been designed as a more permanent mode of testifying that attention to the deceased, which was practised by the ancients. They scattered flowers on the pile, on the urn, and in the cemeteries of their departed friends. CENSOR. A magistrate among the Romans, who valued and taxed men's estates, and also punished any acts of immorality. CENSORS. In modern times, persons of learning appointed to examine all books before they go to press, and to see that they contain nothing contrary to good morals. This is confined to despotic countries. CENSUS. In Roman antiquity, an authentic declaration made before the censors, by the people, of their respective names and places of abode. This was registered by the censors; and contained an enumeration, in writing, of all the estates, lands, and inheritances they possessed; their quantity, quality, place, wives, children, domestics, tenants, and slaves. In the provinces the census served not only to discover the substance of each person, but where, and in what manner and proportion, taxes might be best imposed. The census at Rome is commonly thought to have been held every five years: but Middleton has shown, that both census and lustrum were held at various irregular and uncertain intervals. The census was an excellent expedient for discovering the strength of the state; the number of the citizens, how many were fit for war, and how many for offices of other kinds, and how much each was able to pay of taxes. curately determined till since the French Revolution of 1789; nor that of England till 1801. The government of the United States is entitled to the honor, we believe, of having, at its first institution, set the example of establishing a system of an official census of the inhabitants, at regular periods The primary object of this census is the apportionment of the representatives in congress; but independently of this object, it is justly regarded as a very important and interesting document, inasmuch as it furnishes the most satisfactory index of the growth, prosperity, and strength of the country. It was provided by the Constitution that the First Census of the United States should be made "within three years after the first meeting of congress, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct." The First Census was accordingly taken in 1790, and the Fifth in 1830; but this last, owing to failures or delays in completing it with respect to several states, has not yet been officially published. These several enumerations furnish satisfactory views of the rapid progress of population; but it is much to be regretted that a more uniform and philosophical system of classification of the inhabitants, with respect to age, has not been adopted. In this respect there is a great diversity among the several censuses; yet there has been a gradual improvement, and the division adopted in the last is far the best, and, with respect to the white inhabitants, very satisfactory. But in this census, there is a want of uniformity, in the division of ages, between the white and the colored population, a circumstance which renders it very defective as a basis for comparative views relating to these two classes. Though there are probably few if any countries that can boast of more accurate enumerations of their population than the United States, yet we are far from thinking that these enumerations possess the degree of accuracy which is desirable or attainable; and we believe that those who know most respecting the manner in which they have been managed, feel least confidence in their correctness. Various errors and defects are to be attributed to the want of fidelity or of competency in the persons employed, and also to the want of adequate compensation for the labor and time requisite, in some parts of the country, for the thorough performance of the business. We hope this subject will hereafter receive more of the attention of the government; and that the plan on which the census may hereafter be taken, will be better formed, and better executed. As the strength and prosperity of nations are founded on the number, resources, industry, and education of the people, a knowledge of all these matters is highly important to a free government, where all are bound to contribute to the public defence and support, and all have an influence on public measures; and it is important that such knowledge should be diffused among all the citizens. Other classes of the inhabitants, and other matters in addition to those which relate to the number of the different classes, might be advantageously Exact enumerations of the population of the embraced in the census, as the number of married most civilized countries of Europe, are of but re-persons, male and female; the number of families, cent date. The population of France was not ac- the number of inhabited houses, distinguishing |