CHARENTON. 



CHARLESTON. 



414 



mile* from Saintea, beautifully situated on the lad bank of the 

 geogne, has an nooUriaitloal school, and 4543 inhabitant* ; in the 

 centre of the town art the ruini of the ancient cattle of the lord* of 

 Pone, a square tower of which, 108 feet high, i* used ai a prison. 

 Satjo*, 16 mile* W. from Sainte*, tand on the Seudre, which here 

 bfgln* to bo navigable, and ha* 2217 inhabitant*. (Hmotac, W. of 

 Pons, ha* a popalation of Mia Barie, St-Porchairo, and Coses, 

 hare each a population under 2000. Near the but, which U on the 

 road from Sainte* to Koohefort, U the largest oak in France, calculated 

 to be the growth of at least 2000 year*. 



' M the fifth arrondaaffment the principal town i* /MUM, which 

 stand* on the Sengne, i* defended by a itrong cattle, and ha* a 

 tribunal of Ant instance and 2569 inhabitant*. The other town* 

 are JftronfteM, which haa a fine cattle, a church built by the 

 English, and 2384 inhabitant* ; Archiac, SL-Oema, Montendre, Mont- 

 guroo, and Ifontlieu, the population of each of which doe* not 

 exceed 1500. 



6. In the sixth arronducement the chief town U St.-Jean-<fAngi'ly, 

 20 mile* E. from Rochefort, on the right bank of the Boutounc, M bich 

 here begin* to be navigable for small craft. It is irregularly built ; 

 but the usage common to this part of Aunis of whitewashing the 

 houses every year gives it a clean, gay look. The town has tribunals 

 of first instance and of commerce, a college, and a population of 6107. 

 The corn market-house, the former abbey of St Jean, public baths, 

 and gunpowder-mills are the most remarkable objects in the town. 

 Brandy, wine, seeds, timber, 4c., are the chief articles of commerce. 

 St-Sevinien, on the right bank of the Charente, haa 3507 inhabitants. 

 Aulnay, St-Hilaire, Tonnay-Boutonne, and Matha have each less than 

 2000 inhabitants. 



The department forms the see of the Bishop of La-Roehelle. It 

 is included in the jurisdiction of the High Court of Poitiers, and 

 belongs to the 14th Military Division, of which Bordeaux is the head- 

 quarters. 



(Dictiantuiirede la France; Staliitiqiu de la France ; Annttairt pour 

 CJn 1853.) 



CHAKKN'TON. [SEIXE.] 

 CHARING. [KMT.] 

 CHARITE, LA. [NikvRK.1 



CHARKOFF, or CHARKOW, a province of Southern Russia; 

 formerly called Slobodsk-Ukraine. The territory came into the pos- 

 session of the Ctars about the beginning of the 17th century, and 

 being almost uninhabited in 1651, the emperor Alexei Michaelo- 

 wich allowed the Coasaks of the Western Ukraine to settle in it, 

 and to enjoy the privileges guaranteed to them by Stephen Bathory, 

 king of Poland. They then founded five large village*, or 'slobo- 

 daa ;' and from this circumstance the name of Slolxxlsk was 

 derived. 



The province of Charkoff is bounded N. by Kursk, E. by the country 

 of the Don Cosaaka, a by Ekaterinoslaf, and W. by Poltava, It con- 

 tains 20,846 square miles, with a population of 1 ,467,400. The country 

 i* generally flat and the soil very fertile, yielding about 4,000,000 

 quarters of corn of all kinds, one-fourth of which is exported. Flax, 

 hemp, tobacco, hops, and potatoes are grown. Cattle are excellent, 

 and bee* very abundant. The industrial establishments include 

 numerous distilleries, some tan-yards, saltpetre-works, and salgana, 

 or tallow-melting houses. The forests in this province belong chiefly 

 to the crown, and cover about 2000 square miles. Game is scarce, 

 but the forests abound in wolves and foxes. 



