CHERBOURG. 



CHERSON. 



-138 



have good holding-ground, plenty of water even at low tide, and are 

 naturally well sheltered, except from the north winds. To protect 

 the roadstead from these winds, as well as to defend that part of it 

 which is beyond the range of the guns of the forts, a breakwater 

 (digue) has been erected, of which we subjoin a notice taken from the 

 ' Moniteur ' on the completion of the work. 



" The breakwater of Cherbourg is at present entirely terminated, 

 and from the 1st of January 1854 it must rank amongst the construc- 

 tions which require only to be kept in perfect repair. This gigantic 

 work, commenced in 1783, suspended during the revolutionary tem- 

 pest, resumed under the empire, suspended once more during the 

 whole period of the restoration (1814-30), is at length terminated after 

 70 years' expectation and 4 1 of constant efforts. For a length of time 

 the success of the undertaking had been called in question ; terrible 

 disasters had at certain moments caused apprehensions to be enter- 

 tained that the sea would remain victorious in this desperate contest 

 against the boldest attempts of human genius ; but at present every 

 disquietude of that nature may be set aside, and the only thing now 

 remaining to be done is to consecrate the work of four generations. 

 It is known that the project of the breakwater at Cherbourg was 

 conceived by the illustrious Vauban, who saw the necessity of our 

 navy having in the channel a port accessible for the largest ships of 

 the line, and after successive attempts it (the breakwater) has been 

 established at about 4000 metres (nearly 2.J miles) from the entrance of 

 the commercial port. Its length is 3700 metres i. e. 2 miles 536 yards 

 (the breakwater at Plymouth is only 1800 metres, or 1 mile 208 yards, 

 in length), and it presents a relief of upwards of 20 metres (65 jj feet) 

 above the bottom of the sea ; 2000 artificial blocks, each of 20 metres 

 cube, of 44,000kil. (nearly 44 tons) in weight defend against the 

 waves the foundation of the extreme musoirs (or points of the break- 

 water). The last one and twenty years of this admirable work have 

 been exclusively employed in the construction of the wall in masonry, 

 which has 10 metres 50 centimetres (34 feet) of height above low- 

 water mark, and above the level of the foundation of the musoirs of 

 the two extremities, of the central fort, and of the intermediate fort. 

 The expenses sin^e 1783 up to the present time have amounted to 

 67,300,000 francs. The law of June 25, 1841, had appropriated to the 

 completion of the breakwater an extraordinary credit of 18 millions : 

 but owing to the care with which the money of the state has been 

 administered, a saving of nearly 1,500,000 francs has been effected out of 

 that sum. Thus a bay previously formidable to sailors offers at 

 present a sure refuge to the largest vessels in the most violent tem- 

 pests, and the fleets of France could find there a shelter against the 

 sea and the enemy ; it is at the same time a safe asylum open to the 

 commercial shipping of all maritime nations." 



The breakwater extends with a slight curve (the convex side to- 

 wards the north) between Isle-Pt'lee, on the eastern side of the Bay 

 of Cherbourg and a ledge of rocks called La Roche Chavaignac, which 

 stretch out into the sea from the western shore of the bay. The 

 entrances to the harbour, at each extremity of the breakwater, are 

 about 1000 yards wide; the eastern one commanded by strong forts 

 on Inlu-Pelee and on the eastern end of the breakwater, and the 

 western entrance by similar forta on the western end of the break- 

 water and on La Roche Chavaignac. A large and important fort (Le 

 Fort Central), built on the centre of the breakwater, commands all the 

 interior of the harbour, and is capable of commanding respect to a 

 good distance outside of it. Opposite this central fort are the forts 

 and batteries above the naval harbour. On a ridge of rocks at the 

 east end of the harbour, not far from Isle-Pc'le'e, and exactly facing 

 the eastern extremity of the breakwater from the south, is the Fort 

 den Flamands, a third and formidable guardian of the eastern en- 

 trance ; and a corresponding additional defence of the western entrance 

 is found in Fort Querqueville, which is erected on the coast to the 

 west of La Roche Chavaignac. The fortified arc of coast round the 

 harbour of Cherbourg is little short of eight miles in length; the 

 chord drawn from Fort Querqueville along the breakwater to the 

 eastern coast is rather more than half that distance. At its base 

 the width of the breakwater is 99 yards, on the summit 33 yards ; 

 and the depth of water about it varies from 36 to 45 feet. In the 

 central fort there is a lighthouse 65 feet high, in 49 40' N. lat., 1 37' 

 W. long. ; there are lighthouses also on the fort in Isle-Pelec and on 

 Fort Querqueville, and the harbour is said to be the best lighted in 

 the English Channel. 



Cherbourg is a place of considerable commercial activity. The 

 principal industrial articles are cotton-yarn, hosiery, refined sugar, 

 soda, of which about 12,000 tons are produced annually in the neigh- 

 bourhood ; chemical products, and leather. There are also dye-houses, 

 large provision-stores, and a lace-factory, superintended by four nuns, 

 which gives employment to 350 females, 150 of whom are young girls 

 instructed in the process of lace-making. The exports consist of the 

 articles named, and of butter, eggs, peas, vegetables, provisions, cattle, 

 slates, &c. ; the imports of coal, tir, hemp, and flax, for the use of the 

 navy, groceries, wine, iron, Ac. The town is an entrepot for colonial 

 produce and salt ; several vessels belonging to the harbour are engaged 

 in the Newfoundland fisheries. Cherbourg is the residence of a mari- 

 time prefect ; has tribunals of first instance, commerce, and naval 

 affairs ; and possesses a school of hydrography, an academical society, 

 and a college. A railroad in rapidly approaching completion from the 



Paris-Rouen line to Cherbourg through Caen. Electro-telegraphic 

 wires have been for a considerable time laid down between Cherbourg 

 and Paris. 



