1017 



BENIN, BIGHT OF. 



BERAR. 



(Hamilton's ^Egyptiaca ; Description de I'Egypte; Legh's Nairative 

 of a Journey tu Kqyjit ; Rosellini's Plates.) 



BENIN, BIGHT OF, in the Gulf of Guinea, is contained between 

 Cape Formosa to the east and Cape St. Paul's to the west, the 

 distance between which is 300 geographical miles in an east-by-south 

 direction, while that along the coast is nearly 350 miles. It is with 

 very few exceptions oue continuous line of low, marshy, sandy 

 shore, intersected by numerous rivers and testuaries, more especially 

 towards Cape Formosa, where they form alluvial islands, which are 

 part of the delta of the Quorra. The swampy character of the 

 ground extends in some places upwards of fifty miles inland from the 

 beach, and is thickly wooded in most parts with mangroves and other 

 aquatic plants ; in the wet season large tracts are inundated. The 

 principal towns along the coasts arc Quitta, Great and Little Popoe, 

 Whydah, Porto Novo, the sea-port of Ardrah, Badagry, and Lagos. 

 At Badagry the English have established a factory for the purpose 

 of carrying on trade with the natives. In connection with the 

 proceedings of the British squadron engaged in the suppression of 

 the African slave-trade, the coast along the Bight of Benin was 

 blockaded from the 6th December 1851. The blockade was raised 

 on the llth February 1852 in respect of the following places, 

 namely : Blockou.se, Elmina C'hica, Adaffie, Flokow, Porto Seguro, 

 Gomuluta, Little Popoe, Aghwey, Great Popoe, Porto Novo, and 

 Lagos; the kings and chiefs of these places "having entered into 

 engagements with Her Britannic Majesty's government for the 

 complete abolition of the traffic in slaves." Lagos was attacked by 

 a small British squadron in December 1851, the town being occupied 

 by the slave-dealing king or chief Kosoko, at the head of about 

 10,000 Africans. The operations commenced on the 24th, and after 

 considerable loss on both sides, the town was abandoned by Kosoko 

 on the 27th. King Atakoi, who had been previously expelled from 

 Lagos by the Africans, was reinstated by the British, and undertook, 

 as already stated, to co-operate in the suppression of the slave-trade, 

 and to encourage the operations of legitimate commerce. 



The principal rivers which empty themselves into the Bight of 

 Benin are the Lagos, Benin, Escardos, Forcados, Ramos, Dodo, and 

 Sengaua, all of which except the Lagos communicate with each 

 other and with the Quorra. Of these, the only rivers accessible to 

 shipping are the Benin, Eseardos, and Forcados. The whole coast is 

 shallow, but it shoals gradually and regularly, so that a vessel may run 

 along it, keeping in soundings of forty to fifty feet, with stiff muddy 

 bottom, at the distance of about four miles from the beach. A slow 

 current always sets along the shore to the eastward. The prevailing 

 winds are from the westward ; but this coast is subject to violent 

 tornadoes, which always blow from the north-east, and are 

 accompanied by heavy cold rains, which sometimes depress the 

 thermometer 10 or 15 degrees. There is always a heavy surf rolling 

 on the beach, which makes lauding everywhere dangerous, even in 

 light canoes. The dry season commences in August and continues 

 till January. In the mouths of February and March the tornadoes 

 are rno.st frequent and violent, and in the alternations of cairns and 

 light winds the thermometer will frequently rise to 90, sometimes to 

 100. In the rainy season, during temporary cessations, the density 

 of the vapours which rise in the atmosphere is most oppressive. 



The chief articles of trade at the towns on the coast, as well as up 

 the rivers, are palm-oil and ivory ; little gold is to be seen on this 

 coast, and the use of it is almost unknown at Whydah. The 

 necessaries of life may be procured at all the larger towns cheap and 

 in abundance; of fruits and vegetables there is great variety and 

 plenty. 



This coast was first visited by the Portuguese about the year 1485, 

 and afterwards by the Dutch ; but the first account of the English 

 trading here was in 1553, when Captain Windham procured a cargo 

 of Guinea pepper in the Benin River. 



I'.KXIN, KINGDOM OF. [Gui.Ni :\.} 



BENIN RIVER, formerly called by the Portuguese Rio Formoso, 

 n the western arm of the river NIGKK. It empties itself into tho 

 Bight of Benin, about 115 miles to the N.N.W. of Cape Formosa: 

 the north-west point of entrance is in 5 46' N. lat., 5 3J' E. long. 

 At its mouth the river is two miles wide, and has across it a bar of 

 mud, clay, and sand, extending from four to five miles off, but having 

 not more than 12 or 13 feet water on it at low-water spring-tides. A 

 short distance from the sea the width of the river diminishes to half 

 a mile, and at New Town, eighteen miles up, it is little more than 

 500 yards across. The depth of water does not exceed 24 feet in 

 any part. 



On the southern bank of the river, which belongs to the kingdom 

 of Warree, the first town, called Salt Town, lies just within the 

 mouth ; the second, six miles farther up, is called Bobee or Lobou, 

 and the next New Town. Opposite New Town, on the eastern point 

 of the Warree Creek, is Reggio Town. The slave-trade is carried on 

 to some extent in all the rivers of this coast. This river, like all the 

 others on the coast, is pestilentially unhealthy ; the disease is a 

 malignant remittent fever, which generally proves fatal within the 

 tliinl day after the attack. The chief articles procured in this river 

 iltn oil and ivory. In exchange the natives take cloth (scarlet 

 ularly), beads, guns, gunpowder, hardware, spirits, &c. Tho 

 tide flows six hours at full and change and rises five or six feet; 



during the rainy season the ebb is very rapid aud frequently washes 

 away portions of the river banks. 



