LatAm Digital Edition and Gazetteer

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the natives make friezes. The low part, looking upon the coast, enjoys a temperature equal in mildness to that of Lima. It is very fertile, and in the many estates which are in it maize grows in great quantities, and it, besides serving as food for the labourers, and independent of that which is devoured by the wild pigeons with which those fields are filled, serves to fatten numbers of pigs, which are carried to supply the markets of Lima ; those animals, one year with another, amounting to 22,000 head, and producing an emolument of 300,000 dollars to the proprietors of the estates. Here are also some estates of sugar-cane, and others of French beans and wheat, of which the crops were formerly very great, and used, together with the vines, to be reckoned amongst the chief productions of this country, though they have now made room for a more general cultivation of maize. What conduces much to render the soil fertile, is what the Indians call huano^ and which, in their language, signifies dung, this being brought from some small islands at a little distance from the coast towards the n. It is thought to be the excrement of some birds called huanaes^ who have been accustomed to deposit it in the above places from time immemorial. Some of it has also been found in various other islands of the coast of Canete, Arica, and others. Of this it is certain, that a handful being put at the root of a plant of maize, it becomes so invigorated as to produce upwards of 200 for one, and that not less than 90,000 bushels of this valuable manure is used yearly. In the centre of the province, and upon the coast, are some fine salines^ which supply some of the neighbouring districts ; and amongst the rest, those of Canta, Tarma, Caxatambo, Huamalies, Huanuco, Conchuco, and Huailas, are the most noted. The salt is not only used in the workingof the metals, but for preserving the cattle from a venomous insect called alicuya^ which preys upon their entrails until it destroys them. The population consists of 37 settlements ; the capital of which is the town of Arnedo or Chancay. Its repartimiento amounted to 122,000 dollars, and its alcavala to 976 dollars per annum.

Arnedo or Chancay,

S. Juan de Huaral,

Huaura,

Mazo,

Vegueta,

Iluacho,

Barraste,

Auccayama,

Sayan,

Tapaya,

Cauchaz or Maráz,

Yurayaco,

Picoy,

Parquin,

Yucul,

Canin,

Mollobamba,

Panun,

Turpay,

Tongos,

Chiuchiu,

Auquimarca,

Paccho,

Yguari,

Ayaranga,

Yancay,

Huacar,

Otequet,

Muca,

Huachinga,

Yacsanga,

Yunqui,

Apache,

Santa Cruz,

Acotama,

Huaycho.

Huanangui,

Chancay, the capital of the above province, founded in a beautiful and very healthy valley, at a league and a half’s distance from the river Pasamayo, by order of the viceroy Count of Nieva, in 1563 ; who destined it for the honour of being an university, at which however it never attained. It has a tolerable port, frequented by trading vessels, a convent of monks of the order of St. Francis, and a good hospital. It is well peopled, and its inhabitants consist of several noble and rich families. One league from the sea, and 15 from Lima. Lat. 11° 30' 5.

(CHANCEFORD, a township in York county, Pennsylvania.)

CHANCHAMAIU, a settlement of the province and government of Tarma in Peru, with a fort upon the river Tapo, in the part washed by this river, called El Balseadero de Chanchamaiu. The Chunchos Indians of this province took possession of it in 1742, and abandoned it in 1743.

Chanchamaiu, a river of the province of Caxamarquilla. It rises in the province of Tarraa, to the n. of the capital, runs n. and enters the large river Perene, in the country of the Campas Indians.

CHANCO, CAPILLA DE, a settlement of the province and corregimiento of Itata in tbe kingdom of Chile ; situate near the coast.

CHANDUI, a settlement of the district of Santa Elena in the province and government of Guayaquil ; situate on the sea-shore, with a port which is frequented by vessels only in stress ; it having some extensive shoals which lie just at its entrance. Here it was that the admiral’s ship of the Armada del Sur foundered and was wrecked in 1654, as it was dropping down to Panama, for the purpose of dispatching the galleons under the charge of the Marquis de Villarubia ; although, through the opportune assistance of the viceroy of Peru, Count de Salvatierra, and of tlm president of Quito, Don Pedro Vazquez de Veljixco, the greater part of the property on board was saved. Likewise, in 1721. another ship was lost here, carrying the salaries to the Plaza of Panama, without a single thing on board being saved ; until, in 1728, a furious wind from the s. w. blew ashore several fragments of the

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rdistinguished for being very sure-footed and active. The horned cattle have, through the favourable temperature of the climate, acquired a larger size, while their flesh has become better and more nutritive ; the sheep imported from Spain retain a wool as beautiful as that of the best Spanish sheep, each sheep yielding annually from 10 to 15 lbs. of wool ; they breed twice a-year, and have generally two at a birth. The common price of cattle throughout the country is from three to four filippi (fifteen or twenty francs), but in the seaports the price is fixed by an ancient regulation, at 10 crowns ; of which the commandant of the port receives four, and the owner six.

