CROSS

See also:

• RIVER

RIVER  , a river of West Africa, over 500 M. long . It rises in 6° N., 10° 30' E. in the mountains of Cameroon, and flows at first N.W . In 8° 48' E., 5° 50' N. are a series of rapids; below this point the river is navigable for shallow-draught boats . At 8° 20' E., 6° 10' N., its most northern point, the river turns S.W. and then S., entering the Gulf of Guinea through the Calabar estuary . The Calabar river, which rises about 5° 30' N., 8° 30' E., has a course parallel to, and 10 to 20 M. east of, the Cross river . Near its mouth, on its east bank, is the town of Calabar (q.v.) . It enters the estuary in 40 45' N . The Cross, Calabar, Kwa and other streams farther east, which rise on the flanks of the Cameroon Mountains, form a large delta . The Calabar and Kwa rivers are wholly within the British protectorate of Southern Nigeria, as is the Cross river from its mouth to the rapids mentioned . The upper course of the river is in German territory . CROSS-ROADS, BURIAL AT, in former times the method of disposing of executed criminals and suicides . At the cross-roads a rude cross usually stood, and this gave rise to the belief that these spots were selected as the next best burying-places to consecrated ground .

The real explanation is that the

ancient Teutonic peoples often built their altars at the cross-roads, and as human sacrifices, especially of criminals, formed part of the ritual, these spots came to be regarded as execution grounds . Hence after the introduction of Christianity, criminals and suicides were buried at the cross-roads during the night, in order to assimilate as far as possible their funeral to that of the pagans . An example of a cross-road execution-ground was the famous Tyburn in London, which stood on the spot where the Oxford, Edgware and London roads met .