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Coatzontecoxochitl

sea, on which stands the English fort. Here the Por- Cape-Coast tuguese settled in 1610, and built the citadel of CapeCoast upon a large rock that projects into the sea. few years afterwards they were dislodged by the Dutch, to whom this place is principally indebted for its strength. In 1664 it was demolished by Admiral Holmes, and in 1665 the famous Dutch Admiral De Ruyter was ordered by the states to revenge the insults of the English. With a squadron of 13 men of war, he attacked all the English settlements along the coast; ruined the factories; and took, burnt, and sunk all the shipping of the English Company: however, after all his efforts, he was baffled in his attempts on Cape-Coast. By the treaty of Breda it was confirmed to the English, and the king granted a new charter in 1672; on which the Company applied all their attention to the fortifying and rendering it commodious.

COASTING, in Navigation, the act of making a progress along the sea-coast of any country. The principal articles relating to this part of navigation are, the observing the time and direction of the tide; knowledge of the reigning winds; of the roads and havens ; of the different depths of the water, and qualities of the ground.

COASTING-Pilot, a pilot who by long experience has become sufficiently acquainted with the nature of any particular coast, and of the requisites mentioned in the preceding article, to conduct a ship or fleet from one part of it to another.

Coast, unless it hath considerable connexion with the sea. Cape-Coast. It is indeed true (says he) that the wisdom and industry of man, taking hold of some particular circumstances, may have rendered a few inland cities and countries very fair and flourishing. In ancient history we read of Palmyra and the district round it, becoming a luxuriant paradise in the midst of inhospitable deserts. But this was no more than a temporary grandeur; and it has now lain for some ages in ruins. The city and principality of Candahar was in like manner rendered rich and famous, in consequence of its being made the centre of the Indian commerce; but long ago declining, its destruction has been com.. pleted in our days, from that dreadful desolation which Thamas Kouli Khan spread through Persia and the Indies. Here, in Europe, many of the large cities in Germany, which for a time made a great figure from the freedom and industry of the inhabitants, and diffused ease, plenty, and prosperity, through the districts dependent on them, which of course rendered them populous, are now so much sunk through inevitable accidents, as to be but shadows of what they were; and though they still continue to subsist, subsist only as the melancholy monuments of their own misfortunes. We may therefore, from hence, with great certainty discern, that all the pains and labour that can be bestowed in supplying the defect of situation, in this respect, proves, upon the whole, but a tedious, difficult, and precarious expedient. But, however, we must at the same time admit, that it is not barely the possession even of an extended coast that can produce all these desirable effects. That coast must likewise be distinguished by other natural advantages, such as capes and promontories, favourably disposed to break the fury of the winds; deep bays, safe roads, and convenient harbours. For, without these, an extended coast is no more than a maritime barrier against the maritime force of other nations; as is the case in many parts of Europe, and is one of the principal reasons why Africa derives so little benefit from a situation which has so promising an appearance; there being many considerable tracts upon its coasts equally void of havens and inhabitants, and which afford not the smallest encouragement to the attempting any thing that might alter their present desolate condition. It is, however, a less inconvenience, and in some cases, no inconvenience at all, if, in the compass of a very extended coast, there should be some parts difficult or dangerous of access, provided they are not altogether inaccessible. The sea-coast of Britain, from the figure, in some measure, of the island, but chiefly from the inlets of the sea, and the very irregular indented line which forms its shore, comprehends, allowing for those sinuosities, at least 800 marine leagues: we may, from hence, therefore, with safety affirm, that in this respect it is superior to France, though that be a much larger country; and equal to Spain and Portugal in this circumstance, though Britain is not half the size of that noble peninsula, which is also singularly happy in this very particular."

CAPE-COAST, the name of the chief British settlement on the coast of Guinea, in Africa. The name is thought to be a corruption of Cabo Corso, the ancient Portuguese appellation. This cape is formed by an angular point, washed on the south and east by the

COAT, or COAT of ARMS, in Heraldry, a habit: worn by the ancient knights over their arms, both in war and tournaments, and still borne by heralds at arms. It was a kind of sur-coat, reaching as low as the navel, open at the sides, with short sleeves, sometimes furred with ermine and hair, upon which were applied the armories of the knights embroidered in gold and silver, and enamelled with beaten tin coloured black, green, red, and blue; whence the rule never to apply colour on colour, nor metal on metal. The coats of arms were frequently open, and diversified with bands and fillets of several colours, alternately placed, as we still see cloths scarleted, watered, &c. Hence they were called devices, as being divided and composed of several pieces sewed together; whence the words fess, pale, chevron, bend, cross, saltier, lozenge, &c. which have since become honourable pieces, or ordinaries of the shield. See CROSS, BEND, CHEVRON, &c.

Coats of arms and banners were never allowed to be worn by any but knights and ancient nobles.

COAT, in Anatomy. See TUNIC and EYE. Coar of Mail; a kind of armour made in form of a shirt; consisting of iron rings wove together netwise. See MAIL.

COATI, in Zoology; a synonyme of a species of VIVERRA and URSUS. See MAMMALIA Index.

COATIMUNDI, a variety of the above.

COATING of Phials, Panes of Glass, &c. among electricians, is usually performed by covering the outside of the phial with tinfoil, brass, or gold-leaf, &c. and filling its inside with loose pieces of brass-leaf, by which means it becomes capable of being charged. See ELECTRICITY.

