001 



BARRA. 



BARROW-UPON-SOAR. 



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the purpose of facilitating the operations of the traffic in slaves. 

 When Amari-Sonko died his conquests were divided among his three 

 sons, who respectively became sovereigns of Barra, Kollar, and Baclibou. 

 Their descendants still reign, and the memory of these events is 

 preserved by tradition among the people. The Mandingoes of Barra 

 and the other two kingdoms are a fine race of men ; their average 

 stature is 5 feet 10 inches, but this is often exceeded; and their 

 countenance has more length than is usually observed among negroes. 

 Their habitations and modes of living display more comfort than is 

 found among their neighbours the Jaloofs. It is remarkable that the 

 houses of free men are of a square form, while those of slaves are 

 round. They are zealous Moslems, very active in their habits, intel- 

 ligent, and cunning in commercial affairs ; their general character is 

 hospitable, benevolent, and sociable. The territory of this small state 

 is in general well cultivated, and contains a large number of consider- 

 able villages. The forests do not occupy more than one-eighth of the 

 surface, which is rather marshy, but very fertile. Golberry estimated 

 the population of this state at 200,000 persons. (Golberry's Fraymens 

 (run Voyage en Afrifjue.) 



BARRA, or BARRA Y, one of the Western Islands of Scotland, 

 forming with several others a parish of that name. It is situated 

 in 57" N. lat., 7 30' W. long., and is 42 miles W.N.W. from the point 

 of Ardnamurchan. It is about 8 miles in length, and from 2 to 4 miles 

 in breadth, and its area which is irregular from deep indentations 

 of the sea is about 16,000 acres. The parish belongs to Inverness- 

 shire, and is composed of the island of Barra, of 10 other small 

 inhabited islands, and of several uninhabited. On Barra-head in the 

 most southern of these islands is a magnificent lighthouse. The 

 population of the entire parish in 1841 was 2363, in 1851 it was 1873. 



The name is said to be derived from St. Bar, bishop of Caithness, 

 to whom the church was dedicated. Several stone circles or Druidical 

 remains and Danish duns,*as some writers consider them, are dispersed 

 over the island ; and at Cbisamil (or Kismul) Bay are the remains 

 of a castle, the residence of the lairds of Barra until the beginning 

 of the last century. The island is divided into two portions con- 

 nected by a low sandy isthmus, over which the sea nearly breaks at 

 high water. The southern and larger portion contains a rocky 

 mountain about 2000 feet high, which descends abruptly into 

 Chisamil Bay and declines to the north and east by a succession of 

 lower hills, terminating on the shores in various rocky points which 

 separate the small valleys in which the population resides. The 

 land is sandy and of little value even where susceptible of cultivation. 

 The rougher tracts are appropriated to the pasturage of black cattle 

 for exportation. Agriculture is in a rude state, and a large portion 

 of the inhabitants employ themselves in burning kelp. The Barra 

 men are among the most industrious fishermen in Scotland. They 

 carry on an extensive cod and ling fishery for the Greenock market. 

 Their boats are superior to those of the other Western Islands and 

 of peculiar construction. They are built by the boatmen themselves, 

 are of considerable size, and are sharp both fore and aft. They have 

 no floor, but rise with an almost flat straight side, and they are swift 

 and safe. Around this island shell-fish are abundant, and form a 

 great resource to the people. The limpets, clams, and other species 

 are boiled, and the people use the broth mixed or boiled up with 

 oatmeal. In times of scarcity, when the inhabitants have resorted to 

 a great sand bank to the north of the island for their daily subsistence, 

 200 horse-loads have been taken off the sands every day of the 

 spring-tides during May, June, July, and August. 



The Gaelic language is said to be spoken in its greatest purity in 

 Barra. The inhabitants are mostly Roman Catholics. Of the three 

 churches in the island one belongs to this body. 



(M'Culloch's Highland* and Western Islands of Scotland ; Hall's 

 Travels in Scotland ; Carlisle's Topographical Dictionary of Scotland.) 



BARRAMAHA'L, or BARRA-MAUL, a subdivision of the province 

 of Salem under the Madras Presidency, situated between 12 and 

 14 N. lat., and 78" and 79 E. long. The name Barra-maul, which 

 signifies the 'twelve places," was given to the district because it 

 contained twelve fortresses which were once places of note. Only 

 three of these places, Kktnaghiri, Vaniambady, and Tripatore are 

 now existing, and none of them are places of strength. 



The Barramahal district is a wild and mountainous region above 

 thf Eastern Ghauts, and atone time contained a considerable number 

 of hill-forts, which are now either dismantled or have fallen to 

 decay. After the capture of Seringapatam in 1799 several districts 

 of Karnata were added to the Uarramahal district. The temperature 

 of these added districts is much colder in the rainy season than it is in 

 the nncient district of Barramahal, and the climate is not so healthy. 



The construction and conservation of tanks are encouraged in 

 Barramahal by a regulation which gives to every man who constructs 

 a tank at his own expense one-fourth of the land watered by it, to 

 hold the same in free estate, and to transmit it to his heirs, to be 

 enjoyed by them so long as the work is kept in efficient repair. It 

 is found that tanks thus constructed are always better maintained 

 than those of which the government has charge, the officers to whom 

 the preservation of the latter is committed not having an equal 

 intercut in their efficiency. 



Rice is cultivated to a small extent in the added districts, and 

 it reservoirs of water which they contain are chiefly employed 



for the irrigation of tarkari, or kitchen-gardens, the cultivation of 

 which is of the utmost importance to the inhabitants. These gardens 

 are usually of the extent of about three acres, and each can bo 

 cultivated by three men ; they grow a great variety of vegetables. 

