in Geography, an arm of the sea, or a narrow sea between two continents; or between a continent and an island. Such are the British channel, St George's channel, the channel of Constantinople &c.

CHANNEL of a ship. See CHAIN-Wales.

CHAN-si, a province of China, and one of the smallest in the empire, is bounded on the east by Pecheli, on the south by Honan, on the west by Chen-fu, and on the north by the great wall. The climate is healthy. healthful and agreeable, and the soil generally fertile, though the country is full of mountains. Some of these last are rough, wild, and uninhabited; but others are cultivated with the greatest care from top to bottom, and cut into terraces, forming a very agreeable prospect; while some have on their tops vast plains no less fertile than the richest low lands. These mountains abound with coal, which the inhabitants pound and make into cakes with water; a kind of fuel which, though not very inflammable, affords a strong and lasting fire when once kindled. It is principally used for heating their stoves, which are constructed with brick as in Germany; but the inhabitants of this province give them the form of small beds, and sleep upon them.

The best grapes to be met with in this part of Asia grow in the province of Chan-fu; so that good wine might be made: but the people choose rather to dry and sell them to the neighbouring provinces. The country abounds with mukh, porphyry, marble, lapis lazuli, and jasper of various colours; and iron mines, as well as salt pits and crystal, are very common. Here are five cities of the first class, and eighty-five of the second and third; the most remarkable are, 1. Tai-youen-fou the capital, an ancient city about three leagues in circumference, but much decayed in consequence of being no longer the residence of the princes of the blood as it was formerly. Nothing now remains of the palaces of those princes but a few ruins: but their tombs are still to be seen on a neighbouring mountain. The burying place is magnificently ornamented; and all the tombs are of marble or cut stone, having near them triumphal arches, statues of heroes, figures of lions and different animals, especially horses, and which are disposed in very elegant order. An awful and melancholy gloom is preserved around these tombs by groves of aged cypresses, which have never felt the stroke of the axe, placed chequer-wise. The principal articles of trade here are, hardware, stuffs of different kinds, particularly carpets in imitation of those of Turkey. 2. Ngan-y is situated near a lake as salt as the ocean, from which a great quantity of salt is extracted. 3. Fuen-tcheou-fou, an ancient and commercial city built on the banks of the river Fuen-ho: it has baths and springs almost boiling hot, which, by drawing hither a great number of strangers, add greatly to its opulence. 4. Tai-tong-fou, situated near the wall, is a place of great strength, and important by reason of its situation, as being the only one exposed to the incursions of the Tartars. Its territories abound with lapis lazuli, medicinal herbs, and a particular kind of jasper called yicke, which is as white and beautiful as agate; marble and porphyry are also common; and a great revenue is produced from the skins which are dressed here.