a BASSORAH. 



BA8SORAH. [BAsmAH.] 



BASTAN, or BA7.TAX, VALLEY OF. [NAVARRA.] 

 . KXXES. [LASDM.] 



BASTI'A, formerly the capital and still the most populous am 

 commercial town in the Island of Corsica, in situated on the eastern 

 ooast of the inland, in 42 42' X. lat, 9 27' E. long., distant 67 mile. 

 '.. from Ajaccio, 95 miles E. by S. from Toulon, and 56 miles 

 \V.> \V. from Piomtiino on the coast of Tuscany : the population in 

 1846 was 12,571. The port of Bastia is formed byalittle creek, which 

 is defended by a mole 164 yards long, running north and south. A I 

 the end of the mole is a fixed light 52 1 feet high, which can be seen 

 at a distance of 10 miles. The harbour is not very safe, nor adapted 

 for vessels of large burden. A singular rock at it* entrance has very 

 much the appearance of a lion in repose. The natives call it ' II Leone.' 



B ATA VIA. 



Ml 



Bock called the Lion of I 



It is of much use as a breakwater when the north winds drive the 

 waters before them. The entrance to the harbour between ' II I^eone' 

 and the extremity of the mole is only 76 yards wide. The town is 

 fortified with walls and bastions. Outside the fortifications are exten- 

 aire suburb*. High hills rise behind the town, above which the higher 

 nmge which runs through the island from north to south is seen. The 

 view from Bastia over the Tuscan Sea is very fine. It embraces the 

 islands of Elba, Capraja, and Honte-Cristo, and the distant coast of 

 Tuscany. The streets of Bastia are narrow, and the houses lofty, and 

 built after the Italian fashion. The Cour Imperiale, or High Court of 

 Justice, civil and criminal, for the island, aits at Bastia. Bastia has a 

 college or superior school, tribunals of first instance and of commerce, 

 and a public library. Of the churches the principal are the cathedral, 

 and the churches of St John the Baptist, St. Koch, and of the Concep- 

 tion. The people of Bastia speak Italian, but most of them are also 

 acquainted with French. Shoe- and glove-leather, soap, wax-candles, 

 and liqueurs are the principal manufactures. Wine, oil, hides, timber, 

 and cattle are exported. A considerable number of the inhabitant* 

 find employment in fishing. Steamers ply weekly between Bastia and 

 Marseille, A road leads from Bastia to Ajaccio across the island, 

 and another leads along the eastern coast to Bonifacio, at the southern 

 extremity of Corsica. [CORSICA.] (Mctionnairc de la Frame.) 



BAST1DE, LA. [AmftoE ; PYREHKES, BASSES.] 



BAT'AVI, or BATA'VI (Juv. viii. 51; Lucan i. 431 ; the form 

 Betavi also occurs in inscriptions), the name of the ancient inhabit- 

 ants of South Holland and some adjacent parts. The Batavi were 

 a Ormanic tribe who n<mr time before the age of Caesar settled on 

 the banks of the Vahalis, the present Waal, a branch of the Lower 

 Rhine. They occupied the district between the VahalU and the Mosa 

 above their junction, and aUo the island formed by the northern arm 

 of the Rhine (or Rhine of Leydra), the Vahalis and Mosa after their 

 junction, and the ocean, which inland now constitutes part of the 

 province of South Holland. Co-ear (' Ue Bell. Gall.' iv. 10), who men- 

 tions their country by the name of Insula Batavorum, or Island of the 

 Batavi, appears to consider it as belonging to Germany, and not to 

 Oaul ; the limits of Belnc Gaul on that ride being placed at the 

 southern branch of the Rhine, or Waal, after itn ji>nrti.,n with the 

 MOM, or Mass. CSMST did not carry the war into the country of the 

 lUUvi. Under Augustus the BaUri became allies of the Romans, 

 1 )ni-u, the brother of Tiberius, dug a canal. Fossa Drusiana, which con- 

 nected the Rhine with the modern Yssel. Besides the Batavi, there was 

 another people on the same island called by the Roman historians 

 Caimiimfates, who were of the same origin as the Batavi (Tacitus, 

 ' Hint 1 iv. 16.) Under the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian the Romans 

 had completely established their dominion over the Batavi ; for we 

 find in the Antonine Itinerary and the IVutingi-r Table two Roman 

 mads acroes the country one from Lugdunum (Leyden) eastward to 

 Trjrtum (Utrecht), and following the course of the Northern Rhine 

 to it* separation from the Vahalu; and another from Lugdunum 

 southward across the island to the Mosa, and then eastward along the 

 bank of that river and the Vshalis to Noviomagus (Nymegen). The 

 BmU wtl * ploy*d by Agrioola in his wars in Britain. (Tacitus, 

 'Agric.' 38.) In some inscriptions they arn called " friends and 

 brothers of the Roman people," or of the " Roman emperors." The 

 date of one of these inscripti 

 emperor Aoreliua. " 



w inscription* is determined by the name of the 

 (Oruter. Ixxi.) Although the name Batavi has 



fallen into disuse, it has always been employed by modern authors 

 writing in Latin to signify the Dutch or Hollanders generally. The 

 name of the Batavi can be traced even now in that of Betuwe, which 

 is a district of the ancient Insula Batavorum, between the Rhine, the 

 Waal, and the Let [BKTCWK.] 



