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BEUST-BEWICK.

life, belonging to the small town of Biervliet, in Holland, was the first who succeeded in salting and preserving herrings in a satisfactory manner. This improvement, which is said to have taken place in the year 1386, communicated a great impetus to the industry of the fisheries of Holland. It is related that the emperor, Charles V., made a pilgrimage to the tomb of B., and there ate a herring in expression of his gratitude for the invention. Pickle is said to be derived from his name B. died in 1397. BEUST, FREDERICH VON. See SUPP. in Vol. X. BEUTHEN. See SUPPLEMENT in Vol. X. BE'VEL, a term used by builders to describe a sloped or canted surface. See SPLAY.

BE'VELAND, NORTH and SOUTH, two islands in the estuary of the Scheldt, in the province of Zeeland, Holland, separated by a channel on the west

from the island of Walcheren. The estimated area

is about 120 square miles, with a population of 41,633. South B. is the most extensive and fertile, being about 25 miles in length, and from 8 to 9 broad. Its capital, Goes, on the north side-lat. 51° 30′ N., and 4° E.—is a well-built and fortified town, with 5205 inhabitants. North B. is about 13 miles in length; its greatest breadth, 4 miles. South B. produces corn and fruit abundantly, and fish are plentiful on the coast. North B. is low and marshy. Both islands have suffered dreadfully from inundations. In 1532, North B. was completely covered with water, many of the inhabitants perishing; and it remained submerged for several years. At the same time, the flourishing town of Romerswaal was separated from South B., and afterwards so encroached on by the sea, that the whole of the inhabitants had to leave it. The islands also suffered considerably from inundation in 1808. Within recent years, much good has been effected by drainage.

BEVELLED-GEAR. See GEARING.

wished to betake himself. On his return to the Hague, he wrote De Stolatæ Virginitatis Jure (The Hague, 1680), which gave still greater offence than his first work. Soon after, he came to England, where he found a supporter in Isaac Vossius, and probably received his degree as doctor of civil law in Oxford. But it would appear from his virulent attacks against several dignitaries of the English Church, that he met with a good deal of theological opposition in England also. Probably it was the death of his benefactor, Isaac Vossius, in 1689, that led him in 1693 to repudiate his earlier writings, and to regret their tone. Having become insane, he appears to have died in England soon after 1712. In spite of his numerous enemies, B. stood high in the friendship of some of the most distinguished men of his time. His views respecting original sin have been often expressed by others, both before and after his

day, though in a less flippant style. His works are now mere bibliographical curiosities.

BE'VERLEY, the chief town of the E. Riding of Yorkshire, 1 mile west of the river Hull, with which it communicates by canal, and 10 miles N. N. W. of the city of Hull. Pop. 10,218. B. was disfranchised in 1870. Its trade consists in corn, coals, and leather, and there are several whiting and agricultural implement manufactories. The finest object in B. is the superb Gothic minster, or the Collegiate Church of St. John, ranking next to York Minster among the ecclesiastical structures of the country, and exhibiting different styles of Gothic architecture; the oldest part being of the 13th c.

The choir contains the celebrated Percy shrine, of the most exquisite workmanship. The Grammar School of B. is so old, that the date of its foundation is unknown. B. arose out of a priory founded about the year 700, and received its name from Beverlac, lake of beavers,' from the great number of these animals in a neighbouring lake or

morass.

BEVERLOO', a village of Belgium, in the province of Limbourg, 12 miles north-west of Hesselt. On the extensive heaths surrounding it, the Belgian army encamps yearly for exercise.

BE VERWYK, a town of the Netherlands, North Holland, about 7 miles north of Haarlem. Pop. 3339. It is situated in the midst of what might be described as a vast and beautiful meadow, and is quite a model of Dutch neatness and cleanliness. In his country-house, in the immediate vicinity, the Prince of Orange planned the expedition which resulted in the English Revolution of 1688.

