Chapter 16

On the literary scheme of the Creation-story in Gen. i. see the commentaries (e.g. Dillman’s and Driver’s). On the other Old Testament references to creation, and on the prophetic doctrine of creation, seeEncy. Bib., “Creation,” §§ 27-29. On the traces of dragon and serpent myths in the Old Testament and their significance, see Gunkel,Schöpfung und Chaos(1895)—a pioneering work of the highest merit—andEncy. Bib., “Behemoth,” “Dragon,” “Rahab,” “Serpent.” On the connexion of the Creation and the Deluge-stories, seeDeluge. Cf. also the article onBabylonian and Assyrian Religion; and Cheyne,Traditions and Beliefs of Ancient Israel(1907).

(T. K. C.)

1Cf. Miss Harrison,Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, chaps. vi., vii., “The Making of a Goddess and of a God.”2See Ratzel.Hist. of Mankind, ii. 147-148; Breysig,Die Entstehung des Gottesgedankens(1905), pp. 10-12.3See Chamberlain,Journ. of American Folklore, iv. 208-209 (analysis of Perrot’s account); Brinton,Myths of the New World, pp. 176-179; Breysig, op. cit., pp. 15-20.4On Michabo see Brinton, op. cit. (1876), pp. 176 ff.,Essays of an Americanist(1890), p. 132. This scholar holds that “Michabo” has properly nothing to do with “Great Hare,” but should be translated “the Great White One,” i.e. the light of the dawn. The Algonkins, however, thought otherwise, and the myth itself suggests a theriomorphic earth-maker.5See Schoolcraft,Myth of Hiawatha(1856), pp. 35-39; and cf. the myth of Manabush, analysed inJourn. of Amer. Folklore, iv. 210-213.6The latest explanation of Joskeha is “dear little sprout,” and of Tawiscara, “the ice-one,” while Aataentsic becomes “she of the swarthy body.” Hewitt,Journ. of Amer. Folklore, x. 68. Brébeuf (1635) says that Iouskeha gives growth and fair weather (Tylor,Prim. Cult.i. 294).7See Jeremias,Das Alte Testament im Lichte des Alten Orients, p. 121, 1; Winckler,Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament[3], p. 333.8Réville,Religions of Mexico and Peru, p. 129.9Garcilasso el Inca,Comment. de los Incas, lib. ii. c. 2; cf. Lang,The Making of Religion, pp. 262-270.10Réville, p. 187.11Réville, p. 158. Garcilasso (lib. i. c. 18) says that Manco Capac “taught the subject nations to be men,” and also founded the imperial city of Cuzco ( = navel).12De las antiquas gentes del Peru(ed. 1892), pp. 55, 56.13See especially Waitz-Gerland,Anthropologie der Naturvölker, vi. 229-302; Gill,Myths and Songs of the South Pacific; Schirren,Wandersagen der Neuseeländer; also an older work (Sir George) Grey’sPolynesian Mythology.14See Schirren, op. cit., pp. 64-89.15J. Muir,Metrical Translations, pp. 188-189.16J. Muir,Sanscrit Texts, iv. 26.17See Tylor,Early History of Mankind, p. 340;Primitive Culture, i. 329; Oldenberg,Religion des Veda, pp. 85 f.18See Maspero,Dawn of Civilization, p. 127; also Brugoch,Religion und Mythologie der alten Ägypter.19See illustration in Maspero, p. 157.20See Maspero, pp. 146-147.21Maspero, pp. 160-169.22SeeZoroaster, and cf.Ency. Bib., “Creation,” § 9: “Zoroastrianism,” §§ 20, 21.23West,Pahlavi Texts(S.B.E.), vol. i., introd. p. xxiii. We need not deny that, late as the Bundahish may be as a whole, the traditions which it contains are often old.24Fragments of older works are cited by Philo of Byblus (in Eusebius,Praep. Evang.i. 10) and Mochus and Endemus (in Damascius,De primis principiis, c. 125).25See Jastrow,Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 428.26SeeBundahish, xv. 2 (S.B.E., v. 53).

1Cf. Miss Harrison,Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, chaps. vi., vii., “The Making of a Goddess and of a God.”

2See Ratzel.Hist. of Mankind, ii. 147-148; Breysig,Die Entstehung des Gottesgedankens(1905), pp. 10-12.

3See Chamberlain,Journ. of American Folklore, iv. 208-209 (analysis of Perrot’s account); Brinton,Myths of the New World, pp. 176-179; Breysig, op. cit., pp. 15-20.

4On Michabo see Brinton, op. cit. (1876), pp. 176 ff.,Essays of an Americanist(1890), p. 132. This scholar holds that “Michabo” has properly nothing to do with “Great Hare,” but should be translated “the Great White One,” i.e. the light of the dawn. The Algonkins, however, thought otherwise, and the myth itself suggests a theriomorphic earth-maker.

5See Schoolcraft,Myth of Hiawatha(1856), pp. 35-39; and cf. the myth of Manabush, analysed inJourn. of Amer. Folklore, iv. 210-213.