The chief towns of the Island of the Batavi were Lugdunum 

 (Leyden) and Batavudiiruni. both of which being Celtic names give 

 confirmation to the opinion that the Celtic race extended at one time 

 as far north. as the lower course of the Rhine. 



In the latter part of the 3rd century the Saliau Franks established 

 themselves in the country of the Batavi ; they were driven beyond the 

 Mass by the Frisians in the reign of Julian. After this the Insula 

 Batavorum formed part of Fresia, which in the time of the 

 vingians extended southward as far as the Schelde. The Frisian 

 territory was afterwards divided into Fresia Hxreditaria in the west, 

 which was governed by hereditary counts ; and Fresia Libera in tho 

 east, which continued independent The Yssel formed the division 

 between the two. About the 1 1th century Western Fresia began to 

 be called Holland, as some say from tuthl land, ' low hollow laud,' and 

 its counts were styled counts of Holland. The country of the I 

 formed the southern part of their dominions ; but the islands at the 

 mouth of the Mass, and between it and the Schelde, were the subject 

 of frequent contention between them and the counts of Flat 



BATA'VIA, a city on the north coast of Java, is situated at 1 In- 

 bottom of an extensive bay, about 60 miles E.S.E. from the Straits of 

 Sunda, in 6 9' S. lat, 106 52' E. long. It was formerly a i 

 village called Jaccatra. The Dutch established a factory here in 1 n U, 

 and the English did the same six years later; but the J hitch having 

 conquered the country founded tlie present town under the name of 

 Batavia, and removed the government from Bantam in lfill. It 

 finally became the capital of their East Indian empire and the resi- 

 dence of the governor-general; and the English having taken jrt 

 with the natives in opposing the Dutch, retired from the place. Tho 

 Dutch gradually increased their power, and the town rose rapidly to 

 importance and became the emporium of all the pnxlu<-<- of In li.i, 

 China, and Japan, as no ship was allowed to proceed direct to Holland 

 without first touching at this port, except the coffee ships from Mocha. 

 In 1811 Holland having become a province of the French empire 

 Batavia fell into the hands of the French, from whom it was taken by 

 the English. By the treaty of 1815 it was restored to the Dutch, wh'i 

 resumed the government in the following year. The city of IV. 

 and its suburbs constitute one of four departments into which the 

 province of Batavia is divided. [JAVA.] 



Batavia is an important place from its excellent bay and its advan- 

 tageous position for European commerce. It stands at the mouth ( 

 ;he river Jaccatra in the midst of swamps and marshes, surrounded 

 by trees and jungle which prevent the exhalations from being carried 

 off by a free circulation of the air, and render the town peculiarly 

 exposed to marsh miasmata. Besides this, all the principal f 

 are traversed by canals, planted on each side with rows of tree.-. 

 which there are bridges at the end of almost every street Tin A- 

 lave also booms, which are drawn across at sunset to prevent the 

 lassage of boats in and out These canals are common receptacles 

 or filth, and in the dry season their stagnant and dimii 

 waters emit a most intolerable stench, while in the wet season tin y 

 overflow their banks and leave a quantity of offensive slime. I 

 these united causes it is not surprising that Batavia has been consi- 

 dered the most unhealthy spot in the world, and has been designated 

 he storehouse of disease. From an account which was kept of tho 

 deaths which occurred from 1730 to 1752 it would appear that the 

 otal number amounted to upwards of 1,100,000. During the Kreneh 

 occupation the walls of the town were removed by General 1 1.1. n.lels 

 with the view of admitting a freer circulation of air, and with tho 

 materials the cantonment of Weltevredcn was built a short distance 

 r rom the town inland. Since 1815 many improvements have 

 jffected in the arrangements of the streets and the general condition 

 of the town. A new nt\ with wiilc streets, commodious houses, nn<l 

 arge squares has been built on the elevated grounds farther inland. 

 "or several miles this new city presents a succession of large handsome 

 I welling*, standing in extensive gardens and surrounded by cocoa nut, 

 Nuiana, and other trees, the shade of which is exceedingly agreeable 

 o the occupants of the houses. Here are the residences of tho Euro- 

 lean merchants, many of whom are English. The government offices, 

 he warehouses, and stores of the merchants, which are occupx >1 

 during the day only, are still retained in the old town. The perma- 

 nent inhabitants of the old town are chiefly Chinese, Malays, and 

 lescendants of early Portuguese settlers. The most remarkable build- 

 ngs in the old town are the custom-house, the bonding warehouses, 

 he ' lombongs,' or coffee stores, the exchange, the bank of Java, the 

 actory of the Commercial Company, and the Chinese and Portuguese 

 inKpitala. In the now city the large military barracks, the stadtbaus, 

 he military hospital, the Catholic church, the prison, the military 

 luhhouw, and the theatre are built round the square of Weltevreden. 

 u K^nings Plein (King's Square) there is a beautiful Protestant 

 hureh, and between it and Weltevreden a new citadel Along the 

 lyswijk Canal are the governor's house ; Harmony House, a spacious 

 building in which files are given ; and the hotel of the literary society, 

 imong the literary and scientific establishments may be mentioned the 



