[1] Michel Gerard was a popular Breton peasant deputy (see JACOBINS).
COLLUSION (from Lat. _colludere_, strictly, to play with), a secret
agreement or compact for some improper purpose. In judicial proceedings,
and particularly in matrimonial causes (see DIVORCE), collusion is a
deceitful agreement between two or more persons, or between one of them
and a third party, to bring an action against the other in order to
obtain a judicial decision, or some remedy which would not have been
obtained unless the parties had combined for the purpose or suppressed
material facts or otherwise.
COLLYER, ROBERT (1823- ), American Unitarian clergyman, was born in
Keighley, Yorkshire, England, on the 8th of December 1823. At the age of
eight he was compelled to leave school and support himself by work in a
linen factory. He was naturally studious, however, and supplemented his
scant schooling by night study. At fourteen he was apprenticed to a
blacksmith, and for several years worked at this trade at Ilkley. In
1849 he became a local Methodist minister, and in the following year
emigrated to the United States, where he obtained employment as a hammer
maker at Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania. Here he soon began to preach on
Sundays while still employed in the factory on week-days. His earnest,
rugged, simple style of oratory made him extremely popular, and at once
secured for him a wide reputation. His advocacy of anti-slavery
principles, then frowned upon by the Methodist authorities, aroused
opposition, and eventually resulted in his trial for heresy and the
revocation of his licence. He continued, however, as an independent
preacher and lecturer, and in 1859, having joined the Unitarian Church,
became a missionary of that church in Chicago, Illinois. In 1860 he
organized and became pastor of the Unity Church, the second Unitarian
church in Chicago. Under his guidance the church grew to be one of the
strongest of that denomination in the West, and Mr Collyer himself came
to be looked upon as one of the foremost pulpit orators in the country.
During the Civil War he was active in the work of the Sanitary
Commission. In 1879 he left Chicago and became pastor of the church of
the Messiah in New York city, and in 1903 he became pastor emeritus. He
published: _Nature and Life_ (1867); _A Man in Earnest: Life of A. H.
Conant_ (1868); _The Life That Now is_ (1871); _The Simple Truth_
(1877); _Talks to Young Men: With Asides to Young Women_ (1888); _Things
New and Old_ (1893); _Father Taylor_ (1906); and _A History of the Town
and Parish of Ilkley_ (with Horsefall Turner, 1886).
COLMAN, SAINT (d. 676), bishop of Lindisfarne, was probably an Irish
monk at Iona. Journeying southwards he became bishop of Lindisfarne in
661, and a favoured friend of Oswio, king of Northumbria. He was at the
synod of Whitby in 664, when the great dispute between the Roman and the
Celtic parties in the church was considered; as spokesman of the latter
party he upheld the Celtic usages, but King Oswio decided against him
and his cause was lost. After this event Colman and some monks went to
Iona and then to Ireland. He settled on the island of Inishbofin, where
he built a monastery and where he died on the 8th of August 676.
Colman must be distinguished from St Colman of Cloyne (c. 522-600), an
Irish saint, who became a Christian about 570; and also from another
Irishman, St Colman Ela (553-610), a kinsman of St Columba. The word
Colman is derived from the Latin _columbus_, a dove, and the _Book of
Leinster_ mentions 209 saints of this name.
COLMAN, GEORGE (1732-1794), English dramatist and essayist, usually
called "the Elder," and sometimes "George the First," to distinguish him
from his son, was born in 1732 at Florence, where his father was
stationed as resident at the court of the grand duke of Tuscany.
Colman's father died within a year of his son's birth, and the boy's
education was undertaken by William Pulteney, afterwards Lord Bath,
whose wife was Mrs Colman's sister. After attending a private school in
Marylebone, he was sent to Westminster School, which he left in due
course for Christ Church, Oxford. Here he made the acquaintance of
Bonnell Thornton, the parodist, and together they founded _The
Connoisseur_ (1754-1756), a periodical which, although it reached its
140th number, "wanted weight," as Johnson said. He left Oxford after
taking his degree in 1755, and, having been entered at Lincoln's Inn
before his return to London, he was called to the bar in 1757. A
friendship formed with David Garrick did not help his career as a
barrister, but he continued to practise until the death of Lord Bath,
out of respect for his wishes.
In 1760 he produced his first play, _Polly Honeycomb_, which met with
great success. In 1761 _The Jealous Wife_, a comedy partly founded on
_Tom Jones_, made Colman famous. The death of Lord Bath in 1764 placed
him in possession of independent means. In 1765 appeared his metrical
translation of the plays of Terence; and in 1766 he produced _The
Clandestine Marriage_, jointly with Garrick, whose refusal to take the
part of Lord Ogleby led to a quarrel between the two authors. In the
next year he purchased a fourth share in the Covent Garden Theatre, a
step which is said to have induced General Pulteney to revoke a will by
which he had left Colman large estates. The general, who died in that
year, did, however, leave him a considerable annuity. Colman was acting
manager of Covent Garden for seven years, and during that period he
produced several "adapted" plays of Shakespeare. In 1768 he was elected
to the Literary Club, then nominally consisting of twelve members. In
1774 he sold his share in the great playhouse, which had involved him in
much litigation with his partners, to Leake; and three years later he
purchased of Samuel Foote, then broken in health and spirits, the little
theatre in the Haymarket. He was attacked with paralysis in 1785; in
1789 his brain became affected, and he died on the 14th of August 1794.
Besides the works already cited, Colman was author of adaptations of
Beaumont and Fletcher's _Bonduca_, Ben Jonson's _Epicoene_, Milton's
_Comus_, and of other plays. He also produced an edition of the works of
Beaumont and Fletcher (1778), a version of the _Ars Poetica_ of Horace,
an excellent translation from the _Mercator_ of Plautus for Bonnell
Thornton's edition (1769-1772), some thirty plays, many parodies and
occasional pieces. An incomplete edition of his dramatic works was
published in 1777 in four volumes.
His son, GEORGE COLMAN (1762-1836), known as "the Younger," English
dramatist and miscellaneous writer, was born on the 21st of October
1762. He passed from Westminster school to Christ Church, Oxford, and
King's College, Aberdeen, and was finally entered as a student of law at
Lincoln's Inn, London. While in Aberdeen he published a poem satirizing
Charles James Fox, called _The Man of the People_; and in 1782 he
produced, at his father's playhouse in the Haymarket, his first play,
_The Female Dramatist_, for which Smollett's _Roderick Random_ supplied
the materials. It was unanimously condemned, but _Two to One_ (1784) was
entirely successful. It was followed by _Turk and no Turk_ (1785), a
musical comedy; _Inkle and Yarico_ (1787), an opera; _Ways and Means_
(1788); _The Iron Chest_ (1796), taken from William Godwin's _Adventures
of Caleb Williams_; _The Poor Gentleman_ (1802); _John Bull, or an
Englishman's Fireside_ (1803), his most successful piece; _The Heir at
Law_ (1808), which enriched the stage with one immortal character, "Dr
Pangloss," and numerous other pieces, many of them adapted from the
French.
The failing health of the elder Colman obliged him to relinquish the
management of the Haymarket theatre in 1789, when the younger George
succeeded him, at a yearly salary of L600. On the death of the father
the patent was continued to the son; but difficulties arose in his way,
he was involved in litigation with Thomas Harris, and was unable to pay
the expenses of the performances at the Haymarket. He was forced to take
sanctuary within the Rules of the King's Bench. Here he resided for many
years continuing to direct the affairs of his theatre. Released at last
through the kindness of George IV., who had appointed him exon of the
Yeomen of the Guard, a dignity disposed of by Colman to the highest
bidder, he was made examiner of plays by the duke of Montrose, then lord
chamberlain. This office, to the disgust of all contemporary dramatists,
to whose MSS. he was as illiberal as he was severe, he held till his
death. Although his own productions were open to charges of indecency
and profanity, he was so severe a censor of others that he would not
pass even such words as "heaven," "providence" or "angel." His comedies
are a curious mixture of genuine comic force and sentimentality. A
collection of them was published (1827) in Paris, with a life of the
author, by J. W. Lake.
