Sir Galahad, Map's ideal knight, was the son of his L'Ancelot and Elaine

The son and namesake of Joseph of A rima the a, Bishop Joseph, to whom the Holy Dish was bequeathed, first instituted the Order of the Round Table. The initiated at their festivals sat as apostle knights round the table, with the Holy Graal in the midst, leaving one seat vacant as that which the Lord had occupied, and which was reserved for a descendant of Joseph, named Galahad. Whatever man else attempted to sit in the place of Galahad the earth swallowed. It was called therefore the Siege (seat) Perilous. When men became sinful, the Holy Graal, visible only to pure eyes, disappeared. On its recovery depended the honour and peace of England, but only Sir Galahad, who at the appointed time was brought to the knights by a mysterious old man clothed in white, and placed in the Siege Perilous-only the pure Sir Galahad succeeded in the quest. Morley, English Writers, III. 142. Galaor (gal'a-ôr). The brother of Amadis de Gaul. See Amadis . Galapagos (gal-a-pā'gos or gä-lä'pä-gōs) Islands. ['Tortoise Islands.'] A group of volcanic islands in the Pacific, west of Ecuador, situated near the equator in long. 89°-92° W. Of the 10 principal islands Albemarle is the largest. They were formerly noted for tortoises (Sp. galápagos ), and are remarkable for peculiarities of the fauna and flora. They have been in po e ion of Ecuador since 1832. They investigated by Darwin in his voyage in the Beagle. Area, 2,490 square miles. Population, about 200. Galapas (gal'a-pas). A giant slain by Arthur. Arthur first cut his legs off in order to reach his head, and then smote that off too. Malory . Gala shiels (gal-a-shelz'). A parliamentary burgh partly in Sel kirks hire and partly in Roxburghshire, Scotland, situated on the Gala, 27 miles southeast of Edinburgh, near Abbots ford: noted for woolen manufactures. Population (1891), 17,249. Galata (gälä-tä). A section of Constantinople, situated on the northern side of the Golden Horn, opposite Seraglio Point. It is the seat of important commercial establishments, and contains a remarkable tower. It was founded by the Genoese in 1216. On the right of the Golden Horn is the European quar ter, known as Galata near the water's edge, and as Pera on the top of the steep hill where the European colony has its houses and the emba ies their town palaces. Galata is the mercantile and shipping quarter; Pera is the West End of Constantinople in all but the points of the compa . Poole , Story of Turkey, p. 262. Galatea (gal-a-te'ä). [Gr. Γαλάτεια.] 1. In Greek mythology, a sea-nymph, the daughter of Nereus and Doris. See Acis .-2. A character in Vergil's third eclogue. She hid herself among the willows in order to be followed. In literature, a type of coquetry.-3. A statue animated by Venus in answer to the prayer of Pygmalion. She has nothing to do with the legend of Acis and Galatea. See Pygmalion and Gal atea. Galatea. 1. A prose pastoral with lyrics, by Cervantes, said to have been inspired by the lady who afterward became his wife. It was written about 1583. A second part was prom ised, but was not written. Like other works of the same sort, the Galatea [of Cervantes] is founded on an affectation which can never be succe ful, and which, in this particular instance, from the unwise accumulation and involution of the stories in its fable, from the conceited metaphysics with which it is disfigured, and from the poor poetry profusely scattered through it, is more than usually unfortunate. Perhaps no one of the many pastoral tales produced in Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries fails so much in the tone it should maintain.