6The latest explanation of Joskeha is “dear little sprout,” and of Tawiscara, “the ice-one,” while Aataentsic becomes “she of the swarthy body.” Hewitt,Journ. of Amer. Folklore, x. 68. Brébeuf (1635) says that Iouskeha gives growth and fair weather (Tylor,Prim. Cult.i. 294).

7See Jeremias,Das Alte Testament im Lichte des Alten Orients, p. 121, 1; Winckler,Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament[3], p. 333.

8Réville,Religions of Mexico and Peru, p. 129.

9Garcilasso el Inca,Comment. de los Incas, lib. ii. c. 2; cf. Lang,The Making of Religion, pp. 262-270.

10Réville, p. 187.

11Réville, p. 158. Garcilasso (lib. i. c. 18) says that Manco Capac “taught the subject nations to be men,” and also founded the imperial city of Cuzco ( = navel).

12De las antiquas gentes del Peru(ed. 1892), pp. 55, 56.

13See especially Waitz-Gerland,Anthropologie der Naturvölker, vi. 229-302; Gill,Myths and Songs of the South Pacific; Schirren,Wandersagen der Neuseeländer; also an older work (Sir George) Grey’sPolynesian Mythology.

14See Schirren, op. cit., pp. 64-89.

15J. Muir,Metrical Translations, pp. 188-189.

16J. Muir,Sanscrit Texts, iv. 26.

17See Tylor,Early History of Mankind, p. 340;Primitive Culture, i. 329; Oldenberg,Religion des Veda, pp. 85 f.

18See Maspero,Dawn of Civilization, p. 127; also Brugoch,Religion und Mythologie der alten Ägypter.

19See illustration in Maspero, p. 157.

20See Maspero, pp. 146-147.

21Maspero, pp. 160-169.

22SeeZoroaster, and cf.Ency. Bib., “Creation,” § 9: “Zoroastrianism,” §§ 20, 21.

23West,Pahlavi Texts(S.B.E.), vol. i., introd. p. xxiii. We need not deny that, late as the Bundahish may be as a whole, the traditions which it contains are often old.

24Fragments of older works are cited by Philo of Byblus (in Eusebius,Praep. Evang.i. 10) and Mochus and Endemus (in Damascius,De primis principiis, c. 125).

25See Jastrow,Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 428.

26SeeBundahish, xv. 2 (S.B.E., v. 53).

COSMOPOLITAN(Gr.κόσμος, world, andπολίτης, citizen), of or belonging to a “citizen of the world,” i.e. one whose sympathies, interests, whether commercial, political or social, and culture are not confined to the nation or race to which he may belong, opposed therefore to “national” or “insular.” As an attribute the word may be applied to a cultured man of the world, who has travelled widely and is at home in many forms of civilization, to such races as the Jewish, scattered through the civilized world, yet keeping beneath their cosmopolitanism the racial type pure, and also to mark a profound line of cleavage in economic and political thought.

COSNE,a town of central France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Nièvre, on the right bank of the Loire at its junction with the Nohain, 37 m. N.N.W. of Nevers by the Paris-Lyon railway. Pop. (1906) town, 5750; commune, 8437. Two suspension bridges unite it to the left bank of the Loire. The church of St Aignan is a building of the 12th century, restored in the 16th and 18th centuries; the only portions in the Romanesque style are the apse and the north-west portal. It formerly belonged to a Benedictine priory depending on the abbey of La Charité (Nièvre). The manufacture of files, flour-milling and tanning are carried on in the town which has a subprefecture, a tribunal of first instance and a communal college. Cosne is mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary under the name ofCondate, but it was not till the middle ages that it rose into importance as a military post. In the 12th century the bishop of Auxerre and the count of Nevers agreed to a division of the supremacy over the town and its territory.

COSSA, LUIGI(1831-1896), Italian economist, was born at Milan on the 27th of May 1831. Educated at the universities of Pavia, Vienna and Leipzig, he was appointed professor of political economy at Pavia in 1858. He died at Pavia on the 10th of May 1896. Cossa was the author of several works which established for him a high reputation; includingScienza delle finanze(1875, English translation 1888 under titleTaxation, its Principles and Methods);Guida allo studio dell’ economia politica(1876, English translation 1880), an admirable compendium of the theoretical preliminaries of economics, with abrief critical history of the science and an excellent bibliography;Introduzione allo studio dell’ economia politica, (1876, English translation by L. Dyer, 1893); andSaggi di economia politica, 1878.

COSSA, PIETRO(1830-1880), Italian dramatist, was born at Rome in 1830, and claimed descent from the family of Pope John XXIII., deposed by the council of Constance. He manifested an independent spirit from his youth, and was expelled from a Jesuit school on the double charge of indocility and patriotism. After fighting for the Roman republic in 1849, he emigrated to South America, but failing to establish himself returned to Italy, and lived precariously as a literary man until 1870, when his reputation was established by the unexpected success of his first acted tragedy,Nero. From this time to his death in 1880 Cossa continued to produce a play a year, usually upon some classical subject.Cleopatra,Messalina,Julian, enjoyed great popularity, and his dramas on subjects derived from Italian history,RienziandThe Borgias, were also successful.Plautus, a comedy, was preferred by the author himself, and is more original. Cossa had neither the divination which would have enabled him to reconstruct the ancient world, nor the imagination which would have enabled him to idealize it. But he was an energetic writer, never tame or languid, and at the same time able to command the attention of an audience without recourse to melodramatic artifice; while his sonorous verse, if scarcely able to support the ordeal of the closet, is sufficiently near to poetry for the purposes of the stage.

