Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/529

 PILATE naked eye at the distance of 80 m. The sum- rait is nearly level, embracing about 40 acres, and composed of angular slabs and blocks of coarse, disintegrating granite. It affords one of the grandest views on the North American continent, extending nearly 150 m. in all di- rections. In the higher parts of the gorges snow is perpetual. Pike's peak is named in honor of Gen. Zebulon M. Pike, who discov- ered it in 1806. The discovery of gold near its base having been reported in 1858, Pike's Peak became for a time the popular name of the Kocky mountain gold region within the present limits of Colorado, though remunera- tive diggings were not developed within many miles of the mountain. PILATE, Pontius, the Roman officer or ruler of Judea under whom Christ suffered. The nature of his office is not well understood. In the Greek Testament he is called fjyefj.fav, which King James's and the Rhemish versions trans- late " governor;" Philo Judaeus and the Greek fathers style him e-nirpoTroc, Josephus both eTriTpoTroe and r/yepuv, and Tacitus procurator. He was the sixth Roman incumbent of that of- fice, succeeding Valerius Gratus, A. D. 25 or 26, under the reign of Tiberius, and retaining the post ten years. He moved his military head- quarters and the standards bearing the image of the emperor to Jerusalem, but was forced by the rage of the people to send the standards back to Cassarea. Jesus was brought to him for punishment, having been condemned by the Jews for blasphemy ; but as he would not notice a merely religious offence, they made a new charge of sedition. Pilate became satis-- fied that this charge was unjust, but fearing to irritate the Jews, who already had grounds of complaint against him, he tried to shift the responsibility upon Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, and afterward to induce the people to forego their purpose ; and finally, washing his hands in token of his innocence of the wrong, he reluctantly ordered the crucifixion. Jose- phus relates several acts of injustice committed by him, and he was finally disgraced in con- sequence of his cruelty to the Samaritans, a number of whom he caused to be massacred for a slight disturbance excited by his oppres- sions. The Samaritans complained to Vitel- lius, the proconsul of Syria, who ordered Pi- late to go to Rome to answer the accusation. Tiberius was dead before his arrival, but ac- cording to Eusebius the disgraced procurator was banished to Vienne in Gaul, where he com- mitted suicide about A. D. 38. According to a legend, he spent his last years in the recesses of the mountain by Lake Lucerne now called Mt. Pilatus, and drowned himself in the lake on its summit, where a spectral form is some- times seen emerging from the waters and go- ing through the motion of washing its hands. It can hardly be doubted, after the testimony of several ancient writers, that Pilate trans- mitted to the emperor Tiberius a report of Christ's trial and condemnation ; but the ex- PILGRIMAGE 513 tant "Acts" and "Letters" under his name are universally regarded as spurious. See Lip- sius, Die Pilatusacten (Kiel, 18T1). PILCHARD, a fish of the herring family, and genus alosa (Cuv.). It is about as large as a herring, but rounder and thicker, and with larger scales; it differs principally from the herring (clupea) in having a deep notch in the centre of the upper jaw. It is the A. pilchar- dus (Val.), from 9 to 11 in. long, bluish green above, on the sides and below silvery, the dorsal fin and tail dusky, the cheeks and gill covers tinged with golden yellow, and with variously radiating strire ; the mouth small and without teeth. It feeds on shrimps, minute crustaceans, and the roe of fish. It occurs in immense numbers on the coasts of Cornwall and Devonshire, from July until Christmas ; it is caught, principally at night, in large perpen- dicular nets, one end of which is sunk to the bottom by weights and the other kept afloat by Pilchard (Alosa pilchardus). corks ; as many as 1,200 hogsheads have been taken in a single fishing, and the average an- nual product in Cornwall is over 20,000 hogs- heads, containing about 60,000,000 individuals; the fish are preserved in the same way as her- ring. This species is abundant on the coasts of Brittany, Spain, and Portugal. PILCOMAYO, a river of South America, formed by the united waters of the Cachimayo and Pi- laya, which rise in the E. slope of the Bolivian Andes, the first just S. of Chuquisaca, and the other in the extreme S. W. corner of Potosi, and unite about lat. 20 30' S., Ion. 63 W. Thence the river, widening considerably, flows generally S. E. about 800 m. through the Chi- quitos country, and across the Gran Chaco, to its confluence with the Paraguay nearly oppo- site Asuncion, into which it flows by three mouths, the two outer ones 24 m. apart. The country drained by this river is mainly covered with rich forests; but it is too shallow for navigation even by flat-bottomed steamers, the average depth not being over 4 ft. PILES. See HAEMORRHOIDS. PILGRIMAGE (Lat, peregrinatio ; Ital. pelle- grinaggio), a journey undertaken from devout motives to some holy place. The history of Christian pilgrimages belongs chiefly to the middle ages, though from the earliest times the faithful resorted to Palestine. This practice was adopted from motives of personal devo- tion, and not unfrequently was imposed as an atonement for public sins. Eusebius, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, Jerome, and