for the foreign
residents, among whom the Germans are numerically predominant. In the
chief square of the town stands a 16th-century Dominican church,
externally plain, but covered internally with curious Indian
decorations. The municipal offices, formerly a college for priests, are
remarkable for their handsome but disproportionately large gateway in
Renaissance style. Despite the want of a railway, Coban has a
flourishing trade in coffee and cinchona; cocoa, vanilla and sugar-cane
are also cultivated, and there are manufactures of rum, cotton fabrics,
soap and cigars. The prosperity of the town is largely due to the
industry of the Quecchi, Kacchi or Kakchi Indians who form the majority
of the inhabitants.

Coban was founded in the 16th century by Dominican monks under Fray
Pedro de Angulo, whose portrait is preserved in the church. In honour of
the emperor Charles V. (1500-1558), Coban received the name of _Ciudad
Imperial_ (which soon became obsolete), together with a coat of arms and
other privileges belonging to a Spanish city of the first class.

COBAR, a mining town of Robinson county, New South Wales, Australia, 459
m. N.W. by W. of Sydney by rail. Pop. (1901) 3371. The district of which
Cobar is the centre abounds in minerals of all kinds, but copper and
gold are those most extensively worked. The Great Cobar copper-mine is
the most important in the state, and there are a number of successful
gold-mines. In addition to the mining, the district produces large
quantities of wool. Cobar is a municipality, as also is the adjacent
township of Gladstone, with a mining population.

COBB, HOWELL (1815-1868), American political leader, was born at Cherry
Hill, Jefferson county, Georgia, on the 7th of September 1815. He
graduated from Franklin College (University of Georgia) in 1834, and two
years later was admitted to the bar. From 1837 to 1840 he was
solicitor-general for the western circuit of his state; from 1843 to
1851 and from 1855 to 1857 he was a member of the National House of
Representatives, becoming Democratic leader in that body in 1847, and
serving as speaker in 1849-1851; from 1851 to 1853 he was governor of
his state; and from March 1857 to December 1860 he was secretary of the
treasury in President Buchanan's cabinet. He was president of the
convention of the seceded states which drafted a constitution for the
Confederacy. In 1861 he was appointed colonel of a regiment and two
years lat