His collectedTeatro poeticowas published in 1887.

COSSACKS(Russ.Kazak; plural,Kazaki, from the Turkiquzzāq, “adventurer, free-booter”), the name given to considerable portions of the population of the Russian empire, endowed with certain special privileges, and bound in return to give military service, all at a certain age, under special conditions. They constitute ten separatevoiskos, settled along the frontiers: Don, Kuban, Terek, Astrakhan, Ural, Orenburg, Siberian, Semiryechensk, Amur and Usuri. The primary unit of this organization is thestanitsa, or village, which holds its land as a commune, and may allow persons who are not Cossacks (excepting Jews) to settle on this land for payment of a certain rent. The assembly of all householders in villages of less than 30 households, and of 30 elected men in villages having from 30 to 300 households (one from each 10 households in the more populous ones), constitutes the village assembly, similar to themir, but having wider attributes, which assesses the taxes, divides the land, takes measures for the opening and support of schools, village grain-stores, communal cultivation, and so on, and elects itsataman(elder) and its judges, who settle all disputes up to £10 (or above that sum with the consent of both sides). Military service is obligatory for all men, for 20 years, beginning with the age of 18. The first 3 years are passed in the preliminary division, the next 12 in active service, and the last 5 years in the reserve. Every Cossack is bound to procure his own uniform, equipment and horse (if mounted)—the government supplying only the arms. Those on active service are divided into three equal parts according to age, and the first third only is in real service, while the two others stay at home, but are bound to march out as soon as an order is given. The officers are supplied in the usual way by the military schools, in which all Cossackvoiskoshave their own vacancies, or are non-commissioned Cossack officers, with officers’ grades. In return for this service the Cossacks have received from the state considerable grants of land for eachvoiskoseparately.

The total Cossack population in 1893 was 2,648,049 (1,331,470 women), and they owned nearly 146,500,000 acres of land, of which 105,000,000 acres were arable and 9,400,000 under forests. This land was divided between thestanitsas, at the rate of 81 acres per each soul, with special grants to officers (personal to some of them,in lieuof pensions), and leaving about one-third of the land as a reserve for the future. The income which the Cossackvoiskosreceive from the lands which they rent to different persons, also from various sources (trade patents, rents of shops, fisheries, permits of gold-digging, &c.), as also from the subsidies they receive from the government (about £712,500 in 1893), is used to cover all the expenses of state and local administration. They have besides a special reserve capital of about £2,600,000. The expenditure of the village administration is covered by village taxes. The general administration is kept separately for eachvoisko, and differs with the differentvoiskos. The central administration, at the Ministry of War, is composed of representatives of eachvoisko, who discuss the proposals of all new laws affecting the Cossacks. In time of war the ten Cossackvoiskosare bound to supply 890 mountedsotniasor squadrons (of 125 men each), 108 infantrysotniasor companies (same number), and 236 guns, representing 4267 officers and 177,100 men, with 170,695 horses. In time of peace they keep 314 squadrons, 54 infantrysotnias, and 20 batteries containing 108 guns (2574 officers, 60,532 men, 50,054 horses). Altogether, the Cossacks have 328,705 men ready to take arms in case of need. As a rule, popular education amongst the Cossacks stands at a higher level than in the remainder of Russia. They have more schools and a greater proportion of their children go to school. In addition to agriculture, which (with the exception of the Usuri Cossacks) is sufficient to supply their needs and usually to leave a certain surplus, they carry on extensive cattle and horse breeding, vine culture in Caucasia, fishing on the Don, the Ural, and the Caspian, hunting, bee-culture, &c. The extraction of coal, gold and other minerals which are found on their territories is mostly rented to strangers, who also own most factories.

A military organization similar to that of the Cossacks has been introduced into certain districts, which supply a number of mounted infantrysotnias. Their peace-footing is as follows:—Daghestan, 6 regular squadrons and 3 of militia; Kuban Circassians, 1sotnia; Terek, 8sotnias; Kars, 3sotnias; Batum, 2 infantry and 1 mountedsotnia; Turkomans, 3sotnias; total, 25 squadrons and 2 companies.

For the origin and history of the Cossacks seePoland:History, and the biographies of Razin, Chmielnicki and Mazepa.

(P. A. K.)

COSSIMBAZAR,orKasimbazar, a decayed town on the river Bhagirathi in the Murshidabad district of Bengal, India, now included in the Berhampur municipality. Pop. (1901) 1262. Though the history of the place cannot be traced back earlier than the 17th century, it was of great importance long before the foundation of Murshidabad. From the first European traders set up factories here, and after the ruin of Satgaon by the silting up of the mouth of the Saraswati it gained a position, as the great trading centre of Bengal, which was not challenged until after the foundation of Calcutta. In 1658 the first English agent was established at Cossimbazar, and in 1667 the chief of the factory there became anex-officiomember of council. In English documents of this period, and till the early 19th century, the Bhagirathi was described as the Cossimbazar river, and the triangular piece of land between the Bhagirathi, Padma and Jalangi, on which the city stands, as the island of Cossimbazar. The proximity of the factory to Murshidabad, the Mahommedan capital, while it was the main source of its wealth and of its political importance, exposed it to constant danger. Thus in 1757 it was the first to be taken by Suraj-ud-dowlah, the nawab; ana the resident with his assistant (Warren Hastings) were taken as prisoners to Murshidabad.

