1077 



EIAFRA, BIGHT OF. 



BIALYSTOK. 



1078 



Biana, Kurnau, Gopaulghur, Nuggur, Robass, Wheeguish, Roodawah, 

 Nudbharee, and Phurser. Comaker, which is in 27 17' N. lat., 

 77 14' E. long., is the place where the salt is manufactured which is 

 largely consumed in Upper Hindustan under the name of ' balumba;' 

 this salt is procured by evaporation from the water of some brine- 

 springs found in the neighbourhood. Deeg is situated in 27 30' 

 N. lat., 77 12' E. long. The ruins of many fine palaces give this 

 fortress the appearance of having once been a place of importance. A 

 severe action was fought under its walls in 1805 between the English 

 forces under Lord Lake and the army of Holkar, in which the latter 

 was defeated with great slaughter. During the rainy season the town 

 would be subject to injury from the torrents that pour down from 

 the highlands but for extensive embankments which are constantly 

 kept in repair. Weyre, in 27 2' N. lat., 77 2' E. long., is on the 

 high road from Jeypore to Agra. The town is surrounded by mud 

 walls with circular bastions ; the interior consists of an incongruous 

 assemblage of mud huts and magnificent marble dwellings with gar- 

 dens and fountains ; the inhabitants are a mixture of Jauta and 

 Mohammedans. Biana, which was the former capital of the province 

 of Agra, is situated on the Ban Gunga River, in 26 57' N. lat., 77 8' 

 E. long. This town was first conquered by the Mohammedans in 

 1197. It is still a considerable place, containing several large stone 

 houses. The inhabitants embark with activity in commercial pursuits. 

 Kurnau, covers an extensive site, but is for the most part in ruins, 

 only the eastern quarter being at all inhabited ; it has a large brick 

 fort in the centre, which is also in ruins. The other towns that have 

 been named do not require further notice. 



BIAFRA, BIGHT OF, is the innermost part of the Gulf of Guinea, 

 on the western coast of Africa : it is bounded S. by Cape Lopez (about 

 1 30' S. lat.), and N. by Cape Formosa (5 40' N. lat., and near 6 E. 

 long.) ; Cape Formosa divides it from the Bight of Benin. A straight 

 line uniting both promontories and passing near Prince's Island (Isola 

 do Principe), would measure about 580 miles, and would be upwards 

 of 250 miles from the mouth of the Old Calabar River, which enters 

 the innermost corner of the Bight. The shores of the bay probably 

 measure more than 800 miles. 



The current prevailing in this bay does not appear to be in any 

 way connected with the equatorial current of the Atlantic Ocean, 

 which commences near the island of Anno Bom, but seems to be a con- 

 tinuation of that current which comes up from the Cape of Good Hope 

 along the western shores of Africa. The wind generally blows from 

 the south-west or south. The current however is changed by the 

 tornadoes whenever they occur at full or change, at which time 

 blowing from the south-east or north-east with great violence, they 

 alter the direction of the current to west-south-west or west-north- 

 west. 



The northern shores of the bay, nearly to the mouth of the Old Cala- 

 bar River, are flat and low, belonging to the extensive delta of the 

 Quorra, The Old Calabar River is the first river on this side which 

 baa no communication with the Quorra, to which it runs parallel, and 

 from which it is separated by a hilly country extending southward also 

 to the Rio del Rey. To the south of the Rio del Rey the country 

 rises into mountains, which, opposite the island of Fernando Po, attain 

 a considerable height. These mountains, called Cameroon Mountains, 

 from the river Cameroon, which bounds them on the south, contain a 

 peak which is estimated to be 13,000 feet above the sea. 



South of this mountain region runs the river Cameroon, which 

 enters the Bight from the north-east, near 4 N. lat, 9 40' E. long., 

 by an sestuary 20 miles in width, and containing several islands. The 

 shores of the aestuary are covered with impenetrable thickets of man- 

 groves. [CAMEROON.] South of the Cameroon extends a hilly or 

 rather mountainous country, which by degrees recedes farther into 

 the interior and leaves a low and often swampy tract along the shore, 

 especially to the south of Cape St. John. South of this cape the coast 

 forms two smaller bays, divided from one another by a comparatively 

 narrow tract of land, which terminates in Cape Clara, 18' N. lat. 

