point, has an altitude of 8685 feet. On the northern side are some small glaciers, which, however, hardly deserve the name. It is here that the mountain lakes, or " eyes of the sea" are found, in deep hollows between the steep and jagged granitic peaks. The main ridge of the Carpathians running east from the Tatra is called the Waldgebirge, the highest points of which are 2800 feet above sea-level. The Tatra and adjoining groups have a very important influence on the climate of the regions lying south of them, serving as a protection from the north wind. The East Carpathians, the southernmost member of the chain, occupy a quad rangular tract of about 25,500 square miles. The highest point is Mount Butschetje, in South Transylvania; it is 9528 feet in altitude. The chief passes of the Carpathians are those of Tergova, leading from Orsova to Temesvar ; Vulcan, in the valley of the Schyl, and Rothe Thurm, in the Aluta valley, at the foot of Mount Surul, both on the south border of Transylvania; Tiirsburg, between Bucharest and Kronstadt; Ojitos and Gymos between Moldavia and Transylvania ; Borgo, leading from Bistritz to Bukowina ; Jablunka on the route from Presburg to Cracow. The Carpathians are rich in metallic ores ; lead and quicksilver, and also rock-salt, are obtained from them ; there are large copper-workings in Zips, gold and silver mines at Kremnitz and Schemnitz in Hungary, and rich gold ores at Xagyag in Transylvania. Besides these substances, the Carpathians furnish a variety of minerals. Granite is an important constituent of the range. In the Li^tau Mountains it is overlain by limestone ; and in the Zipfer Mountains it is associated with limestone and gneiss. In the Waldgebirge the large deposits of sandstone afford a poor soil for culti vation. Basalt and other igneous rocks, with the remains of ancient craters, are met with in some districts of the Transylvanian Alps. On the slopes of the Carpathians large quantities of wheat and maize are raised ; cattle and sheep are pastured in great numbers ; and vineyards and orchards flourish. The vegetation presents four zones , that of the beech extends to 4000 feet above the sea, that of the Scotch fir to 1000 feet higher; above this grows a species of pine, which becomes dwarfed and disappears at an altitude of about 6000 feet, beyond which height is a zone of lichen
and moss covered or almost bare rock.CARPATHUS, the ancient name of the island of Scarpanto, about 30 miles south-west of Rhodes, in that part of the Mediterranean which was called, after it, the Carpatkium Mare, or Carpathian Sea.
CARPENTARIA, Gulf of, an extensive arm of the sea deeply indenting the north coast of Australia, between 10 40 and 17 30 S. lat., and 136 and 142 E. long. It averages 350 miles in length and breadth, and is bounded on the E. by York Peninsula, and on the W. by Arnhem Land. At its south-east corner is situated a group of islands of which the largest is Wellesley ; and towards the western side are the Sir Edward Pellew Islands and the Groote Eylandt. A large number of rivers find their way to the gulf, and some of them are of considerable size. On the eastern side there is the Mitchell River ; at the south east corner the Gilbert, the Flinders, the Leichhardt or Disaster, and the Gregory or Albert ; and on the west the Roper River. Jan Carstensz, who undertook a voyage of discovery in this part of the globe in 1623, gave the name of Carpentier to a small river near Cape Duifken in honour of Pieter Carpentier, at that time governor-general of the Dutch Indies ; and after the second voyage of Abel Tasman in 1644, the gulf, which he had successfully explored, began to appear on the charts under its present designation.
CARPENTRAS, the chief town of an arrondissment in the department of Vaucluse in France, is situated on the left bank of the Auzon, 15 miles north-east of Avignon, with which it is connected by means of a branch railway leaving the main line at Sorgues. It is well built, but the streets are narrow. Part of its old walls and towera are still standing, and the Porte d Orange is a fine speci men of an ancient gateway. Among its buildings the most interesting are the Cathedral of St Siffrein, rebuilt in 1405, a triumphal arch ; which forms the only important relic of the Roman period, the old Episcopal palace, and a hospital of the 18th century; and there are also a theatre, a public library of 12,000 volumes, and a museum of antiquities, as well as various municipal buildings. Water is brought to the town by an aqueduct of 48 arches, completed in 1734 ; and a canal of quite recent construction communicates with the Durance. Soap-works, distilleries, dye-works, and cotton factories are the chief industrial establishments ; and there is trade in silk, saffron, oil, honey, and fruits. Carpentras is identified with Carpentoracte, a town of Gallia Narbonensis mentioned by Pliny, which appears to have been of some importance during the Roman period. In the Middle Ages its history is full of vicissitudes ; it was captured and plundered by Vandal, Lombard, and Saracen. About 1313 it was for a time the residence of Pope Clement V. ; and it continued, along with Avignon and the district of the Venaissin, of which it was regarded as the capital, to be administered by the Papal legate till the Revolution. The name of the " Carpentras Inscription " is specially appropriated by Semitic scholars to a few lines of Aramaic preserved on a stone in the Episcopal library, which are remarkable as probably the oldest specimen of rhythmic verse in the Semitic languages (see Journal Asiatique, 1868). Population in 1871, 7967.
CARPENTRY. See Building, vol. iv. pp. 476–485.
CARPET is the name applied in modern times to a woven or felted fabric, made generally of wool, which is used for covering the floors of chambers or for spread ing on the ground. The term is probably connected ith the Latin tapetes, whence also comes the word tapestry, which, though now distinctively applied to hang ings, was in early times not clearly distinguished from carpeting. Carpets and rugs were originally employed by Oriental nations for sitting, reclining, or devotionally kneeling upon ; and when first introduced among Western communities they were also used as covers for tables and couches, or for laying before altars or chairs of state as pedolia or foot cloths. The processes for making tapestry hangings and carpets being the same, and the distinction of their application being vague, it was chiefly by the nature of the design that any line was, in mediaeval times, drawn between the two classes.
of antiquity. In Egypt they were first applied to religious purposes by the priests of Heliopolis, and were used to garnish the palaces of the Pharaohs. It was also a custom of antiquity to place them under the couches of guests at banquets. Regarding a carpet rug, which he considers to be of ancient Egyptian manufacture, Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson says, " This rug is made like many cloths of the present day, with woollen threads, on linen strings. In the centre is the figure of a boy in white, with a goose above, the hieroglyphic of a child, upon a green ground, around which is a border composed of red and blue lines," &c. (Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. pp. 141-2). The carpets of the Homeric age were generally white or plain cloths; but they were also sometimes produced with various colours and embroidered designs. At the supper of Iphicrates, purple carpets were spread on the floor ; and at the magni ficent banquet of Ptolemy Philadelphus (an account of which is given by Callixenus of Rhodes) we learn that
underneath 200 golden couches " were strewed purple