Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/875

* CABOT. 771 CABREBA. evidence that Sebastian accompanied his' father on either of the two voyages to America, in 1497 or 141IS. After his father's ilciith, Seliaslian took lip the profession of navigation. He was also a <artOf;rapher of some repute, lieing employed to prepare the maps for an Knf;lish military ex- l)edition to southwestern France (1512). He aeoonipanied the English forces, and while away was induced to enter the service of the King of Spain. He soon rose to an inlluential position as the head of the Spanish navigation office, with the title of pilot-major, a post he held for ;U) years. There is some evidence, however, that in l.il" or 1518 he led an Euglisli expedition in search of a northwest passage to Cathay. In 152(j (. harles V. gave him the command of an expedition which was intended by its promoters to pass tlirough the Strait of Magellan and trade in the Spice Islands. Acting probably under secret or- ders from the Kilig, Cabot entered the estiuiry of the river which he afterwards named La Plata, in the hope of finding another passage through to the Facilic. Misled by the stories which he had lieard from the Indians, who told him that silver and gold ( really to be found in Peru ) were to be had at the lieadwaters of this river, he spent three years in trying to reach these sources of wealth. As a result the undertaking turned out a ruin- ous failure, and Cabot, after his return to Spain in 1530, was tried and found legally culpable for the disaster. The King, however, pardoned him and restored him to his office as pilot-major. In 1548 Cabot went back to England, and accepted a pension from the Government of Edward VI, for his services as Great Pilot. He became gov- ernor of the Company of Merchant Adventurers, and was a prime mover in organizing and equip- ])ing the expedition of Willoughby and Chan- cellor to Asia by the northeast sea route, in 1553, and that of Stephen Burrough by the same route in 1550. He died in the winter of 1557-58. The character of Sebastian Cabot has been vari- ously estimated. English writers, supposing him to liave been born in Bristol, eulogize his every trait and action. Consult XichoUs, lieinariahie Life of Sebastian Cabot (London. 18G9). In re- action against this view, consult Henry Harrisse, John Cabot and His Sou Sebastian (London, 1S9U), than whom there is no more learned au- thority, and who describes him as a renegade and traitor, an unfilial boaster, without a single re- deeming quality. The truth is presumably mid- way between these two extremes. Consult Win- ship, Cabot Bibliography (London, 1900). CABKA, kii'bra (anciently, Aepabro; Sp. cabra-, Lat. capra, goat). A town of Spain in the Province of Cordova, situated on the northern slope of the Sierra de Cabra, 47 miles southeast of Cordova (Map: Spain, C 4). It contains an old Moorish mosque, now a church, several mon- asteries, and a theatre. Population, in 1897, 12,- 803. CABRAL, ka-briil', or CABRERA, kil-bra'ra, Pedbo Alvarez ( 1400-1520) . A Portuguese navi- gator. His public life, as far as known, was lim- ited to the brief period 1.500-01, when he was in charge of a lleet fitted out by King Emmanuel, destined for the East Indies." With 13 ves.sels and about 1200 men Cabral left Lisbon on March 9, 1500, intending to follow the route previously taken by V'asco da Gama, by way of the Cape of Good Hope. Either to avoid storma or calms, he took a course west of that of Vasco da Gama, and was carried to the coast of Brazil by the strong southern equatorial current. Pinzon had touched on the northeastern coast of Brazil in the very beginning of the same year, somewhat north of where Cabral landed. Pinzon, however, did not seem to recognize the signilicance of liis discovery, and Cabral regarded the coast as part of the Eastern Hemisphere, the non-Christian portions of which had been assigned to Portugal. He accordingly 'took possession' in the name of the- Portuguese King, calling the coiLutry Terra Sane- tw Crueis. Had Columbus failed in his original enterprise, the New World would not long have remained unknown to Europe, for the Portuguese followed up this accidental discovery of Brazil, and would in this way have opened' uj) the West- ern C(mtinent. Leaving Brazil, Cabral sailed eastward to India, making important discoveries on the way. He founded a trading i)Ost at Cali- cut, and concluded the first commercial treaty of Portugal in India. On his return to Portu- gal, he was for some reason not retained in ser- vice, and sinks again into obscurity. "This ad- venture of Cabral's had interesting consequences. It set in motion the train of events which ended^ after some years, in placing the name 'America' upon the map." Consult Fiske, Discovery of America, Vol. II. (Boston, 1892) ; Capistrano de Abreu, Descobrimento do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro, 1883). CABREBA, ka-bra'ra (anciently, Lat. Capra- ria, goat island, from caper, capra, goat) . One of the Balearic Islands (q.v. ), situated about 10 miles south of Majorca (Map: Spain, G 3). It is about 3 miles in length and breadth, with an ir- regular coast. Fishing is the chief industry. Its permanent population amounts to only a few hundred. During the war in the Peninsula, Ca- brera formed a Spanish dejjot for French pris- oners, who were crowded by thousands into the desolate spot and treated with great barbarity. CABRERA, Kamon (1810-77), A leader of the Carlist party in Spain, born at Tortosa, in Catalonia. At the outbreak of the civil war, following on the death of Ferdinand VII., in 1833, Cabrera joined the Carlists (q.v.) and soon rose to a high command. Such was his reputation for cruelty that the Government gen- eral Mina had Cabrera's mother arrested and shot "to restrain by a just system of reprisals the excesses of the bloodthirsty Cabrera." After penetrating as far south as Andalusia, his forces were completely routed by the royal troops on the borders of Aragon, and he himself, severely wounded, escaped with difficulty. He soon re- appeared at the head of 10.000 foot and 1600 horse. Invading the Province of 'alencia, he overthrew the royal army at Buiiol (February 18, 1837), and again, on March 19. at Burjasot; but was in turn vanquished at Torre Blanca, and once more compelled to seek a hiding-place, but only to reappear soon after. Madrid itself was threatened by Cabrera, who about this time re- ceived from Don Carlos the title of Count of Mo- rella for his vigorous defense of the fortress of that name, and was also appointed Governor-Gen- eral of Aragon, Valencia, and Murcia. The Car- lists now believed that the triumph of absolutism was approaching, when the treachery of the Car- list general Maroto changed the whole aspect of affairs, and Don Carlos lied from Spain. Ca- brera held out until, hemmed in by Espartero, he was forced to quit the country, .July, 1840. He