920 



BATHURST. 



BATTAS. 



930 



55 a 54' N. lat., 3 38' W. long. It is 18 miles W. from Edinburgh, 

 24 miles E. from Glasgow, and 6 miles S. from Linlithgow; from 

 Edinburgh it is 18f miles distant by the Edinburgh and Glasgow 

 railway. The population in 1851 was 3,341. Under the Reform Act 

 the voters in the burgh join those of the county in electing a repre- 

 sentative to the Imperial Parliament. 



The old town of Bathgate is built on a steep hill, and the streets 

 are narrow. The more modem part of the town is regularly built in 

 wide straight streets, and is well paved and lighted. This place has 

 greatly increased of late years in extent and population, which may be 

 ascribed to cotton manufactures being established in it, to extensive 

 coal and lime works in the immediate vicinity, and to its admirable 

 situation for grain and cattle markets. It is a healthy place, has a 

 fine southern aspect, and is seen at a considerable distance to the wes' 

 and south. The houses are generally well built and copiously supplied 

 with excellent water brought from the neighbourhood in leaden con 

 duits. Gas-works have been erected for lighting the town. It enjoys 

 direct railway communication with Edinburgh and Glasgow, and by 

 the Caledonian railway with the south. The academy, which stands 

 on an elevation a little to the south-east of the town, was erected severa' 

 years ago from funds bequeathed by John Newlands, Esq., of Kingston, 

 Jamaica, a native of Bathgate. The system of education is of the 

 most approved kind, and instruction in the useful and learned 

 branches is obtained gratis, ample funds for the teachers' salaries 

 having been bequeathed for that benevolent purpose. All the youths 

 of the parish, with the exception of such as have not been three years 

 resident, may enjoy the benefit of it. 



The parish church is a very plain edifice. There are a Free church, 

 and two chapels for United Presbyterians. The parish school and the 

 town jail are the other public edifices. 



Bathgate has been a free burgh of barony since 1663, in which 

 year King Charles II. granted its charter; and in 1824 an Act of 

 Parliament was obtained, erecting it into a " free and independent 

 burgh," and vesting the magistracy in a provost, bailies, treasurer, and 

 councillors chosen by the burgesses. The qualification is less than 

 that fixed by the Reform Act. At a small expense the streets and wells 

 are kept in the best order, and the police of the town properly main- 

 tained. In the immediate vicinity, and near the academy, is the site 

 of an ancient castle, given by Robert the Bruce to his daughter Mar- 

 jory, along with extensive possessions in the neighbourhood, as part of 

 her dowry upon her marriage with Walter, the Great Steward of 

 Scotland, who died here. 



(iWio Statistical Account of Scotland ; Penney" s Linlithgowshire.) 

 BATHURST, in New South Wales, one of the counties into which 

 that part of the territory of the colony which lies west of the Blue 

 Mountains has been divided. As there are no marked features to dis- 

 tinguish this county from others in the colony, it will be noticed under 

 the general heading of NEW SOUTH WALES. 

 BATHURST DISTRICT. [CANADA.] 



BATHURST, the name originally given to a British settlement in 

 Africa, which is now designated in the Colonial Reports by the name 

 of Gambia. It occupies certain portions of the river of the same name 

 on the west coast of Africa. [GAMBIA.] 

 BATHI'IIST. [.YEW BnrxswicK.] 

 I'.ATlintsT IXLKT. [NORTH POLAR COUNTRIES.] 

 BATIirRST ISLAND. [NORTH POLAK COCNTUI 

 BATIGNOLES, LES. [SKINK, Department of.] 

 BATN-EL-HAJAR (that is, 'the Womb of Rocks'), or Dar-el-Hajar 

 (' the Mansion of Rocks '), is the name of a stony wilderness, stretching 

 along the Nile from the district of Succot in the south, to Wadi Haifa 

 in the north. In the map of the course of the Nile, drawn by CoL 

 W. M. Leake, which accompanies Burckhardt's ' Travels iu Nubia,' it 

 in laid down between 21-22 N. lat, and 30 35'-31 10' E. long. ; 

 in Ruppell's map between 21 10'-50' N. lat., and 30 40'- 

 31 10' E. long. The Nile, during its progress through the upper 

 part of thin district, as far as Wadi Mershed, is often forced into a 

 narrow channel by the close approach of the mountains on both sides ; 

 and towards the north of Wadi Mershed navigation is interrupted by 

 nt cataracts, rocks, and small islands. A few spots only admit 

 of cultivation, which consist of narrow strips of land situated along 

 the Nile; but even here the banks are generally so high that the 

 annual inundations of the river do not reach the plains, and the soil 

 must be irrigated by means of water-wheels. The mountains of Batn- 

 el-Hajar consist of primitive rocks, principally of greenstone and 

 grauwacke, and toward of Seraa of granite ; they differ in 



this respect from the hills that flank the Nile below Wadi Haifa, 

 where the prevailing rock is sandstone. The mountains on the 

 eastern nide of the Nile, reach their greatest elevation towards the 

 Hoiith : the Jabal Lamoule, above Wadi Ambigo, is noticed by Burck- 

 tiardt as one of the highest. Another group of high hills called Jabel 

 Bilingo is found farther towards the north, between WAdi Attar and 

 Seraa. In his route from WAdi Attar to Wfuli Ambigo, Burckhardt 

 had to croaa over a high mountain pass in the Inlln named Jabel 

 h"inhe. 



