Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/183

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1em  COLOMBO, the capital and principal seaport town of Ceylon, on the west coast of the island, in 6 55 1ST. lat. and 79 45 E. long. The municipal limits include an area of 6415 acres, which is divided into the nine wards of The Fort and Galle Face, Pettah, St Sebastian s, St Paul s, Cottanchina, New Bazaar, Marandana, Slave Island, and Colpetty. The fortified part of the town is about a mile and a half in circuit, and occupies a rocky promontory of but slight elevation, surrounded on three sides by the sea, and protected on the land side by a lake, a moat, and draw bridges. The Galle Face affords a favourite promenade for the European population ; Pettah is mainly inhabited by natives and half castes ; and Colpetty is a beautiful suburb. Most of the streets are finely shaded with a species of Hibiscus planted by the Dutch ; and the most of the older European houses bear the marks of Dutch occupa tion. Colombo contains the Government offices and courts, and is the residence of the civil and military authorities, the seat of a Church of England bishop, and a centre for Roman Catholic, Wesleyan, Baptist, and other missionary organizations. The principal buildings are the Government or Queen s House, the court-house, the town-hall, the lunatic asylum, the lazaretto, the military barracks and hospitals at Galle Face, Wellicadde jail, and Wolfendahl church; among the public institutions may be mentioned St Thomas s col lege and collegiate school, founded by Bishop Chapman in 1821 ; Wesley college ; the industrial school ; the medical school, established in 1870, with six scholarships attached; a branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, with a museum ; the United Service library ; tha military-medical and the colonial-medical libraries and museums ; the Pettah library, established in 1829; the agri -horticultural society; and the model farm inaugurated by Prince Alfred. The cinnamon gardens and the circular walk are pleasant places of resort ; the former date from the Dutch occupation, and were long celebrated for their beauty and luxuriance. The town is supplied with gas and water by a company incor porated under Acts passed in 1862 and 1867. The principal articles of manufacture in Colombo are coffee, oil, and coir ; the first of these especially keeps a large number of mills in operation. There are also a good many saw-mills in the town and neighbourhood, and the Government maintains a foundry and ironworks. The supply of ice is in the bands of a company. The harbour is small, and the roadstead is safe only during the south-east monsoon, but various improvements now in progress promise to make Colombo one of the chief ports of Southern India. The first stone of a great breakwater was laid by the Prince of Wales in 1875. The population of Colombo is of very various origin : Sinhalese, Parsees, Chinsse, Malabars, Arabs, Persians, Kaffirs, Afghans, descendants of Portu guese and Dutch, and half castes of all colours. . In 1874 the total number of inhabitants was given as 97,129, of whom 42,160 were Sinhalese, 22,389 Moors, 20,633 Tamils and Chatties, and 1765 Europeans. Colombo was originally known as the Kalantotta or Kalany ferry. By the Arabs the name was changed to Kalambu, and the town is men tioned by Ibn Batata about 1340 as the largest and finest in Serendib. In 1517 the Portuguese effected a settlement, and in 1520 they fortified their port and bade defiance to the native besiegers. In 1586 the town was again invested by Raja Singh, but without success. On its capture by the Dutch in 1656 it was a flourishing colony with convents of five religious orders, churches, and public offices, inhabited by no fewer than 900 noble families and 1500 families dependant on mercantile or political occupations. In 1 796 it was surrendered to the British.  COLON. See, ..  COLONNA,, chapel-master of Sfc Petronio at Bologna, and president of the Philharmonic Academy there, was born at Brescia about the middle of the 17th century. The music-school which he established at Bologna produced many good musicians, among them Clari. Most of Colonna s works are for the church, and are among the most remarkable compositions of the 17th century. They included settings of the psalms for three, four, five, and eight voices, and several masses and motetts. He also composed an opera, under the title Amilcare, and an oratorio, La Profezia d Eliseo. Boyce considered Colonna as Handel s model for choruses accompanied with instrumental parts different from the vocal. The same practice, however, was adopted by several of Colonna s contemporaries.  COLONNA, (1490-1547), the daughter of Fabrizio Colonna, grand constable of the kingdom of Naples, and of Anna da Montefeltre, daughter of the &quot; Good Duke &quot; Frederick of Urbino, was born at Marino, a Roman fief of her father s house. Betrothed when four years old, at the instance of Ferdinand of Aragon, to Francisco D Avalos, son of the marquis of Pescara, she received the highest education, and gave early proof of a love of letters. Her hand was sought, among other suitors, by the dukes of Savoy and Braganca, but at seventeen, aa she ardently desired, her marriage with D Avalos took place. The couple resided on the islet of Ischia till 1511, when the husband offered his sword to the Holy League, in whose service he was taken at Ravenna (1512), and carried to France. During the months of exile and the long years of campaigning that followed this mishap, they corre sponded in most passionate terms, in prose and verse. They saw each other but seldom, for Pescara was one of Charles V. s most brilliant and active captains; but Vittoria s influence over him was sufficient to keep him, after Pavia 