s;i BALE. 



Gilbert Earl of Pembroke. The original name appears to have been 

 Baudoc. 



The town occupies a low situation surrounded on all sides by an 

 open chalky country. It is however very pleasant and salubrious, 

 and contains several good mansions. It consists of four streets ; the 

 High Street is very* wide and handsome. It is lighted with gas and 

 paved. The church is a spacious and beautiful edifice, haying at the 

 west end a square embattled tower surmounted with a lofty octagonal 

 spire. It was originally erected by the Templars in the early part of 

 the 13th century, but was nearly rebuilt in the 15th century. In 

 1847 the interior of the church was completely restored at a cost of 

 20001. The east and west windows are filled with painted glass. In 

 the north and south walls are the tombs of two knights templars. 

 The present rector of Baldock, the Rev. John Smith, A.M., is the 

 decipherer of ' Pepys's Diaries.' There are places of worship for 

 Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists, Independents, and Quakers. 

 There are a National school, built in 1834, a British school, a savings 

 bank, a range of almshouses endowed in 1621 by John Wynn, Esq., 

 for 12 pnr.r willows, and almshouses built and endowed in 1838 by 

 H. O. Roe. Esq., for aged married couples. There are also several 

 charities l>,r distributing bread, Ac., weekly. 



The trade of the town is chiefly in malt. Much barley is grown in 

 the vicinity. In the town are several large malting establishments, 

 and three considerable breweries. The market, on Friday, is chiefly 

 for straw plait, of w'uich large quantities are made in the town and 

 neighbourhood. The fairs are held on March 7th, the last Thursday 

 in May, August 5th, October 2nd, and December llth; and much 

 cheese from the fens is sold at them. 



(Chauncy's History of Hertfordshire; Clutterbuck's Hertfordshire; 

 Correspondent at Baldock.) 



BALE. [BASEL.] 



BALEA'RIC ISLANDS, in Spanish Lag fslas de lialearee, in 

 Greek ru^njffiai, BaKtapiSts, and Ba\\tapi'!s, in Latin Baleares, are 

 situated in the western part of the Mediterranean, off the east coast 

 of Spain, to which country they belong. They now constitute the 

 province of Mallorca, and consist of the islands of Mallorca (Majorca), 

 Menorca (Minorca), Iviza or Ibiza, Formentera, Cabrera, Conejera, and 

 some small islets. They lie in a north-east and south-west direction, 

 occupying a space of about 180 miles in length. They lie between 

 38 37' and 40 7' N. lat., 1 10' and 4 22' E. long. Iviza, the 

 nearest to the Spanish coast, is about 60 miles W.N.W. from Cape 

 San Martin. Mallorca, the largest island, is about 50 miles N.W. 

 from Iviza; and Menorca about 25 miles W.N.W. from Mallorca. 

 Formentera is about 6 miles S. from Iviza ; Cabrera, about 1 miles 

 S. from Mallorca ; and Conejera a short distance N. from Cabrera. 

 Strabo mentions only four, and classes them under the names of 

 Gymntriai (Majorca and Menorca) and Pityusai (Iviza and Formen- 

 tera), giving the name Balearides to the whole group. The name 

 Pityusai seems to be a Greek term derived from the pine-trees with 

 which Iviza abounded. The two Pityusai were called by the Greeks 

 respectively Ebusus and Ophiusa (Snake Island), which last the 

 Romans translated into Colubraria. Cabrera is the Capraria of the 

 Roman geographers. The area is 1757 square miles : the population 

 in 1848 was estimated at 253,000. Mallorca is considerably larger 

 than all the other islands put together. The capital is Palma. Port 

 Mahon in Menorca is one of the best harbours in Europe, and is the 

 chief place of trade. The three largest islands are described under 

 their respective names. [MALLORCA ; MENOBCA ; IVIZA.] Formen- 

 tera is abont 1 miles long, with an average breadth of about 3 miles. 

 It has no streams, but numerous wells. It produces much 

 corn, wine, and olive-oil. It contains good building-stone ; and the 

 inhabitants, about 1300, carry on a lucrative trade in salt. Cabrera 

 is smaller than Formentera and has few inhabitants, but contains a 

 good port. It is little cultivated, and mostly covered with wood, 

 which is cut occasionally and conveyed to Mallorca. It seems to 

 derive its name from the goats which are kept upon it (cobra, Spanish, 

 a goat). Conejera, the smallest island, is without inhabitants, but 

 it is Abundantly stocked with rabbits, whence the name, which in 

 Spanish signifies a rabbit-warren. 



The islands are generally hilly, and Mallorca may be termed moun- 

 tainous, but they are not of volcanic formation. Granite, marbles, 

 jasper, porphyry, slate, and pit-coal are found ; also lead and iron. 

 The soil is generally good, and chiefly cultivated with vines, olives, 

 and other fruit-trees, but corn is not produced in sufficient quantities 

 for home consumption. This article and cattle form the principal 

 imports of the islands, in exchange for wines and brandies of an 

 r quality, coarse woollen cloths, and dried fruits. The general 

 features of the coasts are steep and nigged, surrounded by rocks and 

 isleta, but affording some excellent harbours. The water around them 

 is deep. 



The word Baleares has been generally considered to be from the 

 Greek /M\Anc, to throw ; the original inhabitants were very expert in 

 the twe of the sling, to which they were trained from their infancy ; and 

 their dexterity as slingera while serving in the Carthaginian and 

 Komon armies is often noticed by ancient authors. Strabo however 

 (xiv. p. 654) assigns to the name a Phoenician origin, observing that 

 it was the Phoenician equivalent for the Greek yvnyfjras, that is, light- 

 armed troop*. 



