1049 



BERN. 



BERN. 



1050 



the harpoon. The whale-fishery which is carried on at a trifling 

 expense employs a few whale-boats and their crews about three 

 months in the year. 



The climate of the Bermudas is mild, genial, and salubrious, though 

 somewhat humid during a south-wind. Snow seldom falls; raius 

 are heavy, though unfrequeat; and occasionally there are severe 

 thunder-storms and hurricanes. The soil is fertile : barley, oats, peas, 

 beans, potatoes, onions, cabbages, pumpkins, melons, &c. are culti- 

 vated. The citron, sweet orange, lemon, and lime are of good quality ; 

 and excellent arrow-root is abundantly grown. The palm-tree grows 

 in the islands, and its leaves are exported to be made up as ladies' 

 fans. A little indigo is still cultivated, but the soil it appears has 

 become less suitable than formerly for its production. For a similar 

 reason coffee, cotton, and tobacco have ceased to be objects of attention 

 to the planter. Live stock and flour are imported from the American 

 continent. Fresh butter and milk are produced in sufficient quantities 

 for the supply required. Ducks are abundant, and turtle frequent 

 the island in summer. There is a considerable number of black 

 swine on the islands. 



The principal employment is the building of vessels. These are 

 generally email in size, and being constructed of cedar they are very 

 durable. Plaiting of straw and of the mid-rib of the palmetto leaf 

 is also carried on ; and a beautiful species of white freestone, which 

 ia easily cut, is exported to the West Indies for ornamental archi- 

 tecture. Vessels annually visit the Bahamas to fetch supplies 

 of salt. 



There are in the Bermudas two towns, each of which has its mayor 

 and civic officers; St. George, on the island of that name, and 

 Hamilton, on the large or Bermuda Island. Both towns are well 

 built of white stone. St. George, which is the capital, is the finer of 

 the two : it contains a new government-house, erected in 1847, a 

 new jail, an hospital for insane paupers, and other public buildings. 

 A board of education was established in 1847, but the progress of 

 instruction among the whites is impeded by the unwillingness of 

 parents to send their children to schools attended by coloured 

 children, and the difficulty of maintaining efficient separate schools 

 for the comparatively small population of whites. In general the 

 coloured population is making creditable progress in education, and 

 in acquiring a respectable position in the community. The insular 

 government consists of a governor, council, and legislative assembly 

 of 36 members, to which each of the nine parishes into which the 

 islands are divided sends four members: the population of the 

 Bermudas on January 1st 1851, exclusive of troops, convicts, and 

 persons in government service, was 11,092, of whom 0423 were 

 coloured persons. A convict establishment has been formed by 

 government on Boaz Island. The number of convicts in 1850 was 

 1566 ; the cost of their maintenance for the year was 34.595J. 



A small dockyard formerly maintained at St. George has been 

 removed to Ireland Island, on which large sums have been expended, 

 in order to render it a strong post for a naval and military depot. 

 Between 1838 and 1848 there was spent in the public works upwards 

 of 300.000J., of which 157,0002. was for a breakwater. The works 

 include a steam factory, a victualling office, storehouses, hospitals, 

 workmen's dwellings, &c. Ireland Island has been selected for its 

 convenient size and its detached position ; it cannot be approached 

 except by an intricate channel along the whole coast from St. 

 George. Besides the works named, defensive works have been 

 constructed by the Board of Ordnance on St. George's, Main, Boaz, 

 nd Ireland islands, the cost of which has been upwards of 150,OOOJ. 

 A causeway to connect Walsingham and Long Bird Island, constructed 

 by convict labour, has been undertaken by the Island Legislature. 



The vessels belonging to the Bermudas on December 31st, 1852, 

 were 42, of 2952 tons burden. The imports in 1850 were of the 

 value of 130,500?.; the exports 19,960/. The revenue in the same 

 year was 12,6301. ; the expenditure 16,227?.; a parliamentary grant 

 of 4.049J. more than covering the deficiency. The military expen- 

 diture in 1850 was 70,160t A new lighthouse was built in 1846. 

 The ship channel into St. George's Harbour has been improved, and 

 an opening made from Stagg's Channel into Great Sound. A bridge 

 from Ireland Island to Boaz Island was completed in 1849. 



(Smith's Hatortj of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles, 

 London, 1629; Bryan Edwards's History of West India; Colonial 

 Xeportt.) 



BERN (Berne), the most populous canton of Switzerland, and the 

 largest in area except Orisons, extends about 85 miles from north to 

 Bontli, from the frontiers of the French department of Haut-Rhin to the 

 high chain of Alps which divides the southern valleys of the Bernese 

 Oberland from the canton of Valais. Its shape is very irregular, like 

 that of mast Swiss cantons ; its breadth therefore varies considerably, 

 being greatest in the southern part of the canton, between the fron- 

 tiers of Uri and Unterwalden to the east, and those of Vaud and 

 Freyburg to the west, where it is about 60 miles : more northward, 

 between Luzern and Freyburg, the width is not quite 30 miles in 

 some places ; it then increases again north of the city of Bern to 

 about 60 miles from the frontiers of Luzern to the river Doubs, 

 which forms the western boundary on the side of France ; but here 

 part of the canton of Soleure projects into the Bernese territory, and 

 intervenes in the line of its breadth. The area of the canton is 2556 



square miles ; and its population according to the census of March 1850 

 was 457,921, including the heiinathloseu and Jews. [SWITZERLAND.] 

 Of the inhabitants 54,044 aro Catholics, and 403,769 Reformers, 

 including Protestants of various sects. 



