Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/777

 CARAVAN CARAWAY 76T often repulsive themes. His imagination was coarse, his temper gloomy and passionate. But his paintings, however gross in conception, display grandeur, power, and pathos. Anni- bale Carracci said of Caravaggio that "he ground flesh," not pigments. Some of his sacred pieces were so offensive that they were removed from the altars they occupied. Cara- vaggio's most celebrated work is an " Entomb- ment of Christ " in the Vatican. A " St. Se- bastian " in the capitol at Rome, and a " Sup- per at Emmaus" in the palazzo Borghese, are among his masterpieces. A " Holy Family," in the same palace, has been much admired. II. Polidoro Caldara da, an Italian painter, born at Caravaggio in 1495, murdered at Messina in 1543. Of humble parentage, he found em- ployment in Rome as a workman for the artists who were engaged in copying the paintings of Raphael ; and attracting the attention of that master by his talent, he became his most dis- tinguished disciple, as attested by his friezes and other ornaments for Raphael's paintings in the Vatican, which acquired celebrity as exqui- site imitations of Athenian purity and perfec- tion. He was the first of the Roman masters to employ chiaroscuro in the management of masses of light and shadow, and he and his friend Maturino were extensively engaged in embellishing the exteriors of the principal pal- aces and houses with paintings of illustrious masters, in the sgraffito style. In 1527, when Rome was sacked by the imperialists, he fled to Naples, where Andrea da Salerno procured employment for him ; and subsequently he de- signed at Messina the triumphal arches erected on occasion of the return of Charles V. from Tunis, and executed in the same city his mas- terpiece, representing Christ bearing the cross. He was about to return to Rome when he was murdered and robbed by his Sicilian servant. His principal paintings are in Rome, Naples, and Messina. CARAVAN and CARAVANSARY, an organized company of travellers or pilgrims in Asia and Africa, and an edifice for their lodging. The word is derived from the Persian cdredn, a trader. Caravans are formed for the purpose of mutual protection. Every caravan is un- der the command of a chief (caravan-lashi), and is subjected to regular discipline. Many of them are under control of the govern- ment, by whom the chief is appointed, and are attended by a sufficient number of troops for defence. Camels are used as a means of conveyance on account of their remark- able powers of endurance, and there are gen- erally more camels than persons in a cara- van. The commercial intercourse of Asia and Africa from the earliest period has been car- ried on chiefly in this way ; and in this country the trade between Kansas and New Mexico is conducted by caravans of wagons. The most noted caravans are those of pilgrims who an- nually proceed to Mecca from every country where the Mohammedan faith is established. 152 VOL. HI. 49 The principal caravans are those of Damascus, composed of pilgrims from Europe and western Asia, and Cairo, consisting of Mohammedans from all parts of Africa. The Syrian caravan is accompanied by one of the military pashas of Damascus or one of his principal officers, and usually travels by night only, when torches are used. An important commerce in all kinds of Indian, Arabian, and Persian commodities is carried on by means of caravans which pro- ceed from Bagdad and Bassorah to Aleppo, Damascus, and Diarbekir; while European goods, chiefly English cottons, are distributed throughout the interior of Asiatic Turkey by the same means. Formerly a caravan con- sisted of from 500 to 4,000 persons, and an equal or greater number of camels ; but many of them, especially those to Mecca, are now much smaller and of less importance, owing to the improved means of modern travel. The caravansaries for pilgrims, now better known by the Turks and Arabs as khans, for the most part built as charities, are generally the rudest structures consistent with the purpose of pro- tection. They are chiefly erected in desert places, and are furnished with water brought from a great distance. The caravansaries in cities, intended more for traders, are better built, and sometimes contain very good apart- ments, though unfurnished. CARAVELLAS, a seaport town of Brazil, in the province of Bahia, on a river and near the bay of the same name, 475 m. N. N. E. of Rio de Janeiro, in lat. 17 32' S., Ion. 39 14' W. ; pop. of the town and district about 6,000. The town, though of small size, is handsomely built on a sandy elevation, and presents a cheerful and agreeable aspect. Its importance is main- ly due to its being the port of the surrounding country, and the headquarters of the Abrolhos whale fishery. The fishery lasts from the end of June till the end of September ; the cachalot is the whale chiefly caught, and each one usually affords from 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of oil, worth on the spot from 80 cents to $1 50 per gallon. There is also considerable coast- ing trade. In the neighborhood are extensive groves of cocoa palms. CARAWAY, the fruit or seeds of the earum carui, a small biennial plant of the family tim- fiellifera, which grows wild in the meadows and pastures of central and northern Europe, and is cultivated in gardens, as it is in this country. The root, which in the cultivated plant resembles the parsnip, is used for food in the north of Europe. The seeds mature the second year of the growth of the plant. They are used in confectionery, to flavor liquors and cakes, and also bread, cheese, and other arti- cles of food. Their medicinal action is to stimulate the digestive organs, and remove flatulency ; they are used also to aid or modify the action of other medicines. An essential oil, oleum eari, is prepared by distillation of the seeds, which possesses their properties, and is used to flavor medicines, and to correct their