813 



B--ETIS. 



BAGHDAD. 



8H 



Guadalquivir, which, have so long been noted for their fertility. 



[AjiDALUCIA.] 



B^ETIS, the Roman name of the Guadalquivir. [AuDALUOlA.] 



BAEZA. [JAEN.] 



BAFFIN'S BAY is an extensive gulf on the north-east coast of 

 America, between the shores of that continent and the western coast 

 of Greenland. It is comprised between the parallels of 68 and 78 N. 

 and the meridians of 51 and 80 W., and lies in a north-north-west 

 direction. It is about 780 miles long with a mean breadth of about 

 280 miles. Itwas first exploredby Baffin in!616in company with Bylot. 



Its shores are generally high, with perpendicular cliffs rising some- 

 times to the height of 500 and 1000 feet above the sea, and backed 

 by stupendous ranges of mountains always enveloped in snow. On 

 the surface of the land above the cliffs is found a scanty appearance 

 of vegetation, principally mosses and ground-berries. The cliffs are 

 frequently rent into deep ravines, which become filled with snow ; as 

 the gnow increases, it projects into the sea till, detached by its own 

 weight, it forms the nucleus of immense icebergs. 



Along the coasts occur numerous small, high, and sharp conical 

 rocks. The shores are deeply indented with sounds and bays, few of 

 which have yet been examined. The extensive bay on the west, for- 

 merly ki: .wn as Sir James Lancaster's Sound, was passed through in 

 1819 by Captain Sir Edward Parry, who gave it the name of Barrow's 

 Straits. Wellington Channel, the north-west outlet from Barrow's 

 Straits, about 74 30' N. lat., 93 30' W. long., was entered by Sir 

 Edward Belcher in 1852. [ATLANTIC OCEAN.] Whale Sound, on the 

 east aide of the bay, between 77 and 78 N. lat., was entered by 

 Captain Inglefield in 1852. No ice was found, and the appearance 

 presented was that of an open sea. To the inner part of Whale 

 Sound was given the name of Murchison Strait. Captain Inglefield 

 also sailed up Smith's Sound to about 78 35' N. lat., and was able to 

 observe the coast, which here expands on both sides as far as the 

 points named by him Victoria Head on the west ide and Cape 

 Frederick VII. on the east side, in about 79 30' N. lat. A little 

 farther north a small island in the middle of the sound was named 

 Louis Napoleon Island. On the west the interior of Jones's Sound 

 was examined by Captain Inglefield. It was found to be choked with 

 ice, apparently of many years' formation, showing that if Jones's 

 Sound has any opening to the westward the passage must be small, 

 and probably in its general condition closed up with ice. 



The prevailing geological features of the coasts of Baffin's Bay are 

 granite and gneiss, abounding in garnets ; there are also found por- 

 phyry, chalcedony, quartz, felspar and jasper. Coal has been found 

 on Disco Island and at some other places. Bears, black foxes, and 

 hares ; walruses and seals ; ptarmigans, terns, gulls, eider and other 

 ducks, auks, and petrels, are the principal animals. Black whales 

 are found in the bay, and this fishery employs many vessels. Natives 

 were found on the south shore of Whale Sound in 77 20' N. lat. by 

 Captain Inglefield. The Danes have settlements on Disco and Whale 

 Islands. Near Prince Kegent's Bay, about 76 N. lat., Captain Ross 

 observed a very singular phenomenon the crimson colour of the 

 mow on the shore, tinctured by the soil. 



BAFFIN'S ISLANDS, a cluster of three small, barren, and unin- 

 habited islands on the eastern shores of Baffin's Bay. They are men- 

 tioned by Baffin as the Three Islands, but obtained their present name 

 from Captain Ross. They are resorted to by numerous birds of 

 various kinds. The water between them and the shore is remarkably 

 deep. They are in 73 51' N. lat., 57 25' W. long. 



BA'FFO, a sea-port town on the western coast of the island of 

 Cyprus, in 34 47' N. lat., 32 26' E. long. It is a small town, which 

 has declined from its former importance ; its harbour is unsafe, and 

 only frequented in summer. It is the residence of a Turkish aga, and 

 of a Greek bishop, suffragan to the metropolitan of Nicosia. There 

 is a castle which commands the harbour, and the ruins of another 

 castle on a hill above the town. The town consists of three parts : 

 the Metropolis, inhabited by Turks ; the Ktema, by Greeks ; anil the 

 Marina, by both Turks and Greeks. There are a few Greek churches 

 and mosques. The houses are poorly built ; each of them has its 

 own garden. The church of St. George, which is almost the only 

 building remaining of the time when the Venetians ruled the island, 

 is in possession of the Greek clergy. The country around Baffo is 

 fruitful, and well irrigated by springs ; it produces cotton in abund- 

 ance, and much silk is also raised here. This place occupies the site 

 of New Paphos, so called in contradistinction to Old Paphos, which 

 stood farther to the south-east. Old Paphos, of which the village of 

 Ha occupies the site, is believed to have been built by the 

 Phoenicians, and was famous in the most remote times for its temple 

 of Venus. Homer (' Odyssey," v.) speaks of it as the favourite abode 

 of Venus. In Strabo's time Old Paphos still existed, and was 

 annual!} frequented by a solemn procession of men and women from 

 New Paphos, and from the other towns of the island. Strabo 

 (xiv. p. 683) says that Old Paphos stood ten stadia from the sea, 

 and had a harbour. He speaks also of New Paphos as a considerable 

 place, having fine temples and a good harbour, and as having been 

 built by the Arcadian chief Agapenor, who, according to Pausanias, 

 being driven on shore by a storm on his return from the siege of Troy 

 founded here a little kingdom. Under the Romans New Paphos was 

 the chiof town of the western division of the island. It was destroyed 



by an earthquake in the reign of Augustus, but was soon after- 

 wards rebuilt. St. Paul (Acts xiii.) came to Paphos, and there made 

 a convert of the Roman deputy-governor, Sergius Paulus. Baffo is a 

 Venetian corruption of Paphos. 