Surface. The southern part of the canton, which forms what is 

 called the Bernese Oberland, is very mountainous, consisting of the 

 northern slope of the Bernese Alps (which divides it from the Valais 

 and from Uri and Uuterwalden) with their numerous offsets and the 

 high valleys that lie between them. Farther north, and round the 

 city of Bern, the ground although hilly is not rugged, and consists 

 of pleasant fertile valleys and some level tracts. The most northern 

 part, beyond Bienne, which formerly constituted the territory of the 

 bishop of Basel, and was for a time preceding the year 1814 included 

 partly in the French department of Haut-Rhin, and partly in that 

 of Mont-Terrible, is almost entirely covered by the various ridges and 

 offsets of the Jura Mountains up to the frontiers of France. 



Some of the higher summits 'of the Jura in the Erguelthal, which 

 is watered by the Suse or Suss, a feeder of Lake Bieune, are nearly 

 5000 feet above the level of the sea. The valleys of the Jura are 

 principally longitudinal. The largest valleys of the Jura region in 

 this canton are the Erguelthal just mentioned, the valley of the Birs, 

 and a portion of the valley of the Doubs. A little north of the elbow 

 formed by this last river on the west of the canton is the elevated 

 mass of Mont-Terrible, which stands in the old district of Sassgau, and 

 formerly gave name to a French department. The loftiest mountains 

 of the canton of Bern, and the only mountains of primitive formation, 

 are in its southern part, and belong to the great Alpine chain already 

 mentioned. The Schreckhorn rises nearly 13,000 feet above the 

 level of the sea, and the Wetterhorn, in the same neighbourhood 

 12,198 feet. The Jungfrau, 13,716 feet, and the Finsteraarhorn, 14,109 

 feet, are in the same chain, but they are partly in the canton of Bern 

 and partly in that of Valais. Extensive glaciers cover the sides of 

 these mountains, and are known by the name of the ' Glaciers of 

 Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen,' from the names of two valleys which 

 unite to the north of the massive projection from the Jungfrau, and 

 open into the valley of Interlachen. East of the Grindelwald, and 

 separated from it by the lofty masses of the Schreckhorn and 

 Wetterhorn, is the valley of Ober-Hasli, traversed by the Aar, 

 and famous for its waterfalls. To the west of the valley of Lauter- 

 brunneu is the Kien-thal, which is separated by the Blumlis-Alp 

 (12,133 feet) from the Kander-thal, which opens into the lower part 

 of the Simmen-thal. Farther west is the Ober-Simmen-thal, the longest 

 valley in this part of the canton ; it is joined in its lower part by the 

 small valley of Nieder-Simineu, and winding round between the lofty 

 summits of Niessen (7817 feet) and Stockhorn (7206 feet), opens out 

 upon the south-western shore of Lake Thun. The south-western 

 angle of this canton contains the Gsteig-thal, which is traversed by 

 the Upper Saane. All the valleys are traversed by rivers, most of 

 which rise in glaciers in the Bernese Alps, and form in their courses 

 many fine cascades. 



To the north of the lakes of Thun and Brienz lies the Emmen- 

 thal, one of the most fertile parts of the canton. The upper part of 

 the valley is screened by high mountains, from which several small 

 lateral valleys open into it. The Hohgant (7251 feet) to the north of 

 the Lake of Brienz and the source of the Emmen, and Napt (5331 feet) 

 on the Luzern border, are the highest elevations in this part of the 

 canton. 



The rest of the canton consisting of the valley of the Aar from Lake 

 Thun to the Lake of Bienne and the district between Bern and the 

 Aargau fi ontier is comparatively level. 



Kiiiers, Lakes, <kc. The principal river of the canton of Bern is the 

 Aar, which has its source in the glaciers of the Finsteraarhorn, waters 

 the valley of the Ober-Hasli, crosses the lake of Brienz, and afterwards 

 that of Thun, passes under the walls of Bern, forming the peninsula 

 on which that city is built, and then winding first westward and then 

 northward, enters the canton of Soleure. [AAK.] The other rivers 

 of the canton of Bern are affluents of the Aar. The principal are the 

 Emmen, which waters the fine and rich valley called the Emmen-thal, 

 passes by Burgdorff, and enters the Aar below Soleure ; the Simmen, 

 from which the district called Simmen-thal takes its name, empties 

 itself into the lake of Thun ; the Thiele, which is the outlet of the 

 lakes of Neuchatel and Bienne, issues out of the latter at Nidau, 

 and falls into the Aar after a short course to the north-east ; the 

 Saane has its source in the Gsteig, in the canton of Bern, and after 

 crossing that of Freyburg, enters again the canton of Bern at Laupen, 

 and falls into the Aar above Aarberg. In the north-west of the canton 

 is the Birs, which has its source in the Munster-thal, and running to 

 the north-north-east enters the canton of Basel, where it joins the Rhine. 



The principal lakes are those of Bienne, Brienz, and Thun. The 

 Lake of Bienne (in German ' Dieter-see') is entirely within the canton, 

 but the shore of its south-western comer is on the boundary of the 

 canton of Neuchatel. The lakes of Bienne and Neuchatel are both 

 expansions of the river Thiele, the bed of which, with that of the 

 Lower Aar, form the natural separation between the region of Jura 

 and that of the Alps. Lake Bienne is about 9 miles in length from 

 south-west to north-east, and has a breadth of nearly 3 miles in its 

 widest part. Its surface is 1338 feet above the level of the sea, 178 

 feet above the surface of the Lake of Geneva, and 8 feet lower than 



