132 



CEYLON CH^ERONEA. 



Hamaleel, 6680 feet high, on which the Cingalese and 

 all tiie Hindoos worship the colossal footsteps of Adiun, 

 who, according to their belief, was created there, and, 

 according to uie religion of Bu !dha, is Buddha him- 

 self. The island seems to consist of primitive rock. 

 It has many rivers, few of which, however, are navi- 

 gable, as they are, for the most part, too shallow in 

 the dry season, and too dangerous in the rainy sea- 

 son. The climate is, on the whole, mild and healthy. 

 Although near the equator, the heat Is more moder- 

 ate them on the continent, on account of the sen- 

 breezes. The monsoons give variety to the climate. 

 The difference between the longest and shortest 

 day is not more than fifteen minutes. The island 

 produces gold, silver, lend, tin, iron, quicksilver, and 

 salt ; besides these, about twenty different kinds of 

 precious stones, among them the amethyst, rock 

 crystal, topaz, garnet, ruby, sapphire, hyacinth, tur- 

 quoise, &c. , are brought down by the rivers, after 

 heavy showers in the rainy season. The rich soil 

 produces nearly every plant peculiar to India and 

 the tropical countries. All the tropical fruits grow 

 wild. Rice, tobacco, pepper, sugar, coffee, pisang, 

 tamarinds, several species of palm, the palmyra-tree, 

 ebony, talipot or talpat-trees, with enormous leaves, 

 of which a single one would cover from fifteen to 

 twenty people, hemp, dye-stuffs, &c. , are found here. 

 The chief production, the cinnamon-tree, is peculiar 

 to the island. About 340,000 pounds of cinnamon 

 are annually sent to England. The best and most 

 prolific cinnamon-woods, generally called cinnamon- 

 gardens, are situated on the coasts. The annual 

 produce is about 400,000 pounds. The thick forests, 

 which are but seldom visited by men, contain numer- 

 ous wild beasts herds of elephants (the hunting of 

 which constitutes a favourite amusement of the Cin- 

 galese), ferocious wild boars, leopards, monkeys, jack- 

 als, &c. The island is also rich in tame animals, 

 poultry, &c., and the shores abound in fish. The 

 pearl fishery, on the western coast, in the bay of Con- 

 datchy, was formerly very prolific. The inhabitants, 

 whose number Colquhoun estimates at 6,000 whites 

 and 800,000 natives, but which, according to others, 

 exceeds 2,000,000, are divided (exclusive of strangers 

 settled there) into two principal nations, quite distinct 

 from each other, namely, Weddas (10,000) a rude 

 people, living in the interior of the forests, without 

 any social order, who neither attend to agriculture, 

 nor the breeding of cattle, but depend on the pro- 

 duce of the chase for support and the Cingalese, 

 who have attained a certain degree of civilization, 

 practise agriculture, work in iron and gold, weave 

 cotton, and possess a written language. They are 

 divided into certain castes, like the Hindoos, of 

 which each has its separate laws, customs, and dress, 

 and are of the religion of Buddha, which is distin- 

 guished for its mila spirit, and the purity of its doc- 

 trine. Besides these, there are Hindoos and Moors. 

 The possession of the port of Trincomalee is of 

 much consequence to the British, it being the safest 

 of all the ports in the East Indies. Bishop Heber 

 says of Ceylon, that the country " might be one of 

 the happiest, as it is one of the loveliest, spots in the 

 universe, if some of the old Dutch laws were done 

 away, among which, in my judgment, the most ob- 

 noxious are the monopoly of cinnamon, and the com- 

 pulsory labour of the peasants on the high roads, and 

 other species of corvee*." He mentions naving heard 

 that the number of Christians on the coast, and 

 amongst the English settlements, does not fall short 

 of half a million : very many of these, undoubtedly, 

 are merely nominally such. The church missionary so- 

 ciety has four stations on the island. For many other 

 interesting facts, we must refer the reader to bishop 

 Heber's Narrative of a Journey through the Upper P 



vinces of India, from Calcutta to Bombay, 1824 1S25. 