BENNINGTON, U.S. [VERMONT.] 



BENSINGTON. [OXFORDSHIRE.] 



BENTHAM. [YORKSHIRE.] 



BENTHEIM, a county in the Hanoverian province of Osnabruck, 

 extends from 52 16' to 52 40' N. lat., 6 28' to 7 17' E. long., and 

 comprises an area of 354 square miles, with a population of 28,884. 

 Its name is derived from the castle and family of the Bentheim- 

 Bentheim, the head of which is also count of Bentheim-Steinfurt. 

 It is a compact territory : the surface is in general a uniform level, 

 and the soil though sandy is in most parts productive. It is waterel 

 by the Vechte and its tributaries, the Aa and Dinkel : the Veehte is 

 used along its whole line for floating timber, and is navigable from 

 Nordhorn to Zwoll. Bentheim contains a number of morasses and 

 moors, which yield peat. The chief products of the county are 

 timber, grain, rape-seed, flax, and potatoes; horses, horned cattle, 

 sheep, and geese, are numerous ; and the woods and streams are well 

 stocked with game and fish. Sandstone, mill-stones, and freestone 

 are exported to Holland ; potter's-clay aud coals are also among its 

 mineral products, and sulphurous springs exist in the foreat of 

 Bentheiin. It has no manufactures of any importance except the 

 spinning of flax-yarns aud linen-weaving. The climate is sometimes 

 foggy but generally healthy aud temperate. 



The counts of Bentheim have large possessions in Prussia also, 

 where they are hereditary members of the College of Princes. Their 

 Prussian estates are the county of Steinfurt (24 square miles, popu- 

 lation 5800) and the district of Ruschau (37 square miles, population 

 4360), in the government of Minister; and the lordship of Alpen, 

 near Wesel (21 square miles, 2600 inhabitants), in the government of 

 Diisseldorf. In Holland they possess the lordships of Batenburg on 

 the Maas aud Hawickerworth on the Isel near Duisburg, both in the 

 province of Gelderland. 



The little town of Bentkeim, situated in 52 30' N. lat., 7 0' 

 E. long, (population about 2000), is built on the side of some rising 

 ground, at the summit of which stands the old fortified ancestral 

 castle ; it has a mineral spring and baths. 



BENTHEIM-STEINFURT. [BENTHEIM.] 



BENTON, LONG. [NORTHUMBERLAND.] 



BERA'R, a large province of the Deccan, in the south of Hindustan, 

 between 17 and 23 N. lat., 75 and 83 E. long. ; about 290 miles 

 long by 240 miles wide. The area is 76,432 square miles : the 

 population 4,650,000 ; the revenue about half a million of pounds 

 sterling. This province, or state, is under the protection of the 

 English government in India, and governed by a native sovereign, 

 known sometimes as Raja of Berar, but more commonly as liaja 

 of Nagpore. Berar was formerly of much greater extent than it 

 is at present. The raja's possessions are now bounded N. and 

 E. by the province of Gundwaua and the ceded districts on the 

 Nerbuddah ; W. by the Nizam's dominions ; aud S. by Aurungabad 

 aud Beeder. The limitation of the raja's dominions, and the ascend- 

 ancy of British influence within them, were brought about by com- 

 plicated political and military arrangements between the years 18U3 

 and 1829. The raja, in addition to the cession of territory on the 

 Nerbuddah and parts adjacent, pays an annual subsidy of 80,000i. 

 to the British government, which maintains in the country a subsidiary 

 force of 2400 cavalry, 4000 infantry, and about 360 artillery. There 

 is also a police corps of upwards of 2200. The raja is bound by 

 treaty to furnish 1000 horse to serve with the British army in time 

 of war. 



Berar stands on a high level, the approach to which is by a chain 

 of Ghauts, or mountain passes, which give to the inclosed province 

 the character of a valley. The border of this valley consists of a 

 succession of high grounds, with here aud there a small peak visible 

 above the rest. Some of these Ghauts are impassable for carriages, 

 laden camels, or bullocks ; some cannot be passed by horses, and some 

 are mere hill-paths. The surface of the hills in this section of the 

 chain is covered with loose stones and low jungle, and but little cul- 

 tivation is seen, neither is there any timber large enough for building. 

 A large proportion of the country is in the hands of people who are 

 called ' wild Zemindars,' aud whose connection with the government 

 consists only in their paying small quit-rents. 



The principal rivers of Berar are the Tuptee, the Wurda, the 

 Wyneguuga, and the Mahauuddy. The Tuptee rises in the Nyardy 

 hills, near the fortified town of Baitool, and falls into the sea about 

 20 miles south of Surat. The Wurda rises in the perguuuah ot 

 Mooltye, and forms the boundary between Berar and the dominions 

 of tho Nizam. The Wynegunga has its source in the district of 

 Scouny Chapparah, 1850 feet above the level of the sea; it traverses 

 the western division of Berar, and falls into the Godavery near Chinoor. 

 The Mahanuddy rises in the highlands about 30 miles to the eastward 

 of Kakair, and flows out of Berar into Sumbhulpore. The Mahauuddy 

 alone is navigable, and that only for a few months in the year. 



The province is subdivided into nine districts, namely Beytulbarry, 

 Gawelghur, Kullum, Mahore, Maihker, Nagpore, Nemallah, Waussim, 

 and Wynegunga. 



Beytulbarry is of small extent, situated south of the Ajunta Ghaut. 

 Little is known of this district. The town of A junta is tho only place 