COATZONTECOXOCHITL, or Flower with the

that their lands returned to their former uncultivated Cochinstate.

Cochin, several instances in their long passage to Bengal, during Cochin which some of the Sepoys perished for want of food, China. rather than save themselves by partaking of the ship's provisions after their own had been expended. Most of those afflicted with the disorder we speak of, are unable to call any assistance, being the very poorest of the people, who live entirely upon a kind of fish called sardinias, without being able to purchase even the smallest quantity of rice to eat along with it; their drink is also mere water, unless they sometimes procure a draught of the simple unfermented juice called toddy. Cochin was first occupied by the Portuguese, from whom it was taken by the Dutch. It remained in the hands of the latter till 1795, when it was taken by the British.

COCHIN-CHINA, a kingdom of Asia, bounded on the north by Tonquin; on the east, by the sea of China; on the south by the Indian ocean; and on the west by Cambodia, and a ridge of mountains inhabited by a savage people called Kemois, who live independent of any government. Little of the history of this kingdom is known. M. le Poivre, a French traveller, informs us, that about half a century before the French first arrived in these distant regions, a prince of Tonquin, as he fled from his sovereign, by whom he was pursued as a rebel, had with his soldiers and adherents crossed the river, which serves as a barrier between Tonquin and CochinChina. The fugitives, who were warlike and civilized men, soon expelled the scattered inhabitants, who wandered about without any society or form of government, and founded a new kingdom, which soon grew rich and populous. During the reigns of the first six kings, no nation could be happier than the Cochin-Chinese. Their monarchs governed them as a father does his family, establishing no laws but those of nature, to which they themselves were the first to pay obedience. They honoured and encouraged agriculture, as the most useful employment of mankind; and required from their subjects only a small annual free-gift to defray the expence of their defensive war against the Tonquinese, who were their enemies. This imposition was regulated, by way of poll-tax, with the greatest equity. Every man, able to till the ground, paid in to the prince a small sum proportioned to the strength of his constitution, and the vigour of his arm, and nothing more.

Cochin-China continued happy under these princes for more than a century; but the discovery of goldmines put a stop to the above mild regulations. Luxury immediately took place. The prince began to despise the simple habitation of his ancestors, and caused a superb palace to be built a league in circumference, surrounded with a wall of brick on the model of that of Pekin, and defended by 1600 pieces of cannon. Not content with this, he would needs have a winter palace, an autumn palace, and a summer palace. The old taxes were by no means sufficient to defray these expences; new ones were devised; and oppression and tyranny everywhere took place. His courtiers, to flatter their prince, gave him the title of the king of heaven, which he still continues to assume. When speaking of his subjects, he styles them his children, but by no means behaves as if he was their father; for our author informs us, that he has seen whole villages newly abandoned by their inhabitants, who were harassed with toil and insupportable exactions; the necessary consequence of which was,

M. le Poivre represents the Cochin-Chinese as gentle, hospitable, frugal, and industrious. There is not a beggar in the country, and robbery and murder are absolutely unknown. A stranger may wander over the kingdom from one end to the other (the capital excepted) without meeting with the slightest insult. He will be everywhere received with the most eager curiosity, but at the same time with the greatest benevolence. A Cochin-Chinese traveller, who has not money sufficient to defray his expences at an inn, enters the first house of the town or village he arrives at, and waiting the hour of dinner, takes part with the family, and goes away when he thinks proper, without speaking a word, or any person's putting to him a single question.

The country of Cochin-China is much of the same temperature with that of Tonquin; though rather milder, as lying near the sea. Like Tonquin, it is annually overflowed, and consequently fruitful in rice, which requires no other manure than the mud left by the inundations. They have sugar-canes, and the same kinds of fruits common to other parts of India. The country produces no grapes, and therefore they drink a liquor brewed from rice. They have vast woods of mulberry-trees, which run up as fast as our hemp. Their silk is stronger than that of China, but not so fine. They have the best timber in the world, particularly a sort which abounds in the mountains, and is called the incorruptible tree, because it never rots under earth or water, and is so solid that it serves for anchors. There are two kinds, black and red. The trees are very tall, straight, and so big that two men can scarce grasp them. They have also on the mountains of the Kemois a tree of the most fragrant scent, which is supposed to be the same with lignum aloes. This, being reckoned the best product of the country, is engrossed by the king, and is sold from five to 16 ducats per pound. It is highly valued both in China and Japan, where the logs of it are sold for 200 ducats a pound, to make pillows for the king and nobility; and among those Indians which continue to burn their dead, great quantities of it are used in the funeral piles. The young trees called aquila, or eagle-wood, are every one's property, which make the old ones called calamba so scarce and dear. They have oak, and large pines, for the building of ships, so that this country is of the same use to China that Norway is to Britain. In general, they have the same kind of trees and plants that are to be met with in Tonquin. They have mines of gold, as well as diamonds; but the last they do not value so high as pearl. They also esteem their coral and amber very much. In all the provinces there are great granaries filled with rice, in some of which that grain is kept upwards of 30 years. One of the greatest rarities of these parts, especially in grand-entertainments, is a ragout made of the eatable birds-nests, which some say are found only in Cochin-China, and others in four islands that lie south of its coast. See BIRDS-Nests.

China.