Colman, whose witty conversation made him a favourite, was also the
author of a great deal of so-called humorous poetry (mostly coarse,
though much of it was popular)--_My Night Gown and Slippers_ (1797),
reprinted under the name of _Broad Grins_, in 1802; and _Poetical
Vagaries_ (1812). Some of his writings were published under the assumed
name of Arthur Griffinhood of Turnham Green. He died in Brompton,
London, on the 17th of October 1836. He had, as early as 1784,
contracted a runaway marriage with an actress, Clara Morris, to whose
brother David Morris, he eventually disposed of his share in the
Haymarket theatre. Many of the leading parts in his plays were written
especially for Mrs Gibbs (_nee_ Logan), whom he was said to have
secretly married after the death of his first wife.
See the second George Colman's memoirs of his early life, entitled
_Random Records_ (1830), and R. B. Peake, _Memoirs of the Colman
Family_ (1842).
COLMAN, SAMUEL (1832- ), American landscape painter, was born at
Portland, Maine, on the 4th of March 1832. He was a pupil of Ashur B.
Durand in New York, and in 1860-1862 studied in Spain, Italy, France and
England. In 1871-1876 he was again in Europe. In 1860, with James D.
Smilie, he founded the American Water Color Society, and became its
first president (1866-1867), his own water-colour paintings being
particularly fine. He was elected a member of the National Academy of
Design in 1862. Among his works are "The Ships of the Western Plains,"
in the Union League Club, New York; and "The Spanish Peaks, Colorado,"
in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
COLMAR, or KOLMAR, a town of Germany, in the imperial province of
Alsace-Lorraine, formerly the capital of the department of Haut-Rhin in
France, on the Logelbach and Lauch, tributaries of the Ill, 40 m. S.S.W.
from Strassburg on the main line of railway to Basel. Pop. (1905)
41,582. It is the seat of the government for Upper Alsace, and of the
supreme court of appeal for Alsace-Lorraine. The town is surrounded by
pleasant promenades, on the site of the old fortifications, and has
numerous narrow and picturesque streets. Of its edifices the most
remarkable are the Roman Catholic parish church of St Martin, known also
as the _Munster_, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, the Lutheran
parish church (15th century), the former Dominican monastery
(1232-1289), known as "Unterlinden" and now used as a museum, the
Kaufhaus (trade-hall) of the 15th century, and the handsome government
offices (formerly the Prefecture). Colmar is the centre of considerable
textile industries, comprising wool, cotton and silk-weaving, and has
important manufactures of sewing thread, starch, sugar and machinery.
Bleaching and brewing are also carried on, and the neighbourhood is rich
in vineyards and fruit-gardens. The considerable trade of the place is
assisted by a chamber of commerce and a branch of the Imperial Bank
(Reichsbank).
Colmar (probably the _columbarium_ of the Romans) is first mentioned, as
a royal _villa_, in a charter of Louis the Pious in 823, and it was here
that Charles the Fat held a diet in 884. It was raised to the status of
a town and surrounded with walls by Wolfelin, advocate (_Landvogt_) of
the emperor Frederick II. in Alsace, a masterful and ambitious man,
whose accumulated wealth was confiscated by the emperor in 1235, and who
is said to have been murdered by his wife lest her portion should also
be seized. In 1226 Colmar became an imperial city, and the civic rights
(_Stadtrecht_) conferred on it in 1274 by Rudolph of Habsburg became the
model for those of many other cities. Its civic history is much the same
as that of other medieval towns: a struggle between the democratic gilds
and the aristocratic "families," which ended in 1347 in the inclusion of
the former in the governing body, and in the 17th century in the
complete exclusion of the latter. In 1255 Colmar joined the league of
Rhenish cities, and in 1476 and 1477 took a vigorous share in the
struggle against Charles the Bold. In 1632, during the Thirty Years'
War, it was taken by the Swedes, and in 1635 by the French, who held it
till after the Peace of Westphalia (1649). In 1673 the French again
occupied it and dismantled the fortifications. In 1681 it was formally
annexed to France by a decree of Louis XIV.'s _Chambre de Reunion_, and
remained French till 1871, when it passed with Alsace-Lorraine to the
new German empire.
See "Annalen und Chronik von Kolmar," German translation, G. H. Pabst,
in _Geschichtsschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit_ (2nd ed., G.
Wattenbach, Leipzig, 1897); Sigmund Billing, _Kleine Chronik der Stadt
Kolmar_ (Colmar, 1891); Hund, _Kolmar vor und wahrend seiner
Entwickelung zur Reichsstadt_ (Strassburg, 1899); J. Liblin,
_Chronique de Colmar_, 58-1400 (Mulhausen, 1867-1868); T. F. X.
Hunkler, _Gesch. der Stadt Kolmar_ (Colmar, 1838). For further
references see Ulysse Chevalier, _Repertoire des sources.
Topobibliographie_ (Montbeliard, 1894-1899); and Waltz, _Bibliographie
de la ville de Colmar_ (Mulhausen, 1902).
COLNE, a market town and municipal borough in the Clitheroe
parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, 34-1/2 m. N. by E. from
Manchester by the Lancashire & Yorkshire railway; it is served also by a
branch of the Midland railway from Skipton. Pop. (1901) 23,000. It
stands on a hilly site above a small affluent of the river Calder. The
church of St Bartholomew retains some Norman work, but is chiefly of
various later periods. There is a cloth hall or piece hall, originally
used as an exchange when woollens were the staple of the town. The
grammar school is of interest as the place where John Tillotson
(1630-1694), archbishop of Canterbury, received early education. Colne
is a place of great antiquity, and many Roman coins have been found on
the site. As early as the 14th century it was the seat of a woollen
manufacture; but its principal manufactures now are cottons, printed
calicoes and muslin. In the neighbourhood are several limestone and
slate quarries. The town was incorporated in 1895, and the corporation
consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 5063 acres.
COLOCYNTH, COLOQUINTIDA or BITTER APPLE, _Citrullus Colocynthis_, a
plant of the natural order Cucurbitaceae. The flowers are unisexual; the
male blossoms have five stamens with sinuous anthers, the female have
reniform stigmas, and an ovary with three large fleshy placentas. The
fruit is round, and about the size of an orange; it has a thick
yellowish rind, and a light, spongy and very bitter pulp, which yields
the colocynth of druggists. The seeds, which number from 200 to 300, and
are disposed in vertical rows on the three parietal placentas of the
fruit, are flat and ovoid and dark-brown; they are used as food by some
of the tribes of the Sahara, and a coarse oil is expressed from them.
The pulp contains only about 3.5% of fixed oil, whilst the seeds
contains about 15%. The foliage resembles that of the cucumber, and the
root is perennial. The plant has a wide range, being found in Ceylon,
India, Persia, Arabia, Syria, North Africa, the Grecian Archipelago, the
Cape Verd Islands, and the south-east of Spain. The term _pakkuoth_,
translated "wild gourds" in 2 Kings iv. 39, is thought to refer to the
fruit of the colocynth; but, according to Dr Olaf Celsius (1670-1756), a
Swedish theologian and naturalist, it signifies a plant known as the
squirting cucumber, _Ecbalium Elaterium_.
The commercial colocynth consists of the peeled and dried fruits. In the
preparation of the drug, the seeds are always removed from the pulp. Its
active principle is an intensely bitter amorphous or crystalline
glucoside, colocynthin, C56H84O23, soluble in water, ether and
alcohol, and decomposable by acids into glucose and a resin,
colocynthein, C40H54O13. Colocynthein also occurs as such in
the drug, together with at least two other resins, citrullin and
colocynthiden. Colocynthin has been used as a hypodermic purgative--a
class of drugs practically nonexistent, and highly to be desired in
numberless cases of apoplexy. The dose recommended for hypodermic
injection is fifteen minims of a 1% solution in glycerin.
The British Pharmacopeia contains a compound extract of colocynth, which
no one ever uses; a compound pill--dose 4 to 8 grains--in which oil of
cloves is included in order to relieve the griping caused by the drug;
and the Pilula Colocynthidis et Hyoscyami, which contains 2 parts of the
compound pill to 1 of extract of hyoscyamus. This is by far the best
preparation, the hyoscyamus being added to prevent the pain and griping
which is attendant on the use of colocynth alone. The official dose of
this pill is 4 to 8 grains, but the most effective and least
disagreeable manner in which to obtain its action is to give four
two-grain pills at intervals of an hour or so.
