552 GAEL Q^ETULIA 35, and the weight about If Ib. The only spe- cies described is the G. streperus (Gray), which is generally considered the same in America and Europe. The gad wall is a good diver and swimmer, and walks uncommonly well ; it is a rapid flier, with a whistling noise of the wings ; in its excursions on land it nibbles the tender grass, and will eat acorns, seeds, and grain. Experiment has proved that this spe- cies is capable of domestication, the peculiarity of the plumage being retained. GAEL, or Gail (Gaelic, Gaedhil, Gadhel, or Gaoidheal), the plural of Gal or Gal (akin to Latin celo, to hide, as the people dwelt or were hidden in forests ; or more probably sig- nifying wanderer), the name of the northern and western branch of the great Celtic family of nations, whose other branch is formed by the Kymri or Oymri. The Gael inhabit the Scotch highlands and Ireland, and distinguish themselves as Gael Albinach, or Gael of Al- bion, and Gael Erin- nach, or Gael of Erin (from ar or iar, west, and ie, island ; Ro- manized into lerne and Hibernia). Both these divisions are called Erse, the for- mer by the Scotch lowlanders, who de- rive them from Ire- land. The descen- dants of the Kymri dwelling in Wales are called Gwyddel by the Gael, while those in France are named Breiziz (Britons) ; and those of Cornwall (corn, cairn, rock, and gal) ceased in the 18th century to speak their peculiar dialect. Gaedhilic or Gaoid- hilg is the epithet especially appropriated to the Irish and to their tongue, nnd Gaelic espe- cially denotes both the highland Scotch and their language. Caledonia is composed of Gal and dun or don, mountain ; Gaeldoch of Gael and dock, land ; both being names of Scotland ; but Gaolldoch or strangers' land is the distinc- tive name of that part of Scotland which is in- habited by non-Celtic people. (See CELTS, and CELTS, LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE OF THE.) GAETA (anc. Caetd), a fortified city of S. Italy, in the province of Caserta, on the gulf of Gaeta, an arm of the Mediterranean, 72 m. S. E. of Rome; pop. of the city, including its suburbs, about 8,000, and of the commune about 16,000. It is neatly though irregularly built. The principal public edifices are the citadel, one of the strongest fortresses in Italy, and formerly the key of the kingdom of Na- ples, and the cathedral, a handsome symmetri- cal structure, with a fine tower. On the high- est point of the promontory of Gaeta is the tomb of Lucius Munatius Plancus. Among its antiquities is a 12-sided column with the 12 di- rections of the wind inscribed upon it in Latin and Greek. The rocca Spaccata is shown as having split in two for grief when hearing St. Francis preach about the death of Christ. Through the crevice of this rock a flight of stairs leads to a chapel, built in commemora- tion of the miracle. Gaeta is said to have been founded by ^Eneas, in honor of his nurse Cajeta, who died on the shore. It certainly existed before Rome. In the 5th century it fell into the power of the Ostrogoths, and afterward into that of the Byzantine empire. In the time of Charlemagne it was known as an independent republic. It was subsequently ruled by dukes. The Normans took it in the llth century. It was fortified by Alfonso V. of Aragon, who had seized it by surprise, and Charles V. enlarged it. In 1707 it was be- Gaeta. sieged by the Austrians; in 1734 it succumbed to the united efforts of the French, Spaniards, and Sardinians ; in 1799 it was taken by the French, and in 1806 by the troops of Joseph Bonaparte, then king of Naples. The Austrians reduced it in 1815, and made it part of the kingdom of Naples. Pius IX. escaped from Rome to Gaeta Nov. 24, 1848, and resided there till April, 1850, when he returned to Rome. Francis II. also fled to this place in 1860, and shut himself up in the citadel with his army ; but after a siege of three months Gaeta surrendered (Feb. 13, 1861) to Victor Emanuel's forces under Cialdini, Francis taking refuge on board a French frigate. (J17ITLIA, an ancient country of Africa, S. of Mauritania and Numidia, bounded E. by hills separating it from the country of the Gara- mantes, W. by the Atlantic ocean, and S., ac- cording to Pliny, by the river Niger. Nearly all of this region was included in the Sahara or