 Tobacco is raised in the open fields, as well as a small quantity of 

 millet. The sugar-cane is cultivated abundantly, and there are 

 numerous plantations of cocoa-nut and Areca palms. 



Some coarse manufactures are carried on in the district, but the 

 more wealthy inhabitants draw their supply of such necessaries from 

 other parts, and in a great degree from Salem and Bangalore. 



When the Barramahal districts first came into the possession of 

 the East India Company their state was in every respect miserable. 

 The inhabitants have still an appearance of wretchedness about 

 them, and the country is infested by beggars. The condition of 

 the cultivators has however been so far improved that, although the 

 nominal rents have been reduced, the revenue derived by the govern- 

 ment has been more than doubled. Nearly all the inhabitants are 

 Hindoos : only about one-twentieth are Mohammedans. 



(Rennell's Memoir ; Buchanan's Journey through Mysore, <i-c. ; 

 Parliamentary Papers.) 



BARHAUX. [IsERE.] 



BARREME. [ALPES, BASSES.] 



BARREN ISLAND. [ANDAMAN ISLANDS.] 



BARRHEAD, Renfrewshire, Scotland, a small manufacturing 

 town of recent growth in the parish of Neilston, 3 miles S.E. from 

 Paisley and about 8 miles S.W. from Glasgow. It is connected with 

 Glasgow and Ayrshire by the Glasgow, Barrhead, and Neilston railway. 

 Spinning, weaving, and bleaching works are carried on here. The 

 town in addition to its neat railway station possesses a chapel of 

 ease and two meeting-houses, one for a congregation of the Free 

 Church and the other for United Presbyterians : the population of 

 Barrhead in 1851 was 6069. 



BARRIER ISLAND. [ZEALAND, NEW.] 



BARROIS, LE, or the territory of the Duchy of Bar in France, 

 formed part of the estates of the old dukes of Lorraine. It took its 

 name from its chief town Bar-le-Duc or Bar-sur-Ornain. This terri- 

 tory which was 80 miles long and 40 miles wide is now distributed 

 among the departments of MOSELLE, MEUSE, MABNE (HAUTE), and 

 VOSGES. Besides Bar-le-Duc it contained the towns of Pont-a- 

 Mousson and St.-Mihiel on the Meuse; Ligny on the Ornaiu; and 

 Longwy and Longuyon near the Luxembourg frontier. 



BARROW, a considerable river in Ireland, which has its source on 

 the eastern declivity of Slieve Bloom mountain in King's County, a 

 few miles west of Portarliugton. The Barrow flows first to the east, 

 past the town just mentioned, to the borders of the county Kildare 

 at Mouasterevan, and then taking a direction nearly south it divides 

 King's aud Queen's counties from Kildare. Continuing the same 

 course the river passes through the county and town of Carlow, and 

 afterwards forms the line of separation between Wexford on the east, 

 and Kilkenny and Waterford on the west, and joins the sea at Water- 

 ford Haven. At Ringwood, 2 miles above the town of New Ross, the 

 Barrow receives the waters of the Nore ; and their united stream is 

 afterwards augmented by the Suir, which joins it to the east of thp 

 city of Waterford. The junction of both these streams with the 

 Barrow takes place on its right or western bank. 



The three rivers here mentioned have been called the Three Sisters 

 from the circumstance of their taking their sources from the same 

 ridge of mountains, and after flowing through different counties at 

 length forming a junction at a short distance from the sea. The 

 Bairow is supposed to have been the Birgus of Ptolemseus. The 

 mouth ol these united streams forms a large and very secure port, 

 about 9 miles long, with very good anchorage. 



Considerable sums of money have at various times been spent under 

 the sanction of Parliament to render this river navigable. From a 

 report made to the House of Commons by the Board of Inland Navi- 

 gation in Ireland it appears that about 42,0001. had been expended 

 with this object up to March 1811, and much has been done since 

 that date to remove obstructions. The Barrow is naturally navigable 

 to St. Mullins, 10 miles above New Cross, and thence by lateral cuts and 

 locks to Athy in the county of Kildare, about 65 miles in a direct line 

 from its mouth ; the communication is thence continued to Dublin by 

 means of a branch of the Grand Canal. Vessels of 300 tons burden 

 can ascend the river at spring tides 25 miles to the town of New Ross, 

 which by this means is enabled to carry on a valuable export trade in 

 agricultural produce. Above the bridge of New Ross the trade is 

 carried on by means of barges. In 1846 the tonnage carried on the 

 Barrow Navigation was 38,750 tons, and the tolls were 6404/. 18s. 4Ja!. 

 The traffic up to that time since 1836 had boon progressively increas- 

 ing. The goods carried were corn, flour, coal, culm, turf, limestone, 

 and general merchandise. 



(Reports to Parliament of the Board of Inland Navigation in 

 Ireland ; Thorn's 7mA Almanac ; Ordnance Purvey Map.) 



BARROW POINT. [NORTH POLAR COUNTRIES.] 



BARROW-UPON-SOAR, Leicestershire, a village and the scat of a 

 Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Barrow-upon-Soar and hundreds of 

 East and West Goscote, in 52 45' N. lat., 1" 9' W. long., is 10 miles 

 N. from Leicester, 105 mile N.N.W. from London by road, and 113 

 miles by the North-Western aud Midland railways. The entire 