BEVERIDGE, WILLIAM, Bishop of St. Asaph, was born at Barrow, Leicestershire, in 1638. Entering St. John's College, Cambridge, at the age of fifteen, he at once became remarkable for his diligence and piety, and particularly for his devotion to the study of oriental languages, a treatise on which he published at the age of twenty. In 1600, having obtained his degree of M. A., he was ordained both deacon and priest. After many excellent preferments, in which he was remarkable for his devotion to his pastoral duties, he was, in 1704, appointed to the bishopric of St. Asaph, having previously refused to accept that of Bath and Wells, on the deprivation of Dr. Thomas Kenn, for not taking the oaths to the government of William III. He died March 5, 1708, leaving the great bulk of his property to the Societies for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, and the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and a reputation for sincere piety and great learning. His works, which, besides the treatise mentioned, include another on chronology, a collection of canons from the time of the apostles to that when the synod of Constantinople restored Photius, and various sermons and works of a religious kind, with a life, were col-plane. lected and published in 9 vols. 8vo in 1824, by the Rev. Thomas Hartwell Horne.

BEVERLAND, ADRIAN, a Dutch scholar who, by several of his writings, but more especially by his unorthodox interpretation of the Fall, caused great excitement among the theologians of his day. He was born at Middelburg, in Zeeland, about the middle of the 17th c.; had studied law, visited the Oxford University, and was settled as an attorney in Holland, when in 1678, he published his pamphlet, Peccatum Originale, which was not only burnt at the Hague, but led to his own imprisonment, and to his expulsion from Utrecht and Leyden, whither he had

BEW'DLEY (formerly Beaulieu, from its pleasant situation), a town on the right bank of the Severn, in the north-west of Worcestershire, 14 miles north-north-west of Worcester. Pop. (1871) 7614. B. returns one member to parliament. It has manu factures of leather, combs, lantern leaves, carpets, and iron and brass wares. The chief transit for goods is by the Severn. Near the town is a public park of 400 acres, with fine groves of elm, oak, and

BEWICK, THOMAS, a celebrated wood-engraver, was born at Cherryburn, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1753. Apprenticed to Beilby, an engraver in Newcastle, he displayed such extraordinary aptitude in his art, that, at the age of 17, he was intrusted with the cutting of the whole of the diagrams in Hutton's treatise on Mensuration. He afterwards illustrated Gay's Fables, obtaining in 1775, for one of the cuts, the Old Hound,' the prize which the Society of Arts had offered for the best wood-engraving. In 1790, B., who had entered into partnership with Mr. Beilby, completed, along with his brother John, who was his pupil, the illustrations

BEX-BEZA.

