CHAPU

chapu, formerly an important maritime town of china, in the province of cheh-kiang, 50 m. n.w. of chen-hai, situated in one of the richest and best cultivated districts in the country. it is the port of hang-chow, with which it has good canal communication, and it was formerly the only chinese port trading with japan. the town has a circuit of about 5 m. exclusive of the suburbs that lie along the beach; and the tatar quarter is separated from the rest by a wall. it was captured and much injured by the british force in 1842, but was abandoned immediately after the engagement. the sea around it has now silted up, though in the middle of the 19th century it was accessible to the light-draught ships of the british fleet. char (_salvelinus_), a fish of the family salmonidae, represented in europe, asia and north america. the best known and most widely distributed species, the one represented in british and irish lakes, is _s. alpinus_, a graceful and delicious fish, covered with very minute scales and usually dark olive, bluish or purplish black above, with or without round orange or red spots, pinkish white or yellowish pink to scarlet or claret red below. when the char go to sea, they assume a more silvery coloration, similar to that of the salmon and sea trout; the red spots become very indistinct and the lower parts are almost white. the very young are also silvery on the sides and white below, and bear 11 to 15 bars, or parr-marks, on the side. this fish varies much according to localities; and the difference in colour, together with a few points of doubtful constancy, have given rise to the establishment of a great number of untenable so-called species, as many as seven having been ascribed to the british and irish fauna, viz. _s. alpinus, nivalis, killinensis, willoughbyi, perisii, colii_ and _grayi_, the last from lough melvin, ireland, being the most distinct. _s. alpinus_ varies much in size according to the waters it inhabits, remaining dwarfed in some english lakes, and growing to 2 ft. or more in other localities. in other parts of europe, also, various local forms have been distinguished, such as the "omble chevalier" of the lakes of switzerland and savoy (_s. umbla_), the "sabling" of the lakes of south germany and austria (_s. salvelinus_), the "kullmund" of norway (_s. carbonarius_), &c., while the north american _s. parkei, alipes, stagnalis, arcturus, areolus, oquassa_ and _marstoni_ may also be regarded as varieties. taken in this wide sense, _s. alpinus_ has a very extensive distribution. in central europe, in the british islands and in the greater part of scandinavia it is confined to mountain lakes, but farther to the north, in both the old world and the new, it lives in the sea and ascends rivers to spawn. in lapland, iceland, greenland and other parts of the arctic regions, it ranks among the commonest fishes. the extreme northern point at which char have been obtained is 82 deg. 34' n. (victoria lake and floeberg beach, arctic america). it reaches an altitude of 2600 ft. in the alps and 6000 ft. in the carpathians. the american brook char, _s. fontinalis_, is a close ally of _s. alpinus_, differing from it in having fewer and shorter gill-rakers, a rather stouter body, the back more or less barred or marbled with dark olive or black, and the dorsal and caudal fins mottled or barred with black. many local varieties of colour have been distinguished. sea-run individuals are often nearly plain bright silvery. it is a small species, growing to about 18 in. abundant in all clear, cold streams of north america, east of the mississippi, northward to labrador. the fish has been introduced into other parts of the united states, and also into europe. another member of the same section of salmonidae is the great lake char of north america, _s. namaycush_, one of the largest salmonids, said to attain a weight of 100 lb. the body is very elongate and covered with extremely small scales. the colour varies from grey to black, with numerous round pale spots, which may be tinged with reddish; the dorsal and caudal fins reticulate with darker. this fish inhabits the great lakes regions and neighbouring parts of north america. char-a-banc (fr. for "benched carriage"), a large form of wagonette-like vehicle for passengers, but with benched seats arranged in rows, looking forward, commonly used for large parties, whether as public conveyances or for excursions. character (gr. [greek: charakter] from [greek: charattein], to scratch), a distinctive mark (spelt "caracter" up to the 16th century, with other variants); so applied to symbols of notation or letters of the alphabet; more figuratively, the distinguishing traits of anything, and particularly the moral and mental qualities of an individual human being, the sum of those qualities which distinguish him as a personality. from the latter usage "a character" becomes almost identical with "reputation"; and in the sense of "giving a servant a character," the word involves a written testimonial. for the law relating to servants' characters see master and servant. a further development is the use of "character" to mean an "odd or eccentric person"; or of a "character actor," to mean an actor who plays a highly-coloured strange part. the word is also used as the name of a form of literature, consisting of short descriptions of types of character. well-known examples of such "characters" are those of theophrastus and la bruyere, and in english, of joseph hall (1574-1656) and sir thomas overbury.