(Hctionnaire de la France; Macgregor, Statistics ; Paris Moniteur; 

 Letter from Cherbourg.) 



CHERITON. [GLAMORGANSHIRE.] 



CHEROKEES, the name of one of the native Indian tribes of 

 North America. The remaining body of Cherokees now inhabit 

 the district situated between 36 10' and 37 2' N. lat., extending 

 west from the boundary of Arkansas state, in 94 40' to about 100" 

 W. long., and containing in all about 16,000 square miles. The num- 

 ber of the tribe is now about 28,000. The district of country occupied 

 by the Cherokees forms part of the Indian territory appropriated by 

 the United States for the residence of the various communities of 

 native Indians, each tribe occupying a distinct territory, and being 

 governed by its own rulers, under a separate constitution. About a 

 century ago the Cherokees formed a numerous and powerful nation, 

 which was in possession of the southern portion of the Appalachian 

 Mountains and the countries on both sides of the range, so that their 

 hunting-ground extended over a part of the states of Tennessee, North 

 and South Carolina, and Alabama, and over nearly half the state of 

 Georgia. After a British colony had been settled in Georgia (in 1732), 

 the native tribes began to lose ground. The Cherokees however main- 

 tained their footing for a long time, even after these countries had 

 obtained their independence. Since 1790 they have sold different 

 portions of their territories to the government of the United States. 

 In 1816 they ceded the country still possessed by them within the 

 state of South Carolina, and some districts in Georgia and Alabama, 

 receiving in consideration of this cession, besides presents and annui- 

 ties, a tract of country of equal extent west of the Mississippi, to 

 which some families emigrated. They afterwards removed to their 

 present abode in the far west. 



The Cherokees are considered the most civilised of the American 

 Indians. They have made considerable progress in agriculture and 

 domestic manufactures, and in the rearing of cattle. They manufac- 

 ture salt from brine springs, which are numerous in the territory. 

 The cloth required for use by themselves they make, and also such 

 agricultural implements as are employed by them. They have been 

 able of late years to export a considerable amount of produce to New 

 Orleans. They chiefly cultivate cotton and Indian corn. They have 

 a written language ; the alphabet, which was invented by a native 

 Cherokee, consists of eighty-five characters. Their language is de- 

 rived from the same source as that of the Creeks, Chickasaws, Choc- 

 taws, Pasiagoulas, and some other tribes ; and as all these tribes lived 

 in the neighbourhood of Florida, these languages have obtained the 

 name of the Floridiau languages. 



The Cherokees have a written constitution, embodying the forms 

 of republican government. The chief or governor of the tribe is 

 elective ; he is assisted in the administration of affairs by a general 

 council, elected annually. The general council consists of an upper 

 and a lower house, somewhat corresponding to the Senate and House 

 of Representatives of the United States. There is also a judiciary, 

 observing all the legal forms prescribed by the legislature. The 

 English language has been very generally adopted, and London and 

 Parisian fashions in dress are followed to a considerable extent. 

 The Cherokees receive from the United States government an annuity 

 on account of the lands formerly possessed by them on the east side 

 of the Mississippi River. Christian missionaries of several denomina- 

 tions have laboured amongst the Cherokees with considerable success. 

 Education has made good progress amongst them, and the school 

 system maintained by the tribe is in a very efficient state. 



CHERSON (pronounced Kherson), or Nikolajef, a government of 

 European Russia, lies between 46 12' and 49" 4' N. lat., 29 10' anil 

 35 5' E. long. It is bounded N.W. by Podolia, N. by Kieff, N.E. by 

 Pultawa, E. by Ekaterinoslaf, S.E. by Taurida, S. by the Black Sea, 

 and W. by Bessarabia. The area is 28,186 square miles : the popula- 

 tion of the province (excluding Odessa, which contains 75,900 in- 

 habitants) is 766,500. Its extreme length from east to west is about 

 250 miles, and its breadth from north to south about 100 miles for 

 one-third of the length from west to east, and for the other two-thirds 

 almost 130 miles. The province, which consists of an immense plain, 

 lies between the Dnieper and the Dniester. A branch of the Dnieper 

 range traverses it for a short distance on the north-east, and on the 

 south-west a small chain belonging to the outskirts of the Carpathians 

 runs into the country from Podolia. It is only on the north-west and 

 north-east borders that there is some wood, and in the neighbourhood 

 of Elizabetgrad there are considerable forests. The rest of the 

 country is a steppe, beginning at Mirgorod and extending across the 

 whole province, where scarcely a tree is to be seen ; the soil is however 

 covered with a luxuriant vegetation of grasses and other plants. In 

 the interior the soil is a gray clay mixed with sand, which is not very 

 well adapted to agriculture, but produces the richest pastures. The 

 Black Sea washes the south of the province from the Dniester to the 

 Dnieper. The principal rivers are the Dnieper and the Dniester, of 

 which the latter forms the boundary between Cherson and Bessarabia. 

 The course of the rivers in the whole province is exceedingly slow, and 

 their water bad. There are very few wells of fresh-water. The climate 

 is very variable ; in summer the heat is from 85 to 90 of Fahrenheit. 