for a General History of British Quadrupeds, a work and 147 from Jerusalem. It is the chief seaport, which raised his reputation far above that of any of market-town, and emporium of all the trade with the his contemporaries, and gained for him the honour-shores of Syria, Palestine, and Cilicia; and has a able and not undeserved appellation of the reviver population of about 70,000 (the majority of whom of wood-engraving. Considered as works of art, are Christians), against 12,000 in 1835. A considerthese illustrations are still unrivalled in graphic able increase in population is due to the settlement, in force of expression and fidelity to nature, though 1860, of numbers of the Christian refugees from Dathe great mechanical improvements in the art intro-mascus. Several British merchants are established in duced since B.'s time have rendered them inferior B., and there is a branch here of an English bank (the in clearness and delicacy of execution to some of Ottoman). B. supplies the Lebanon, Damascus, and the best cuts of the present day. Assisted by his the north of Syria to Antioch and Joppa, with Eurobrother, B. illustrated Goldsmith's Traveller and De- pean manufactures and goods. French steamers, carserted Village, Parnell's Hermit, and Somerville's rying mails, leave B. every week for Marseille. BritChase; and in 1797 appeared the first volume of ish steamers ply between England and B. every forthis History of British Birds, which was followed night, bringing Manchester manufactures, prints, in 1804 by the second. This splendid work was chintzes, Birmingham and Sheffield cutlery, &c., and entirely B.'s own, his brother having died in 1795. returning to England with madder roots, wool, silk, B.'s last work, the unfinished proofs of which he bitumen. Since 1859 a direct trade has been estab received the Saturday before his death, which took lished between B. and the United States of America, place at Gateshead, November 8, 1828, is called the articles sent to the United States being wool and olive-oil. There is good anchorage in the roadstead, Waiting for Death,' and represents an old wornout horse, with great pathos and truth. It was with shelter during stormy weather in the Beyrout designed to assist in the prevention of cruelty to River, about 3 miles from the town, and in 1874 animals. A large cut of a bull-of the Caledonian £10,000 was allotted by the authorities for the construction of a harbour; about 350 merchant-vessels breed is considered B.'s chef-d'œuvre. B. had many of different nations visit and leave B. every year. In pupils, some of whom were afterwards eminent as 1848 the imports were only £546,266; in 1853 they engravers. had increased to £722,864; and in 1873 to £1,323,152. The exports in 1848 amounted only to £253,648; but in 1853 they had increased to £624,544; and in 1873 they were £668,568. In 1853 the im ports into B. from Great Britain were £225,875; in 1871 they had increased to £676,900. A commercial tribunal, composed of European and native merchants, to adjudicate all mercantile disputes and bankruptcies, has lately been established; and consuls from all nations reside at Beyrout. Ship-building has begun to attract the attention of the natives, who have built and launched at B. several vessels of fifty to eighty tons within the last few years. There are extensive factories in the neighbourhood, producing Syrian silk, which is much esteemed in the London and Lyon markets. In 1859 a line of omnibuses, the first ever seen in Syria, was established at Beyrout. The natives at first regarded them with great astonishment, and crowded from all sides to see them pass. A French company has constructed a good road from B. to Damascus. Formerly, in the summer months, B. experienced a scarcity of fresh water, which had to be brought in jars on the backs of donkeys from the B. River, about 3 miles distant, but in 1875 an English company completed an extensive system of water-works, bringing a supply of excellent water from the Nahr-el-Kelb or Dog River, a distance of 9 miles. The town has lately been improved by the removal of the walls which formerly surrounded it. From its proximity to the mountains of Lebanon, on which the climate is most agreeable and salubrious, B. is an attractive place of residence; and it might rise into importance but for its odious Turkish custom-house arrangements and system of government.

BEX, a village of 4000 inhabitants, in the Swiss canton of Vaud, situated on the high road to the Simplon, about 26 miles south-east of Lausanne. It is remarkable for its extensive salt mines, salt works, and sulphur baths. One of the mines, called Du Bouillet, has a gallery 7 feet high, and 5 feet wide, extending horizontally into the mountain a distance of more than 2000 yards. The quantity of salt annually produced at B. is between 2000 and

3000 tons.

BEXA'R, SAN ANTONIO DE, a thriving town of Texas, on the San Antonio River, and at a distance of 110 miles to the south-west of Austin City. It is growing rapidly in population (20,550 by the census of 1880), and of course in wealth. The place contains a United States arsenal, with two newspapers and several seminaries and churches. San Antonio de B. was famous in the conflicts between the Mexican authorities and the American adven

turers, more especially for the indiscriminate slaughter by the former of Colonel Crockett and his gar

rison.

BEY'ERLAND, or BEI GERLAND, an island of South Holland, lat. 51° 46′ N., long. 4° 26' E. It is formed by the junction of the Old Maas with Holland Diep on the one side, the river Spui uniting the Old Maas with the Haringvliet on the other. It has several thriving villages-viz. Old B. (pop. 4620), South B. (pop. 1703), and New B. (pop. 1263).

BEY'ROUT, or BEIRUT, the Berothai or Berothah of the Old Testament (2 Samuel viii. 8, and Ezekiel xlvii. 16); and the Berytus of the Romans. It was besieged and captured by Baldwin I., king of Jerusalem, in 1111; recaptured from the Christians in 1187. In 1197, it again came into the hands of the Christians, and then successively under the Saracen, Seljukian, and Turkish sultans. In course of the operations to support the Turkish claims against the assumed power of the pasha of Egypt, B., in 1840-1841, was bombarded by the English fleet under Sir C. Napier, taken, and delivered over to the Turks. There are three castles still standing out in the sea, whose battered walls bear witness to the efficacy of the British cannon. There are no ancient monuments worth visiting.