'I IH Hrnall strips of level land on the banks of the river were 



i ly populous and well cultivated, but are now thinly inhabited. 



r of the pp .habitants of the whole district of 



1 Hojar is estimated by Burckhardt not to exceed 200. They 



GEOO. DIV. VOL. r. 



consist partly of Beduins of the tribe Kerrarish ; partly of Arabs, who 

 pretend to be Shertfs, or descendants of the family of Mohammed, 

 from Mecca. Most of the Sherifs speak a little Arabic. They are 

 described as being remarkably well made, with fine features, and of a 

 dark brown colour. They go naked, and the women are in the habit 

 of wearing leather amulets round the neck, and copper ornaments on 

 their arms and wrists. They dwell chiefly upon the little islands of 

 the river, where they are less exposed to the attacks of the predatory 

 Arabs than on the banks of the river. 



Riippell, who in 1823 passed through the part of Batn-el-Hajar 

 situated on the western side of the Nile, describes that district as 

 consisting of a chain of syenite hills along the banks of the river, and 

 beyond them as far as the eye could reach of a tract of mo veable sands, 

 the dreary uniformity of which was but seldom interrupted by pro- 

 jecting dark cliffs of primitive . rock. On the western bank of the 

 river, towards the south of Wadi Haifa, Ruppell found many deserted 

 villages and monasteries. Nearly the whole of the western part of 

 DAr-el-Hajar is now uninhabited. At Semne (in 21 30' N. lat.) 

 Ruppell saw the ruins of a large and apparently ancient village or 

 town, with several temples in a mixed Roman and Egyptian style of 

 architecture. (Ruppell's ' Reisen in Nubien,' &c., Frankfurt, 1829.) 



The vegetable productions of Batn-el-Hajar are few. Date trees are 

 occasionally found in the wadis, or valleys, that intersect the hills and 

 slope towards the Nile. At Wadi Seras Burckhardt saw a few cotton- 

 fields and bean-plantations. Durrha is scarce. The principal food 

 of the inhabitants consists of beans and the grains of a shrub called 

 kerkedan, which grows wild here. Another leguminous plant, the 

 symka, is used as food for camels, and from its grains an oil is 

 prepared which the natives use instead of butter. 



At the southern extremity of Batn-el-Hajar, the village of Wadi 

 Okame or Ukme is situated : this place is often visited by pilgrims 

 who perform their devotions at the tomb of a Mohammedan saint, 

 Sheikh Okashe, who is buried here. At a distance of two hours' ride 

 S.S.W. of Okame is the island of Kolbe, the residence of the chief of 

 Succot. 



BATTAS. The large portion of the island of Sumatra which is 

 known as the Battas country, is situated between the equator and 

 about 2 30' N. lat. With the exception of the principality of Siak 

 on the north-east coast, and of some settlements at the mouths of 

 rivers which are possessed by Malays, this country includes the 

 whole of the space between those parallels. On the south-east it is 

 bounded by the principalities of Rawa and Menancabow, and on the 

 north-west by the kingdom of Atcheen. 



The Battas country, which by the inhabitants is called Batak, is 

 divided into several provinces, which are subdivided into districts. 

 The most populous of the districts are those situated about the centre 

 of the country. The great Toba or Towah Lake, which lies in a direction 

 nearly north-east from the Dutch settlement of Tapanooly, (1 40' 

 N. lat., 98 50' E. long.,) is described as being from 60 to 70 miles 

 long, with a breadth of from 15 to 20 miles. The surface of the lake 

 is said to be sometimes so rough as to upset tho sampans or boats that 

 ply to an island in the middle of it, on which a periodical market is 

 held. Several streams, one of them of considerable size, flow into 

 the Toba Lake. The lake is bordered all round by a sandy beach. 

 A river descends from it, which empties itself into the sea on the 

 eastern side of the Sumatra. 



It is said that the supreme government over the whole of the 

 Battas districts is exercised by one chief, who lives at the north- 

 western extremity of the Toba Lake. By this chief a deputy is 

 appointed for each district, who, assisted by a council composed of 

 the leading inhabitants, conducts the political affairs of the district ; 

 ie frames laws, declares war, makes peace, and administers justice. 

 The authority of these deputies is very much controlled by the 

 councils with whom they act, so that the different districts may be 

 considered as so many oligarchies. The more minute functions of 

 government are otherwise performed, each village forming in this 

 respect a distinct community, and possessing within itself the power 

 of framing regulations for its own municipal government. Compared 

 with the Malays of the coast, although they are less enterprising, the 

 Sattas are more industrious. A great part of the necessaries of life 

 equired at such of the Malayan settlements as are within their reach 

 's supplied from the Battas country. 



These people consider themselves to have been the earliest settlers 

 on Sumatra, and they have a tradition that their forefathers came 

 "rom a country lying to the east of that island, but their belief upon 

 ;his subject is very vague, and they exhibit so many points of resem- 

 >lance to Hindoos that it appears more probable they must originally 

 lave come from India. The resemblance here spoken of is shown in 

 lieir persons : they are of middle stature, well made, and have 

 >rominent noses. Their religious notions likewise savour strongly of 

 Iiiid< 10 origin. They believe in the existence of a Supreme Creator 

 of the world, who has committed the charge of its government to 

 three sons, who in their turn have delegated to inferior gods the 

 duties of their office. The names of these gods are said to have a 

 itrong resemblance to those of the Hindoo mythology. This system 

 >f faith is burdened with numerous superstitions. Tho people 

 jelieve in the constant interposition of good and evil genii in their 

 vorldly affairs, and every village has its peculiar demons or spirits, 



S o 