In minute doses colocynth acts simply as a bitter, but is never given
for this purpose. In ordinary doses it greatly increases the secretion
of the small intestine and stimulates its muscular coat. The
gall-bladder is also stimulated, and the biliary function of the liver,
so that colocynth is both an excretory and a secretory cholagogue. The
action which follows hypodermic injection is due to the excretion of the
drug from the blood into the alimentary canal. Though colocynth is a
drastic hydragogue cathartic, it is desirable, as a rule, to supplement
its action by some drug, such as aloes, which acts on the large
intestine, and a sedative must always be added. Owing to its irritant
properties, the drug must not be used habitually, but it is very
valuable in initiating the treatment of simple chronic constipation, and
its pharmacological properties obviously render it especially useful in
cases of hepatitis and congestion of the liver.
Colocynth was known to the ancient Greek, Roman and Arabic physicians;
and in an Anglo-Saxon herbal of the 11th century (Cockayne, _Leechdoms_,
&c., vol. i. p. 325, London, 1864), the following directions are given
as to its use:--"For stirring of the inwards, take the inward neshness
of the fruit, without the kernels, by weight of two pennies; give it,
pounded in lithe beer to be drunk, it stirreth the inwards."
COLOGNE (Ger. _Koln_, or officially, since 1900, _Coln_), a city and
archiepiscopal see of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine province, a
fortress of the first rank, and one of the most important commercial
towns of the empire. Pop. (1885) 239,437; (1900) 370,685; (1905)
428,503, of which about 80% are Roman Catholics. It lies in the form of
a vast semicircle on the left bank of the Rhine, 44 m. by rail
north-east from Aix-la-Chapelle, 24 south-east from Dusseldorf and 57
north-north-west from Coblenz. Its situation on the broad and navigable
Rhine, and at the centre of an extensive network of railways, giving it
direct communication with all the important cities of Europe, has
greatly fostered its trade, while its close proximity to the beautiful
scenery of the Rhine, has rendered it a favourite tourist resort. When
viewed from a distance, especially from the river, the city, with its
medieval towers and buildings, the whole surmounted by the majestic
cathedral, is picturesque and imposing. The ancient walls and ditches,
which formerly environed the city, were dismantled between 1881 and
1885, and the site of the old fortifications, bought from the government
by the municipality, were converted into a fine boulevard, the Ring,
nearly 4 m. long. Beyond the Ring, about 1/2 m. farther out, a new
continuous line of wall fortifications, with outlying clusters of
earthworks and forts, has since been erected; 1000 acres, now occupied
by handsome streets, squares and two public parks, were thus added to
the inner town, almost doubling its area.
Cologne is connected by bridges with the suburb of Deutz. Within the
outer municipal boundary are included (besides Deutz) the suburbs of
Bayenthal, Lindenthal, Ehrenfeld, Nippes, Sulz, Bickendorf, Niehl and
Poll, protected by another widely extended circle of detached forts on
both banks of the Rhine. Of the former city gates four have been
retained, restored and converted into museums: the Severin gate, on the
south, contains the geological section of the natural history museum;
the Hahnen gate, on the west, is fitted as the historical and
antiquarian museum of the city; and the Eigelstein gate, on the north,
accommodates the zoological section of the natural history museum.
Cologne, with the tortuous, narrow and dark streets and lanes of the old
inner town, is still regarded as one of the least attractive capital
cities of Germany; but in modern times it has been greatly improved, and
the evil smells which formerly characterized it have yielded to proper
sanitary arrangements. The most important squares are the Domhof, the
Heumarkt, Neumarkt, Alte Markt and Waidmarkt in the old inner, and the
Hansa-platz in the new inner town. The long Hohe-strasse of the old town
is the chief business street.
The cathedral or Dom, the principal edifice and chief object of interest
in Cologne, is one of the finest and purest monuments of Gothic
architecture in Europe (for plan, &c. see ARCHITECTURE: _Romanesque and
Gothic in Germany_). It stands on the site of a cathedral begun about
the beginning of the 9th century by Hildebold, metropolitan of Cologne,
and finished under Willibert in 873. This structure was ruined by the
Normans, was rebuilt, but in 1248 was almost wholly destroyed by fire.
The foundation of the present cathedral was then laid by Conrad of
Hochstaden (archbishop from 1238 to 1261). The original plan of the
building has been attributed to Gerhard von Rile (d. c. 1295). In 1322
the new choir was consecrated, and the bones of the Three Kings were
removed to it from the place they had occupied in the former cathedral.
After Conrad's death the work of building advanced but slowly, and at
the time of the Reformation it ceased entirely. In the early part of the
19th century the repairing of the cathedral was taken in hand, in 1842
the building of fresh portions necessary for the completion of the whole
structure was begun, and on the 15th of October 1880 the edifice,
finally finished, was opened in the presence of the emperor William I.
and all the reigning German princes. The cathedral, which is in the form
of a cross, has a length of 480, and a breadth of 282 ft.; the height of
the central aisle is 154 ft.; that of each of the towers 511 ft. The
heaviest of the seven bells (_Kaiserglocke_), cast in 1874 from the
metal of French guns, weighs 543 cwt., and is the largest and heaviest
bell that is rung. In the choir the heart of Marie de' Medici is buried;
and in the adjoining side-chapels are monuments of the founder and other
archbishops of Cologne, and the shrine of the Three Kings, which is
adorned with gold and precious stones. The three kings of Cologne
(Kaspar, Melchior and Balthazar) were supposed to be the three wise men
who came from the East to pay adoration to the infant Christ; according
to the legend, the emperor Frederick I. Barbarossa brought their bones
from Milan in 1162, and had them buried in Cologne cathedral, and
miraculous powers of healing were attributed to these relics. The very
numerous and richly-coloured windows, presented at various times to the
cathedral, add greatly to the imposing effect of the interior. The view
of the cathedral has been much improved by a clearance of the old houses
on the Domhof, including the archiepiscopal palace, but the new Hof,
though flanked by many fine buildings, is displeasing owing to the
intrusion of numerous modern palatial hotels and shops.
Among the other churches of Cologne, which was fondly styled in the
middle ages the "holy city" (_heilige Stadt_) and "German Rome," and,
according to legend, possessed as many sacred fanes as there are days in
the year, are several of interest both for their age and for the
monuments and works of art they contain. In St Peter's are the famous
altar-piece by Rubens, representing the Crucifixion of St Peter, several
works by Lucas van Leyden, and some old German glass-paintings. St
Martin's, built between the 10th and 12th centuries, has a fine
baptistery; St Gereon's, built in the 11th century on the site of a
Roman rotunda, is noted for its mosaics, and glass and oil-paintings;
the Minorite church, begun in the same year as the cathedral, contains
the tomb of Duns Scotus. Besides these may be mentioned the church of St
Pantaleon, a 13th-century structure, with a monument to Theophano, wife
of the emperor Otto II.; St Cunibert, in the Byzantine-Moorish style,
completed in 1248; St Maria im Capitol, the oldest church in Cologne,
dedicated in 1049 by Pope Leo IX., noted for its crypt, organ and
paintings; St Cecilia, St Ursula, containing the bones of that saint
and, according to legend, of the 11,000 English virgins massacred near
Cologne while on a pilgrimage to Rome; St Severin, the church of the
Apostles, and that of St Andrew (1220 and 1414), which contains the
remains of Albertus Magnus in a gilded shrine. Most of these, and also
many other old churches, have been completely restored. Among newer
ecclesiastical buildings must be mentioned the handsome Roman Catholic
church in Deutz, completed in 1896, and a large synagogue, in the new
town west of the Ring, finished in 1899.
Among the more prominent secular buildings are the Gurzenich, a former
meeting-place of the diets of the Holy Roman Empire, built between 1441
and 1447, of which the ground floor was in 1875 converted into a stock
exchange, and the upper hall, capable of accommodating 3000 persons, is
largely utilized for public festivities, particularly during the time of
the Carnival: the Rathaus, dating from the 13th century, with beautiful
Gobelin tapestries; the Tempelhaus, the ancestral seat of the patrician
family of the Overstolzens, a beautiful building dating from the 13th
century, and now the chamber of commerce; the Wallraf-Richartz Museum,
in which is a collection of paintings by old Italian and Dutch masters,
together with some works by modern artists; the Zeughaus, or arsenal,
built on Roman foundations; the Supreme Court for the Rhine provinces;
the post-office (1893); the Imperial Bank (Reichsbank); and the
municipal library and archives. The Wolkenburg, a fine Gothic house of
the 15th century, originally a patrician residence, was restored in
1874, and is now the headquarters of the famous men's choral society of
Cologne (Kolner Mannergesangverein).
