VELAZQUEZ 178 VELOCITY not thrive under the load of honors; his health gave way in the service of the court; and he died in Madrid, Aug. 6, 1660. Though there are specimens of Velasquez in the galleries of London, Paris, Vienna, Munich, etc., it is only at Madrid that the range and resource of his art can be duly estimated. His portraits are not mere, "sallow, mus- tachioed Spaniards in black cloaks," but veritable human counterfeits, strong, vivid types of individuality, instinct with the subtlest shades of expression. The "Adoration of the Magi," his ear- liest-known picture, bears the date 1619, VELASQUEZ and among his better-known works are the "Boracchos," "Forge of Vulcan," "Joseph's Coat," "Surrender of Breda," a "Crucifixion," "Dwarfs," "Coronation of the Virgin," "The Meninas" or "la Familia" (royal family), the "Hilan- deras" or "Spinners," and, his last, "St. Anthony the Abbot Visiting the First Hermit St. Paul in the Desert" (1659), of which Wilke says it has "the very same sun we see, and the air we breathe, the very soul and spirit of nature." VELAZQUEZ, DIEGO DE, a Spanish explorer; born in Cuellar, Spain, about 1460; accompanied Columbus to Espanola in 1493, and there distinguished himself in the wars against the Indians and amassed a fortune. In 1511 Diego Col- umbus appointed him to conduct an ex- pedition against Cuba, and in the latter part of the year he landed on the E. shore at the head of 300 troops. He quickly conquered Hatuey the cacique, and put Panifilo de Narvaez, his lieu- tenant, in active command. The unarmed natives were soon overcome, and sub- jected to slavery, in which they soon perished. Later Velazquez established Matanzas, Trinidad, Santiago, and other places. In 1517 he joined Cordova in an expedition after slaves and they dis- covered Yucatan. Soon after, on learn- ing of the rich Aztec empire, he fitted out an expedition for its conquest and placed CORTEZ (q.v.) in command. When the latter had reached the site of Vera Cruz he took independent command. Pafilo de Narvaez was sent to capture him in 1520, but was defeated. Velas- quez died in Havana in 1522 or 1523. VELLETRI, a town of central Italy, in the province of Rome; picturesquely situated on a spur of the Alban Hills, near the Pontine Marshes; 26 miles S. E. of Rome. It is the seat of the Bishop of Ostia, and has a cathedral (San Cle- mente), a classical school, a technical school, and several fine palaces. On March 19, 1849, Velletri was the scene of a defeat of the Neapolitan troops by the Roman Republicans under Garibaldi. Pop. about 20,000. VELLOBE, the most populous town of the district of North Arcot, Madras pre- sidency, British India ; near the left bank of the Palar river; 80 miles W. of Ma- dras. The old fort, which was formerly very strongly garrisoned, now contains only a single regiment of native in- fantry. Inside there is a pagoda with beautiful stone carvings. A central jail has lately been built for 1,000 long-term prisoners, where excellent carpets, rugs, etc., are manufactured. Vellore was the scene of a mutiny in 1806, when the native Sepoys rose and murdered 113 European officers and soldiers. The out- break was promptly suppressed. It was supposed to have been instigated by the sons of Tippoo Sultan, who had been confined in the fort as State prisoners since 1799. They were forthwith re- moved to the neighborhood of Calcutta, where the last survivor died in 1875. Pop. about 50,000. VELOCITY, in all its significance, involves the notion of direction of motion as well as that of speed or rate of mo- tion. The notion of speed is a very familiar one. In measuring it we as- sume the possibility of measuring space and time; and the unit of speed is that speed which a moving point would need to have in order to pass over the chosen unit of space in a unit of time. Such phrases as four miles per hour, one mile per minute, eighteen miles per second, are perfectly intelligible to all who know what a mile, hour, minute, and second are. It should be noted that when we speak of a man walking with a speed of four miles an hour we do not necessarily imply that