At the beginning of the 19th century the city still flourished; so late as 1811 it was described as famous for its silks, hosiery,korasand beautiful ivory work. But an insidious change in its once healthy climate had begun to work its decay; the area of cultivated land round it had shrunk to vanishing point, jungle haunted by wild beasts taking its place; and in 1813 its ruin was completed by a sudden change in the course of the Bhagirathi, which formed a new channel 3 m. from the old town, leaving an evil-smelling swamp around the ancient wharves. Of its splendid buildings the fine palace of the maharaja of Cossimbazar alone remains, the rest being in ruins or represented only by great mounds of earth. The first wife of Warren Hastings was buried at Cossimbazar, where her tomb with its inscription still remains.

SeeImp. Gaz. of India(Oxford, 1908), s.v.

COSTA, GIOVANNI(1826-1903), Italian painter, was born in Rome. He fought under Garibaldi in 1848, and served as a volunteer in the war of 1859; and his enthusiasm for Italian unity was actively shown again in 1870, when he was the first to mount the breach in the assault of Rome near the Porta Pia. He had settled meanwhile at Florence, where his fight for the independence of art from worn-out traditions was no less strenuous, and he became known as a landscape-painter of remarkable originality, and of great influence in the return to minute observation of nature. He had many English friends and followers, notably Matthew Ridley Corbet (1850-1902), and Lord Carlisle, and was closely associated with Corot and the Barbizon school. In later years he lived and worked mainly in Rome, where his studio was an important centre. An exhibition of his pictures was held in London in 1904, and he is represented in the Tate Gallery. He died at Rome in 1903.

See also Madame Agresti’sGiovanni Costa(1904).

COSTA, LORENZO(1460-1535), Italian painter, was born at Ferrara, but went in early life to Bologna and ranks with the Bolognese school. In 1438 he painted his famous “Madonna and Child with the Bentivoglio family,” and other frescoes, on the walls of the Bentivoglio chapel in San Giacomo Maggiore, and he followed this with many other works. He was a great friend of Francia, who was much influenced by him. In 1509 he went to Mantua, where his patron was the Marquis Francesco Gonzaga, and he eventually died there. His “Madonna and Child enthroned” is in the National Gallery, London, but his chief works are at Bologna. His sons, Ippolito (1506-1561) and Girolamo, were also painters, and so was Girolamo’s son Lorenzo the younger (1537-1583).

COSTA, SIR MICHAEL ANDREW AGNUS(1808-1884), British musical conductor and composer, the son of Cavalière Pasquale Costa, a Spaniard, was born at Naples on the 14th of February 1808. Here he became at an early age a scholar at the Royal College of Music. His cantataL’Immaginewas composed when he was fifteen. In 1826 he wrote his first operaIl Delitto Punito; in 1827 another operaIl sospetto funesto. To this period belong also his oratorioLa Passione, a grand Mass for four voices, aDixit Dominus, and three symphonies. The operaIl Carcere d’Ildegondawas composed in 1828 for the Teatro Nuovo, and in 1829 Costa wrote hisMalvinafor Barbaja, the impresario of San Carlo. In this latter year he visited Birmingham to conduct Zingarelli’sCantata Sacra, a setting of some verses from Isaiah ch. xii. Instead, however, of conducting, he sang the tenor part. In 1830 he settled in London, having a connexion with the King’s theatre. His balletKenilworthwas written in 1831, the balletUne Heure à Naplesin 1832, and the balletSir Huon(composed for Taglioni) in 1833. In this latter year he wrote his famous quartetEcco quel fiero istante. Malek Adhel, an opera, was produced in Paris in 1837. In 1842 he wrote the ballet music ofAlmafor Cerito, and in 1844 his operaDon Carloswas produced in London. Costa became a naturalized Englishman and received the honour of knighthood in 1869. He conducted the opera at Her Majesty’s from 1832 till 1846, when he seceded to the Italian Opera at Covent Garden; he was conductor of the Philharmonic Society from 1846 to 1854, of the Sacred Harmonic Society from 1848, and of the Birmingham festival from 1849. In 1855 Costa wroteEli, and in 1864Naaman, both for Birmingham. Meanwhile he had conducted the Bradford (1853) and Handel festivals (1857-1880), and the Leeds festivals from 1874 to 1880. On the 29th of April 1884 he died at Brighton. Costa was the great conductor of his day, but both his musical and his human sympathies were somewhat limited; his compositions have passed into oblivion, with the exception of the least admirable of them—his arrangement of the national anthem.