A handsome central railway station (high level), on the site of the old
station, and close to the cathedral, was built in 1889-1894. The railway
to Bonn and the Upper Rhine now follows the line of the _ceinture_ of
the new inner fortifications, and on this section there are three city
stations in addition to the central. Like all important German towns,
Cologne contains many fine monuments. The most conspicuous is the
colossal equestrian statue (22-1/2 ft. high) of Frederick William III. of
Prussia in the Heumarkt. There are also monuments to Moltke (1881), to
Count Johann von Werth (1885), the cavalry leader of the Thirty Years'
War, and to Bismarck (1879). Near the cathedral is an archiepiscopal
museum of church antiquities. Cologne is richly endowed with literary
and scientific institutions. It has an academy of practical medicine, a
commercial high school, a theological seminary, four Gymnasia (classical
schools), numerous lower-grade schools, a conservatory of music and
several high-grade ladies' colleges. Of its three theatres, the
municipal theatre (Stadttheater) is famed for its operatic productions.
Commercially, Cologne is one of the chief centres on the Rhine, and has
a very important trade in corn, wine, mineral ores, coals, drugs, dyes,
manufactured wares, groceries, leather and hides, timber, porcelain and
many other commodities. A large new harbour, with spacious quays, has
been constructed towards the south of the city. In 1903, the traffic of
the port amounted to over one million tons. Industrially, also, Cologne
is a place of high importance. Of the numerous manufactures, among which
may be especially mentioned sugar, chocolate, tobacco and cigars, the
most famous is the perfume known as _eau de Cologne_ (q.v.) (_Kolnisches
Wasser_, i.e. Cologne-water).
Of the newspapers published at Cologne the most important is the
_Kolnische Zeitung_ (often referred to as the "Cologne Gazette"), which
has the largest circulation of any paper in Germany, and great weight
and influence. It must be distinguished from the _Kolnische
Volkszeitung_, which is the organ of the Clerical party in the Prussian
Rhine provinces.
_History._--Cologne occupies the site of _Oppidum Ubiorum_, the chief
town of the Ubii, and here in A.D. 50 a Roman colony, _Colonia_, was
planted by the emperor Claudius, at the request of his wife Agrippina,
who was born in the place. After her it was named Colonia Agrippina or
Agrippinensis. Cologne rose to be the chief town of Germania Secunda,
and had the privilege of the Jus Italicum. Both Vitellius and Trajan
were at Cologne when they became emperors. About 330 the city was taken
by the Franks but was not permanently occupied by them till the 5th
century, becoming in 475 the residence of the Frankish king Childeric.
It was the seat of a _pagus_ or _gau_, and counts of Cologne are
mentioned in the 9th century.
The succession of bishops in Cologne is traceable, except for a gap
covering the troubled 5th century, from A.D. 313, when the see was
founded. It was made the metropolitan see for the bishoprics of the
Lower Rhine and part of Westphalia by Charlemagne, the first archbishop
being Hildebold, who occupied the see from 785 to his death in 819. Of
his successors one of the most illustrious was Bruno (q.v.), brother of
the emperor Otto I., archbishop from 953 to 965, who was the first of
the archbishops to exercise temporal jurisdiction, and was also
"archduke" of Lorraine. The territorial power of the archbishops was
already great when, in 1180, on the partition of the Saxon duchy, the
duchy of Westphalia was assigned to them. In the 11th century they
became _ex-officio_ arch-chancellors of Italy (see ARCHCHANCELLOR), and
by the Golden Bull of 1356 they were finally placed among the electors
(_Kurfursten_) of the Empire. With Cologne itself, a free imperial city,
the archbishop-electors were at perpetual feud; in 1262 the
archiepiscopal see was transferred to Bruhl, and in 1273 to Bonn; it was
not till 1671 that the quarrel was finally adjusted. The archbishopric
was secularized in 1801, all its territories on the left bank of the
Rhine being annexed to France; in 1803 those on the right bank were
divided up among various German states; and in 1815 by the congress of
Vienna, the whole was assigned to Prussia. The last archbishop-elector,
Maximilian of Austria, died in 1801.
In Archbishop Hildebold's day Cologne was still contained by the square
of its Roman walls, within which stood the cathedral and the
newly-founded church of St Maria (known later as "im Capitol"); the city
was, however, surrounded by a ring of churches, among which those of St
Gereon, St Ursula, St Severin and St Cunibert were conspicuous. In 881
Norman pirates, sailing up the Rhine, took and sacked the city; but it
rapidly recovered, and in the 11th century had become the chief trading
centre of Germany. Early in the 12th century the city was enlarged by
the inclusion of suburbs of Oversburg; Niederich and St Aposteln; in
1180 these were enclosed in a permanent rampart which, in the 13th
century, was strengthened with the walls and gates that survived till
the 19th century.
The municipal history of Cologne is of considerable interest. In general
it follows the same lines as that of other cities of Lower Germany and
the Netherlands. At first the bishop ruled through his burgrave,
advocate, and nominated jurats (_scabini_, _Schoffen_). Then, as the
trading classes grew in wealth, his jurisdiction began to be disputed;
the _conjuratio pro libertate_ of 1112 seems to have been an attempt to
establish a commune (see Commune, Medieval). Peculiar to Cologne,
however, was the _Richerzeche_ (_rigirzegheide_), a corporation of all
the wealthy patricians, which gradually absorbed in its hands the
direction of the city's government (the first record of its active
interference is in 1225). In the 13th century the archbishops made
repeated efforts to reassert their authority, and in 1259 Archbishop
Conrad of Hochstaden, by appealing to the democratic element of the
population, the "brotherhoods" (_fraternitates_) of the craftsmen,
succeeded in overthrowing the Richerzeche and driving its members into
exile. His successor, Engelbert II., however, attempted to overthrow the
democratic constitution set up by him, with the result that in 1262 the
brotherhoods combined with the patricians against the archbishop, and
the Richerzeche returned to share its authority with the elected "great
council" (_Weiter Rat_). As yet, however, none of the trade or craft
gilds, as such, had a share in the government, which continued in the
hands of the patrician families, membership of which was necessary even
for election to the council and to the parochial offices. This continued
long after the battle of Worringen (1288) had finally secured for the
city full self-government, and the archbishops had ceased to reside
within its walls. In the 14th century a narrow patrician council
selected from the Richerzeche, with two burgomasters, was supreme. In
1370 an insurrection of the weavers was suppressed; but in 1396, the
rule of the patricians, having been weakened by internal dissensions, a
bloodless revolution led to the establishment of a comparatively
democratic constitution, based on the organization of the trade and
craft gilds, which lasted with but slight modification till the French
Revolution.
The greatness of Cologne, in the middle ages as now, was due to her
trade. Wine and herrings were the chief articles of her commerce; but
her weavers had been in repute from time immemorial, and exports of
cloth were large, while her goldsmiths and armourers were famous. So
early as the 11th century her merchants were settled in London, their
colony forming the nucleus of the Steelyard. When, in 1201, the city
joined the Hanseatic League (q.v.) its power and repute were so great
that it was made the chief place of a third of the confederation.
In spite of their feuds with the archbishops, the burghers of Cologne
were stanch Catholics, and the number of the magnificent medieval
churches left is evidence at once of their piety and their wealth. The
university, founded in 1389 by the sole efforts of the citizens, soon
gained a great reputation; in the 15th century its students numbered
much more than a thousand, and its influence extended to Scotland and
the Scandinavian kingdoms. Its decline began, however, from the moment
when the Catholic sentiment of the city closed it to the influence of
the Reformers; the number of its students sank to vanishing point, and
though, under the influence of the Jesuits, it subsequently revived, it
never recovered its old importance. A final blow was dealt it when, in
1777, the enlightened archbishop Maximilian Frederick (d. 1784) founded
the university of Bonn, and in 1798, amid the confusion of the
revolutionary epoch, it ceased to exist.
