historical as '.veil as dramatic fiction. In 1557 it
was retaken by the duke of Guise. It was bom-
barded by the English in 1696, without receiving
much injury. The fortifications are good; but
its greatest strength is its situation among the
marshes, which may be overflowed at the approach
of an enemy. In the centre of the town is a spacious
square, surrounded by good buildings, and the
church is a stately edifice; the harbour, which is
formed of two wooden piers run into the sea, only
admits small vessels. Calais derives all its im-
portance from its contiguity to the English coast,
being only 20 miles from Dover, with which a daily
intercourse is maintained; several hundred per-
sons passing to and from it weekly. It is 25 m.
AV. by S. of Dunkirk, 20 N.by E. of Boulogne, and
145 due north of Paris. Pop. about 8,000.

Calais, p.t. AVashington Co. Maine. Pop. 1.686.
Also a p.t. in Washington Co. Vermont. Pop.
1,5:39.

Calais, St. a town of France, in the department
of Sarte, 24 m. E. S. E. of Le Mans.

Calamas, a town of Persia, on the coast of Mek-
ran, 60 miles east of Guadal, and 290 west of
Tatta, on the western branch of the Indus.

Calamata, a town of Greece, at the head of the
gulf of Coron, in the Morea, on the river Spinarza,
36 m. W. S. W. of Misitra.

Calamianes, a cluster of islands, the most wes-
terly of the Philippines, and to the north of Bor-
neo. They are 17 in number, and mountainous,
but produce great quantities of wax, honey, and
edible birdsnests. The principal island is Para-
goa, in the lat. of 12. N. and 120. of E. long.

Calanore, a town of Hindoostan, 70 m. E. of
Lahore, distinguished as the place where the em-
peror Akbar ascended the throne of Indir in 1556.

Calatagi’.rone, a large town in the interior of
Sicily, about 50 m. W. by N. of Syracuse ; it has
manufactures of earthenware. Pop. 15,000.

Calatayud, a city* of Spain, in Arragon, with a
castle on a rock. It stands at the foot of a hill,
on the river Xalon, at the influx of the Xiloca,
42 m. S. AV. of Saragossa. It has manufactures
of soap. Pop. about 9,000.

Calutanisetta. a town of Sicily, in Val di Noto,
50 m. N. AV. ofLentini.

Calatrava, a town of Spain, in New Castile, the
chief place of the military order of the knights of
Calatrava. It is seated near the Guadiana, 90 m.
S. of Madrid. Long. 3. 10. W. lat, 39. 4. N.

Calbe, or Kalbc, a town of Lower Saxony, in the
duchy of Magdeburg, on the river Saale, 16 m.
S. by E. of Magdeburg. Pop. about 3,000.

Calbe, a town of Brandenburg, in the Old Mark,
with a castle, 7 m. S. AV. of Stendel.

Callerga, a town of Hindoostan, in Golconda,
formerly a vast city, and the residence of the sov-
ereigns of the Deccan. It is 85 m. W. of Hydra-
bad. and 110 E. of Visiapour. Long. 77. 20. E.
lat. 17. 25. N.

Calcar, a town of Germany, in the duchy of
Cleves; seated near the Rhine, 8 m. S. E. of
Cleves.

Calcasiu, a river of Louisiana, which rises 20 m.
S. of Natchitoches and flows through a lake of
the same name, 30 m. long and 10 wide into the
Gulf of Mexico.

Calcinato, a town of Italy, in Bresciano, where
a victory was gained over the Austrians by the
French, in 1706. It is 8 m. S. E. of Brescia.

Calcutta, the capital of Bengal, and the seat of
the governor-general of the British dominions in
ihe East Indies, is situated on the eastern bank
of the river Hoogly, (the western arm of the
Ganges) about 100 miles from the sea. Its name
is derived from Cutta, a temple, dedicated by the
Hindoos to Caly, the Goddess of Time, which
was situate between the villages of Chuttanutty
and Gobindpore, where the agents of the English
East India Company, in L690, obtained permis-
sion of Aurungzebe to establish a trading facto-
ry*, which, in 1.696, in consequence of the disturb-
ed state of the province of Bengal, they were
allowed to fortify. In 1698, Prince Azcen Ooshan,
grandson of Aurungzebe, granted a lease to the
agents of the English Company, of the villages
above mentioned in perpetuity, upon which, they
strengthened the fortification, and gave it thfc
name of Fort William, in compliment to the Eng
lish monarch of that time. From this period Cal-
cutta gradually increased in population and im-
portance up to 1756, when it was attacked hy the
soubah of Bengal, with an army of 70,000 horse
and foot, and 400 elephants, when the besieged
were forced to abandon their posts, and retreat into
the fort; on which the enemy's troops entered
the town, and plundered it for 24 hours. An
order was then given for attacking the fort; the
garrison of which defended themselves bravely
for some time; but many of them being killed
and wounded, and their ammunition almost ex-
hausted they were at last obliged to surrender
and were all, to the number of 149, crammed
into the Black Hole prison, a dungeon about 18
feet square , from whence only 23 came out alive
in the morning. The rest were all suffocated
from want of air. Calcutta, however, was
retaken the next year; and, after the victory of
Plassey, the inhuman soubah was deposed, and
put to death by his successor, and the whole of
the province of Bengal transferred to the Eng
lish East India Company. Immediately* after
this victory, the erection of a new fort, about a
mile below the old one, was commenced, which
is superior in extent and security to any fortress
in India, containing commodions accommodation
for 4,000 men. From this period Calcutta rapidly
increased in extent and population. In 1798 the
number of houses was 78,760, exclusive of the
forts, since which time they have increased more
than one half. The number of inhabitants, com-
posed of people from all parts of the world, amount-
ing to 600,000 or 700,000. The part, inhabited
by the English is elegantly built; but the great-
est part is huilt after the general fashion of the
cities of India. Their streets are exceedingly
confined, narrow, and crooked, with a vast num-
ber of ponds, reservoirs, and gardens, interspers-
ed. A few of them are paved with brick. The
houses are built, some with brick, others with
mud, and a still greater number with bamboos and
mats ; all which different kinds of fabrics, inter-
mixed, form a very uncouth appearance, and are
very readily destroyed by fire. The brick houses
are seldom above two stories high, with flat and
terraced roofs ; those of mud and bamboos are
only one story, and are covered with thatch.
During the administration of the Marquis Welles-
ley, at the commencement of the present century,
a magnificent palace was erected at the distance
of about a mile from the fort. The line of houses
that surround two sides of the esplanade of the
fort is also magnificent; they are all on a large
scale, and detached from one another. From the
necessity of having a free circulation of air in a
climate so extremely hot, the approach to the hou
ses is generally by a flight of steps, with great