B U C 



Bucharia. history, until its conquest by Zengis Khan, who 

 *- V - ' bequeathed it, along with Great Bucharia, to his 

 son Zagatai ; and it continued to follow the for- 

 tunes of that country till 1683, when it was con- 

 quered by the Calmucks. Under the dominion of 

 their Contaish, or Great Khan, the dependencies of 

 Bucharia had extended over the provinces of Tur- 

 fan and Hami, and east of the desert of Gobi as 

 far as the great wall of China. Of this country they 

 remained in quiet possession until 1715, when the 

 jealousy of the Chinese, and the animosity of the 

 Mongales, were raised by the discovery of a gold 

 mine at the foot of the mountains which separate 

 the territories of the two kingdoms. The Con- 

 taish had dispatched a body of 10,000 Calmucks to 

 seize upon this treasure ; but, being attacked by the 

 Mongales and Chinese, were completely routed, and 

 pursued into the deserts, which they, however, re- 

 passed, by certain fertile vallies, scattered among the 

 mountains, which till then had been entirely un- 

 known to their enemies. The Chinese emperor, 

 wishing to profit by his success, sent a powerful ar- 

 my, well furnished with artillery, under the com- 

 mand of his son, attended by a Jesuit of Pekin, well 

 skilled in the science of fortification and gunnery. 

 This prince passed the deserts by the same route 

 which the Calmucks had taken in their flight, and 

 entered the extensive plains of Turfan and Hami ; 

 but, being unwilling to risk his army in such an open 

 country, against the cavalry of the Contaish, who 

 had advanced to meet him, he contented himself with 

 erecting a chain of forts, which he supplied with can- 

 non and infantry. Under the protection of their 

 forts, the Chinese kept possession of these provinces, 

 without the Calmucks being able to bring them 

 to an engagement. The Contaish, who now saw 

 that it would be impossible to drive out the Chinese 

 without the aid of cannon, with which his subjects 

 were entirely unacquainted, was compelled to have 

 recourse to Russia. He offered, in 1720, to pay an 

 annual tribute to that power, upon condition that it. 

 would supply him with an army of 10,000 regular 

 troops, well equipped, with cannon, to enable him 

 to meet the Mongales and Chinese ; but Peter the 

 Great, who was at that time engaged in a war with 

 Sweden, and also prosecuting his plans of conquest 

 on the side of Persia, was prevented from- accepting 

 such advantageous proposals. The Chinese, conse- 

 quently, remained masters of these provinces, with 

 all the territories of the Contaish, east, of ths desert 

 of Gobi, towards the frontiers of China. The Cal- 

 mucks, irritated by their losses, became the most de- 

 termined and dangerous enemies of the Chinese em- 

 pire ; and though its monarch had made repeated vi- 

 sits into Mongolia to overawe their restless neigh- 

 bours by a display of superior power, yet they con- 

 tinued their hostile ravages whenever an opportunity 

 could be found of harassing their enemies, until they 

 .were completely subdued by Kiang Long in 1759, 

 who thus extended the limits of his empire as far as 

 the mountains of Belur. 



To WES. 'Fh- 6 principal cities of Little Bucharia are, Cash- 



ar, Yi'rkand, Koten Karia, Chialish, and Turfan. 

 ee P. kerton's Geography, vol.. ii. p. 252; Peu- 

 chet Dictionnaire, c. ; Reciteil de Voyages au Nord, 



42 BUG 



torn. x. pp. 113; and Astley's Collection of Voyages, Buchnerz 

 vol. iv. (p) II 



BUCHNERA, a genus of plants of the class 

 Didynamia, and order Angiospermia. See BOTANY, 

 p. 252. 



BUCIDA, a genus of plants of the class De- 

 candria, and order Monogynia. See BOTANY, p, 

 214-. 



BUCKING. See BLEACHING. 



BUCKINGHAM, the principal town of Buck- 

 ingharrishire, is situated on the side and bottom of a 

 hill, on the river Ouse, which winds round the three 

 sicV of the town, and is crossed by three stone 

 bridges. The houses, which are chiefly of brick, are 

 ill built, and many of them are thatched. The town 

 consists of" one long street, and the buildings are irre- 

 gularly scattered over a large space of ground. The 

 principal public edifices are, the church and the 

 town hall. The former of these is erected up- 

 on the summit of an artificial mount, which was 

 formerly the site of a castle. This elegant fubric, 

 which was begun in 1777? and finished in 1781, at 

 the expence of L.7000, is built of stone, and the 

 beautiful square tower attached to its south-west end, 

 is adorned with pinnacles and embrasures, and with 

 a light tapering spire 150 feet high. The old church 

 fell in 1776 ; its spire, which was the tallest in 

 England, having been blown down so early as the 

 year 1698. The inside of the church is fitted up 

 like Portland chapel in London. The seats are all 

 of oak wainscotting, and the altar-piece is a toler- 

 ably good copy of the transfiguration by Raphael. 

 The area about the church is formed into a pleasant 

 walk, planted with trees, and commanding a view of 

 the serpentine course of the Ouse. The town-hall 

 is a large brick building, surmounted with a gilt 

 swan, which is the burgh arms. The principal floor 

 is kept for the magistrates when they hold the parish 

 court and sessions. The jail, which is built in the 

 form of a castle, is appropriated chiefly for those 

 who have committed offences in the town and parish. 

 The free school, founded in 1510 by Isabel Denton, 

 has been increased by several donations. All the bu- 

 siness of the county was formerly transacted at 

 Aylesbury, but, by a late act of parliament, the 

 summer assizes were brought back to Buckingham 

 in 1758. The inhabitants of Buckingham are prin- 

 cipally employed in agriculture and in lace-making. 

 The women, who are engaged in this manufacture, 

 make from eighteen pence to two shillings a day ; 

 but the establishment of a lace-manufactory at Not- 

 tingham, where it is made by machinery, has consi- 

 derably injured the retail trade in this place. The 

 principal sort of lace which is made, is fine black and 

 white thread lace. There are a few corn and paper 

 mills upon the Ouse. In the time of Edward III., 

 one of the staples for wool was fixed here ; but the 

 trade being removed to Calais, it soon declined ; and, 

 in the reign of Henry VIII. , Buckingham was one 

 of the decayed towns which was relieved by act of 

 parliament. In the year 1724, no fewer than 138 

 houses were consumed by a dreadful fire, which oc- 

 casioned a loss of L. 40,000. Number of houses, 

 531. Population, 2605 ; of whom 313 were return- 

 ed as employed in trade and manufactures. See Wil- 



Uucking- 

 ham. 