The different kinds of trees known in Chile amount to 97, and of these only 13 shed their leaves : amongst the plants, there are 3000 not mentioned in botanical works. _The melons here are, according to Molina, three feet long, and the only fruits unknown are medlars, service apples, three-grained medlar, and the jujubre. Of the indigenous worms, insects, &c. are 36 species, andthetunicated cuttle-fish found here is of 150 lbs. weight. There are 13 species of crabs and crawfish found on the sea-coast, and four species in the fresh waters. There are 135 species ofland-birds, and of quadrupeds 36, without those imported. The various kinds of esculent fish found upon the coast are computed by the fishermen at 76, the most of them differing from those of the n. hemisphere, and appearing to be peculiar to that sea.

Amongst the earths of this country is a clay thought to be very analogous to kaolin of the Chinese ; another kind called roro, producing an excellent black dye, and represented by Feuille and Frazier as superior to the best European blacks. The membraneous mica^ otherwise Muscovy grass, is also found here in the greatest perfection, both as respects its transparency and the size of its laminae ; of this substance the country people manufacture artificial flowers, and like the Russians, make use of it for glazing their houses. The thin plates which are used for windows are by many preferred to glass, from their being pliable and less fragile, and possessing what appears to be a peculiar property, of freely admitting the light and a view of external objects to those within, while persons without are prevented from seeing any thing in the house.

22. Present revolution. — In Chile, the authority of the mother country has been superseded by the aristocracy of the colony. The government has fallen, peaceably and without resistance, into the hands of the great Creole families, who seem hitherto to have used their power with temper and moderation. See La PijAta.]

Same name, a river of the former kingdom (Chile), in the district of Tolten Baxo. It runs w. and enters the sea between the rivers Tolten and Budi.

Same name, a point of the coast of the province and corregimienio of Arequipa,

Same name, a small island of the S. sea, in the same province and corregimiento.

CHILENO, Paso del, a ford of the river Jazegua, in the province and government of Buenos Ayres, close to the river Cordobes.

CHILERIOS, a river of the province and government of Buenos Aires. It runs North Carolinan and cnler§ the river Negro.

CHILES, a settlement of the province and corregimiento of Pasto in the kingdom of Quito.

[CHILHOWEE, mountain, in the s. e. part of the state of Tennessee, and between it and the Cherokee country.]

CHILIA, a settlement of the province and |corregimiento of Caxaraarquilla and Collay in Peru.

CHILINTOMO, a mountain of the province and government of Guayaquil in the kingdom of Quito ; inhabited by some Indians, who, although reduced to the Catholic faith, are nevertheless of such vile habits as constantly to manifest how deeply idolatry is rooted in them.

CHILIPUIN, a settlement of the province and corregimiento of Chachapoyas in Peru.

[CHILISQUAQUE, a township on Susquehannah river, in Pennsylvania.]

CHILLAHUA, a settlement of the province and corregimiento of Carangas in Peru, and of the archbishopric of Charcas.

[CHILLAKOTHE, an Indian town]on the Great Miami, which was destroyed in 1782 by a body of militia from Kentucky. General Harmar supposes this to be the “ English Tawixtwi,” in H utchins’s map. Here are the ruins of an old fort, and on both sides of the river are extensive meadows. This name is applied to many different places, in honour of an influential chief who formerly headed the Shawanoes. See Tawixtwi.]

[Chillakothe, Old, is an Indian town destroyed by the forces of the United States in 1780. It lies about three miles s. of Little Mimia river j the country in its vicinity is of a rich soil, and is beautifully chequered with meadows.]

CHILLAN, a city, the capital of the district and corregimiento of this name (Chillan) in the kingdom of Chile. It is very small and poor, although it contains some families of distinction. It consists.

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constitution left the lower people little more freedom than they would have possessed under the government of the Aztec kings.]

