and 2,746,300 (estimate) in 1906. It is chiefly Little Russian (85.6%); but Great Russians (6.1%), mostly Raskolniks, i.e. nonconformists, and White Russians (5.6%) inhabit the northern districts. There are, besides, some Germans, as well as Greeks, at Nyezhin. Agriculture is the principal occupation; in the north, however, many of the inhabitants are engaged in the timber trade, and in the production of tar, pitch, wooden wares, leather goods and so forth. Cattle-breeding is carried on in the central districts. Beet is extensively cultivated. The cultivation of tobacco is increasing. Hemp is widely grown in the north, and the milder climate of the south encourages gardening. Bee-keeping is extensively carried on by the Raskolniks. Limestone, grindstones, china-clay and building-stone are quarried. Manufactures have begun to develop rapidly of late, the most important being sugar-works, distilleries, cloth-mills and glass-works. The government is divided into fifteen districts, their chief towns being Chernigov (q.v.), Borzna (pop. 12,458 in 1897), Glukhov (14,856), Gorodnya (4197), Konotop (23,083), Kozelets (5160), Krolevets (10,375), Mglin (7631), Novgorod-Syeversk (9185), Novozybkov (15,480), Nyezhin (32,481), Oster (5384), Sosnitsa (2507), Starodub (12,451) and Surazh (4004).
CHERNIGOV, a town of Russia, capital of the above government, on the right bank of the Desna, nearly half a mile from the river, 141 m. by rail N.E. of Kiev on a branch line. Pop. (1897) 27,006. It is an archiepiscopal see and possesses a cathedral of the 11th century. In 907 the city is mentioned in the treaty of Oleg as next in importance to Kiev, and in the 11th century it became the capital of the principality of Syeversk and an important commercial city. The Mongol invasion put an end to its prosperity in 1239. Lithuania annexed it in the 14th century, but it was soon seized by Poland, which held it until the 17th century. In 1686 it was definitely annexed to Russia.
CHEROKEE (native Tsalagi, “cave people”), a tribe of North American Indians of Iroquoian stock. Next to the Navaho they are the largest tribe in the United States and live mostly in Oklahoma (formerly Indian territory). Before their removal they possessed a large tract of country now distributed among the states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and the west of Florida. Their chief divisions were then settled around the head-waters of the Savannah and Tennessee rivers, and were distinguished as the Elati Tsalagi or Lower Cherokees, i.e. those in the plains, and Atali Tsalagi or Upper Cherokees, i.e. those on the mountains. They were further divided into seven exogamous clans. Fernando de Soto travelled through their country in 1540, and during the next three centuries they were important factors in the history of the south. They attached themselves to the English in the disputes and contests which arose between the European colonizers, formally recognized the English king in 1730, and in 1755 ceded a part of their territory and permitted the erection of English forts. Unfortunately this amity was interrupted not long after; but peace was again restored in 1761. When the revolutionary war broke out they sided with the royalist party. This led to their subjugation by the new republic, and they had to surrender that part of their lands which lay to the south of the Savannah and east of the Chattahoochee. Peace was made in 1781, and in 1785 they recognized the supremacy of the United States and were confirmed in their possessions. In 1820 they adopted a civilized form of government, and in 1827, as a “Nation,” a formal constitution. The gradual advance of white immigration soon led to disputes with the settlers, who desired their removal, and exodus after exodus took place; a small part of the tribe agreed (1835) to remove to another district, but the main body remained. An appeal was made by them to the United States government; but President Andrew Jackson refused to interfere. A force of 2000 men, under the command of General Winfield Scott, was sent in 1838, and the Cherokees were compelled to emigrate to their present position. After the settlement various disagreements between the eastern and western Cherokees continued for some time, but in 1839 a union was effected. In the Civil War they all at first sided with the South; but before long a strong party joined the North, and this led to a disastrous internecine struggle. On the close of the contest they were confirmed in the possession of their territory, but were forced to give a portion of their lands to their emancipated slaves. Their later history is mainly a story of hopeless struggle to maintain their tribal independence against the white man. In 1892 they sold their western territory known as the “Cherokee outlet.” Until 1906, when tribal government virtually ceased, the “nation” had an elected chief, a senate and house of representatives. Many of them have become Christians, schools have been established and there is a tribal press. Those in Oklahoma still number some 26,000, though most are of mixed blood. A group, known as the Eastern Band, some 1400 strong, are on a reservation in North Carolina. Their language consists of two dialects—a third, that of the “Lower” branch, having been lost. The syllabic alphabet invented in 1821 by George Guess (Sequoyah) is the character employed.
See also Handbook of American Indians (Washington, 1907); T. V. Parker, Cherokee Indians (N. Y., 1909); and Indians, North American.
CHEROOT, or Sheroot (from the Tamil word “shuruttu,” a roll), a cigar made from tobacco grown in southern India and the Philippine Islands. It was once esteemed very highly for its delicate flavour. A cheroot differs from other cigars in having both ends cut square, instead of one being pointed, and one end considerably larger than the other.
CHERRAPUNJI, a village in the Khasi hills district of Assam. It is notable as having the heaviest known rainfall in the world. In 1861 it registered a total of 905 in., and its annual average is 458 in. This excessive rainfall is caused by the fact that Cherrapunji stands on the edge of the plateau overlooking the plains of Bengal, where it catches the full force of the monsoon as it rises from the sea. There is a good coal-seam in the vicinity.
CHERRY. As a cultivated fruit-tree the cherry is generally supposed to be of Asiatic origin, whence, according to Pliny, it was brought to Italy by Lucullus after his defeat of Mithradates, king of Pontus, 68 B.C. As with most plants which have been long and extensively cultivated, it is a matter of difficulty, if not an impossibility, to identify the parent stock of the numerous cultivated varieties of cherry; but they are generally referred to two species: Prunus Cerasus, the wild or dwarf cherry, the origin of the morello, duke and Kentish cherries, and P. Avium, the gean, the origin of the geans, hearts and bigarreaus. Both species grow wild through Europe and western Asia to the Himalayas, but the dwarf cherry has the more restricted range of the two in Britain, as it does not occur in Scotland and is rare in Ireland. The cherries form a section Cerasus of the genus Prunus; and they have sometimes been separated as a distinct genus from the plums proper; both have a stone-fruit or drupe, but the drupe of the cherry differs from that of the plum in not having a waxy bloom; further, the leaves of the plum are rolled (convolute) in the bud, while those of the cherry are folded (conduplicate).
The cherries are trees of moderate size and shrubs, having smooth, serrate leaves and white flowers. They are natives of the temperate regions of both hemispheres; and the cultivated varieties ripen their fruit in Norway as far as 63° N. The geans are generally distinguished from the common cherry by the greater size of the trees, and the deeper colour and comparative insipidity of the flesh in the ripe fruit, which adheres firmly to the “nut” or stone; but among the very numerous cultivated varieties specific distinctions shade away so that the fruit cannot be ranged under these two heads. The leading varieties are recognized as bigarreaus, dukes, morellos and geans. Several varieties are cultivated as ornamental trees and on account of their flowers.
The cherry is a well-flavoured sub-acid fruit, and is much esteemed for dessert. Some of the varieties are particularly selected for pies, tarts, &c., and others for the preparation of preserves, and for making cherry brandy. The fruit is also very extensively employed in the preparation of the liqueurs known as kirschwasser, ratafia and maraschino. Kirschwasser is made