B. is a flourishing commercial town, situated in a most picturesque position on the coast of Syria, and at the foot of Lebanon, 55 miles from Damascus,

BEZA, THEODORE (properly, De Bèze), next to Calvin the most energetic and influential of the Genevese reformers, was born of a noble family at Vezelai, in Burgundy, 24th June 1519. He received an admirable education in Orleans, from Melchior Wolmar, a German, who was especially learned in the Greek language, and also imbued with the principles of the Reformation, which he communicated to his pupil. As early as 1539, B. becare known as a writer of witty and elegant but indecent verses, the publication of which (1548) caused him many bitter regrets in after-days, when his heart was purer. In his twentieth year, he obtained his degree as licentiate of civil law, and went to live in Paris, where he appears to have spent several years

BEZANT-BHADRINATH.

said to have proved attractive to posterity. The works by which he is best known are his translation of the New Testament into Latin, and his History of the French Protestants from 1521 to 1563. BEZANT. See BESANT.

The

in a kind of fashionable dissipation, though he does not accuse himself of any gross profligacy. B. possessed a handsome figure, which, together with his fine talents and good birth, opened to him the most brilliant prospects. Although not a priest, he pocketed the revenues of two benefices, while his BEZDAN. See SUPPLEMENT in Vol. X. income was largely increased by the death of an elder brother. It was the desire of his relatives of Herault, lat. 43° 21' N., and long. 3° 13′ E. It is BEZIERS, a city of France, in the department that he should enter the church, but a private pleasantly situated on a hill, in the midst of a fertile marriage which B. had contracted, rendered this impossible. A severe illness now attacked him, country, at the junction of the Orb and the Canal du during the lapse of which, the folly and sinfulness Midi, about 38 miles south-west of Montpellier. It of his career vividly presented themselves to his contains some interesting architectural and antique conscience; he repented, and on his recovery, in buildings-the principal being the cathedral, a noble order to avoid the perils and perplexities of his Gothic edifice; the churches of La Madeline and St. position, he went to Geneva along with his wife, old citadel has been destroyed, but the walls still Aphrodise; and the ancient episcopal palace. October 1548. Shortly after, he was appointed remain, and are made use of as a promenade. B. has Greek professor at Lausanne, an office which he manufactures of silk stockings, woollens, gloves, held for ten years. In 1550, he published with parchment, glass, soap, leather, and much esteemed success a melodrama, entitled The Sacrifice of confectionaries. It has also extensive brandy disAbraham, and delivered lectures on the Epistle to tilleries, and is the centre of most of the trade the Romans and the Epistles of Peter to crowded of the district. The town is supplied with water audiences. Out of these lectures ultimately sprang raised from the Orb by means of a steam-engine. his Translation of the New Testament into Latin. Pop. 38,227. In 1559, he went to Geneva, where he became Calvin's ablest coadjutor, and was appointed a theological professor and president of the college. He had already signalised himself by his work De Hæreticis a Civili Magistratu puniendis, in which, like many other good but mistaken men, he approved of the burning of Servetus. His diplomatic tact was particularly good. He induced the king

of Navarre to exert his influence on behalf of the persecuted French Protestants, and was persuaded by the latter to attend the conference of Catholic and Protestant divines, held at Poissy in 1561. Here his courage, presence of mind, and dexterity made a very favourable impression on the French court. Catherine de Medicis entertained so high an opinion of his abilities, that she desired him to remain in France. While in Paris, he often preached before the king of Navarre and Condé. On the outbreak of the civil war, he accompanied the latter as a kind of military chaplain, and after his capture attached himself to Coligny. In 1563, he once more returned to Geneva. In the following year, Calvin died, and the care of the Genevese church now fell principally upon his shoulders. He presided over the synods of French Reformers, held at Rochelle in 1571, and at Nismes in 1572. In 1574, he was deputed by Condé to transact important business at the court of the Palatinate; and in 1586, measured himself with the Wirtemberg divines, especially Jacob Andrea, at the religious conference held at Montbeliard. In 1588, his first wife died, and although verging on seventy, he married another an awkward circumstance, it must be confessed, and one which his enemies, the Jesuits, tried to make a handle of; but B., who still retained complete mastery over his faculties, retorted with his accustomed liveliness and skill. In 1597, his calumniators spread the extremely foolish report that B. was dead, and at the last hour had returned to the bosom of the church. The witty patriarch replied in a poem full of sparkling vigour. He died 13th October 1605, at the ripe age of 86.

