took part in various naval actions off the North
American coast. He became captain in 1792, represented Corsica in the
Convention, and then received command of the _Orient_, which at the
battle of the Nile bore the flag of Admiral Brueys. When the latter was
killed, Casabianca, though badly wounded, fought the burning ship to the
end, and perished with most of the crew. His son, Giacomo Jocante, a boy
of ten years of age, refused to leave the ship and died in trying to
save his father. This heroic act was the subject of several poems,
including the well-known ballad by Mrs. Hemans.

CASABLANCA (_Dar el Baida_, "the white house"), a seaport on the
Atlantic coast of Morocco, in 33 deg. 27' N., 7 deg. 46' W. It is a wool
and grain port for central Morocco, chiefly for the provinces of Tadla
and Shawia. Third in importance of the towns on the Moorish coast,
unimpeded by bar or serious rocks, the roadstead is exposed to the
north-west winds. There is anchorage for steamers in 5 to 6 fathoms.
Vessels were loaded and discharged by lighters from the beach. In May
1907 the construction began of harbour works which afford sheltered
accommodation for ships at all states of the tide. The value of the
foreign trade of the port for the period 1897-1907 was about L750,000 a
year. A railway to Ber Reshid, the first section of a line intended to
tap the rich agricultural region of which Casablanca is the port, was
opened in September 1908, being the first railway built in Morocco. The
population, about 20,000, includes numerous foreign merchants,
Franciscan and Protestant missions, and a consular corps. Built by the
Portuguese upon the site of the once prosperous town of Anfa, which they
had destroyed in 1468, Casablanca was held by them for some time, till
trouble with the natives compelled them to abandon it. In August 1907,
in consequence of the murder of a number of French and Spanish workmen
engaged on the harbour works, the town was bombarded and occupied by the
French (see MOROCCO: _History_).

CASALE MONFERRATO, a town and episcopal see of Piedmont, Italy, in the
province of Alessandria, 21 m. N.N.W. by rail from the town of
Alessandria. Pop. (1901) 18,874 (town); 31,370 (commune). It lies in the
plain on the right bank of the Po, 377 ft. above sea-level, and is a
junction for Mortara, Vercelli. Chivasso and Asti; it is also connected
by steam tramways with Alessandria, Vercelli and Montemagno. The fine
Lombard Rom