mpossible monstrosity.

CHIMBORA`ZO, one of the loftiest peaks of the Andes, in Ecuador,
20,700 ft.; is an extinct volcano, and covered with perpetual snow.

CHIMPANZEE, a large African ape, from 3 to 4 ft. in height, and more
allied in several respects to man than any other ape: it is found chiefly
in W. Africa.

CHINA (300,000 to 400,000), which, with Tibet, Mongolia (from which
it is separated by the Great Wall), and parts of Turkestan, forms the
Chinese Empire; is a vast, compact, and densely peopled country in
Eastern Asia; bounded on the N. by Mongolia; W. by Tibet and Burmah; S.
by Siam, Annam, and the China Sea; and E. by the Pacific. In the W. are
lofty mountain ranges running N. and S., from which parallel ranges run
E. and W., rising to greatest height in the S. Two great rivers traverse
the country, the Hoang-ho and the Yangtse-kiang, the latter with many
large lakes in its course, and bearing on its waters an innumerable fleet
of boats and barges. Between the lower courses of these rivers lies the
Great Plain, one of the vastest and richest in the world, whose yellow
soil produces great crops with little labour and no manure. The
coast-line is long and much indented, and out of it are bitten the gulfs
of Pe-che-lee, the Yellow Sea, and Hang-chou. There are many small
islands off the coast; the mountainous Hainau is the only large one still
Chinese. The climate in the N. has a clear frosty winter, and warm rainy
summer; in the S. it is hot. The country is rich in evergreens and
flowering plants. In the N. wheat, millet, and cotton are grown; in the
S. rice, tea, sugar, silk, and opium. Agriculture is the chief industry,
and though primitive, it is remarkably painstaking and skilful. Forests
have everywhere been cleared away, and the whole country is marvellously
fertile. Its mineral wealth is enormous. Iron, copper, and coal abound in
vast quantities; has coal-fields that, it is said, if they were worked,
"would revolutionise the trade of the world." The most important
manufactures are of silk, cotton, and china. Commerce is as yet chiefly
internal; its inter-provincial trade is the largest and oldest in the
world. Foreign trade is growing, almost all as yet done with Britain and
her Colonies. Tea and silk are exported; cotton goods and opium imported.
About twenty-five ports are open to British vessels, of which the largest
are Shanghai and Canton. There are no railways; communication inland is
by r