B. was thoroughly grounded in the principles of his master, Calvin, in whose spirit he vigorously ruled the Genevan Church for forty years, exercising the influence of a patriarch. To secure its unity, strength, and permanence, he spared no pains, sacrificing even his personal possessions. By his abundant learning, his persevering zeal, his acute intellect, his fine eloquence, and his impressive character, he rendered it important services. His numerous theological writings, however, cannot be

B. is a place of great antiquity, and still contains Roman remains. connection with the massacre of the Albigenses, its It is historically interesting in inhabitants having been indiscriminately put to the sword by Simon de Montfort and the pope's legate, for having afforded protection to the fugitives in 1209. B. suffered also in the religious wars of the 16th c.

BE'ZOAR (Pers. pazar, a goat; or pa, against, and zachar, poison), a concretion found in the stomachs of goats or antelopes, and formerly much valued on account of imaginary medicinal virtues, Concretions particularly as an antidote to poisons. of various kinds are found in the stomachs of herbivorous quadrupeds, very generally having for their nucleus some small indigestible substance which has been taken into the stomach. Sometimes they are of a radiating structure; sometimes formed of concentric layers; sometimes they are principally composed of superphosphate of lime, sometimes of phosphate of ammonia or magnesia. Other concretions found in the intestines, &c., of various animals are sometimes also called bezoar. See CALCULI. The commercial value of a B. depends much upon its size.

BHADARSA. See SUPPLEMENT in Vol. X. BHADRINATH, a town of Gurhwal, in the sub-presidency of the North-western Provinces, India, situated in a valley of the Himalaya, 25 miles to the south of the Manah Pass, which leads into Tibet. Lat. 30° 44′ N., long. 79° 32′ E. Its highest point is 10,294 feet above the level of the sea; while, about 12 miles to the west, there is a group of summits, called the Bhadrinath Peaks, having the respective elevations of 23,441, 23,236, 22,934, 22,754, 22,556, and 21,895 feet; the east also, and the south-west, presenting detached mountains of similar magnitude. B. is situated on the right bank of the Vishnugunga, a feeder of the Aluknunda, which itself again unites with the Bhageerettee to form the Ganges. The chief attrac tion of the place is its temple, which, though the actually existing edifice is modern, is said to be an establishment of great antiquity. This temple overhangs a tank of about 30 feet square, which is supplied, by a subterranean passage, from a thermal spring in the neighbourhood. As ablution in these waters is held to cleanse from all past sins, B. is a grand resort of pilgrims, every year bringing large numbers, but every twelfth year, when a periodical festival is celebrated, collecting fully 50,000. From

BHAGAVAD-GITA-BHAWLPOOR.

November to April, the temple and its deity are abandoned even by the attendant Brahmins, on account of the cold.

BHAMO', a town of Burmah, on the Upper Irrawaddy, 40 miles to the west of the Chinese frontier, and 180 to the north-north-east of Ava. It contains 1000 houses, and has round it many It is the chief mart of the trade populous villages.

with China, the imports being woollens, cottons, and silks, which are brought principally by winter tribes of the neighbourhood, who resort to the town, exchanging their native produce for salt, rice, and a sauce made of dried fish.