 with Notes upon Ceylon ; London, 1828, 2 vols. 8vo, 

 CHABANON, a member of the French academy, 

 was born at St Domingo, in 1730, and died at I'ari.>, 

 July 10, 1792. For his deficiency in genius, he 

 made amends by diligence, lie translated Pindar 

 and Theocritus, in 1771 et seq. His best works be- 

 long to a species of criticism which is cluiractiriml 

 by learning and taste, and affords much instruction 

 and amusement, although never aspiring to a lofty 

 elevation. Among these are Ids Discours sur Pin- 

 dare et la Poetie Lyrujue (1769), and Observations sur 

 la Musiaue (1779 and 1785, 2 vols. ; his best work). 

 His tragedies, comedies, and academical eloges are 

 sensible, neat, elegant, but cold. 



CHABERT, JOSEPH BERNARI>, marquis of; : 

 tinguished navigator, astronomer, and geographer. 

 He was born at Toulon, Feb. 28, 1724, and entered 

 the marine in 1741. In 1746, he sailed to Acadia 

 (Nova Scotia), with a French squadron. This voy- 

 age made him sensible of the imperfection of all the 

 charts of America, that liad been attempted. Imme- 

 diately on his return to Paris, he commenced the 

 study of astronomy, and first introduced the naval 

 officers of France to an acquaintance with a science 

 of great importance to their honour, and often to 

 their safety. In the war which continued till 1748, 

 he obtained the cross of St Louis. After peace was 

 concluded, he presented to the government a plan 

 for a voyage of observation in the North American 

 seas, which was executed in 1750. (See the result 

 in his astronomical and hydrographical work, enti- 

 tled, Voyage sur les Cdtes de VAmervjue Septentrio- 

 nale, 1754, 4to.) In 1758, he was chosen a member 

 of the academy, and formed the project of a chart of 

 the Mediterranean. He commenced this work in 

 1764 He was likewise made inspector-general of 

 the naval depots. While he held this office, the 

 celebrated Mechain spent several years, under his 

 direction, in reducing and arranging a great number 

 of observations, which had been made by Chabert, as 

 the foundation for a new atlas of the coasts of the 

 Mediterranean. The American war interrupted the 

 work, and called the brave Chabert to his post, 

 where he distinguished himself so highly, that, in 

 1781, he was made commander of a squadron. The 

 revolution drove him to England, and he was received 

 by doctor Maskelyne with great kindness. In 1800, 

 he lost his sight, in consequence of his intense appli- 

 cation to study, and, in 1802, returned to Paris, where 

 Bonaparte assigned him a pension. In 1804, he was 

 appointed a member of the board of longitude, and. 

 in 1805, he presented to it a map of Greece, and a 

 description of the coasts of that country. Notwith- 

 standing his blindness, his powerful memory enabled 

 him to make additions to the stores of scientific facts. 

 Lalande praises his accuracy in observations, his pa- 

 tience, his diligence, and his courage in overcoming 

 every obstacle, in the highest terms. He died Dec. 2, 

 1805, of a lung fever. 



CHACABUCO, BATTLE OF; celebrated in the 

 history of modern Chili. In the beginning of 1817, 

 the Spaniards were completely masters of Cliili, hav- 

 ing, in 1813, beaten Carrera, and compelled him and 

 others, his compatriots, to cross the mountains for 

 safety. But on the 12th of February, 1817, the 

 troops of San Martin, commanded by O'Higgins, 

 gained a decisive victory over the Spaniards under 

 Maroto, at Chacabuco, which, with that of Maypu, 

 fought afterwards, gave independence to the country. 

 See Chili. Stevenson's South America, vol. iii. p. 

 131. 



CHACTAWS. See Choctawt. 



CH^ERONEA ; a place in Boeotia, famous for the 

 battle fought there, 338 B. C. between Philip of 



