Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/187

N A P N A P 175 and may bo separated by means of fractional distillation ; together, under the name of caoutchine, they form a most efficient solvent for india-rubber itself. (6) Bone naplitha, or bone oil, known also as Dippel s animal oil, is a most offensively smelling product of the distillation of bones in the preparation of animal charcoal. The persistent and repulsive stench of this substance effectually precludes its industrial use among the naphthas. NAPHTHALINE. See TAR. NAPIER, a seaport and borough of New Zealand, on the south-east coast of North Island, is the chief town of the province of Hawke s Bay, and is built on a peninsula (known as Scinde Island) about 12 miles from the southern end of the bay, in 39 29 S. lat. and 176 44 E. long., about 200 miles by sea from Wellington. It is a thriving place, the centre of a large agricultural and pastoral district. The main portion of the town, with the banks, churches, hotels, &c., stretches along the flat shore-land, while the suburban dwelling-houses of the wealthier inhabitants scatter themselves over the hills to the north. The stag nant salt lagoons which formerly occupied the southern boundary have been reclaimed. In 1881 the population was 5756; and the municipality, with its area of 879 acres, now contains about 1300 dwellings, with rateable property valued in 1882 at 57,866. An athenaeum, a small hospital, a lunatic asylum, a philosophical society, and an acclimatization society are among the public institutions. The town (named after Sir Charles James Napier) is the seat of the bishop of Waiapu, and returns a member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. A railway is now open as far as Makatuku (70 miles). The har bour (Port Ahuriri), 1^ miles to the west, is very unsatis factory, and though there is good anchorage the road stead is greatly exposed to easterly and southerly winds. NAPIER, SIR CHARLES (1786-1860), British admiral, was the second son of Captain the Hon. Charles Napier, R.N., and grandson of Francis, fifth Lord Napier, and thus cousin to the three famous Napiers, Sir Charles, Sir George, and Sir William, and was born at Merchiston Hall, near Falkirk, on March 6, 1786. He became a midshipman in 1800, was promoted lieutenant in 1805 and commander in 1807, and distinguished himself in the West Indies, where he fought his famous action with three French ships of the line, and took the " Hautpoult," seventy-four guns, into which the admiral promoted him captain. On his return to England his rank was confirmed, but he was put on half-pay. He spent some time at the university of Edinburgh, and then went to Portugal to visit his cousins in Wellington s army. In 1811 he served in the Mediter ranean, and in 1813 on the coast of America and. in the expedition up the Potomac. The first years of his leisure he spent in Italy and in Paris, but speculated so much in a steamboat enterprise that by 1829 he was quite ruined. In that year he was appointed to the " Galatea," forty-two, and was at the Azores when they were held by the Count de Villa Flor for the queen of Portugal. He so much impressed the constitutional leaders that they begged him to take command of the fleet, which offer he accepted in February 1833. With it he destroyed the Miguelite fleet off Cape St Vincent on July 5, and on the demand of France was struck off the English navy list. Continuing his Portuguese services, he commanded the land forces in the successful defence of Lisbon in 1834, when he was made Grand Commander of the Tower and Sword, and Count Cape St Vincent in the peerage of Portugal. On his return to England he was restored to his former rank in the navy in 1836, and received command of the " Powerful," eighty-four, in 1838. When troubles broke out in Syria he was appointed second in command, and distinguished himself by leading the storming column at Sidon on September 26, 1840, and by other services, for which he was made a K.C.B. He went on half -pay in 1841, and was in 1842 elected M.P. for Marylebone in the Liberal interest, but lost his seat in 1846. He was pro moted rear-admiral the same year, and commanded the Channel fleet from 1846 to 1848. On the outbreak of the Russian War he received the command of the fleet destined to act in the Baltic, and hoisted his flag in February 1854. He refused to attack Cronstadt, and a great outcry was raised against him for not obeying the orders of the Admiralty and attempting to storm the key of St Petersburg ; but his inaction has been thoroughly justified by posterity. On his return in December 1854 he was not again offered a command. He was elected M.P. for Southwark in February 1855, and maintained his seat, though broken in health, until his death on November 6, 1860. See Major-General E. Napier s Life and Correspondence of Admiral Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B. , 2 vols., London, 1862 ; Napier s own War in Syria, 2 vols., 1842 ; The Navy, its past and present state, in a series of letters, edited by Sir W. F. P. Napier, 1851 ; and The History of the Baltic Campaign of 1854, from documents and other materials furnished by Vice-Admiral Sir C. Napier, K.C.B., 1857. See also The Life and Exploits of Commodore Napier, 1841 ; and Life of Vice-Admiral Sir C. Napier, 1854. NAPIER, SIR CHARLES JAMES (1782-1853), the acknowledged hero of a family of heroes, was born at White hall, London, in 1782, and was the eldest son of Colonel George Napier, of the Guards (a younger son of the fifth Lord Napier), and of his wife Lady Sarah Lennox the Lady Sarah who had charmed King George III. After the custom of those times Charles Napier had been gazetted an ensign in the 33d regiment in 1794, and in 1797 his father secured for him the appointment of aide- de-camp to Sir James Duff, the general commanding the Limerick district. Longing for more active service, Napier obtained a commission as lieutenant in Manningham s rifles in 1800. This newly formed corps was designed to supply a body of light troops for the English army fit to cope with the French voltigeurs and tirailleurs, and was specially trained at first under the eye of Colonel Manningham, and then in the famous camp at Shorncliff e, under the immediate supervision of Sir John Moore. Moore speedily perceived the military qualities of the Napiers, and inspired the three elder brothers Charles, George, and William with an enthusiasm which lasted all their lives; but, though happy in his general, Charles Napier quarrelled bitterly with William Stewart, the lieutenant-colonel, and in 1803 left the regiment to accompany General Fox to Ireland as aide-de-camp. The great influence of his uncle, the duke of Richmond, procured him in 1804 a captaincy in the staff corps, and in the beginning of 1806 a majority in the Cape regiment. On his way to the Cape, however, he exchanged into the 50th regiment, with which he served in the short Danish campaign under Lord Cathcart in 1807. Shortly after his return from Denmark the 50th was ordered to Portugal, and shared all the glories of the famous retreat to Corunna. At the battle of Corunna, one of the last sights of Sir John Moore before he was struck was the advance of his own old regiment under the command of Charles Napier and Edward Stanhope, and almost his last words were "Well done, my majors!" Being badly supported from the right, the 50th were almost entirely cut to pieces, and both the majors left for dead upon the field. Napier s life was saved by a French drummer named Guibert, who brought him safely to the headquarters of Marshal Soult. Soult treated him with the greatest kindness, and he was allowed by Ney to re turn to England to his " old blind mother" instead of being interned. He had not been long in England when he heard that his exchange had been arranged, and, volunteering for the Peninsula, he joined the light division before Ciudad Rodrigo. As a volunteer he served in the actions on the