BAGE. [AiN.] 



BAGHDAD, a large city of Asiatic Turkey, formerly the capital of 

 the great empire of the caliphs, and now of the pashalic of Baghdad, 

 is in 33 20' N. lat., 44 24' E. long., on the banks of the Tigris, about 

 200 miles in a direct line above the junction of that river with the 

 Euphrates, and 300 miles above the point where the united stream 

 enters the Persian Gulf. The city stands in a forest of date-trees, 

 which conceal the meanness of its buildings from the approaching 

 stranger, but allow glimpses of its splendid minarets and domes. 



Baghdad is divided into two parts by the Tigris. It was originally 

 built on the right bank of that noble stream ; but the court having 

 been removed in the latter part of the llth century to the opposite 

 side, the more respectable part of the population gradually followed, 

 and the original site became a sort of suburb, inhabited chiefly by 

 the poor. The whole of the town is surrounded by a high and thick 

 wall of brick and mud, which is flanked at regular distances with 

 round embattled towers. Some of these were constructed in the 

 time of the caliphs, and in workmanship and size greatly exceed those 

 of more modern date, and are now mounted with cannon. The citadel 

 is on the left bank of the Tigris, at the point within the wall where it 

 abuts on the river, to the north of the city. It commands the com- 

 munication across the river, but it is not of great extent, nor are its 

 fortifications much above the general level of the ramparts of the 

 city. It serves as an arsenal and barrack. The whole city wall on 

 both sides of the river is about 5 miles in circumference ; but a large 

 portion of the area which it incloses is laid out in gardens and planta- 

 tions of date-trees. Under the wall there is a dry ditch of considerable 

 depth, which may when occasion requires be filled from the river. 



The interior of Baghdad miserably disappoints the expectations 

 which the exterior view may have raised. It is built on no regular 

 plan, and there are few towns even in Asia the streets of which are 

 so narrow and tortuous. They are not paved ; they are full of 

 inequalities, occasioned by deposits of rubbish, and rendered dis- 

 gusting by dead carcasses and | all manner of filth, which would 

 endanger the public health were not the most noxious part speedily 

 removed by the numbers of unowned and half-savage dogs. 



In general the houses do not present any windows to the street. 

 Instead of a regular front with windows, there are high walls pierced 

 by low and mean-looking doors ; but in some of the better streets the 

 Turkish kiosk, or large projecting window, or else the Persian lattice, 

 occasionally occur. The houses are mostly built of bricks; new 

 bricks are rarely employed unless in public buildings, as old ones can 

 be easily obtained by turning up the ground in almost any direction 

 around the city. The walls are to appearance of very great solidity and 

 thickness ; but they are only faced with brick, the space between 

 being filled up with earth and rubbish. The houses have two floors 

 besides the habitable cellars. The ground floor is occupied with 

 baths, store-rooms, and servants' officee. The first floor contains the 

 state and family rooms, which are invariably very lofty and splendidly 

 decorated, presenting a striking contrast to the filthy and buggarly 

 aspect of the streets. In many instances the rooms have vaulted 

 ceilings, which are tastefully adorned with chequered work and 

 mouldings. They are amply provided with windows of coloured 

 glass, and the walls are profusely ornamented with gilding, painting, 

 and inlaid mirrors. The buildings of a house in Baghdad commonly 

 occupy two or three sides of the ulterior of a square court. In this 

 court, which is paved with square stones, some date-trees are usually 

 planted, and there is frequently a fountain in the centre. Access to 

 the first floor is afforded by external stairs of stone, which conduct to 

 the verandah, into which all the doors of that floor open. This 

 verandah, which is supported by the walls of the ground floor, is 

 generally wide and paved with squared stones, and its boarded 

 covering and carved screen are supported by pillars of wood, the 

 capitals of which are often very curious. 



The only public buildings of note are the mosques, the khans, or 

 caravanserais, and the bazaars. There are said to bo about 100 

 mosques in the town ; but not more than 30 are distinguished, in a 

 general view of the city, by domes and minarets. The domes are 

 remarkable not less for their unusual height than for being covered 

 with glazed tiles of various colours, chiefly green, blue, black, and 

 white. The minarets, which are more massive in their structure 

 than those of Constantinople, and are without the conical termination 

 which the latter exhibit, are also glazed, but in better taste than the 

 domes, the colour being of a light brown, with a different colour to 

 mark the lines formed by the junction of the bricks. These lofty 

 minarets and beautifully-shaped domes reflect the rays of the sun 

 with very brilliant effect. Some of the more ancient towers are 

 surmounted by the nests of storks. 



The bazaars of Baghdad are numerous and extensive, but are iu 

 appearance much inferior to those of some other oriental cities of lss 

 note. Many of the streets of shops which compose them are long, 

 tolerably wide and straight, and vaulted in the usual manner with 

 brickwork ; many others are narrow, and covered only with a roof of 

 straw, dried leaves, or branches of trees, supported on flat beams laid 



