n of Beresford county, New South Wales, Australia, 264 m. by
rail S.S.W. of Sydney. Pop. (1901) 1938. The town is the centre of a
pastoral district and has a large trade in furs, while at Bushy Hill, a
mile from the town, is a small gold-field. Cooma, which is pleasantly
situated at an elevation of 2657 ft., is the tourist centre for visitors
to the Yarrangobilly Caves and Mount Kosciusko and its observatory. The
caves are distant 65 m. from the town, situated in the side of a hill,
overlooking the Yarrangobilly river; they are seven in number and of
remarkable beauty and extent.

COOPER, ABRAHAM (1787-1868), English animal and battle painter, the son
of a tobacconist, was born in London. At the age of thirteen he became
an employe at Astley's amphitheatre, and was afterwards groom in the
service of Sir Henry Meux. When he was twenty-two, wishing to possess a
portrait of a favourite horse under his care, he bought a manual of
painting, learned something of the use of oil-colours, and painted the
picture on a canvas hung against the stable wall. His master bought it
and encouraged him to continue in his efforts. He accordingly began to
copy prints of horses, and was introduced to Benjamin Marshall, the
animal painter, who took him into his studio, and seems to have
introduced him to the _Sporting Magazine_, an illustrated periodical to
which he was himself a contributor. In 1814 he exhibited his "Tam
O'Shanter," and in 1816 he won a prize of L100 for his "Battle of
Ligny." In 1817 he exhibited his "Battle of Marston Moor" and was made
associate of the Academy, and in 1820 he was elected Academician.
Cooper, although ill educated, was a clever and conscientious artist;
his colouring was somewhat flat and dead, but he was a master of equine
portraiture and anatomy, and had some antiquarian knowledge. He had a
special fondness for Cavalier and Roundhead pictures.

COOPER, ALEXANDER (d. 1660), English miniature painter. His works are of
great rarity, and the chief are a series representing the king and queen
of Bohemia and their children, in the possession of the German emperor;
some very remarkable portraits belonging to the queen of Holland, and
others in the possession of the king of Sweden and in various Swedish
galleries. He was the brother of Samuel Cooper, but whether senior or
junior to him is not known, although, according to certain Swedish
authorities, he is stated, upon very slight evidence, to have b