The capital is the city of the same name, founded as far back as the time ofthegentilism of the Mexican empire, when this nation was at enmity with that of Chichimeca ; it was then one of the most populous cities, and contained 30,000 inhabitants and 300 temples, and served as a barrier to Moctezuma, in the attack against the republic of Tlaxclala ; the latter place never having been subjected to the Mexican yoke. This was the city which of all others most thwarted the designs of Hernan Cortes, but the inhabitants were discovered in the conspiracy they had laid against him, when they pretended to receive him with open arrhs and a peaceable and friendly disposition, and were made by him to suffer severely for their hypocrisy ; after which he and his whole army escaped uninjured. This city has many monuments denoting its antiquity ; and although in ancient times idolatry was here carried to its highest pitch, yet the light of the gospel has spread widely around its enlivening rays. It is of a mild and healthy temperature, rather inclined to cold than heat, being situate on a level, fertile, and beautiful plain. It has a good convent of the order of St. Francis, which is also a house of studies. Its inhabitants are composed of 50 families of Spaniards, 458 of Mustees, Mulattoes and Negroes, and 606 of Indians. On a lofty spot which lies close to the entrance, on the c. side of the city, is a handsome chapel, in which is venerated the image of the blessed virgin, which also bears the dedicatory title of Los Rentedios. It is a little more than 20 leagues to the e. of Mexico, and four from Tlaxclala. Long. 98° 14'. Lat. 19° 4'. [Its population is at present estimated at about 16,000 souls.]

CHONE, a settlement which in former times was considerable, but now much impoverished, in the ancient province of Cara, which is at present united to that of Esmeraldas. It lies upon the shore of the river Chones to the n. and is of an hot and moist climate, in lat. 33° s.

CHONES, a large river of the province of Cara in the kingdom of Quito. It runs to the w. and collects the waters of the Sanchez and theTossagua on the n. and on the s. those of the Camaron and the Platanal. At its entrance on the n. stood the city of Cara, of which the vestiges still remain. Where it runs into the sea it forms the bay of Cara, between the s. point of Bellaca and the n. point of laca. Its mouth is nearly two miles and an half wide.

CHONGO, San Miguel de, a settlement of the alcaldíta mayor of Huamelula. It is of a very cold temperature, from its being situate in the vicinity of the sierra Nevada (or Snowy) of the Chontales, which lies on the n. side of it. Its inhabitants amount to 24 families of Indians, who trade in cochineal, seeds, and fruits, of which the country, being naturally luxuriant, produces great quantities. It is watered by rivers which pass at a little distance, and is annexed to the curacy of Tepaltepec of the jurisdiction and alcaldia mayor of Nexapa, from whence it lies 20 leagues. It is-, on account of this great distance, combined with the badness of the roads, that the natives so seldom can avail themselves of any instruction in the holy faith ; dying, as they often do, without the administration of the sacraments. Indeed, there is only one day in the year, which is the 29th of September, and on which the Indians celebrate the festival of their titular saint Michael, when they are visited by their curate, who then hears their confessions and says mass. At this time this settlement has somewhat the appearance of a Catholic people ; but being all the rest of the year left to themselves, it is not to be wondered that many relapse into their pristine state of gentilisra and idolatry. Three leagues w. of its capital.

CHONGON, a settlement of Indians of the province and government of Guayaquil in the kingdom of Quito; situate near a small torrent, renowned for the stones which it washes down, of a certain crystallized matter, which being polished, resemble brilliants, and are used as buttons, rings, and other trinkets.

CHONGOS, a settlement of the province and corregimiento of Xauxa in Peru.

CHONTA, a settlement of the province and corregimiento of Abancay in Peru.

Other, another settlement in the province and corregimiento of Guamalies of the same kingdom, famous for its mine of quicksilver.

CHONTAI, a settlement of the province and corregimiento of Huarochiri in Peru ; annexed to the curacy of Chorrillo.

CHONTALES, a district of the corregimiento or alcaldia mayor of Matagulpa, in the kingdom of Guatemala and province of Nicaragua. It is but small, and its natives have this name from the Spaniards, who would by it express their natural uncouthness and stupidity.

CHOPADA, a settlement of the Portuguese, in the kingdom of Brazil and country of the Guayazas Indians ; situate on the bank and at the source of the river Tocantines.

CHOPARE, a river of the province and government of Moxos in the kingdom of Quito. It flows

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Same name, another (settlement), of the province and government of Venezuela ; situate on the shore of a river to the n, n. w. of the city of Nirua.

