atuta, Marco Polo and
other medieval travellers. Some argument has been alleged against the
identity of Zayton with Ch'ueanchow, and in favour of its being rather
Changchow (a great city 60 m. W.S.W. of Ch'ueanchow), or a port on the
river of Changchow near Amoy. "Port of Zayton" may have embraced the
great basin called Amoy Harbour, the chief part of which lies within the
_Fu_ or department of Ch'ueanchow; but there is hardly room for doubt
that the Zayton of Marco Polo and Abulfeda was the Ch'ueanchow of the
Chinese. Ibn Batuta informs us that a rich silk texture made here was
called _Zait[=u]niya_; and there can be little doubt that this is the
real origin of the word "Satin," _Zettani_ in medieval Italian,
_Aceytuni_ in Spanish.

CHINCHILLA, a small grey hopping rodent mammal (_Chinchilla lanigera_),
of the approximate size of a squirrel, inhabiting the eastern slopes of
the Andes in Chile and Bolivia, at altitudes between 8000 and 12,000 ft.
It typifies not only the genus _Chinchilla_, but the family
_Chinchillidae_, for the distinctive features of which see RODENTIA. The
ordinary chinchilla is about 10 in. in length, exclusive of the long
tail, and in the form of its head somewhat resembles a rabbit. It is
covered with a dense soft fur 3/4 in. long on the back and upwards of an
inch in length on the sides, of a delicate French grey colour, darkly
mottled on the upper surf ace and dusky white beneath; the ears being
long, broad and thinly covered with hair. Chinchillas live in burrows,
and these subterranean dwellings undermine the ground in some parts of
the Chilean Andes to such an extent as to cause danger to travellers on
horseback. They associate in communities, forming their burrows among
loose rocks, and coming out to feed in the early morning and towards
sunset. They feed chiefly on roots and grasses, in search of which they
often travel considerable distances; and when eating they sit on their
haunches, holding their food in their fore-paws. The Indians in hunting
them employ the grison (_Galictis vittata_), a member of the weasel
family, which is trained to enter the crevices of the rocks where the
chinchillas lie concealed during the day. The fur (q.v.) of this rodent
was prized by the ancient Peruvians, who made coverlets and other
articles with the skin, and at the present day the skins are exported in
large numbers to Europe, where they are made into muffs, tippets and
trimmings. That chinchilla