The population consists of Halo-Russians, Cossaks, Great Russians, 

 German colonists, converted Calmucks, Jews, and Gipsies. Besides tne 

 military population of the Cossaks there are five colonised regiments 

 of cavalry. The chief occupation of the inhabitants is agriculture. 

 The road* are bad and the rivers not navigable. The Sievernoi-Donecz 

 U the principal river, which after receiving the Oskol in the neighbour- 

 hood of liyum falls into the Don. The other rivers are the Vorskla 

 and the Paiol, both falling into the Dnieper, the former of which 

 belong* to the southern districts and the latter to the northern. 



The capital town, CBARKOFF, U noticed in a separate article. The 

 other town* are : Akhlyrta, in the west of the province, near the 

 Vonkla, which haa 8 churches and 13,000 inhabitants : Swny, in the 

 north, on the right bank of the Psiol, famous for its traffic in horses, 

 population 12 000 : Wall-i, S.W. of Charkoff, on the road to Poltawa, 

 with 10,000 inhabitant* : Tekuytjae, S.E. of Charkoff, on the Sievernoi- 

 Donec*. which u the head-quarter* of a Coiaak regiment, and haa 

 10,000 inhabitant* : Mopol, or Butopaljt, N.W. of Sumy, on a feeder 



S* "".SnSJJTJ 1 ^ 1011 10 ' 000: Lebtd ^' or Lebedine, 3.8. W. of 

 flamy, with 000 inhabitant* : Bogoduckov, N.W. of Charkoff, popu 

 lation800: If.ropofo population 6800: Krtunolnadc, W. of Cnarkoff 

 on the right bank of the Merlo, with 5000 inhabitants : and Smijew 

 or /MICIC, on the Sieverooi-Donecz, population 6000. Many of these 

 town* are fortified, and nearly all of them, even including the publi. 

 >>niMing, are constructed of wood. 



CHARKOFF, or CHARKOW pronounced Kharkoff), a town in 

 Southern Russia, in 49' 6V N. lat, and about 88' 26' E. long 

 between* two small riven, the Charkowa and the Lonan, which fai 

 into the Donees, one of the largest tributaries of the Don. Charkof 

 is the capital of the province of Cnarkoff, and may be considered a* 

 being placed on the boundary-line between the fertile country which 



extend* over the centre of Russia, and the Urge deserts known under 

 the name of steppe* which occupy the southern districts of the empire. 

 This town consists of numerous narrow winding street* of wooden 

 house* : it contain* about 18,000 inhabitants. Charkoff has been 

 chosen by the Russian government as the centra of instruction for the 

 southern province*. The university, erected in 1803, haa connected 

 with it a botanic garden, a collection of natural objects, an observa- 

 tory, and a library of 21,000 volumes. There is also a seminary for 

 clergymen, a military academy for forty children of poor noblemen, 

 a grammar school, and an institute of education for young ladies, with 

 some other schools. Charkoff ia a place of considerable trade ; the 

 manufactures include articles of Cossak clothing, excellent carpet*, 

 elt cloak*, soap, candle*, and leather. Four great fain are held in 

 the course of the year ; of these one is for wool ; at the othen vast 

 quantities of manufactured good* are sold. The fair held in Way 

 generally lasts for about two weeks. Many merchants from the inte- 

 rior of RiiHsia frequent th fair* of Charkoff. 

 CHARLBURY. [OXFORDSHIRE.] 



CHARLEMONT, a frontier fortress of France, ia so united with the 

 adjacent town of Givet on the opposite aide of the river Menae as to 

 form one town, which under the name Givet will be found noticed in 

 the article AHUENXES. 