The same intolerance that ruined the university all but ruined the city
too. It is difficult, indeed, to blame the burghers for resisting the
dubious reforming efforts of Hermann of Wied, archbishop from 1515 to
1546, inspired mainly by secular ambitions; but the expulsion of the
Jews in 1414, and still more the exclusion, under Jesuit influence, of
Protestants from the right to acquire citizenship, and from the
magistracy, dealt severe blows at the prosperity of the place. A variety
of other causes contributed to its decay: the opening up of new trade
routes, the gradual ossification of the gilds into close and corrupt
corporations, above all the wars in the Netherlands, the Thirty Years'
War, and the Wars of the Spanish and Austrian Succession. When in 1794
Cologne was occupied by the French, it was a poor and decayed city of
some 40,000 inhabitants, of whom only 6000 possessed civic rights. When,
in 1801, by the treaty of Luneville, it was incorporated in France, it
was not important enough to be more than the chief town of an
arrondissement. On the death of the last elector in 1801 the
archiepiscopal see was left vacant. With the assignment of the city to
Prussia by the congress of Vienna in 1815 a new era of prosperity began.
The university, indeed, was definitively established at Bonn, but the
archbishopric was restored (1821) as part of the new ecclesiastical
organization of Prussia, and the city became the seat of the president
of a governmental district. Its prosperity now rapidly increased; when
railways were introduced it became the meeting-place of several lines,
and in 1881 its growth necessitated the pushing outward of the circle of
fortifications.
See L. Ennen, _Gesch. der Stadt Koln_ (5 vols., Cologne, 1863-1880) to
1648, and _Frankreich und der Niederrhein_ (2 vols., ib., 1855, 1856),
a history of the city and electorate of Cologne since the Thirty
Years' War; R. Schultze and C. Steuernagel, _Colonia Agrippinensis_
(Bonn, 1895); K. Heldmann, _Der Kolngau und die Civitas Koln_ (Halle,
1900); L. Korth, _Koln im Mittelalter_ (Cologne, 1890); F. Lau,
_Entwickelung der kommunalen Verfassung der Stadt Koln bis zum Jahre
1396_ (Bonn, 1898); K. Hegel, _Stadte und Gilden der germanischen
Volker im Mittelalter_ (2 vols., Leipzig, 1891), ii. p. 323; H.
Keussen, _Historische Topographie der Stadt Koln im Mittelalter_
(Bonn, 1906); W. Behnke, _Aus Kolns Franzosenzeit_ (Cologne, 1901);
Helmken, _Koln und seine Sehenswurdigkeiten_ (20th ed., Cologne,
1903). For sources see L. Ennen and G. Eckertz, _Quellen zur
Geschichte der Stadt Koln_ (6 vols., Cologne, 1860-1879); later
sources will be found in U. Chevalier, _Repertoire des sources hist.
Topo-bibliographie_ (Montbeliard, 1894-1899), s.v. Cologne, which
gives also a full list of works on everything connected with the city;
also in Dahlmann-Waitz, _Quellenkunde_ (ed. Leipzig, 1906), p. 17,
Nos. 252, 253. For the archdiocese and electorate of Cologne see
Binterim and Mooren, _Die Erzdiozese Koln bis zur franzosischen
Staatsumwalzung_, new ed. by A. Mooren in 2 vols. (Dusseldorf, 1892,
1893).
COLOMAN (1070-1116), king of Hungary, was the son of King Geza of
Hungary by a Greek concubine. King Ladislaus would have made the
book-loving youth a monk, and even designated him for the see of Eger;
but Coloman had no inclination for an ecclesiastical career, and, with
the assistance of his friends, succeeded in escaping to Poland. On the
death of Ladislaus (1095), he returned to Hungary and seized the crown,
passing over his legitimately born younger brother Almos, the son of the
Greek princess Sinadene. Almos did not submit to this usurpation, and
was more or less of an active rebel till 1108, when the emperor Henry V.
espoused his cause and invaded Hungary. The Germans were unsuccessful;
but Coloman thought fit to be reconciled with his kinsman and restored
to him his estates. Five years later, however, fearing lest his brother
might stand in the way of his heir, the infant prince Stephen, Coloman
imprisoned Almos and his son Bela in a monastery and had them blinded.
Despite his adoption of these barbarous Byzantine methods, Coloman was a
good king and a wise ruler. In foreign affairs he preserved the policy
of St Ladislaus by endeavouring to provide Hungary with her greatest
need, a suitable seaboard. In 1097 he overthrew Peter, king of Croatia,
and acquired the greater part of Dalmatia, though here he encountered
formidable rivals in the Greek and German emperors, Venice, the pope and
the Norman-Italian dukes, all equally interested in the fate of that
province, so that Coloman had to proceed cautiously in his expansive
policy. By 1102, however, Zara, Trau, Spalato and all the islands as far
as the Cetina were in his hands. But it was as a legislator and
administrator that Coloman was greatest (see HUNGARY: _History_). He was
not only one of the most learned, but also one of the most statesmanlike
sovereigns of the earlier middle ages. Coloman was twice married, (1)
in 1097 to Buzella, daughter of Roger, duke of Calabria, the chief
supporter of the pope, and (2) in 1112 to the Russian princess,
Euphemia, who played him false and was sent back in disgrace to her
kinsfolk the following year. Coloman died on the 3rd of February 1116.
COLOMB, PHILIP HOWARD (1831-1899), British vice-admiral, historian,
critic and inventor, the son of General G. T. Colomb, was born in
Scotland, on the 29th of May 1831. He entered the navy in 1846, and
served first at sea off Portugal in 1847; afterwards, in 1848, in the
Mediterranean, and from 1848 to 1851 as midshipman of the "Reynard" in
operations against piracy in Chinese waters; as midshipman and mate of
the "Serpent" during the Burmese War of 1852-53; as mate of the
"Phoenix" in the Arctic Expedition of 1854; as lieutenant of the
"Hastings" in the Baltic during the Russian War, taking part in the
attack on Sveaborg. He became what was known at that time as a "gunner's
lieutenant" in 1857, and from 1859 to 1863 he served as flag-lieutenant
to rear-admiral Sir Thomas Pasley at Devonport. Between 1858 and 1868 he
was employed in home waters on a variety of special services, chiefly
connected with gunnery, signalling and the tactical characteristics and
capacities of steam warships. From 1868 to 1870 he commanded the
"Dryad," and was engaged in the suppression of the slave trade. In 1874,
while captain of the "Audacious," he served for three years as
flag-captain to vice-admiral Ryder in China; and finally he was
appointed, in 1880, to command the "Thunderer" in the Mediterranean.
Next year he was appointed captain of the steam reserve at Portsmouth;
and after serving three years in that capacity, he remained at
Portsmouth as flag-captain to the commander-in-chief until 1886, when he
was retired by superannuation before he had attained flag rank.
Subsequently he became rear-admiral, and finally vice-admiral on the
retired list.
Few men of his day had seen more active and more varied service than
Colomb. But the real work on which his title to remembrance rests is the
influence he exercised on the thought and practice of the navy. He was
one of the first to perceive the vast changes which must ensue from the
introduction of steam into the navy, which would necessitate a new
system of signals and a new method of tactics. He set himself to devise
the former as far back as 1858, but his system of signals was not
adopted by the navy until 1867.
What he had done for signals Colomb next did for tactics. Having first
determined by experiment--for which he was given special facilities by
the admiralty--what are the manoeuvring powers of ships propelled by
steam under varying conditions of speed and helm, he proceeded to devise
a system of tactics based on these data. In the sequel he prepared a new
evolutionary signal-book, which was adopted by the royal navy, and still
remains in substance the foundation of the existing system of tactical
evolutions at sea. The same series of experimental studies led him to
conclusions concerning the chief causes of collisions at sea; and these
conclusions, though stoutly combated in many quarters at the outset,
have since been generally accepted, and were ultimately embodied in the
international code of regulations adopted by the leading maritime
nations on the recommendation of a conference at Washington in 1889.
After his retirement Colomb devoted himself rather to the history of
naval warfare, and to the large principles disclosed by its intelligent
study, than to experimental inquiries having an immediate practical aim.
