The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 123

CHIe'TI (22), a city in Central Italy, 78 m. NE. of Rome, with a fine Gothic cathedral.

CHIGI, a distinguished Italian family, eminent in the Church.

CHIGOE, an insect which infests the skin of the feet, multiplies incredibly, and is a great annoyance to the negro, who, however, is pretty expert in getting rid of it.

CHIHUA'HUA (25), a town in Mexico; capital of a State (298), the largest in Mexico, of the same name, with famous silver and also copper mines.

CHILD, FRANCIS JAMES, an American scholar, born in Boston; professor of Anglo-Saxon and Early English Literature at Harvard; distinguished as the editor of Spenser and of "English and Scottish Ballads," "a monumental collection"; _b_. 1825.

CHILD, LYDIA MARIA, an American novelist and anti-slavery advocate (1802-1880).

CHILD, SIR JOSHUA, a wealthy London merchant, author of "Discourse on Trade," with an appendix against usury; advocated the compulsory transportation of paupers to the Colonies (1630-1699).

CHILDE, the eldest son of a n.o.bleman who has not yet attained to knighthood, or has not yet won his spurs.

CHILDE HAROLD, a poem of Byron's, written between 1812 and 1819, representing the author himself as wandering over the world in quest of satisfaction and returning sated to disgust; it abounds in striking thoughts and vivid descriptions; in his "Dernier Chant of C. H."

Lamartine takes up the hero where Byron leaves him.

CHILDERBERT I., son of Clovis, king of Paris, reigned from 511 to 558. C. II., son of Siegbert and Brunhilda, king of Austrasia, reigned from 575 to 596. C. III., son of Thierri III., reigned over all France from 695 to 711, under the mayor of the palace, Pepin d'Heristal.

CHILDERBRAND, a Frank warrior, who figures in old chronicles as the brother of Charles Martel, signalised himself in the expulsion of the Saracens from France.

CHILDeRIC I., the son of Merovig and father of Clovis, king of the Franks; _d_. 481. C. II., son of Clovis II., king of Austrasia in 660, and of all France in 670; a.s.sa.s.sinated 673. C. III., son of the preceding, last of the Merovingian kings, from 743 to 752; was deposed by Pepin le Bref; died in the monastery of St. Omer in 755.

CHILDERMAS, a festival to commemorate the ma.s.sacre of the children by Herod.

CHILDERS, ROBERT C., professor of Pali and Buddhistic Literature in University College, and author of Pali Dictionary (1809-1876).

CHILDREN OF THE WOOD, two children, a boy and girl, left to the care of an uncle, who hired two ruffians to murder them, that he might inherit their wealth; one of the ruffians relented, killed his companion, and left the children in a wood, who were found dead in the morning, a redbreast having covered their bodies with strawberry leaves; the uncle was thereafter goaded to death by the furies.

CHILE (2,867), the most advanced and stable of the S. American States, occupies a strip of country, 100 m. broad, between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, and stretching from Cape Horn northward 2200 m. to Peru, with Argentine and Bolivia on its eastern borders. The climate is naturally various. In the N. are rainless tracts of mountains rich in copper, manganese, silver, and other metals, and deserts with wonderful deposits of nitrate. In the S. are stretches of pastoral land and virgin forest, with excessive rains, and cold, raw climate. The central portion enjoys a temperate climate with moderate rainfall, and produces excellent wheat, grapes, and fruits of all kinds. The Andes tower above the snow-line, Aconcagua reaching 23,500 ft. The rivers are short and rapid, of little use for navigation. The coast-line is even in the N., but excessively rugged and broken in the S., the most southerly regions being weird and desolate. The people are descendants of Spaniards, mingled with Araucanian Indians; but there is a large European element in all the coast towns. Mining and agriculture are the chief industries; manufactures of various kinds are fostered with foreign capital. The chief trade is with Britain: exports nitre, wheat, copper, and iodine; imports, textiles, machinery, sugar, and cattle. Santiago (250) is the capital; Valparaiso (150) and Iquique the princ.i.p.al ports. The government is republican; Roman Catholicism the State religion; education is fairly well fostered; there is a university at Santiago. The country was first visited by Magellan in 1520. In 1540 Pedro Valdivia entered it from Peru and founded Santiago. During colonial days it was an annex of Peru. In 1810 the revolt against Spain broke out. Independence was gained in 1826.

Settled government was established in 1847. Since then a revolution in 1851, successful wars with Spain 1864-66, with Bolivia and Peru 1879-81, and a revolution in 1891, have been the most stirring events in its history.

CHILLIANWALLA, a village in the Punjab, 80 m. NW. of Lah.o.r.e, the scene in 1849 of a b.l.o.o.d.y battle in the second Sikh War, in which the Sikhs were defeated by Gen. Gough; it was also the scene of a battle between Alexander the Great and Porus.

CHILLINGHAM, a village in Northumberland, 8 m. SW. of Belford, with a park attached to the castle, the seat of the Earl of Tankerville, containing a herd of native wild cattle.

CHILLINGWORTH, WILLIAM, an able English controversial divine, who thought forcibly and wrote simply, born at Oxford; championed the cause of Protestantism against the claims of Popery in a long-famous work, "The Religion of Protestants the Safe Way to Salvation," summing up his conclusion in the oft-quoted words, "The Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants"; though a Protestant, he was not a Puritan or a man of narrow views, and he suffered at the hands of the Puritans as an adherent of the Royalist cause (1602-1643).