BALI. 



842 



The Phoonicians it appears were the first settlers in these islands, 

 which however had a race of original inhabitants. The Carthaginians 

 under Hanno, having made themselves masters of the whole group, 

 proceeded to form new settlements and founded the town of Mago 

 (Mahon) and others. The islands furnished them with considerable 

 bodies of troops in their wars against Sicily and Rome, and a large force 

 of their slingers accompanied Hannibal in his passage across the Alps. 

 When the Carthaginians were driven from Spain the islanders obtained 

 their freedom, which they made use of to apply themselves to piracy 

 till they were subdued by the Roman consul Q. Metellus, who founded 

 the cities of Palma and Pollentia in Mallorca and took the surname 

 of Balearicus. They continued attached to the Republic as part of 

 Hispania Citerior, and subsequently to the Empire. From the reign 

 of Constantino the Great till the reign of Theodosius the Great they 

 had their own government. Spain having fallen into the hands of the 

 Vandals and Goths a body passed over to these islands who were after- 

 wards subdued by the Moors. Charlemagne obtained possession of 

 the islands but kept them only six years, when they were recovered 

 by the Moors, who continued practising piratical excesses against the 

 Christian powers. The kings of Aragon made frequent attempts 

 against them. Mallorca fell in 1229, but the Moors were not finally 

 expelled from the whole group till nearly 60 years afterwards, when the 

 islands were formally annexed to the crown of Aragon. Menorca was 

 taken by the English in 1708, and finally ceded to them by the treaty 

 of Utrecht ; but on the breaking out of the war it was recaptured by 

 the combined force of France and Spain. In 1798 it again surrendered 

 to the British, and remained in their possession till the peace of 1814, 

 when it was restored to Spain. 



(Strabo, p. 167 ; Casaub. ; Diodorus, lib. v. 17, 18 ; Plin. iii. 5 ; P. 

 Mela, ii. 9 ; Dameto's Hist, of the Balearic Kingdom ; Armstrong's 

 Minorca; Sauveur's Travels in the Balearic Islands; Madoz's Diccio- 

 nario Oeoffraphico.) 

 BALFRON. [STIRLINGSHIRE.] 



BALFRUSH (correctly Barfurush), a town in the province of 

 Mazanderan in Persia, is about 1 2 miles direct from the south shore 

 of the Caspian Sea. The city stands on a low and swampy plain, 

 and is surrounded by a dense forest of tall trees, which so conceal the 

 buildings that, except in the bazaars, it has no appearance of being a 

 large and populous place. The houses, which are comfortable, well 

 built, roofed with tiles, and inclosed by a wall, stand in clusters, of 

 which there are twenty distinct groups. The streets or roads are broad 

 and neat, though chiefly unpaved ; they are free from rubbish, and 

 kept in good order. The bazaars extend full a mile in length ; they 

 are covered in from the sun and rain by a roofing of tiles and wood, 

 and are kept in excellent repair. The display of merchandise is better 

 than in almost any other town in Persia except Ispahan. A little to 

 the southward of the town, on an island formed by water brought by 

 subterranean canals from the river Bahbul, is a palace built by a former 

 governor of Mazanderan. The palace is now going to decay, and the 

 water surrounding the island is a stagnant pool covered with reeds 

 and rushes, the haunt of numberless waterfowl. A crazy wooden 

 bridge connects the island with the mainland. A hard, level, excel- 

 lent road, passable for wheeled vehicles at all seasons, leads northward 

 from Balfrush to Meshedi-Ser, its port on the Caspian. Meshedi-Ser 

 is situated at the mouth of the Bahbul, which is navigable for boats 

 to within about four miles of Balfrush. Vessels of 200 tons lie in the 

 roadstead at Meshedi-Ser, where goods are imported for the Balfrush 

 and other markets from Russia. The town owes its prosperity chiefly 

 to its commerce, though that has of late years much diminished, and 

 likewise tc the richness and productiveness of the plain in which it 

 stands. This plain extends southward from the Caspian thirty miles 

 to the first range of low hills, and its principal products are rice, 

 cotton, and sugar. Wheat is little grown ; what is used is imported 

 chiefly from other provinces'. 



There are in the town about ten principal caravansarais and thirty 

 colleges, or medresses, the place being almost as much celebrated for 

 its moollahs and learning as for its merchants and commerce. The 

 trade is carried on not by the river but by horses, mules, and wheeled 

 carriages, which travel in caravans. Balfrush is an unhealthy place ; 

 acute and intermittent fevers, ophthalmia, putrid sore throat, and 

 rheumatism are very common diseases. Its population is estimated 

 at 20,000. It lies about 30 miles west of Saree, the capital of 

 Mazanderau, in 35 55' N. lat., 32 40' E. long. 



(J. B. Fraser, Travels and Adventures; Major Todd, in London 

 Geographical Journal, vol. viii.) 

 BALGONIE. [FIFEBHIBB.] 



BALI, or LITTLE JAVA, an island separated from the eastern 

 extremity of Java by a strait called the Strait of Bali, is situated 

 between the 8th and 9th degrees of S. latitude, its southern promon- 

 tory being in 8 40' S. lat., 115 20' E. long. The island is 70 miles 

 long from east to west, and its average breadth is 35 miles. No 

 bottom is found with 480 feet of line in the narrowest part of the 

 Strait of Bali, where also its width does not exceed 3 miles. The 

 spring-tides pass through it at the rate of six miles an hour. The 

 coast throughout is difficult of approach, and has not a single harbour 

 or even good anchoring ground. The country is mountainous, and rises 

 gradually from the north and south coasts towards the interior for the 

 distance of about ten miles, whore a ridge of mountains occupies the 