CHARLEROI, or CHARLEROY, a town in the province of 

 Hainault, in Belgium, situated on the banks of the Sambre, 20 miles 

 E.S.E. from Mons, and 83 miles S. from Brussels, in 50 23' N. lat, 

 and 4 25' E. long. : the population of the town is 6150. This town, 

 with the whole of Hainault, was united to the French republic, and 

 formed part of the department of Jemmapes. In 1814 it became 

 part of the kingdom of the United Netherlands ; and in 1815, during 

 the hundred days, it being in possession of the Prussians, they were 

 attacked by Napoleon, and driven from it a few days before the 

 battle of Waterloo. Since the general peace the fortifications have 

 been greatly improved. 



Charleroi is built in the form of an amphitheatre, on the side of a 

 steep hill which rises from the banks of the Sambre. The town 

 contains glass-houses, tanneries, dye-houses, rope-walks, salt and sugar 

 refineries, and factories for spinning wool. But the principal sources 

 of prosperity are the coal-mines and iron-furnaces in the district. 

 About 90 coal-pits, 70 high furnaces, and 50 iron-foundries are in and 

 near the town. The iron-works are so near together that the whole 

 are visible from one spot. In the town and neighbourhood about 

 6000 persons are said to be employed in nail-making. 



Charleroi is connected by railway with most of the principal towns 

 of Belgium ; the high roads from Brussels, Mons, and Namur meet 

 at Charleroi. The Brussels and Charleroi Canal affords great facilities 

 of water communication. 



CHARLESTON, the principal port and largest city in the state of 

 South Carolina, is situated in the county of Charleston, upon a narrow 

 tongue of land formed by the confluence of the rivers Ashley and 

 Cooper, in 82 46' SS" N. lat., 79 57' 27" W. long. The population 

 of the city in 1840 was 29,261 ; in 1850 it was 42,985, exclusive of 

 the suburb of St. Philip, which contains about 16,000 inhabitants. 

 The city is divided into four wards, and is governed by a mayor 

 and 12 aldermen. Charleston harbour, which is spacious and con- 

 venient, is formed by the asstuary of the two rivers, and protected 

 from the Atlantic by Sullivan's Island on the north, and Folly Island 

 on the south. The entrance, which is between these islands, is 

 obstructed by a range of sand-banks, which make three channels by 

 which vessels drawing 16 feet of water may enter the port, but the 

 passage is rendered difficult and uncertain by the tides and the 

 shifting of the sands. The city is protected by Fort Moultrie, on 

 Sullivan's Island, Castle Piuckncy two miles, and Fort Johnson about 

 four miles below the city. 



Charleston was founded in 1680, 17 yean after the granting of the 

 colony by Charles II. to the Earl of Clarendon. There had indeed 

 been a settlement formed on the site in 1672, and another named 

 Oyster Point Town in 1677, but both were soon abandoned. For 

 rather more than a century Charleston was the capital of the provim . 

 Columbia, now the seat of government, not having been founded 

 until 1787. The site on which the city is built is low, and far from 

 healthy. The city is regularly laid out in parallel streets extending 

 between the two riven and crossed by other streets at right angles. 

 The houses are for the most part of brick, spacious and lofty, and 

 furnished with balconies and verandahs, in order to protect the 

 interior from the sun. The streets are generally narrow, ranging 

 from 85 to 70 feet in width, and unpaved, and the soil being sandy, 

 considerable annoyance is experienced in windy weather from dust 

 and sand. To shelter the passengen from the sun, rows of a tree 

 called the 'pride of India' are planted on each side of the streets; 

 this tree doea not grow to any considerable height, but it* branches 

 are spreading and its foliage thick, and it possesses the further 

 advantage of not harbouring insects. 



The town contains a city-hall, exchange, custom-house, district 

 court-house, guard-houses, theatre, orphan-house, hospital, alms- 

 house, two arsenals, two markets, a college, nearly 40 places of public 

 worship, several high-schools, an orphan asylum, and other buildings 

 devoted to benevolent purposes. There are besides an academy of 

 fine arts, a literary and philosophical society, and a city library con- 



