Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/498

 486 CHINA WARE CHINCH BUG The Canton, Mekong, and Menan are the prin- cipal rivers which fall into it. Canton, Manila, and Singapore are the most important ports on its coasts. CHINA WARE. See PORCELAIN. mix II ISLANDS, a group of three small islets off the coast of Peru, celebrated for their deposits of guano, from which the Peruvian government derives a revenue larger than from all other sources combined. They lie about 12 ra. from the port of Pisco, in the depart- ment of Lima, in lat. 13 44' S., Ion. 76 13' W. They are of granitic formation, the rock being of a bright red color, composed of red Chlncha Islands. feldspar, white quartz, and a little mica, and are evidently the result of volcanic upheavals. The shores are bold and precipitous, rising usual- ly 25 or 30 ft. above the sea, but in some places much higher, and increasing in height toward the centre. The cliffs are perforated with caves and arches, the homes of multitudes of penguins and other aquatic fowl ; and the guano is honeycombed with the nests of small birds, which frequent the islands in immense flocks. The surface, which is destitute of vege- (i uano the North Island. tation, is covered with guano more than 100 ft. in depth. The excavating and shipping of this deposit employs 200 or 800 laborers, most- ly convicts and Chinese coolies, who have formed a temporary settlement on the princi- pal island. They live in huts of bulrush mat- ting, stretched on bamboo supports, which fur- nish a sufficient shelter in this dry climate. All means of subsistence, even drinking water, have to be brought from the mainland. More than 100 vessels are usually lying here, load- ing or waiting for cargoes. Chincha, the northeiti island, and chief of the group, is about four fifths of a mile in length and one third in breadth. It has been estimated to contain 17,000,000 tons of guano, and the others about 25,000,000; but these figures are probably exaggerated. About one half of the deposit of this island has already been ex- cavated. (See GUANO.) CHINCHAYCOCHA, a lake of Peru, in the de- partment of Junin, about 10m. S. S. E. of Pasco. Its N. W. extremity is in lat. 10 42' S., Ion. 75 40' W. It is 13,000 ft. above the sea, and is 35 m. in length and 7 in width. With the exception of Lakes Titicaca and Maracaibo, it is the largest sheet of fresh water in South America. The principal branch of the Man- taro or Jauja, one of the largest tributaries of the Ucayali, issues from it. As it loses by this and other outlets more water than it receives from streams flowing into it, it is undoubtedly fed by subterraneous springs. Its banks are marshy and are frequented by many water fowl. Its S. W. extremity is crossed by a marshy piece of ground, called the Calzada, which forms a means of communication be- tween the two shores. CHINCH BUG, a small hemipterous insect (rhy- parochrornw devastator, Say), which occasion- ally commits great depredations in wheat and corn fields, especially in the southern and west- ern states. It is about / of an inch long, with Chinch Bug (Khyparochromus devastator). white wing covers, upon each of which is a short central line and a large marginal oval spot of black ; the rest of the body is black and downy; the beak, legs, base of antennae, and