caravans. B. has also a considerable trade with the

BHAGAVAD-GITA (i. e., Revelations from the Deity) is the title of a religious metaphysical poem, interwoven as an episode in the great Indian epic poem of the Mahabharata (q. v.). Two hostile armies, the nearly related Kurus and Pândus, are drawn up in opposition, ready for battle; the rumpets sound the opening of the combat; and he Pându Ardshuna mounts his chariot, which is guided by the Deity himself, as charioteer, in the BHANG, the eastern name for Hemp (q. v.). human form of Krishna. But when Ardshuna BHARTRIHARI is the name of a celebrated perceives in the hostile army his relatives, the Indian writer of apothegms. Little is known regardfriends of his youth, and his teachers, he hesitates ing the circumstances of his life. A legendary story to commence the struggle, held back by the doubt makes him the brother of King Vikramaditya, who whether it were lawful for him, for the sake of lived in the 1st c. B. C., and relates of him, that the earthly gain of reconquering his father's king- after a wild licentious youth, he betook himself in dom, to transgress the divinely approved ordi- later years to the ascetic life of a hermit. His nances for the government of the state. Upon this, name has been given to a collection of 300 apothegms Krishna sets forth, in a series of eighteen poetic-whether it be that he actually wrote them, or, lectures, the necessity of proceeding, unconcerned as is more probable, that the apothegms were as to the consequences. In the progress of his long popular works, written by many various authors, but discourse, a complete system of Indian religious ascribed, according to the Indian custom, to some philosophy is developed, in which the highest personage well known among the people in legends problems of the human mind are treated with as and tales. Cheerful descriptions from nature, and much clearness of thought as elegance of language. charming pictures of love, alternate in these It is impossible to determine exactly when and apothegms, with wise remarks upon the relations of by whom the work was composed. It is not, life, and profound thoughts upon the Deity and however, one of the first attempts of Indian philo- the immortality of the soul. Bohlen has published sophy, for it is rather of an eclectic nature; and an excellent critical edition (Berlin, 1833), with a before it could have been composed, there must supplement Varia Lectiones (Berlin, 1850), as well have been a period of long-continued intellectual as a successful metrical translation into German cultivation in many philosophic schools. It is not (Hamburg, 1835). B. has a certain special interest unlikely that it was written in the first century as having been the first Indian author known in after Christ. The work is looked upon with great Europe, 200 of his apothegms having been published reverence in India, and it has accordingly been in 1653, by the missionary, Abraham Roger, in his made the subject of numerous commentaries (the work, Open Gates to Hidden Heathenism. best is that of Sridhara-Svâmin, published in Calcutta in 1832), and it has likewise been translated into various Indian dialects. Five different metrical versions in Hindi appeared in Bombay in 1842; a translation into the Telugu dialect in Madras, 1840; into the Canarese, Bangalore, 1846, &c. The best critical edition of the Sanscrit text is that of A. W. von Schlegel (2d ed., Bonn, 1846), to which is added a Latin translation. Among the other translations may be, mentioned that into English by Wilkins (Lond. 1785), who had the credit of first making the work first known in Europe; that into German, by Peiper (Leip. 1834); and the Greek translation by Galanos (Athens, 1848). W. von Humboldt's treatise, Upon the Episodes of the Mahabharata, known under the name of the BhagavadGita (Berlin, 1827), contains an admirable exposition of the philosophy of the poem.

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BHAGULPO ́RE, the capital of a district and division of the same name in Behar, presidency of Bengal, in lat. 25° 11' N., and long. 87° E. It stands on the right bank of the Ganges, here 7 miles wide in the rainy season. A seminary for English instruction has been here established by the British government. B. is the headquarters of the troops for keeping in check the Sonthal tribes. Pop. (1871) 69,678. In the vicinity of the town are two antiquarian curiosities, being round towers of about 70 feet in height, of the origin or object of which nothing is known.-2. B., as a district, contains 4237 square miles, and (1871) 1,826,290 inhabitants. It lies south of Nepaul, in lat. 24° 17'-26° 20' N., and in long. 86° 15'-88° 3′ E. About a fifth of the whole is covered by hills, which, stretching away towards the south-west, connect themselves with the Vindhya Mountains.-3. The division of B. has an area of 18,685 sq. m. Pop. (1871) 6,613,358.

