CHACMA, the Hottentot name of the Cape baboon, Papio porcarius, a species inhabiting the mountains of South Africa as far north as the Zambezi. Of the approximate size of an English mastiff, this powerful baboon is blackish grey in colour with a tinge of green due to the yellow rings on most of the hairs. Unlike most of its tribe, it is a good climber; and where wooded cliffs are not available, will take up its quarters in tall trees. Chacmas frequently strip orchards and fruit-gardens, break and devour ostrich eggs, and kill lambs and kids for the sake of the milk in their stomachs.
CHACO, a territory of northern Argentina, part of a large district known as the Gran Chaco, bounded N. by the territory of Formosa, E. by Paraguay and Corrientes, S. by Santa Fé, and W. by Santiago del Estero and Salta. The Bermejo river forms its northern boundary, and the Paraguay and Paraná rivers its eastern; these rivers are its only means of communication. Pop. (1895) 10,422; (1904, est.) 13,937; area, 52,741 sq. m. The northern part consists of a vast plain filled with numberless lagoons; the southern part is slightly higher and is covered with dense forests, occasionally broken by open grassy spaces. Its forests contain many species of trees of great economic value; among them is the quebracho, which is exported for the tannin which it contains. The capital, Resistencia, with an estimated population of 3500 in 1904, is situated on the Paraná river opposite the city of Corrientes. There is railway communication between Santa Fé and La Sabana, an insignificant timber-cutting village on the southern frontier. In the territory there are still several tribes of uncivilized Indians, who occasionally raid the neighbouring settlements of Santa Fé.
CHACONNE (Span. chacona), a slow dance, introduced into Spain by the Moors, now obsolete. It resembles the Passacaglia. The word is used also of the music composed for this dance—a slow stately movement in ¾ time. Such a movement was often introduced into a sonata, and formed the conventional finale to an opera or ballet until the time of Gluck.
CHAD [Ceadda], SAINT (d. 672), brother of Cedd, whom he succeeded as abbot at Lastingham, was consecrated bishop of the Northumbrians by Wine, the West Saxon bishop, at the request of Oswio in 664. On the return of Wilfrid from France, where he had been sent to be consecrated to the same see, a dispute of course arose, which was settled by Theodore in favour of Wilfrid after three years had passed. Chad thereupon retired to Lastingham, whence with the permission of Oswio he was summoned by Wulfhere of Mercia to succeed his bishop Jaruman, who died 667. Chad built a monastery at Barrow in Lincolnshire and fixed his see at Lichfield. He died after he had held his bishopric in Mercia two and a half years, and was succeeded by Wynfrith. Bede gives a beautiful character of Chad.
See Bede’s Hist. Eccl. edited by C. Plummer, iii. 23, 24, 28; iv. 2, 3 (Oxford, 1896); Eddius, Vita Wilfridi, xiv., xv. edited by J. Raine, Rolls Series (London, 1879).
CHAD, a lake of northern Central Africa lying between 12° 50′ and 14° 10′ N. and 13° and 15° E. The lake is situated about 850 ft. above the sea in the borderland between the fertile and wooded regions of the Sudan on the south and the arid steppes which merge into the Sahara on the north. The area of the lake is shrinking owing to the progressive desiccation of the country, Saharan climate and conditions replacing those of the Sudan. The drying-up process has been comparatively rapid since the middle of the 19th century, a town which in 1850 was on the southern margin of the lake being in 1905 over 20 m. from it. On the west the shore is perfectly flat, so that a slight rise in the water causes the inundation of a considerable area—a fact not without its influence on the estimates made at varying periods as to the size of the lake. Around the north-west and north shores is a continuous chain of gently sloping sand-hills covered with bush. This region abounds in big game and birds are plentiful. In the east, the country of Kanem, the desiccation has been most marked. Along this coast is a continuous chain of islands running from north-west to south-east. But what were islands when viewed by Overweg in 1851, formed in 1903 part of the mainland and new islands had arisen in the lake. They are generally low, being composed of sand and clay, and lie from 5 to 20 m. from the shore, which throughout its eastern side nowhere faces open water. The channels between the islands do not exceed 2 m. in width. Two principal groups are distinguished, the Kuri archipelago in the south, and the Buduma in the north. The inhabitants of the last-named islands were noted pirates until reduced to order by the French. The coast-line is, in general, undefined and marshy, and broken into numerous bays and peninsulas. It is also, especially on the east, lined by lagoons which communicate with the lake by intricate channels. The lake is nowhere of great depth, and about midway numerous mud-banks, marshes, islands and dense growths of aqueous plants stretch across its surface. Another stretch of marsh usually cuts off the northernmost part of the lake from the central sections. The open water varies in depth from 3 ft. in the north-west to over 20 in the south, where desiccation is less apparent. Fed by the Shari (q.v.) and other rivers, the lake has no outlet and its area varies according to the season. The flood water brought down by the Shari in December and January causes the lake to rise to a maximum of 24 ft., the water spreading over low-lying ground, left dry again in May or June. But after several seasons of heavy rainfall the waters have remained for years beyond their low-water level. Nevertheless the secular shrinking goes on, the loss by evaporation and percolation exceeding the amount of water received; whilst, on the average, the rainfall is diminishing. In 1870 the lake rose to an exceptional height, but since then, save in 1897, there has been only the normal seasonal rise. The prevalent north-east wind causes at times a heavy swell on the lake. Fish abound in its waters, which are sweet, save at low-level, when they become brackish. The lagoons are believed to act as purifying pans in which the greater part of the salt in the water is precipitated. In the south-west end of the lake the water is yellow, caused by banks of clay; elsewhere it is clear.