As in his active career he had wrought organic changes in the ordering,
direction and control of fleets, so by his historic studies, pursued
after his retirement, he helped greatly to effect, if he did not
exclusively initiate, an equally momentous change in the popular, and
even the professional, way of regarding sea-power and its conditions. He
did not invent the term "sea-power,"--it is, as is shown elsewhere (see
SEA-POWER), of very ancient origin,--nor did he employ it until Captain
Mahan had made it a household word with all. But he thoroughly grasped
its conditions, and in his great work on naval warfare (first published
in 1891) he enunciated its principles with great cogency and with keen
historic insight. The central idea of his teaching was that naval
supremacy is the condition precedent of all vigorous military offensive
across the seas, and, conversely, that no vigorous military offensive
can be undertaken across the seas until the naval force of the enemy has
been accounted for--either destroyed or defeated and compelled to
withdraw to the shelter of its own ports, or at least driven from the
seas by the menace of a force it dare not encounter in the open. This
broad and indefeasible principle he enunciated and defended in essay
after essay, in lecture after lecture, until what at first was rejected
as a paradox came in the end to be accepted as a commonplace. He worked
quite independently of Captain Mahan, and his chief conclusions were
published before Captain Mahan's works appeared.
He died quite suddenly and in the full swing of his literary activity on
the 13th of October 1899, at Steeple Court, Botley, Hants. His latest
published work was a biography of his friend Sir Astley Cooper Key, and
his last article was a critical examination of the tactics adopted at
Trafalgar, which showed his acumen and insight at their best.
His younger brother, SIR JOHN COLOMB (1838-1909), was closely associated
in the pioneer work done for British naval strategy and Imperial
defence, and his name stands no less high among those who during this
period promoted accurate thinking on the subject of sea-power. Entering
the Royal Marines in 1854, he rose to be captain in 1867, retiring in
1869; and thenceforth he devoted himself to the study of naval and
military problems, on which he had already published some excellent
essays. His books on _Colonial Defence and Colonial Opinions_ (1873),
_The Defence of Great and Greater Britain_ (1879), _Naval Intelligence
and the Protection of Commerce_ (1881), _The Use and the Application of
Marine Forces_ (1883), _Imperial Federation: Naval and Military_ (1887),
followed later by other similar works, made him well known among the
rising school of Imperialists, and he was returned to parliament
(1886-1892) as Conservative member for Bow, and afterwards (1895-1906)
for Great Yarmouth. In 1887 he was created C.M.G., and in 1888 K.C.M.G.
He died in London on the 27th of May 1909. In Kerry, Ireland, he was a
large landowner, and became a member of the Irish privy council (1903),
and in 1906 he sat on the Royal Commission dealing with congested
districts.
COLOMBES, a town of France in the department of Seine, arrondissement of
St Denis, 7 m. N.N.W. of Paris. Pop. (1906) 28,920. It has a
16th-century church with 12th-century tower, a race-course, and numerous
villa residences and boarding-schools. Manufactures include oil, vinegar
and measuring-instruments. A castle formerly stood here, in which died
Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I. of England.
COLOMBEY, a village of Lorraine, 4 m. E. of Metz, famous as the scene of
a battle between the Germans and the French fought on the 14th of August
1870. It is often called the battle of Borny, from another village 2-1/2 m.
E. of Metz. (See METZ and FRANCO-GERMAN WAR.)
COLOMBIA, a republic of South America occupying the N.W. angle of that
continent and bounded N. by the Caribbean Sea and Venezuela, E. by
Venezuela and Brazil, S. by Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, and W. by Ecuador,
the Pacific Ocean, Panama and the Caribbean Sea. The republic is very
irregular in outline and has an extreme length from north to south of
1050 m., exclusive of territory occupied by Peru on the north bank of
the upper Amazon, and an extreme width of 860 m. The approximate area of
this territory, according to official calculations, is 481,979 sq. m.,
which is reduced to 465,733 sq. m. by Gotha planimetrical measurements.
This makes Colombia fourth in area among the South American states.
The loss of the department of Panama left the republic with unsettled
frontiers on every side, and some of the boundary disputes still
unsolved in 1909 concern immense areas of territory. The boundary with
Costa Rica was settled in 1900 by an award of the President of France,
but the secession of Panama in 1903 gave Colombia another unsettled line
on the north-west. If the line which formerly separated the Colombian
departments of Cauca and Panama is taken as forming the international
boundary, this line follows the water-parting between the streams which
flow eastward to the Atrato, and those which flow westward to the Gulf
of San Miguel, the terminal points being near Cape Tiburon on the
Caribbean coast, and at about 7 deg. 10' N. lat. on the Pacific coast.
The boundary dispute with Venezuela was referred in 1883 to the king of
Spain, and the award was made in 1891. Venezuela, however, refused to
accept the decision. The line decided upon, and accepted by Colombia,
starts from the north shore of Calabozo Bay on the west side of the Gulf
of Maracaibo, and runs west and south-west to and along the
water-parting (Sierra de Perija) between the drainage basins of the
Magdalena and Lake Maracaibo as far as the source in lat. 8 deg. 50' N.
of a small branch of the Catatumbo river, thence in a south-easterly
direction across the Catatumbo and Zulia rivers to a point in 72 deg.
30' W. long., 8 deg. 12' N. lat., thence in an irregular southerly
direction across the Cordillera de Merida to the source of the Sarare,
whence it runs eastward along that river, the Arauca, and the Meta to
the Orinoco. Thence the line runs south and south-east along the
Orinoco, Atabapo and Guainia to the Pedra de Cucuhy, which serves as a
boundary mark for three republics. Of the eastern part of the territory
lying between the Meta and the Brazilian frontier, Venezuela claims as
far west as the meridian of 69 deg. 10'. Negotiations for the settlement
of the boundary with Brazil (q.v.) were resumed in 1906, and were
advanced in the following year to an agreement providing for the
settlement of conflicting claims by a mixed commission. With Ecuador and
Peru the boundary disputes are extremely complicated, certain parts of
the disputed territory being claimed by all three republics. Colombia
holds possession as far south as the Napo in lat. 2 deg. 47' S., and
claims territory occupied by Peru as far south as the Amazon. On the
other hand Peru claims as far north as La Chorrera in 0 deg. 49' S.
lat., including territory occupied by Colombia, and the eastern half of
the Ecuadorean department of Oriente, and Ecuador would extend her
southern boundary line to the Putumayo, in long. 71 deg. 1' S., and make
that river her northern boundary as far north as the Peruvian claim
extends. The provisional line starts from the Japura river (known as the
Caqueta in Colombia) in lat. 1 deg. 30' S., long. 69 deg. 24' W., and
runs south-west to the 70th meridian, thence slightly north of west to
the Igaraparana river, thence up that stream to the Peruvian military
post of La Chorrera, in 0 deg. 49' S. lat., thence west of south to
Huiririmachico, on the Napo. Thence the line runs north-west along the
Napo, Coca and San Francisco rivers to the Andean watershed, which
becomes the dividing line northward for a distance of nearly 80 m.,
where the line turns westward and reaches the Pacific at the head of
Panguapi Bay, into which the southern outlet of the Mira river
discharges (about 1 deg. 34' N. lat.).
_Physical Geography._--Colombia is usually described as an extremely
mountainous country, which is true of much less than half its total
area. Nearly one half its area lies south-east of the Andes and
consists of extensive _llanos_ and forested plains, traversed by
several of the western tributaries of the Amazon and Orinoco. These
plains slope gently toward the east, those of the Amazon basin
apparently lying in great terraces whose escarpments have the
character of low, detached ranges of hills forming successive rims to
the great basin which they partly enclose. The elevation and slope of
this immense region, which has an approximate length of 640 m. and
average width of 320 m., may be inferred from the elevations of the
Caqueta, or Japura river, which was explored by Crevaux in 1878-1879.
At Santa Maria, near the Cordillera (about 75 deg. 30' W. long.), the
elevation is 613 ft. above sea-level, on the 73rd meridian it is 538
ft., and near the 70th meridian 426 ft.--a fall of 187 ft. in a
distance of about 400 m. The northern part of this great region has a
somewhat lower elevation and gentler slope, and consists of open
grassy plains, which are within the zone of alternating wet and dry
seasons. In the south and toward the great lower basin of the Amazon,
where the rainfall is continuous throughout the year, the plains are
heavily forested. The larger part of this territory is unexplored
except along the principal rivers, and is inhabited by scattered
tribes of Indians. Near the Cordilleras and along some of the larger
rivers there are a few small settlements of whites and mestizos, but
their aggregate number is small and their economic value to the
republic is inconsiderable. There are some cattle ranges on the open
plains, however, but they are too isolated to have much importance. A
small part of the northern Colombia, on the lower courses of the
Atrato and Magdalena, extending across the country from the Eastern
to the Western Cordilleras with a varying width of 100 to 150 m., not
including the lower river basins which penetrate much farther inland,
also consists of low, alluvial plains, partly covered with swamps and
intricate watercourses, densely overgrown with vegetation, but in
places admirably adapted to different kinds of tropical agriculture.