COSTAKI, ANTHOPOULOS(1835-1902), Turkish pasha, was born in 1835. He became a professor at the Turkish naval college; then entered the legal branch of the Turkish service, rising to the post ofprocureur impérialat the court of cassation. He was governor-general of Crete; and in 1895 was appointed Ottoman ambassador in London, a post which he continued to hold until his death at Constantinople in 1902. He bore throughout his career the reputation of an intelligent and upright public servant.

COSTANZO, ANGELO DI(c 1507-1591), Italian historian and poet, was born at Naples about 1507. He lived in a literary circle, and fell in love with the beautiful Vittoria Colonna. His great work,Le Istorie del regno di Napoli dal 1250 fino al 1498, first appeared at Naples in 1572, and was the fruit of thirty or forty years’ labour; but nine more years were devoted to the task before it was issued in its final form at Aquila (1581). It is still one of the best histories of Naples, and the style is distinguished by clearness, simplicity and elegance. TheRimeof di Costanzo are remarkable for finical taste, for polish and frequent beauty of expression, and for strict obedience to the poetical canons of his time.

See G. Tiraboschi,Storia della letteratura italiana, vol. vii. (Florence, 1812).

COSTA RICA,a republic of Central America, bounded on the N. by Nicaragua, E. by the Caribbean Sea, S.E. and S. by Panama, S.W., W. and N.W. by the Pacific Ocean. (For map, seeCentral America.) The territory thus enclosed has an area of about 18,500 sq. m., and may be roughly described as an elevated tableland, intersected by lofty mountain ranges, with their main axis trending from N.W. to S.E. It is fringed, along the coasts, by low-lying marshes and lagoons, alternating with tracts of rich soil and wastes of sand.

Physical Description.—The northern frontier, drawn 2 m. S. of the southern shores of the river San Juan and of Lake Nicaragua, terminates at Salinas Bay on the Pacific; its southern frontier skirts the valley of the Sixola or Tiliri, strikes south-east along the crests of the Talamanca Mountains as far as 9° N., and then turns sharply south, ending in Burica Point. The monotonous Atlantic littoral is unbroken by any large inlet or estuary, and thus contrasts in a striking manner with the varied outlines of the Pacific coast, which includes the three bold promontories of Nicoya, Golfo Dulce and Burica, besides the broad sweep of Coronada Bay and several small harbours. The Gulf of Nicoya, a shallow landlocked inlet, containing a whole archipelago of richly-wooded islets, derives its name from Nicoya, an Indian chief who, with his tribe, was here converted to Christianity in the 16th century. It is famous for its purple-yielding murex, pearls and mother-of-pearl. The Golfo Dulce has an average depth of 100 fathoms and contains no islands. Two volcanicCordillerasor mountain chains, separated from one another by the central plateau of San José and Cartago, traverse the interior of Costa Rica, and form a single watershed, often precipitous on its Pacific slope, but descending more gradually towards the Atlantic, where there is a broad expanse of plain in the north-east. The more northerly range, in which volcanic disturbances on a great scale have been comparatively recent, extends transversely across the country, from a point a little south of Salinas Bay, to the headland of Carreta, the southern extremity of the Atlantic seaboard, also known as Monkey Point. Its direction changes from south-east to east-south-east opposite to the entrance into the Gulf of Nicoya, where it is cut into two sections by a depression some 20 m. wide. At first it is rather a succession of isolated volcanic cones than a continuous ridge, the most conspicuous peaks being Orosi (5185 ft.), the four-crested Rincon de la Vieja (4500), Miravalles (4698) and Tenorio (6800). In this region it is known as the Sierra de Tilaran. Then succeed the Cerros de los Guatusos, a highland stretching for more than 50 m. without a single volcano. Poas (8895), the scene of a violent eruption in 1834, begins a fresh series of igneous peaks, some with flooded craters, some with a constant escape of smoke and vapour. From Irazú (11,200), the culminating point of the range, both oceans and the whole of Costa Rica are visible; its altitude exceeds that of Aneto, the highest point in the Pyrenees, but so gradual is its acclivity that the summit can easily be reached by a man on horseback. Turialba (10,910), adjoining Irazú on the east, was in eruption in 1866. Its name, though probably of Indian origin, is sometimes written Turrialba, and connected with the LatinTurris Alba, “White Tower.” The more southerly ofthe two Costa Rican ranges, known as the Cordillera de Talamanca, rises south of the Gulf of Nicoya, and extends midway between the two oceans towards the south-east. It follows exactly the curve of the mainland, and is continued into Panama, under the name of the Cordillera de Chiriqui. Its chief summits are Chirripo Grande (11,485), the loftiest in the whole country, Buena Vista (10,820), Ujum (8695), Pico Blanco (9645) and Rovalo (7050), on the borders of Panama. Throughout the volcanic area earthquakes and landslides are of frequent occurrence.