Same name, another (settlement), of the province and government of Yucatan ; situate on the coast between the settlements of Silan and Sisal.

Same name, another (settlement), of the missions belonging to the religious of St. Francis, in the kingdom of Nuevo Mexico.

Same name, another (settlement), of the island of Cuba ; situate on the n. coast.

[CLARE, a township on St. Mary’s bay, in Annapolis county, Nova Scotia. It has about 50 families, and is composed of woodland and salt marsh.]

CLARE, a small island of the South sea, close to the port of Guayaquil. It is desert, and two leagues in length. It is commonly called Amorta~ jado, since, being looked upon from any part, it bears the resemblance to a dead man. Twentyfive leagues from Cape Blanco.

[Clare, a very lofty mountain of the province and government of Sonora in Nueva Espaila, near the coast of the gulf of California, and in the most interior part. It was discovered in 1698.]

Same name, a small lake of New France, which is formed by the strait of Misisagues, between lake Huron and that of Erie.

Same name, a bay on the coast of the country and land of Labrador, in the strait of Belle-isle.

[CLAREMONT, a township in Cheshire county, New Hampshire, on the e. side of Connecticut river, opposite Ascutney mountain, in Vermont, and on the n. side of Sugar river ; 24; miles i. of Dartmouth college, and 121 s.w. hy w. of Portsmouth. It was incorporated in 1764, and contains 1435 inhabitants.]

[Claremont County, in Camden district, S. Carolina, contains 2479 white inhabitants, and 2110 slaves. Statesburg is the county town.]

CLARENDON, a county of South Carolina, [the southernmost in Camden district, about SO miles long and SO broad, and in 1792 contained 1790 whites and 602 slaves.]

Same name, a settlement of the island of Jamaica ; situate on the s. coast.

[Clarendon, a township near the centre of Rutland county, Vermont, watered by Otter creek and its tributary streams; 14 or 15 miles e. of Fairbaven, and 44 «. e. of Bennington. It contains 1478 inhabitants. On the s. e. side of a mountain in the w. part of Clarendon, or in the edge of Tinmouth, is a curious cave, the mouth of which is not more than two feet and a half in diameter ; in its descent the passage makes an angle with the horizon of 35° or 40°; but continues of nearly the same diameter through its whole length, which is 31^ feet. At that distance from the mouth, it opens into a spacious room, 20 feet long, 12| wide, and 18 or 20 feet high ; every part of the floor, sides, and roof of this room appear to be a solid rock, but very rough and uneven. The water is continually percolating through the top, and has formed stalactites of various forms ; many of which are conical, and some have the appearance of massive columns ; from this room there is a communication by a narrow passage to others equally curious.]

CLARINES, a settlement of the province of Barcelona, and government of Cumana, in the kingdom of Tierra Firme; lying to the e. of the city of Barcelona, and on the shore of the river Unare.

CLARKE, a settlement of the island of Barbadoes, in the district of the parish of St. Joseph, and on the e. coast.

Same name, another (settlement), of the same island (Barbadoes), on the 5 .. coast.

[Clarke, a new county of Kentucky, between the head waters of Kentucky and Licking riversIts chief town is Winchester.]

[CLARKSBURG, the chief town of Harrison county, Virginia. It contains about 40 houses, a court-house, and gaol ; and stands on the e. side of Monongahela river, 40 miles s. w. of Morgantown.]

[CLARKSTOWN, in Orange county. New York, lies on the w. side of the Tappan sea, two miles distant, n. from Tappan township six miles, and from New York city 29 miles. By the state census of 1796, 224 of its inhabitants are electors.]

[CLARKSVILLE, the chief town of what was till lately called Tennessee county, in the state of Tennessee, is pleasantly situated on the e. bank of Cumberland river, and at the mouth of Red river, opposite the mouth of Muddy creek. It contains about SO houses, a court-house, and gaol, 45, miles w. w. of Nashville, 220 n. w. by w. of Knoxville, and 940 zso. by s. of Philadelphia. Lat. 36° 25' n. Long. 87° 23' a).]

[Clarksville, a small settlement in the n, w. territory, which contained in 1791 about 60 souks. It is situate on the n. bank of the Ohio, opposite Louisville, a mile below the rapids, and 100 miles s. e. of post Vincent. It is frequently flooded when the river is high, and inhabited by people who cannot at present find a better situation.]

CLARO, a river of the district of Rexe in the