CETTE, a seaport in the south of France, department of Hérault. N. Lat. 43. 25; E. Long. 3. 40. It stands on a peninsula formed by the Mediterranean and the lake of Thau, which are connected by a canal passing through the town. It possesses a deep and commodious harbour, a spacious dock, and handsome quays. The entrance to the harbour is defended by two strong forts, that of St Pierre on the left side, and that of St Louis on the right. Cette has tribunals of commerce and of primary instance, a public library, and a college, besides extensive salt-works and ship-building yards. It communicates by canal with Lyons and Bordeaux, and by rail with Marseilles, Nîmes, and Avignon. From its vicinity to the great wine districts of the south of France it has an important trade, and exports largely wine, brandy, sugar, glass, wine-casks, &c. The imports consist of corn, wool, cotton, hemp, timber, and iron. The cod and oyster fisheries off the coast engage a large number of hands. In 1853 the number of vessels that entered and cleared the harbour amounted to more than 4000. Pop. about 20,000.
The N.W. coast of Ceylon is beset with numberless sand-banks, rocks, and shoals, and may be said to be almost connected with the continent of India by the island of Ramisseram and Adam's Bridge, a succession of bold rocks reaching almost across the gulf at its narrowest point. From its position and its geological character, Ceylon would appear to have been at an early period the southern extremity of the mainland, from which it has been doubtless separated by some great convulsion of nature. Between the island and the opposite coast there exist two open channels of varying depth and width, beset by rocks and shoals. One of these, the Manaar Passage, is only navigable by very small craft. The other, called the Paumben Passage, lying between Ramisseram and the mainland, has been deepened at considerable outlay, and is now used by vessels of 300 tons in passing from the Malabar to the Coromandel coast, and which were formerly compelled in doing so to make the circuit of the island.
The west and south coasts are uniformly low, fringed their entire length by cocoa-nut trees, which grow to the