Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/822

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

806 GIGOUX GILBERT in America," "First Snow," " Winter in Ver- mont," and " Bernese Alps by Sunrise." Since 1870 he has lived in France. GIGOUX, Jean Francois, a French painter, born in Besancon in 1806. He is said to have been originally a blacksmith, and became famous in 1835 by his "Death of Leonardo da Vinci." In 1850 he exhibited "The Dead Christ" and " The Death of Cleopatra," and in 1852 "Ga- latea," which he has also engraved. One of his largest works, executed for the council of state and representing " Charlemagne dictating his Capitularies," was burned in 1871. GIJON, a seaport of Asturias, Spain, on the bay of Biscay, in the province and 15 m. N. N. E. of the city of Oviedo ; pop. about 10,500. It is built on a low headland, surmounted by a hill. Some ancient walls surround the up- per or old town, and a fortress and batteries guard the new town, which reaches down to the shore. The former Augustinian convent is used as a cigar manufactory, employing 1,400 persons. There are active fisheries, and some coasting trade. The harbor is safe, though not easily accessible. The first quay was built here under Charles V. in 1552-'4, and a new one was constructed in 1768. The Spanish armada was repaired here in 1588. In 1810 the town was sacked and its shipping destroyed by the French, under Bonnet. GIL A, a river of New Mexico and Arizona, the principal tributary of the Colorado river of the West. It rises in the "Sierra Madre mountains in Socorro co., New Mexico, flows S. W. to near the Arizona boundary, where it bends S. and then pursues a general W. course through that territory to its junction with the Colorado, about 180 m. above its mouth. Its sources are about 5,000 ft. above the sea. The principal tributaries from the north are the Rio Nutroso, Prieto, Bonito, San Carlos, Salt river or Rio Salado, and Agua Fria creek ; from the south the Rio San Domingo and San Pedro: The Santa Cruz river, after a course of nearly 100 m., is lost in the sands of the desert, and seldom discharges its waters into the Gila. For more than half its entire length, which is nearly 600 m., the Gila passes through mountains, and in some places is unapproachable, being buried between walls of perpendicular rock nearly 1,000 ft. high. It emerges from the mountains in Ion. 111 25' W., after which its course is through an open and comparatively level coun- try to its termination. In the last 300 m. it has an average fall of 5 ft. per mile, and av- erages 60 ft. in width, 3 ft. in depth, and in ve- locity 2 m. an hour. In the lower portion the valley is from 1 to 3 m. wide ; about 150 m. from its mouth there is a considerable bend to the north, where the valley for 25 m. is from 5 to 10 m. wide. The valley is in many places covered with mezquite and cottonwood, and on its margin with the willow. Several varieties of cactus, including the pitahaya (cereus gigan- teus), grow on the table land near the river, but never in the alluvial lands in its valley. The ruined edifices, broken pottery, and traces of irrigating canals found along this river, show that its former population was much larger than at present. One of these structures is three stories high and in good preservation. The others are in a ruined state, and present little more than dilapidated walls, tumuli, mounds, &c., of crumbling adobe, of which the buildings were constructed. (See CAS AS GRANDES.) About 200 m. from the Colorado, in one of the finest portions of the valley, is the reservation of the Maricopa and Pimo In- dians. It is intersected in all directions by ir- rigating canals, and produces abundant crops. Further E., among the mountains, are many luxuriant valleys where once existed a consid- erable population, as is evident from the traces of cultivation and the ruins which remain. GILBERT, Sir Humphrey, an English naviga- tor, half brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, born at Dartmouth in 1539, lost at sea about the end of 1583. He was educated at Eton and Ox- ford, followed the military profession, and was knighted in 1570 for his services in Ireland. Being interested in geographical discovery, both from love of fame and of adventure, he sailed in 1583 with five vessels and 260 men, prepared to take possession of the northern parts of America, and founded a colony in Newfoundland, which, however, did not prove permanent. On the return his vessel, of only 10 tons burden, foundered, and all perished. He published a book in 1576, "A Discourse of a Discovery for a new Passage to Cathay," to prove the possibility of a N. W. passage. GILBERT, Sir John, an English painter, born in 1817. He exhibited in 1836 a water-color drawing, " The Arrest of Lord Hastings," in the Suffolk street gallery, and an oil painting in the royal academy. In 1839 he first exhibited in the British institution, where he has been represented almost every year since. He has made many illustrations for books and picto- rial newspapers, especially for the British clas- sics, concluding with an edition of Shakespeare, and for the " Illustrated London News." In 1852 he was elected an associate, in 1853 a member, and in 1871 (when he was knighted) president of the society of painters in water colors. He is an associate of the royal acade- my, and honorary president of the Liverpool so- ciety of water-color painters. His best known 011 paintings are "Don Quixote giving advice to Sancho Panza," and other subjects from Cervantes; "The Education of Gil Bias;" "A Scene from Tristram Shandy;" "Othello be- fore the Senate;" "The Murder of Thomas a. Becket;" "The Plays of Shakespeare," a tableau introducing the principal characters in each play; " Charge of Cavaliers at Naseby;" "A Drawing-room at St. James's;" "A Regi- ment of Royalist Cavalry ;" " Rubens and Teniers;" "The Studio of Rembrandt;" "Wol- sey and Buckingham;" "A Convocation of Clergy ;" and " The Entry of Joan of Arc into Orleans."