The narrowness of the level ground between the mountains and the sea renders almost impossible the formation of any navigable river. The most important streams are those of the Atlantic seaboard, notably the San Juan, which drains Lake Nicaragua. Issuing from the lake within Nicaraguan territory, the San Juan has a course of 95 m., mostly along the frontier, to the Colorado Mouth, which is its main outfall, and belongs wholly to Costa Rica. Its chief right-hand tributaries are the San Carlos and Sarapiqui. The Reventazon, or Parismina, flows from the central plateau to the Caribbean Sea; despite the shortness of its valley, its volume is considerable, owing to the prevalence of moist trade-winds near its sources. Six small streams and one large river, the Rio Frio, flow across the northern frontier into Lake Nicaragua. On the Pacific coast all the rivers are rapid and liable to sudden floods. None is large, although three bear the prefixRio Grande, “great river.” The Tempisque enters the Pacific at the head of the Gulf of Nicoya, and tends to silt up that already shallow inlet (5-10 fathoms) with its alluvial deposits. The Rio Grande de Tarcoles also enters the gulf, and the Rio Grande de Pirris and Rio Grande de Terrabis or Diquis flow into Coronada Bay. The Rio Grande de Tarcoles rises close to the Ochomogo Pass and the sources of the Reventazon, at the base of Irazú; and the headwaters of these two streams indicate precisely the depression in the central plateau which severs the northern from the southern mountains.

Costa Rica is not differentiated from the neighbouring lands by any very marked peculiarities of geological formation, or of plant and animal life. Its geology, flora and fauna are therefore described underCentral America(q.v.).

Climate.—Owing to the proximity of two oceans, and the varied configuration of the surface of Costa Rica, an area of a few square miles may exhibit the most striking extremes of climate; but, over the entire country, it is possible to distinguish three climatic zones—tropical, temperate and cold. These generally succeed one another as the altitude increases, although the heat is greater at the same elevation on the Pacific than on the Atlantic coast. It is, however, less oppressive, as cool breezes prevail and damp is comparatively rare. The tropical zone comprises the coast and the foothills, and ranges, in its mean annual temperature, from 72° F. to 82°. In the San José plateau (3000-5000 ft.), which is the most densely populated portion of the temperate zone, the average is 68°, with an average variation for all seasons of only 5°. Above 7500 ft. frosts are frequent, but snow rarely falls. The wet season, lasting during the prevalence of the south-west monsoon, from April to December, is clearly defined on the Pacific slope. It is curiously interrupted by a fortnight of dry weather, known as theVeranillo de San Juan, in June. Towards the Atlantic the trade-winds may bring rain in any month. Winter lasts from December to February. The normal rainfall is about 80 in., but as cloud-bursts are common, it may rise to 150 in. or even more. Rheumatism on the Atlantic seaboard, and malaria on both coasts, are the commonest forms of disease; but, as a whole, Costa Rica is one of the healthiest of tropical lands.

Population.—In 1904, according to the official returns, the total population numbered 331,340; having increased by more than one-fourth in a decade. Spanish, with various modifications of dialect, and the introduction of many Indian words, is the principal language; and the majority of the inhabitants claim descent from the Spanish colonists—chiefly Galicians—who came hither during the 16th and subsequent centuries. The percentage of Spanish blood is greater than in the other Central American republics; but there is also a large population of half-castes (ladinosormestizos) due to intermarriage with native Indians. The resident foreigners, who are mostly Spaniards, Italians, Germans and British subjects, numbered less than 8000 in 1904; immigration is, however, encouraged by the easy terms on which land can be purchased from the state. The native Indians, though exterminated in many districts, and civilized in others, remain in a condition of complete savagery along parts of the Nicaraguan border, where they are known as Prazos or Guatusos, in the Talamanca country and elsewhere. Their numbers may be estimated at 4000. They are a quiet and inoffensive folk, who dwell in stockaded encampments, and preserve their ancestral language and customs. For an account of early Indian civilization in Costa Rica, seeCentral America:Archaeology. The Mosquito Indians come every summer to fish for turtle off the Atlantic coast. As only 200 negroes were settled in Costa Rica when slavery was abolished in 1824, and no important increase ever took place through immigration, the black population is remarkably small, amounting only to some 1200.

Chief Towns and Communications.—The whites are congregated in or near the chief towns, which include the capital, San José (pop. 1904 about 24,500), the four provincial capitals of Alajuela (4860), Cartago (4536), Heredia (7151) and Liberia or Guanacaste (2831), with the seaportsof Puntarenas (3569), on the Pacific, and Limon (3171) on the Atlantic. These, with the exception of Heredia and Liberia, are described in separate articles. The transcontinental railway from Limon to Puntarenas was begun in 1871, and forms the nucleus of a system intended ultimately to connect all the fertile parts of the country, and to join the railways of Nicaragua and Panama. It skirts the Atlantic coast as far as the small port of Matina; thence it passes inland to Reventazon, and bifurcates to cross the northern mountains; one branch going north of Irazú, while the other traverses the Ochomogo Pass. At San José these lines reunite, and the railway is continued to Alajuela, the small Pacific port of Tivives, and Puntarenas. The railways are owned partly by the state, partly by the Costa Rica railway company, which, in 1904, arranged to build several branch lines through the banana districts of the Atlantic littoral. Apart from the main lines of communication the roads are very rough, often mere tracks; and the principal means of transport are ox-carts or pack-mules. The postal and telegraphic services are also somewhat inadequate.

