Paris, 1828). (G. H. C.)

CHAFF (from the A.S. _ceaf_, allied to the O. High Ger. _cheva_, a husk
or pod), the husks left after threshing grain, and also hay and straw
chopped fine as food for cattle; hence, figuratively, the refuse or
worthless part of anything. The colloquial use of the word, to chaff, in
the sense of to banter or to make fun of a person, may be derived from
this figurative sense, or from "to chafe," meaning to vex or irritate.

CHAFFARINAS, or ZAITARINES, a group of islands belonging to Spain off
the north coast of Morocco, near the Algerian frontier, 2-1/2 m. to the
north of Cape del Agna. The largest of these isles, Del Congreso, is
rocky and hilly. It has a watch-house on the coast nearest to Morocco.
Isabella II., the central island, contains several batteries, barracks
and a penal convict settlement. The Spanish government has undertaken
the construction of breakwaters to unite this island with the
neighbouring islet of El Rey, with a view to enclose a deep and already
sheltered anchorage. This roadstead affords a safe refuge for many large
vessels. The Chaffarinas, which are the _Tres Insulae_ of the Romans and
the _Zafran_ of the Arabs, were occupied by Spain in 1848. The Spanish
occupation anticipated by a few days a French expedition sent from Oran
to annex the islands to Algeria. The population of the islands is under
1000.

CHAFFEE, ADNA ROMANZA (1842- ), American general, was born at Orwell,
Ohio, on the 14th of April 1842. At the outbreak of the Civil War he
entered the United States cavalry as a private, and he rose to
commissioned rank in 1863, becoming brevet captain in 1865. He remained
in the army after the war and took part with distinction in many Indian
campaigns. His promotion was, however, slow, and he was at the age of
fifty-six still a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry. But in 1898, at the
outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he was made brigadier-general and
soon afterwards major-general of volunteers. In the Cuban campaign he won
particular distinction, and the victory of the Americans in the action of
El Caney was in large measure due to his careful personal reconnaissances
of the ground to be attacked and to the endurance of his own brigade.
After reverting for a time to the rank of brigadier-general, he was made
a major-general U.S.V. again in 1900 and was appointed to command the
United States contingent in China. He took a brilliant and successful