CHE 



hrpsWM preat Telocity, and sometimes rises to the height of fifty- 

 six feet. Mr Obxc found, that at high water the depth 



>_. _^ of the rirer was forty-seven feet thrrr inches, the distance 

 from the surfa water to the floor of the bridge 

 six feet. As the tide once rose to a notch in the rail two 

 feet ten inches above die floor of the bridge, it follows 

 that the highest tide was fifty-six feet one inch. 



Chepstow is the port for all the towns on the rivers 

 Wye and Lug, and vessels of 600 tons burden are built 

 for the Baltic trade. The inhabitants, who are full of 

 activity and enterprise, carry on a considerable trade in 

 the corn and provision* which are produced in the sur- 

 rounding country. The merchants import their own 

 wines from Oporto, and from Norway and Russia they 

 receive deals, hemp, flax, pitch, and tar, with which they 

 supply Herefordshire, and the eastern part of Monmouth- 

 shire. Great quantities of timber are sent from Chep- 

 stow to Portsmouth, Plymouth, Deptford, and Wool- 

 wich ; grain is exported for the Bristol market ; and oak 

 bark, cider, coals, grindstones, millstones, and iron, to 

 several parts of Ireland, Liverpool, and other places. 

 Convenient quays are erected on the banks of the Wye 

 for the numerous vessels by which it i* frequented. 



About two miles to the west of Chepstow is the cele- 

 brated mansion of Piercefield, remarkable for its beauti- 

 ful and picturesque scenery. The following Table con- 

 tains the statistical information in the population returns 

 in 1811, for the parish of Chepstow. 



Number of inhabited houses, 421 



Number of families 451 



Houses building, 9 



Houses uninhabited, 8 



Families employed in agriculture, 3 



Families employed in trade, manufactures, and han- 

 dicraft, 180 



Families not comprehended in any of these classes, 268 



Number of males, 1,1.58 



Number of females 1,423 



Total population 2,581 



See Evan's and Britten's Beauties of England and 

 Wales, vol. xi. p. 175 ; and Coxc's Historical Tour in 

 Monmouthshire. (*) 



CHEQUE. See CHECK. 



CHER, one of the departments of France, which 

 derives its name from the river Cher, and is formed from 

 the higher Bern. It is bounded on the north by the de- 

 partment of Loiret ; on the west by the department of 

 the Loire and Cher, and the department of the Indre ; 

 on the south by the department of the Allier } and on 

 the east by the department of the Nievre. The super- 

 ficial extent of the department is about 7385 kilometers, 

 or 488 square leagues of 2000 toises, which is equal to 

 about 1,450,134 square acres. 



The principal productions of this department are grain 

 of all kinds, very fine hemp, flax, wines, among which 

 the red wines of Sancerre, and the white wines of Pou- 

 illi are the most famous, fruits, honey, wax, wool 

 which i* highly esteemed ; mines of coal and ochre ; 

 quarries of marble ; mines of iron, which supply four- 

 teen furnaces and eighteen forges ; salmon, and all kinds 

 of fresh water fish. The navigable rivers are the Cher, 

 which i* navigable from Vierzon to the Loire, during 

 six months of the year, the Loire, and the Allier, which 

 bound the department on the east. A canal was begun, 

 to form a communication between the Loire and the 

 Cher, by means of the river Erve. The for;sts of this 

 department occupy 145,000 hectares, about 102 of which 

 belong to individuals, and the rest to the communes and 



CHE 



the nation. The contributions, in the year 1803, amount- Clierasf* 

 ed to 1,742.031 francs. Population,' '_MH,'J<)7. Bour- ! 

 get i the capital of the department. The other towns 

 are St Amand and Sancerre. See BovRcrt. (') 



CHERASCO, (JtEKASCo, or K AIR AW, a town of 

 France in the arrondissement of Savillai. , and depart- 

 ment of Stura, situated on a mountain near the conflu- 

 ence of the Stura and the Tanaro. This town, which 

 is derived from the Celtic, kair or karr, a city, appears 

 to have been inhabited in the time of the Romans, from 

 the great number of Latin and ancient inscriptions which 

 have been discovered. The town is well built, and the 

 streets are spacious and open. Some of its parish churches, 

 which amount to seven, are very fine. It has also seve- 

 ral palaces, in one of which, belonging to the Count 

 Salmatoris, was signed the treaty of 1631, called the 

 treaty of Cherasco ; and also the late treaty, by which 

 this part of Italy wa added to the French empire. 

 Cherasco was fortified in the modern style, with fosses, 

 bastions, and out-works, by Christina of France, Du- 

 chess of Savoy. Epidemic diseases prevail here in a 

 great degree, and are supposed to be occasioned by the 

 exhalations from the rivers Stura and Tanaro. On this 

 account, the town is said, by Denina, to have only 

 about 4000 inhabitants, though, according to the returns 

 of the Bureau de Poste, given in the Almanack du 

 Commerce for 1811, the population amounts to 11,200. 

 It carries on a considerable trade in grain, wines, and 

 silk. A fair, which continues for three days, is held on 

 the 18th June ; and another for two days on the 14th 

 November. Cattle and victuals are the principal articles 

 of sale. E. Long. 7 41', N. Lat. 44 33'. See De- 

 nina's Tableau Hislori^iic Statistique el Morale de la 

 Haute Italic, p. 53. Paris, 1605. () 



CHERBOURG, a sea port of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Channel, is situated at the bottom of a 

 large bay, between Cape la Hogue and Cape Barfleur. 

 The principal objects of curiosity are the harbour, the 

 Salle de Spectacle, the garden called Tivoli, the public 

 baths, and the Promenade de L'Abbaye. The road is 

 capable of holding from 500 to 600 vessels ; and when 

 the improvements upon the harbour are completed, it 

 will become one of the strongest and safest ports in Eu- 

 rope. The establishment of tides for this port is 9 h. 

 !i() min. Vessels of 900 tons can be admitted at high 

 water, and those of 250 tons at low water. Woollen 

 and cotton stuffs are manufactured here in considerable 

 quantities. There is a manufactory of plate glass, and 

 also a common glass-work. Small vessels for the coast- 

 ing trade are also built here. The principal articUs of 

 commerce are grain, apples for cider, flax, butter, salted 

 beef and pork, and soda of Varech for the glass- wsrks. 

 Population, 14,000. Its position, according to late as- 

 tronomical observations, is in W. Long. 1 37' 3", and 

 N. Lat. 49 38' 31". (to) 



CHERLERIA, a genus of plants of the class De- 

 candria, and order Trigynia. See BOTANY, p. 218. 



CHEROKEE INDIANS. See AMERICA. 



CHERSO, one of the largest islands in the Gulf of 

 Venice, is situated on the coast of Croatia, near to the 

 island of Osero, from which it is separated by a narrow 

 strait, about 15 miles long, and from two to five in 

 breadth. This island is 150 Italian miles in circumfe- 

 rence, and gives its name to the capital town. The cli- 

 mate is very wholesome, and the soil, though remark- 

 ably stony, is fertile, and watered by a number of nvu. 

 lets. It produces very little corn ; but its cattle, honey, 

 wines, and oils are in sufficient quantities to be export- 

 ed, and held in much estimation. This island it re- 