Agriculture and Industries.—The name “Costa Rica,” meaning “rich coast,” is well deserved; for, owing to the combination of ample sunshine and moisture with a wonderfully fertile soil, almost any kind of fruit or flower can be successfully cultivated; while the vast tracts of virgin forest, which remain along the Atlantic slopes, contain an abundance of cedar, mahogany, rosewood, rubber and ebony, with fustic and other precious dye-woods. The country is essentially agricultural, and owes its political stability to the presence of a large class of peasant proprietors, who number more than two-thirds of the population. Coffee, first planted in 1838, is grown chiefly on the plateau of San José. The special adaptability of this region to its growth is attributed to the nature of the soil, which consists of layers of black or dark-brown volcanic ash, varying in depth from 1 to 6 yds. Bananas are grown over a large and increasing area; rice, maize, barley, potatoes and beans are cultivated to some extent in the interior; cocoa, vanilla, sugar-cane, cotton and indigo are products of the warm coast-lands, but are hardly raised in sufficient quantities to meet the local demand. Stock-farming, a relatively undeveloped industry, tends to become more important, owing to the assistance which the state renders by the importation of horses, cattle, sheep and swine, from Europe and the United States, in order to improve the native breeds. In the south-east farmers are often compelled to retire with their flocks and herds before the thousands of huge, migratory vampires, which descend suddenly on the pastures and are able in one night to bleed the strongest animal to death. The manufactures are insignificant; and although silver, copper, iron, zinc, lead and marble are said to exist in considerablequantities, the only ores that have been worked are gold, silver and copper. At the beginning of the 20th century the silver and copper mines had been abandoned. The goldfields are exploited with American capital, and yield a fair return.

Commerce.—The exports, which comprise coffee, bananas, cocoa, cabinet-woods and dye-woods, with hides and skins, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell and gold, were officially valued at £1,398,000 in 1904; and in the same year the imports, including foodstuffs, dry goods and hardware, were valued at £1,229,000. Over £1,250,000 worth of the exports consisted of coffee and bananas, and these commodities were of almost equal value. Nearly 85% of the coffee, or more than 20,000,000 ℔, were sent to Great Britain. The development of the banana trade dates from 1881, when 3500 bunches of fruit were exported to New Orleans. This total increased very rapidly, and in 1902 a monthly service of steamers was established from Limon to Bristol and Manchester. The service to England soon became a weekly one, while there are at least three weekly sailings to the United States. In 1904 the number of bunches sent abroad exceeded 6,000,000. So important is this crop that the rate of wages to labourers in the banana districts is nearly 3s. daily, as compared with an average of 1s. 8d. in the coffee plantations. The bulk of the imports comes from the United States (52% in 1904), Great Britain (19%) and Germany (13%). Almost the whole foreign trade passes through Limon and Puntarenas. In 1904, exclusive of banana steamers, there were regular steamship services weekly from Limon to the United States and Germany, fortnightly to Great Britain, and monthly to France, Italy and Spain; while at Puntarenas four American liners called monthly on the voyage between San Francisco and Panama.

Finance.—The valuable resources of the republic, and its comparative immunity from revolution, formerly attracted the attention of European and American investors, who supplied the capital for internal development. In 1871 the government contracted a loan of £1,000,000 in London, and in 1872 it borrowed an additional £2,400,000 for railway construction. The outstanding foreign debt amounted in 1887 to £2,691,300, while the arrears of interest were no less than £2,119,500. An arrangement with the creditors was concluded in 1888; but in 1895 the republic again became bankrupt, and a fresh arrangement was sanctioned in March 1897, by which the interest on £1,475,000 was reduced to 2½% and that on £525,000 to 3%. It was provided that amortization, at £10,000 yearly, should begin in 1917. In 1904 the service of the external debt, which then amounted to £2,500,000, including £500,000 arrears of interest, was again suspended; the total of the internal debt was £815,000. About one-half of the national revenue is derived from customs, the remainder being principally furnished by railways, stamps, and the salt and tobacco monopolies. In the financial year 1904-1905 the revenue was £503,000, the expenditure £390,000. Education, internal development and the service of the internal debt were the chief sources of expenditure.

Money and Credit.—There are three important banks, the Anglo-Costa Rican Bank, with a capital of £120,000, the Bank of Costa Rica (£200,000), and the Commercial Bank of Costa Rica (£100,000), founded in 1905. On the 25th of April 1900 a law was enacted for the regulation of the constitution, capital, note emission and metallic reserves of banks. On the 24th of October 1896 an act was passed for the adoption of a gold coinage, and the execution of this act was decreed on the 17th of April 1900. The monetary unit is the gold colon weighing .778 gramme, .900 fine, and thus worth about 23d. It is legally equivalent to the silver peso, which continues in circulation. The gold coins of the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany are legally current. The metric system of weights and measures was introduced by law in 1884, but the old Spanish system is still in use.

