What is a chain?
The chain is a surveying unit of 66 feet, which is exactly 20.1168 meters. It is divided into 100 links of 7.92 inches each, and 80 chains make a mile.
The chain was devised by the English mathematician Edmund Gunter around 1620 and used to survey land. Ten square chains make exactly an acre, which is why surveyors liked it. GPS has replaced it for most work, though US public land surveys are still recorded in chains and links.
What is a US league?
A US league is three miles or 15,840 feet. The word comes from the Late Latin leuca, a Gaulish measure traditionally taken as an hour's walk.
The league was used for the distance between towns and for a ship's run at sea. The mile and the kilometer replaced it, and it now mostly turns up in older books. A US league of three miles is about 4.83km.