These plains are broken in places by low ranges of hills which are
usually occupied by the principal industrial settlements of this part
of the republic, the lower levels being for the most part swampy and
unsuited for white occupation.
[Illustration: COLOMBIA]
The other part of the republic, which may be roughly estimated at
two-fifths of its total area, consists of an extremely rugged
mountainous country, traversed from south to north by the parallel
river valleys of the Magdalena, Cauca and Atrato. The mountain chains
which cover this part of Colombia are the northern terminal ranges of
the great Andean system. In northern Ecuador the Andes narrows into a
single massive range which has the character of a confused mass of
peaks and ridges on the southern frontier of Colombia. There are
several lofty plateaus in this region which form a huge central
watershed for rivers flowing east to the Amazon, west to the Pacific,
and north to the Caribbean Sea. The higher plateaus are called
_paramos_, cold, windswept, mist-drenched deserts, lying between the
elevations of 10,000 and 15,000 ft., which are often the only passes
over the Cordilleras, and yet are almost impassable because of their
morasses, heavy mists, and cold, piercing winds. The _paramos_ of Cruz
Verde (11,695 ft.) and Pasto, and the volcanoes of Chiles (15,900
ft.), Chumbul (15,715 ft.), and Pasto (13,990 ft.) are prominent
landmarks of this desolate region. North of this great plateau the
Andes divides into three great ranges, the Western, Central and
Eastern Cordilleras. The Central is the axis of the system, is
distinguished by a line of lofty volcanoes and _paramos_, some of
which show their white mantles 2000 to 3000 ft. above the line of
perpetual snow (approx. 15,000 ft. in this latitude), and is sometimes
distinguished with the name borne by the republic for the time being.
This range runs in a north-north-east direction and separates the
valleys of the Magdalena and Cauca, terminating in some low hills
south-west of El Banco, a small town on the lower Magdalena. The
principal summits of this range are Tajumbina (13,534 ft.), Pan de
Azucar (15,978 ft.), Purace (15,420 ft.), Sotara (15,420 ft.), Huila
(over 18,000 ft.), Tolima (18,432 ft.), Santa Isabel (16,700 ft.),
Ruiz (18,373 ft.), and Mesa de Herveo (18,300 ft.). The last named
affords a magnificent spectacle from Bogota, its level top which is 5
or 6 m. across, and is formed by the rim of an immense crater, having
the appearance of a table, down the sides of which for more than 3000
ft. hangs a spotless white drapery of perpetual snow. The Western
Cordillera branches from the main range first and follows the coast
very closely as far north as the 4th parallel, where the San Juan and
Atrato rivers, though flowing in opposite directions and separated
near the 5th parallel by a low transverse ridge, combine to interpose
valleys between it and the Cordillera de Baudo, which thereafter
becomes the true coast range. It then forms the divide between the
Cauca and Atrato valleys, and terminates near the Caribbean coast. The
general elevation of this range is lower than that of the others, its
culminating points being the volcano Munchique (11,850 ft.)and Cerro
Leon (10,847 ft.). The range is covered with vegetation and its
Pacific slopes are precipitous and humid. The Cordillera de Baudo,
which becomes the coast range above lat. 4 deg. N., is the southern
extension of the low mountainous chain forming the backbone of the
Isthmus of Panama, and may be considered the southern termination of
the great North American system. Its elevations are low and heavily
wooded. It divides on the Panama frontier, the easterly branch forming
the watershed between the Atrato and the rivers of eastern Panama, and
serving as the frontier between the two republics. The passes across
these ranges are comparatively low, but they are difficult because of
the precipitous character of their Pacific slopes and the density of
the vegetation on them. The Eastern Cordillera is in some respects the
most important of the three branches of the Colombian Andes. Its
general elevation is below that of the Central Cordillera, and it has
few summits rising above the line of perpetual snow, the highest being
the Sierra Nevada de Cocui, in lat. 6 deg. 30' N. Between Cocui and the
southern frontier of Colombia there are no noteworthy elevations
except the so-called Paramo de Suma Paz near Bogota, the highest point
of which is 14,146 ft. above sea-level, and the Chita _paramo_, or
range, north-east of Bogota (16,700 ft.). Between the 5th and 6th
parallels the range divides into two branches, the eastern passing
into Venezuela, where it is called the Cordillera de Merida, and the
northern continuing north and north-east as the Sierra de Perija and
the Sierra de Oca, to terminate at the north-eastern extremity of the
Goajira peninsula. The culminating point in the first-mentioned range
is the Cerro Pintado (11,800 ft.). West of this range, and lying
between the 10th parallel and the Caribbean coast, is a remarkable
group of lofty peaks and knotted ranges known as the Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta, the highest snow-crowned summit of which rises 17,389 ft.
above the sea according to some, and 16,728 according to other
authorities. This group of mountains, covering an approximate area of
6500 sq. m., lies immediately on the coast, and its highest summits
were long considered inaccessible. It stands detached from the lower
ranges of the Eastern Cordillera, and gives the impression that it is
essentially independent. The eastern Cordillera region is noteworthy
for its large areas of plateau and elevated valley within the limits
of the vertical temperate zone. In this region is to be found the
greater part of the white population, the best products of Colombian
civilization, and the greatest industrial development. The "sabana" of
Bogota is a good illustration of the higher of these plateaus (8563
ft., according to Stieler's _Hand-Atlas_), with its mild temperature,
inexhaustible fertility and numerous productions of the temperate
zone. It has an area of about 2000 sq. m. The lower valleys, plateaus
and mountain slopes of this range are celebrated for their coffee,
which, with better means of transportation, would be a greater source
of prosperity for the republic than the gold-mines of Antioquia. The
mountainous region of Colombia is subject to volcanic disturbances and
earthquake shocks are frequent, especially in the south. These shocks,
however, are less severe than in Venezuela or in Ecuador.
Islands.
There are few islands on the coast of Colombia, and the great majority
of these are too small to appear on the maps in general use. Gorgona
is one of the larger islands on the Pacific coast, and is situated
about 25 m. from the mainland in lat. 3 deg. N. It is 5-3/4 m. long by
1-3/4 m. wide, and rises to an extreme elevation of 1296 ft. above
sea-level. It is a beautiful island, and is celebrated as one of
Pizarro's stopping places. It has been used by the Colombian
government for political offenders. Malpelo island, 282 m. west by
south of Charambira point, in lat. 3 deg. 40' N., long. 81 deg. 24'
W., nominally belongs to Colombia. It is a small, rocky, uninhabited
island, rising to an elevation of 846 ft. above the sea, and has no
ascertained value. The famous Pearl islands of the Gulf of Panama are
claimed by Colombia, and their pearl oyster fisheries are considered a
rentable asset by the government. The group covers an area of about
450 sq. m., and consists of 16 islands and several rocks. The largest
is Rey Island, which is about 17 m. long, north to south, and 8 m.
broad, with an extreme elevation of 600 ft. The other larger islands
are San Jose, Pedro Gonzales, Casaya, Saboga and Pacheca. There are
several fishing villages whose inhabitants are largely engaged in the
pearl fisheries, and a number of cocoa-nut plantations. The islands
belong chiefly to Panama merchants. There are several groups of small
islands on the northern coast, and a few small islands so near the
mainland as to form sheltered harbours, as at Cartagena. The largest
of these islands is Baru, lying immediately south of the entrance to
Cartagena harbour. North-west of Colombia in the Caribbean Sea are
several small islands belonging to the republic, two of which (Great
and Little Corn Is.) lie very near the coast of Nicaragua. The largest
and most important of these islands is Vieja Providencia (Old
Providence), 120 m. off the Mosquito Coast, 4-1/2 m. long, which
supports a small population.
Rivers.
