Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/254

242 wretched creature accused of witchcraft got him many clients and some reputation. As Cats so far anticipated the common sense line of argument afterwards adopted in cases of the sort as to be often referred to later as an authority his success was by no means undeserved. A serious love affair occurred about this time, which was broken off on the very eve of marriage by a tertian fever in the bridegroom. The fever defied all attempts at cure for some two years. For medical advice and change of air Cats betook himself to England, where he consulted the highest authorities, and exhausted their pharmacopoeia in vain. He resigned himself to his fate, returned to Zeeland to die, and was cured mysteriously by a strolling quack. He then went to Middleburgh, where (1G02) he married a lady named Valkenburg, who bore him five children. At Middleburgh he devoted himself to farming and poetry, retiring gradually from the exercise of his profession, and producing his first great works the Emblems of Fancy and Love, the Galatea (a pastoral romance), the Mirror of Past and Present, the Marriage, and others. In 162 1, on the expiration of the twelve years truce with Spain, the breaking of the dykes drove him from his farm. He was made pensionary (stipendiary magistrate) of Middleburgh ; and two years afterwards he received the same distinction from the larger city of Dort. His Nuptial Ring was the result of his leisure during this part of his career. In 1627 Cats came to England on a mission to Charles I. ; that prince made him a knight, but otherwise the poet s success as an ambassador was not indicated by any result. In 1635 he was made grand pensionary of Holland; and in 1652, a year after his resignation of this office, the second in the commonwealth, he again figured in England as an unsuccessful envoy. Tlis long Latin oration left Cromwell absolutely unmoved ; and Cats returned to Holland altogether to relinquish the practice of state affairs. In the seclusion of his villa of oorgvliet (Fly-from-Care), near the Hague, he resided till his death, occupied in the composition of his autobiography (Eighty-two Years of My Life) and of many poems (Old Age and Country Life, Coffins for the Living, &c.) He was buried by torchlight, and with great ceremony, in the Klooster-Kerk at the Hague, and is still spoken of as &quot; Father Cats &quot; by his countrymen. Cats, who lived and reigned with Hooft and Vondel in the golden age of Flemish literature, was an exceedingly prolific writer. His versification is smooth and regular ; although somewhat monotonous ; his style is homely and familiar ; and the naivete and simplicity of most of that he says, and of his manner of saying it, are peculiarly attractive. He never soared, or tried to soar ; he was content to plod on, scattering round him as he went the blunt straight maxims, the shrewd little moralities, the excellent pieces of advice, which his countrymen of whose practical and prosaic genius he is the highest literary representative have found so pleasant and so full of profit. Hardly known outside of Holland, among his own people for nearly two centuries he enjoyed an enormous popularity, his Book of Emblems, a great favourite with Sir Joshua Reynolds in his childhood, being often styled &quot; The House hold Bible.&quot; Of late years, however, his diffuseness and the antiquated character of his matter and diction have come to be regarded as difficulties in the way of study, and he is perhaps rather more renowned than read. A statue to him was erected at Ghent in 1829. See Jacob Cats, Complete Works, 1790-1800, 19 vols. ; Pigott, Moral Emblems, with Aphorisms, &c., from Jacob Cats, 1860; and Octave Delepierre, Sketch of the History of Flemish Literature, 1860. Southey has a very compli mentary reference to Cats in his &quot; Epistle to Allan Cun ningham.&quot;  CATSKILL or KAATSKIL MOUNTAINS, a group of moderate elevation belonging to the great Appalachian system of North America. They are situated for the most part in Greene County, New York, and are mainly remarkable for the beauty of their scenery and the magni ficence of the outlook over the neighbouring country. The principal summits are Round Top, High Peak, and Over look, which attain a height of nearly 4000 feet. To the north of High Peak is situated the celebrated gorge or &quot; clove &quot; of Catterskill, with its waterfall. The cascades are three in number, and the total height is about 300 feet ; but the supply of water is often deficient, and has even to be managed by the hotel proprietors. The place can easily be reached from Mountain House, an hotel which is built at an elevation of 2500 feet, on the front of Pine Orchard Mountain, about 12 miles from tho town of Catskill. Another hotel has more recently been erected on the summit of Overlook, at a height of 3800 feet.  CATTACK [], a district of British India, in the province of Orissa, under the jurisdiction of the Lieutenant- Governor of Bengal, in 20 N. lat., and 85 to 87 E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the district of Balasor, from which it is separated by the Baitaranf and Dhdmra rivers ; on the E. by the Bay of Bengal, on the S. by the district of Puri, and on the W. by the Orissa Tributary States. The district comprises the nucleus or middle portion of the great delta formed by the Mahanadf River, and consists of three distinct tracts ; first, a marshy woodland strip along the coast, from 3 to 30 miles in breadth ; second, an intermediate stretch of rice plains ; third, a broken hilly region, which forms the western boundary of the district. The marshy strip along the coast, like the Bengal Sundarbans, is covered with swamps and malaria- breeding jungles, but lacks their forest scenery. As one approaches the sea the solid land gives place to a vast network of streams and creeks, whose sluggish waters are constantly depositing silt, and forming morasses or quicksands. Cultivation does not begin till the limits of this dismal region are passed. The intermediate rice plains stretch inland for about 40 miles, and occupy the older part of the delta between the sea-coast strip and the hilly frontier. They are intersected by four large rivers, which dash down from the western mountains, and then split into innumerable branches on the level delta. Their distributaries, after tortuous interfacings, frequently rejoin the parent stream as it approaches the sea. This inter mediate tract is a region of rich cultivation, dotted with great banyan trees, thickets of bamboos, exquisite palm foliage, and mango groves. The hilly frontier separates the delta of British Orissa from the semi-independent Tributary States. It consists of a series of ranges, 10 to 15 miles in length, running nearly due east and west, with densely-wooded slopes and lovely valleys between. The timber, however, is small, and is of little value except as fuel. The political character of these three tracts is as distinct as are their natural features. The first and third are still occupied by feudal chiefs, and have never been subjected to a regular land-settlement, by either the Musalman or the British Government. They pay a light tribute, now permanently fixed. The intermediate rice plains, known as the Mughulbandf, from their having been regularly settled by ths Muhammadans, have yielded to the successive dynasties and conquerors of Orissa almost the whole of the revenues derived from the province. Tho deltaic portions are of course a dead level ; and the highest hills within the district in the western or frontier tract do not exceed 2500 feet. They are steep, and covered with jungle, but can be climbed by men. The most interesting of them are the Assa range, with its sandal trees and 