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CHI

CHETU, Santissima Trinidad de, a settle-
ment of the province and corregimiento of Caxa-
marca in Peru.

CHEUELUS, or CHAVELOS, a barbarous nation
of Indians of the country of Marañon, who inhabit
the woods bordeiing upon the river Aguarico, to
the e. and in the vicinity of the lakes. They
arc warlike, of a cruel and treacherous nature, and
in eternal enmity with their neighbours. M. de la
Martiniere will have it, that the name Chavelos is
derived from the French wovd chevezLV, the men
and the women both allowing and encouraging the
growth of their hair till it reaches down to the
waist ; supposing, forsooth, that these Indians
must either have known French when they were
discovered, or that their discoverers, at all events,
must have been French.

CHEURA, a river of the province and govern-
ment of Esmeraldas in the kingdom of Quito.
It runs w. ?z. e. and e. washing the country of the
ancient Esmeraldas Indians: it afterwards entersthe
river of its name on the e. side, in lat. 1° 23' n.

CHEWOCHEE, a settlement of North Caro-
lina ; situate on the skirt of the mountains of Tcl-
liquo.

CHIA, a settlement of the corregimiento of Zi-
paquira in the Nuevo Reyno de Granada; cele-
brated in the time of the Indians for having been
the title of the kings ox npas of Bogota; the in-
vestiture of which dignity was always transferred
with the greatest possible solemnity. It is of a very
cold temperature, although salutary ; and is
situate on a beautiful plain, on the shore of the
river Bogota, four leagues to the n. of Santa F6.

CHIAMILA, a head settlement of the alcaldía
mayor of Motines in Nueva España, contains SO
families of Indians.

CHIAMOTO. See Seyota.

CHIANTLA, a settlement of the province and
nlcaldia mayor of Chiapa in the kingdom of Gua-
temala.

CHIAPA, a province and alcaldia mayor of the
kingdom of Guatemala ; bounded on the«. by the
province of Tabasco, c. by that of Vera Paz, w.
by that of Oaxaca of Nueva Espaha, and s. e. by
that of Soconusco. It extends 85 leagues from e.
to w. and is nearly 30 across at its widest part.
It was conquered by Captain Diego Marariegos
in 1531 : is divided into districts or alcaldias
mayores^ which are those of Zoques, Chontales,
Los Llanos, and Xiquipila ; is of a warm and
moist temperature, although it has some parts in
which the cold predominates. Its woods abound
with large trees of pine, cypress, cedar, and wal-
nut; and of others of a resinous kind, from which

CHI

are extracted aromatic gums, balsams, and liquid
amber, tacamaca, copal, &c. It produces also, in
abundance, maize, swine, honey, cotton, cochi-
neal, which is only made use of for the purpose
of dyeing the cotton ; also cacao, and much pepper
and achoie, or the heart-leaved bixa'; also vfirious
kinds of domestic and wild birds, especially par-
rots, which are very beautiful and highly esteemed ;
a small bird, called tolo, less than a young pigeon,
with green wings ; this is caught by the Indians,
who pluck from its tail some feathers, Avhich they
prize highly, and then restoring it to liberty; it
being a capital offence, according to their laws, to
destroy it. The sheep, goats, and pigs, which
have been brought from Europe, have multipled
in this province in a most extraordinary manner ;
so also have horses, which are of such an esteemed
breed, that the colts are taken from hence to Mex-
ico, a distance of 500 miles. In the woods breed
many lions, leopards, tigers, and wild boars,
a great number of snakes, some being 20 feet in
length, and others of a beautiful crimson colour,
streaked with black and white. Tlie territory is,
for the most part, rugged and mountainous, and
watered by different rivers : none of these, how-
ever, are of any particular consideration, although
that which bears the name of this province is the
medium by which the aforesaid productions are
carried to the other provinces ; and although this
province may be accounted comparatively poor,
from being without mines of gold or silver, it is
nevertheless of the greatest importance, as being
the outwork or barrier to New Spain, from the fa-
cility with which this kingdom might be entered
by the river Tabasco. The capital is the royal
city of Chiapa, situate on a delightful plain. It
is the head of a bishopric, erected in 1538; and
has for arms a shield, upon which arc two sierras,
with a river passing between them : above the
one is a golden castle, with a lion rampant upon it ;
and above the other a green palm, bearing fruit,
and another lion, the whole being upon a red field.
These arms were granted by the Emperor Charles
V. in 1535. The cathedral is very beautiful. It
contains three convents of the order of St. Francis,
La Merced, and St. Domingo ; a monastery of
nuns, and five hermitages. Its population is
scanty and poor, and the principal commerce con-
sists in cocoa-nuts, cotton, wool, sugar, cochineal,
and other articles. Its nobility, although poor, are
very proud, as having descended from some an-
cient families of the first nobility of Spain ; such
as those of Mendoza, Velasco, Cortes, &c. The
women suffer great debility at the stomach on ac-
count of the excessive heat, ami they can never