The rivers of Colombia may be divided, for convenience of description,
into three general classes according to the destination of their
waters, the Pacific, Caribbean and Atlantic--the last reaching their
destination through the Amazon and Orinoco. Of these, the Caribbean
rivers are of the greatest economic importance to the country, though
those of the eastern plains may at some time become nearly as
important as transportation routes in a region possessing forest
products of great importance and rich in agricultural and pastoral
possibilities. It is worthy of note that the principal rivers of these
three classes--the Patia, Cauca, Magdalena, Caqueta and Putumayo--all
have their sources on the high plateaus of southern Colombia and
within a comparatively limited area. The Pacific coast rivers are
numerous, and discharge a very large volume of water into the ocean in
proportion to the area of their drainage basins, because of the heavy
rainfall on the western slopes of the Coast range. The proximity of
this range to the coast limits them to short, precipitous courses,
with comparatively short navigable channels. The principal rivers of
this group, starting from the southern frontier, are the Mira, Patia,
Iscuande, Micai, Buenaventura or Dagua, San Juan and Baudo. The Mira
has its principal sources in Ecuador, and for a short distance forms
the boundary line between the two republics, but its outlets and
navigable channel are within Colombia. It has a large delta in
proportion to the length of the river, which is visible evidence of
the very large quantity of material brought down from the neighbouring
mountain slopes. The Patia is the longest river of the Pacific group,
and is the only one having its sources on the eastern side of the
Western Cordillera. It is formed by the confluence of the Sotara and
Guaitara at the point where the united streams turn westward to cut
their way through the mountains to the sea. The Sotara or upper Patia
rises on the southern slope of a transverse ridge or dyke, between the
Central and Western Cordilleras, in the vicinity of Popayan, and flows
southward about 120 m. to the point of confluence with the Guaitara.
The latter has its sources on the elevated plateau of Tuquerres and
flows north-west to meet the Sotara. The canyon of the Patia through
the Western Cordillera is known as the "Minima gorge," and has been
cut to a depth of 1676 ft., above which the perpendicular mountain
sides rise like a wall some thousands of feet more. The upper course
of the Guaitara is known as the Carchi, which for a short distance
forms the boundary line between Colombia and Ecuador. At one point in
its course it is crossed by the Rumichaca arch, a natural arch of
stone, popularly known as the "Inca's bridge," which with the Minima
gorge should be classed among the natural wonders of the world. There
is a narrow belt of low, swampy country between the Cordillera and the
coast, traversed at intervals by mountain spurs, and across this the
river channels are usually navigable. The San Juan has built a large
delta at its mouth, and is navigable for a distance of 140 m. inland,
the river flowing parallel with the coast for a long distance instead
of crossing the coastal plain. It rises in the angle between the
Western Cordillera and a low transverse ridge connecting it with the
Baudo coast range, and flows westward down to the valley between the
two ranges, and then southward through this valley to about lat. 4 deg.
15' N., where it turns sharply westward and crosses a narrow belt of
lowland to the coast. It probably has the largest discharge of water
of the Pacific group, and has about 300 m. of navigable channels,
including its tributaries, although the river itself is only 190 m.
long and the sand-bars at its mouth have only 7 or 8 ft. of water on
them. The San Juan is distinguished for having been one of the
proposed routes for a ship canal between the Caribbean and Pacific.
At one point in its upper course it is so near the Atrato that,
according to a survey by Captain C. S. Cochrane, R.N., in 1824, a
canal 400 yds. long with a maximum cutting of 70 ft., together with
some improvements in the two streams, would give free communication.
His calculations were made, of course, for the smaller craft of that
time.
The rivers belonging to the Caribbean system, all of which flow in a
northerly direction, are the Atrato, Bacuba, Sinu, Magdalena and
Zulia. The Bacuba, Suriquilla or Leon, is a small stream rising on the
western slopes of the Cordillera and flowing into the upper end of the
Gulf of Uraba. Like the Atrato it brings down much silt, which is
rapidly filling that depression. There are many small streams and one
important river, the Sinu, flowing into the sea between this gulf and
the mouth of the Magdalena. The Sinu rises on the northern slopes of
the Alto del Viento near the 7th parallel, and flows almost due north
across the coastal plain for a distance of about 286 m. to the Gulf of
Morosquillo. It has a very sinuous channel which is navigable for
small steamers for some distance, but there is no good port at its
outlet, and a considerable part of the region through which it flows
is malarial and sparsely settled. The most important rivers of
Colombia, however, are the Magdalena and its principal tributary, the
Cauca. They both rise on the high table-land of southern Colombia
about 14,000 ft. above sea-level--the Magdalena in the Laguna del Buey
(Ox Lake) on the Las Papas plateau, and the Cauca a short distance
westward in the Laguna de Santiago on the Paramo de Guanacas--and flow
northward in parallel courses with the great Central Cordillera,
forming the water-parting between their drainage basins. The principal
tributaries of the Magdalena are the Suaza, Neiva, Cabrera, Prado,
Fusagasaga, Funza or Bogota, Carare, Opon, Sogamoso, Lebrija and
Cesar, and the western the La Plata, Paez, Saldana, Cuello, Guali,
Samana or Miel, Nare or Negro and Cauca. There are also many smaller
streams flowing into the Magdalena from both sides of the valley. Of
those named, the Funza drains the "sabana" of Bogota and is celebrated
for the great fall of Tequendama, about 480 ft. in height; the
Sogamoso passes through some of the richest districts of the republic;
and the Cesar rises on the elevated slopes of the Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta and flows southward across a low plain, in which are many
lakes, to join the Magdalena where it bends westward to meet the
Cauca. The course of the Magdalena traverses nine degrees of latitude
and is nearly 1000 m. long. It is navigable for steamers up to La
Dorada, near Honda, 561 m. above its mouth, which is closed by
sand-bars to all but light-draught vessels, and for 93 m. above the
rapids at Honda, to Girardot. The river is also navigable at high
water for small steamers up to Neiva, 100 m. farther and 1535 ft.
above sea-level, beyond which point it descends precipitously from the
plateaus of southern Colombia. The Honda rapids have a fall of only 20
ft. in a distance of 2 m., but the current is swift and the channel
tortuous for a distance of 20 m., which make it impossible for the
light-draught, flat-bottomed steamers of the lower river to ascend
them. The Cauca differs much from the Magdalena, although its
principal features are the same. The latter descends 12,500 ft. before
it becomes navigable, but at 10,000 ft. below its source the Cauca
enters a long narrow valley with an average elevation of 3500 ft.,
where it is navigable for over 200 m., and then descends 2500 ft.
through a series of impetuous rapids for a distance of about 250 m.,
between Cartago and Caceres, with a break of 60 m. above Antioquia,
where smooth water permits isolated navigation. While, therefore, the
Magdalena is navigable throughout the greater part of its course, or
from Girardot to the coast, with an abrupt break of only 20 ft. at
Honda which could easily be overcome, the Cauca has only 200 m. of
navigable water in the upper valley and another 200 m. on its lower
course before it joins the Magdalena in lat. 9 deg. 30', the two being
separated by 250 m. of canyon and rapids. So difficult is the country
through which the Cauca has cut its tortuous course that the fertile
upper valley is completely isolated from the Caribbean, and has no
other practicable outlet than the overland route from Cali to
Buenaventura, on the Pacific. The upper sources of the Cauca flow
through a highly volcanic region, and are so impregnated with
sulphuric and other acids that fish cannot live in them. This is
especially true of the Rio Vinagre, which rises on the Purace volcano.
The principal tributaries are the Piendamo, Ovejas, Palo, Amaime and
Nechi, from the central Cordillera, of which the last named is the
most important, and the Jamundi and a large number of small streams
from the Western. The largest branch of the Cauca on its western side,
however, is the San Jorge, which, though rising in the Western
Cordillera on the northern slopes of the Alto del Viento, in about
lat. 7 deg. N., and not far from the sources of the Sinu and Bacuba, is
essentially a river of the plain, flowing north-east across a level
country filled with small lakes and subject to inundations to a
junction with the Cauca just before it joins the Magdalena. Both the
San Jorge and Nechi are navigable for considerable distances. The
valley of the Cauca is much narrower than that of the Magdalena, and
between Cartago and Caceres the mountain ranges on both sides press
down upon the river and confine it to a narrow canyon. The Cauca
unites with the Magdalena about 200 m. from the sea through several
widely separated channels, which are continually changing through the
wearing away of the alluvial banks. These changes in the channel are
also at work in the Lower Magdalena. The remaining rivers of the
Caribbean system, exclusive of the smaller ones rising in the Sierra
Nevada de Santa Marta, are the Zulia and Catatumbo, which rise in the
mountains of northern Santander and flow across the low plains of the
Venezuelan state of Zulia into Lake Maracaibo.