BHATGONG. See SUPPLEMENT in Vol. X. BHAVANI-KUDA'R, or BHOVANI-KUDAR, a town in the presidency of Madras, in the district of Coimbatoor, 58 miles to the north-east of the city of that name. It takes its name from its position at the confluence of the Bhavani or Bhovani, and the Cauvery. It is worthy of notice chiefly for its temples of Vishnu and Siva. Pop. 6776.

of the same name in India, is situated on a tributary
BHAWLPOO'R, the capital of the protected state
of the Ghara, which, formed by the junction of the
Sutlej and the Beas, falls into the Chenab about
fifty miles further down, in lat. 29° 24' N., and
It has a circuit of four miles-
long. 71° 47' E.
part, however, of the enclosed space being occupied

by groves of trees; and its population is estimated

at 20,000. B. has manufactures of scarfs and turbans, chintzes and other cottons, and the immediate neighbourhood is remarkably fertile in grain, sugar, indigo, tobacco, and butter, with an abundance of mangoes, oranges, apples, and other fruits, in perfection. For external commerce, too, B. is favourably placed, standing at the junction of three routes respectively from the east, south-east, and south; while, towards the north, the Hindu merchants, who are very enterprising, have dealings with Bokhara, and even with Astrakhan.-2. The state of B. lies in lat. 27° 41'-30° 25′; and long. 69° 30′-73° 58′ E. The area is about 15,000 square miles-the population being estimated (187i) at 475,000, or somewhat more than thirty inhabitants to a square mile. The country is remarkably level: only about one sixth is capable of cultivation. The fertile portion, skirting the Ghara and the Indus, has a purely alluvial soil; but the remainder, though presenting many traces of former cultivation and population, is now, from want of

BHEL-BIALYSTOK.

water, an irreclaimable desert either of hard dry oligarchy. The Dherma Rajah, the nominal head, clay, or of loose shifting sands. Besides beasts of chase, such as tigers, boars, &c., B. abounds in domestic animals, such as camels, kine, buffaloes, goats, and broad-tailed sheep. In few parts of the world are provisions finer or cheaper. The principal exports are cotton, sugar, indigo, hides, drugs, dye-stuffs, wool, ghee or butter, and provisions in general. The principal imports are the wares of Britain and India. In 1866, the state, at the request of the leading men, was taken under British management till the young nabob should be of age. The great majority of the inhabitants are Mohammedans, but Hindus are treated with much toleration. BHEL, or BAEL. See ÆGLE.

BHOOJ, the capital of Cutch, in India, situated at the foot of a fortified hill of the same name, where a temple has been erected to the cobra da capella, in lat. 23° 15′ N., and long. 69° 44' E., about 35 miles from the sea. It contains about 20,000 inhabitants. Its mosques and pagodas, interspersed with plantations of dates, give to the town an imposing appearance from a distance. In 1819 it suffered severely from an earthquake. It is celebrated over India for its manufactures in gold and silver.

BHOPAL, the capital of the territory of the same name, in India, lies in lat. 23° 14' N., and long. 77° 33′ E. It is surrounded by a dilapidated stone-wall of about two miles in circuit. The fort, which is the residence of the nawab, stands on a huge rock outside the town. B. is worthy of notice mainly in connection with two immense tanks in the immediate neighbourhood-one of them being 2 miles in length, and the other measuring 4 miles by 14. As each sends forth a river, they have most probably been formed by the embanking and damming up of their respective streams. The territory of B. is a protected state, under the immediate superintendence of the governor-general. It is situated within the basins of the Gauges and Nerbudda, in lat. 22° 32'-23° 46' N., and long. 76° 25′-78° 50′ E.; its area being estimated at 6764 square miles, and its population, on an assumed average for Central India, at 662,872. Though the vast mass of the people are Hindus, yet the government is Mohammedan, and is understood to be more popular in its character than any other in India.