Constitution and Government.—Costa Rica is governed under a constitution of 1870, which, however, only came into force in 1882, and has often been modified. The legislative power resides in a House of Representatives, consisting of about 30 to 40 deputies, or one for every 8000 inhabitants. The deputies are chosen for a term of four years by local electoral colleges, whose members are returned by the votes of all self-supporting citizens. One-half of the chamber retires automatically every two years. The president and three vice-presidents constitute the executive. They are assisted by a cabinet of four ministers, representing the departments of the interior, police and public works; foreign affairs, justice, religion and education; finance and commerce; war and marine. For purposes of local administration the state is divided into five provinces, Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia and San José, and two maritime districts (comarcas), Limon and Puntarenas. All these divisions except Guanacaste—which takes its name from a variety of mimosa very common in the province—are synonymous with their chief towns; and each is controlled by a governor or prefect appointed by the president. Justice is administered by a supreme court, two courts of appeal, and the court of cassation, which sit in San José, and are supplemented by various inferior tribunals.

Religion and Education.—The Roman Catholic Church is supported by the state, and the vast majority of the people accept its doctrines; but complete religious liberty is guaranteed by the constitution. The Jesuits, who formerly exercised widespread influence, were expelled in 1884. Of the other religious communities, the most important are the Protestants, numbering 3000, and the Buddhists, about 250. Primary education is free and compulsory; the standard of attendance is high and the instruction fair, but a large proportion of the older inhabitants were illiterate at the beginning of the 20th century. In the matter of secondary education considerable neglect has been shown. In 1904 there were only six secondary schools, including the institute of law and medicine and the training-school for teachers at San José. The state grants scholarships tenable at European universities to promising pupils, and there are three important public libraries.

Defence.—Military service in time of war is compulsory for all able-bodied citizens aged 18-50. There are a permanent army, of about 600; a militia, comprising an active service branch to which all under 40 belong, with a reserve for those between 40 and 50; and a national guard, including all males under 18 and over 50 who are capable of bearing arms. On a war footing these forces would number about 36,000. A gunboat and a torpedo boat constitute the navy, which, however, requires the services of an admiral, subordinate to the ministry of marine.

History.—The origin of the nameCosta Rica(Spanish for “Rich Coast”) has been much disputed. It is often stated that the territories to which the name is now applied were first known asNueva Cartago, whileCosta Ricawas used in a wider sense to designate the whole south-western coast of the Caribbean Sea, from the supposed mineral wealth of this region. Then, in 1540, the name was restricted to an area approximately equal to that of modern Costa Rica. In such a case it must have been bestowed ironically, for the country proved very unprofitable to the gold-seekers, who were its earliest European settlers. Col. Church, in the paper cited below, derives it fromCosta de Oreja, “Earring Coast,” in allusion to the earrings worn by the Indians and remarked by their conquerors. He quotes evidence to show that this name was known to 16th-century cartographers.

With the rest of Central America, Costa Rica remained a province of the Spanish captaincy-general of Guatemala until 1821. Its conquest was completed by 1530, and ten years later it was made a separate province, the limits of which were fixed, by order of Philip II., between 1560 and 1573. This task was principally executed by Juan Vazquez de Coronado (or Vasquez de Coronada), an able and humane governor appointed in 1562, whose civilizing work was undone by the almost uninterrupted maladministration of his fifty-eight successors. The Indians were enslaved, and their welfare was wholly subordinated to the quest for gold. From 1666 onwards both coasts were ravaged by pirates, who completed the ruin of the country. Diego de la Haya y Fernandez, governor in 1718, reported to the crown that no province of Spanish America was in so wretched a condition. Cocoa-beans were the current coinage. Tomás de Acosta, governor from 1797 to 1809, confirmed this report, and statedthat the Indians were clothed in bark, and compelled in many cases to borrow even this primitive attire when the law required their attendance at church.

On the 15th of September 1821 Costa Rica, with the other Central American provinces, revolted and joined the Mexican empire under the dynasty of Iturbide; but this subjection never became popular, and, on the establishment of a Mexican republic in 1823, hostilities broke out between the Conservatives, who desired to maintain the union, and the Liberals, who wished to set up an independent republic. The opposing factions met near the Ochomogo Pass; the republicans were victorious, and the seat of government was transferred from Cartago, the old capital, to San José, the Liberal headquarters. From 1824 to 1839 Costa Rica joined the newly formed Republic of the United States of Central America; but the authority of the central government proved little more than nominal, and the Costa Ricans busied themselves with trade and abstained from politics. The exact political status of the country was not, however, definitely assured until 1848, when an independent republic was again proclaimed. In 1856-60 the state was involved in war with the adventurer William Walker (seeCentral America); but its subsequent history has been one of immunity from political disturbances, other than boundary disputes, and occasional threats of revolution, due chiefly to unsatisfactory economic conditions. The attempt of J. R. Barrios, president of Guatemala, to restore federal unity to Central America failed in 1885, and had little influence on Costa Rican affairs. In 1897 the state joined the Greater Republic of Central America, established in 1895 by Honduras, Nicaragua and Salvador, but dissolved in 1898. The boundary question between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was referred to the arbitration of the president of the United States, who gave his award in 1888, confirming a treaty of 1858; further difficulties arising from the work of demarcation were settled by treaty in 1896. The boundary between Costa Rica and Panama (then a province of Colombia) was fixed by the arbitration of the French president, who gave his award on the 15th of September 1900. The frontiers delimited in accordance with these awards have already been described.

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