CHILLON, CASTLE OF, a castle and state prison built on a rock, 62 ft. from the sh.o.r.e, at the eastern end of the Lake of Geneva; surnamed the Bastille of Switzerland, in which Bonivard, the Genevese patriot, was, as celebrated by Byron, incarcerated for six years; it is now an a.r.s.enal.

CHILOe (77), a thickly wooded island off the coast, and forming a province, of Chile, 115 m. long from N. to S., and 43 m. broad; inhabited chiefly by Indians; exports timber; is said to contain vast deposits of coal.

CHILTERN HILLS, a range of chalk hills extending about 70 m. NE.

from the Thames in Oxfords.h.i.+re through Bucks, from 15 to 20 m. broad, the highest Wendover, 950 ft.

CHILTERN HUNDREDS, a wards.h.i.+p of beech forests on the Chiltern Hills against robbers, that at one time infested them; now a sinecure office, the acceptance of which enables a member of Parliament to resign his seat if he wishes to retire, the office being regarded as a Government one.

CHIMaeRA, a fire-breathing monster of the Greek mythology, with a goat's body, a lion's head, and a dragon's tail; slain by Bellerophon, and a symbol of any impossible monstrosity.

CHIMBORA'ZO, one of the loftiest peaks of the Andes, in Ecuador, 20,700 ft.; is an extinct volcano, and covered with perpetual snow.

CHIMPANZEE, a large African ape, from 3 to 4 ft. in height, and more allied in several respects to man than any other ape: it is found chiefly in W. Africa.

CHINA (300,000 to 400,000), which, with Tibet, Mongolia (from which it is separated by the Great Wall), and parts of Turkestan, forms the Chinese Empire; is a vast, compact, and densely peopled country in Eastern Asia; bounded on the N. by Mongolia; W. by Tibet and Burmah; S.

by Siam, Annam, and the China Sea; and E. by the Pacific. In the W. are lofty mountain ranges running N. and S., from which parallel ranges run E. and W., rising to greatest height in the S. Two great rivers traverse the country, the Hoang-ho and the Yangtse-kiang, the latter with many large lakes in its course, and bearing on its waters an innumerable fleet of boats and barges. Between the lower courses of these rivers lies the Great Plain, one of the vastest and richest in the world, whose yellow soil produces great crops with little labour and no manure. The coast-line is long and much indented, and out of it are bitten the gulfs of Pe-che-lee, the Yellow Sea, and Hang-chou. There are many small islands off the coast; the mountainous Hainau is the only large one still Chinese. The climate in the N. has a clear frosty winter, and warm rainy summer; in the S. it is hot. The country is rich in evergreens and flowering plants. In the N. wheat, millet, and cotton are grown; in the S. rice, tea, sugar, silk, and opium. Agriculture is the chief industry, and though primitive, it is remarkably painstaking and skilful. Forests have everywhere been cleared away, and the whole country is marvellously fertile. Its mineral wealth is enormous. Iron, copper, and coal abound in vast quant.i.ties; has coal-fields that, it is said, if they were worked, "would revolutionise the trade of the world." The most important manufactures are of silk, cotton, and china. Commerce is as yet chiefly internal; its inter-provincial trade is the largest and oldest in the world. Foreign trade is growing, almost all as yet done with Britain and her Colonies. Tea and silk are exported; cotton goods and opium imported.

About twenty-five ports are open to British vessels, of which the largest are Shanghai and Canton. There are no railways; communication inland is by road, river, and ca.n.a.ls. The people are a mixed race of Mongol type, kindly, courteous, peaceful, and extremely industrious, and in their own way well educated. Buddhism is the prevailing faith of the ma.s.ses, Confucianism of the upper cla.s.ses. The Government is in theory a patriarchal autocracy, the Emperor being at once father and high-priest of all the people, and vicegerent of heaven. The capital is Pekin (500), in the NE. Chinese history goes back to 2300 B.C. English intercourse with the Chinese began in 1635 A.D., and diplomatic relations between London and Pekin were established this century. The Anglo-Chinese wars of 1840, 1857, and 1860 broke down the barrier of exclusion previously maintained against the outside world. The j.a.panese war of 1894-95 betrayed the weakness of the national organisation; and the seizure of Formosa by j.a.pan, the Russo-j.a.panese protectorate over Manchuria and Corea, the French demand for Kw.a.n.g-si and Kw.a.n.g-tung, enforced lease of Kiao-chau to Germany, and of Wei-hai-wei to Britain (1898), seem to forebode the part.i.tion of the ancient empire among the more energetic Western nations.

CHINA, THE GREAT WALL OF, a wall, with towers and forts at intervals, about 2000 m. long, from 20 to 30 ft. high, and 25 ft. broad, which separates China from Mongolia on the N., and traverses high hills and deep valleys in its winding course.

CHINAMPAS, floating gardens.

CHINCHA ISLANDS, islands off the coast of Peru that had beds of guano, often 100 ft. thick, due to the droppings of penguins and other sea birds, now all but, if not quite, exhausted.

CHINCHILLA, a rodent of S. America, hunted for its fur, which is soft and of a grey colour; found chiefly in the mountainous districts of Peru and Chile.