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LEFT CHEBOKEE INDIANS 461 CHESS CHEROKEE INDIANS, a tribe of the ' Appalachian family of North American aborigines, which occupied for centuries After the colonization of North America by the whites, a series of wars •broke out at periods ranging from 1759 to 1793; when, by a treaty entered into with the United States, they ceded their territory in the Southeastern States, in considera- tion of a certain cash payment, and an annual subsidy being continued to them. In 1805 they made further concessions of their lands, and, in 1812, fought bravely on the American side. In 1817- 1819 new treaties were made, which re- sulted in the Cherokees being forced to a reservation of territory afforded them W. of the Mississippi. A remnant of the tribe remained, however, in the original reservation in North Carolina. In the Indian Territory they occupied an area of 7,861 square miles in the N. E. The Cherokees, up to 1906, when they dis- banded as a tribe and became citizens of the United States, had a chief, an assist- ant, and a legislature, all chosen by vote. The total number of Cherokees of pure and mixed blood is about 20,000. In the original North Carolina reservation the Cherokees number about 1,500. CHERRY, a fruit-tree of the prune or plum tribe, very ornamental and therefore much cultivated in shrub- beries. It is a native of most temperate countries of the Northern Hemisphere, and in Great Britain is quite common in the wild state, besides being cultivated for its fruit. The cultivated varieties belong to two species, Cerasus avium and Cerasus vulgaris, the genus Cerasus being considered a sub-genus of Primus. They are numerous, as the red or garden cherry, the red heart, the white heart, the black cherry, etc. The fruit of the wild cherry, or gean, is often as well flavored, if not quite so large, as that of the cultivated varieties. It is said that this fruit was brought from Cerasus, in Pontus, to Italy, by Lucullus, about 70 B. c, and introduced into England by the Romans. The cherry is used in mak- ing the liqueurs Kirschwasser and Mara- schino. The wood of the cherry-tree is hard and tough, and is very serviceable to turners and cabinet-makers. An or- namental but not edible species is the bird-cherry. ^ The American wild cherry {Cerasus virginidna) is a fine large tree, the timber of which is much used by cabinet-makers and others, though the fruit is rather astringent. CHERSONESE (ker'zon-ez), a penin- sula; united by an isthmus to the main- land. There were many Chersonese, of which the most celebrated are the Pelo- ponnesus; the Thraaian, at the S. of Thrace and W. of the Hellespont, where Miltiades led a colony of Athenians, now the Peninsula of Gallipoli (q. v.) ; the Taurica, now the Crimea, situate near the Palus Maeotis; the fourth, called Cimbrica, now Jutland, and the fifth, surnamed Aurea, now Malacca, in India, beyond the Ganges. CHESAPEAKE BAY, in Maryland and Virginia, and dividing the former State into two parts, is the largest inlet on the Atlantic coast of the United States, being 200 miles long, and from 4 to 40 broad. Its entrance, 12 miles vdde, has on the N. Cape Charles, and on the S. Cape Henry, both promontories being in Virginia. The bay has numerous arms, which receive many navigable rivers, such as the Sus- quehanna on the N., the Potomac, Rap- pahannock, and York on the W., and the James on the S. W. Unlike the shallow sounds toward the S., this network of gulfs and estuaries, with its noble feed- ers, affords depth of water for ships of any burden, virtually carrying the ocean up to the wharves of Baltimore and the arsenal of Washington. CHESHIRE, a maritime county, situ- ated in the west of England. It has an area of 1,027 square miles. Its surface is mainly level and it is occupied by grazing and dairying land, among the most im- portant in England. The chief industries are connected with dairying and agricul- ture. There is also a considerable amount of manufacturing. Rock salt and coal are produced. The chief towns are Ches- ter, the county town; Stockport, Knuts- ford, and Birkenhead. Pop. about 680,000. CHESNEY, FRANCIS RAWDON, an English explorer, was born in Annalong, County Down, Ireland, in 1789. He was gazetted to the Royal Artillery in 1805. In 1829 he inspected the route for a Suez canal, which he proved to be practicable. His first exploration of the route to In- dia, by way of Syria and the Euphrates, was made in 1831, and he made three other voyages with the same object. The idea was taken up by government, who made a grant of £20,000 after his first expedition, but owing to the opposition of Russia it was never brought to a practical issue. He commanded the artillery at Hong-kong from 1843 to 1847. In 1850 he published his "Expedition for the Sur- vey of the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris," and in 1868 a "Narrative of the Euphra- tes Expedition." He died in Mourne. Jan. 30, 1872. CHESS, the most purely intellectual of all games of skill, the origin of which has
 * the country E. and S. of the Alleghenies.