off Grenada on the 6th of July 1779, and had to make her way alone to Jamaica. In March 1780 he fought an action in company with two other vessels against a much superior French force off Monti Cristi, and had another encounter with them near Bermuda in June. The force he engaged was the fleet carrying the troops of Rochambeau to North America, and was too strong for his squadron of two small liners, two fifty-gun ships and a frigate. After taking part in the second relief of Gibraltar, he returned to North America, and served with Hood in the actions at the Basse Terre of St Kitts, and with Rodney in the battle of Dominica on the 12th of April 1782. Some very rough verses which he wrote on the action have been printed in Leyland’s “Brest-Papers,” published for the Navy Record Society, which show that he thought very ill of Rodney’s conduct of the battle. In 1788 he went to the East Indies as commodore, where he remained till 1794. He had some share in the war with Tippoo Sahib, and helped to reduce Pondicherry. His promotion to rear-admiral dates from the 1st of February 1793, and on the 4th of July 1794 he became vice-admiral.
In the Revolutionary War his services were in the Channel. The most signal of them was performed on the 16th of June 1795, when he carried out what was always spoken of with respect as “the retreat of Cornwallis.” He was cruising near Brest with four sail of the line and two frigates, when he was sighted by a French fleet of twelve sail of the line, and many large frigates commanded by Villaret Joyeuse. The odds being very great he was compelled to make off. But two of his ships were heavy sailers and fell behind. He was consequently overtaken, and attacked on both sides. The rearmost ship, the “Mars” (74), suffered severely in her rigging and was in danger of being surrounded by the French. Cornwallis turned to support her, and the enemy, impressed by a conviction that he must be relying on help within easy reach, gave up the pursuit. The action affords a remarkable proof of the moral superiority which the victory of the 1st of June, and the known efficiency of the crews, had given to the British navy. The reputation of Cornwallis was immensely raised, and the praise given him was no doubt the greater because he was personally very popular with officers and men. In 1796 he incurred a court-martial in consequence of a misunderstanding and apparently some temper on both sides, on the charge of refusing to obey an order from the Admiralty. He was practically acquitted. The substance of the case was that he demurred on the ground of health at being called upon to go to the West Indies, in a small frigate, and without “comfort.” He became full admiral in 1799, and held the Channel command for a short interval in 1801 and from 1803 to 1806, but saw no further service. He was made a G.C.B. in 1815, and died on the 5th of July 1819. His various nicknames among the sailors, “Billy go tight,” given on account of his rubicund complexion, “Billy Blue,” “Coachee,” and “Mr Whip,” seem to show that he was regarded with more of affection than reverence.
See also Ralfe, Nav. Biog. i. 387; Naval Chronicle, vii. 1; Charnock, Biogr. Nav. vi. 523.
CORO, a small city and the capital of the state of Falcón,
Venezuela, 7 m. W. of La Vela de Coro (its port on the Caribbean
coast), with which it is connected by rail, and 199 m. W.N.W.
of Carácas. Pop. (1904, estimate) 9500. Coro stands on a sandy
plain between the Caribbean and the Gulf of Venezuela, and
near the isthmus connecting the peninsula of Paraguaná with the
mainland. Its elevation above sea-level is only 105 ft., and its
climate is hot but not unhealthy. The city is badly built, its
streets are unpaved, and it has no public buildings of note except
two old churches. Its water-supply is derived from springs
some distance away. Coro is the commercial centre for an
extensive district on the E. side of Lake Maracaibo and the
Gulf of Venezuela, which exports large quantities of goat-skins,
an excellent quality of tobacco, and some coffee, cacao, castor
beans, timber and dyewoods. It was founded in 1527 by Juan de Ampués, who gave to it the name of Santa Ana de Coriana
(afterwards corrupted to Santa Ana de Coro) in honour of the
day and of the tribe of Indians inhabiting this locality. It was
also called Venezuela (little Venice) because of an Indian village
on the gulf coast built on piles over the shallow water; this
name was afterwards bestowed upon the province of which
Coro was the capital. Coro was also made the chief factory of
the Welsers, the German banking house to which Charles V.
mortgaged this part of his colonial possessions, and it was the
starting-point for many exploring and colonizing expeditions
into the interior. It was made a bishopric in 1536, and for a
time Coro was one of the three most important towns on the
northern coast. The seat of government was removed to
Carácas in 1578 and the bishopric five years later. Coro is
celebrated in Venezuelan history as the scene of Miranda’s first
attempt to free his country from Spanish rule. It suffered greatly in the war which followed.
COROMANDEL COAST, a name formerly applied officially
to the eastern seaboard of India approximately between Cape
Calimere, in 10° 17′ N., 79° 56′ E., and the mouths of the Kistna
river. The shore, which is low, is without a single good natural
harbour, and is at all times beaten by a heavy sea. Communication
with ships can be effected only by catamarans and flat-bottomed
surf-boats. The north-east monsoon, which lasts
from October till April, is exceedingly violent for three months
after its commencement. From April till October hot southerly
winds blow by day; at night the heat is tempered by sea-breezes.
The principal places frequented by shipping are Pulicat,
Madras, Sadras, Pondicherry, Cuddalore, Tranquebar, Nagore,
and Negapatam. The name Coromandel is said to be derived
from Cholamandal, the mandal or region of the ancient dynasty
of the Chola. Its official use has lapsed.
CORONA (Lat. for “crown”), in astronomy, the exterior envelope of the sun, being beyond the photosphere and chromosphere, invisible in the telescope and unrecognized by the
spectroscope, except during a total eclipse (see Sun; Eclipse).
Corona Borealis, also known as the Corona septentrionalis, and the Northern Crown or Garland, is a constellation of the Northern hemisphere, mentioned by Eudoxus (4th cent. B.C.) and Aratus (3rd cent. B.C.). In the catalogues of Ptolemy, Tycho Brahe, and Hevelius, eight stars are mentioned; but recent uranographic surveys have greatly increased this number. The most interesting members are: σ Coronae, a binary consisting of a yellow star of the 6th magnitude, and a bluish star of the 7th magnitude; R Coronae, an irregular variable star; and T Coronae or Nova Coronae, a temporary or new star, first observed in 1866. Corona Australis, also known as Corona meridionalis, or the Southern Crown, is a constellation of the Southern hemisphere, mentioned by Eudoxus and Aratus. In Ptolemy’s catalogue thirteen stars are described.
In physical science, coronae (or “glories”) are the coloured rings frequently seen closely encircling the sun or moon. Formerly classified by the ancient Greeks with halos, rainbows, &c., under the general group of “meteors,” they came to receive considerable attention at the hands of Descartes, Christiaan Huygens, and Sir Isaac Newton; but the correct explanation of coronae was reserved until the beginning of the 19th century, when Thomas Young applied the theories of the diffraction and interference of light to this phenomenon. Prior to Young, halos and coronae had not been clearly differentiated; they were both regarded as caused by the refraction of light by atmospheric moisture and ice, although observation had shown that important distinctions existed between these phenomena. Thus, while halos have certain definite radii, viz. 22° and 46°, the radii of coronae vary very considerably; also, halos are coloured red on the inside, whereas coronae are coloured red on the outside (see Halo).
It has now been firmly established, both experimentally and mathematically, that coronae are due to diffraction by the minute particles of moisture and dust suspended in the atmosphere, and the radii of the rings depend on the size of the diffracting particles. (See Diffraction of Light.)
Other meteorological phenomena caused by the diffraction of light include the anthelia, and the chromatic rings seen encircling shadows thrown on a bank of clouds, mist or fog. These appear-