BHOTA'N, or BOO'TAN, a kingdom of Asia, in the north-east of India, on the southern slope of the Himalayas, in lat. 26° 18'-28° 2' N., and lon. 88° 32' 92° 30' E., being bounded on the N. by Thibet, S. by Assam and the northern districts of Bengal, and on the W. by Sikkim. With an area of 10,000 to 20,000 square miles, it was estimated in 1864 to contain only 20,000 inhabitants, but later information points to a larger figure-say about 35,000. The whole surface may be described as mountainous, with a gradual slope from north to south. Generally speaking, the middle ranges are the most productive. While the south presents but a scanty vegetation, and the north rises far above the limit of perpetual snow, the central regions, at an elevation of 8000 or 10,000 feet above the sea, are covered with the finest forests of oak and pine. Nearly all sorts of grain-wheat, barley, rice, maize, and buckwheatare here and there cultivated on favourable spots; but much grain is still imported from Bengal, being obtained, as well as sugar and tobacco, in return for native cloths, rock-salt, rhubarb, Tibet goods, mules, and ponies. The religion is Buddhism, the monastic endowments of its priests absorbing a large part of the national property. The government, almost purely ecclesiastical, is in the hands of an

is treated rather as a god than as a sovereign; while the Deb Rajah, the actual head, is controlled in almost everything by a council of eight. Polyandry and polygamy conspire to keep down the population. BHOWAN. See SUPPLEMENT in Vol. X. state of the same name in India, is a large town, BHURTPO RE, the capital of the protected measuring about eight miles in circuit, and containing, it is said, about 100,000 inhabitants, in lat. 27° 12' N., and long. 77° 33′ E. It is worthy of notice chiefly on account of its two sieges in 1805 and 1825. The strength of the place lay in a mud-wall, which was practically shot-proof, and a surrounding ditch, which might at any time be filled with water from a neighbouring lake. On the first occasion, Lord Lake's assaults were all baffled by this trench thus flooded. On the second occasion, however, Lord Combermere, having arrived in time to cut off the communications of the garri son with the lake above mentioned, overcame h's principal difficulty; but even then the mud-wall would yield only to mining.-2. The protected state of B. is situated in lat. 26° 48'-27° 50′ N., and in long. 76° 54′-77° 49′ E.-its area being estimated at 1978 square miles. The population in 1871 was 743,710, giving an average of less than 400 to a square mile. The country suffers from want of water, having only three perennial streams, of which two, however, are mere rills in the dry season; and yet, in many parts, the soil is rendered highly productive by means of irrigation. The principal crops are grain, cotton, and sugar. In the height of summer, the climate has been compared to the extreme glow of an iron-foundry, the thermometer having been known to stand at 130° F. in the shade. The rajah's revenue is stated at £242,375 a year; and his military force is said to amount to 5400 men of all

arms.

BIA FRA, BIGHT OF, a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean, on the west coast of Africa, at the head of the Gulf of Guinea, between Cape Formosa (which divides it from the Bight of Benin) on the north, and Cape Lopez on the south. Its extreme width between these two points is nearly 600 miles, its depth, to the mouth of the Old Calabar River, about 250 miles. The northern shores of the Bight, comprehended under the general name of the Calabar coast, and the eastern coast, south of Cape St. John, are low and flat. Near Old Calabar, the country becomes hilly, and opposite Fernando Po, it rises into the lofty range of the Cameroons. The principal rivers flowing into the Bight are the Niger, or Quorra, the New and Old Calabar Rivers, the Rio del Rey, the Cameroon, and the Gaboon. creeks and estuaries of the rivers are generally lined with dense thickets of mangrove, which sometimes grow in the water, their lower branches covered with oysters. In the Bight of B. are the three islands of Fernando Po, St. Thomas, and Prince's Island. The chief European stations on the coast are Duke Town, in Old Calabar, where there is a flourishing missionary station, and Naango, or George's Town, a small commercial town on the estuary of the Gaboon.

The

BIALYSTOK, a fortified town of Western Russia, in the government of Grodno. It is situated on the Bialy, an affluent of the Narew, 45 miles southwest of Grodno, in lat. 53° 8' N., long. 23° 18′ E. B. is well built; lime-trees border several of the streets, and give it a very pleasant aspect. It has a palace and park, now belonging to the municipality, but formerly belonging to the Counts of Braniski, and called the Versailles of Poland,' a commodious market, and several churches. It has manufactures

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