 Into the northern of these bays the river Danger, or Rio d'Angra, 

 empties itself. This river, which is called by the natives Moohnda, 

 flows far from the interior, and though it is not so wide as the Gaboon, 

 its southern neighbour, it is considerably deeper. The southern bay 

 between Cape Clara and Sandy Point may be considered as the actuary 

 of the Gaboon River. 



The Gaboon enters the bay of Biafra by an extensive sestuary which 

 at its junction with the open sea is about 18 miles wide, and it extends 

 eastward 45 miles and upwards. About twenty-two or twenty-three 

 mile* from the open sea are two islands, called Parrot or Embenee, 

 and Konig or Dambee, of which only the latter and larger is inhabited. 

 Kast of these islands the actuary grows still wider, forming two small 

 bays on the south and north, so that it here is 30 miles across ; but 

 it soon narrows to about 12 miles, which breadth it preserves to its 

 eastern extremity, about forty or forty-five miles from the sea. At its 

 upper and it receives two large rivers ; one runs from the east and 

 falls into the testuary with a mouth about 4 miles wide ; the other 

 proceeds from the south-south-east, and at its embouchure is about 

 2 mile* wide. The eastern river, at a considerable distance from its 

 mouth, is still a mile wide. The river which flows from the south- 

 east is the Ogovawai, and is said to divide in the interior into two 

 branches, of which the southern one runs into the Congo, compara. 



tively a small river before this confluence, which takes place about 

 ten days' pull from the mouth of the Congo River. 



The places most resorted to by European traders are George's Town, 

 or Naango, on a creek of the jestuary of the Gaboon, about forty-five 

 miles from the sea, and Mayumba, farther south on the coast, and 

 nearly at equal distance from the Gaboon and Congo rivers. Naiingo 

 consists of one street, wide, regular, and clean. The houses are very 

 neatly constructed of bamboo, and the manners of the more wealthy 

 inhabitants are very pleasing and hospitable, and a European may 

 reside among them not only with safety but with comfort. The 

 inhabitants do not amount to more than 500 in number. The princi- 

 pal exports are red wood and ivory, both of which are in abundance. 



The climate about this part of the Gaboon is very unhealthy, the 

 heat being very great, and always sensibly greater than on the Gold 

 Coast or in the interior ; but it is especially intense before the setting- 

 in of the sea-breeze. The insalubrity of the climate is however still 

 more caused by evaporation, especially in the wet season, when the 

 vapours arising from the inundated country render the atmosphere so 

 dense that it becomes very oppressive. 



Wild animals are numerous, especially elephants, which are killed 

 by the natives with poisoned arms. Other remarkable animals are 

 the orang-outan and other kinds of monkeys, among which one, 

 called by the natives ' Indeyana,' is said to be five feet high and four 

 feet across the shoulders. Chameleons are numerous. Of domestic 

 animals only goats and fowls are reared, and in the interior dogs also, 

 which are used as food. Water-birds are not common, exceptr 

 pelicans. In the creeks of the sestuary white mullets abound. 



Agriculture is very little attended to, nature having been so boun- 

 tiful in her gifts that the labour of sowing and reaping is almost 

 unnecessary. Cotton and tobacco grow spontaneously; the caout- 

 chouc-tree is common, and likewise a species of butter-tree, and the 

 tree from which the kolla-uuts are gathered. The mangrove-trees are 

 found on the banks of the creeks and rivers, and they even grow some 

 yards from the bank in the water, where their lower branches are 

 frequently covered with oysters. The palm-wine tree is plentiful. 

 Like most parts of the countries inclosing the Gulf of Guinea, the 

 woods are so covered beneath with shrubs and plants that they seem 

 impenetrable. 



Neither gold nor silver is found in this part of Africa. Iron is 

 everywhere abundant, and is got out and worked by the Kaylee, a 

 nation inhabiting the mountainous and woody country east of the 

 Gaboon on the banks of the river running from the east. This tribe 

 also makes cloth of bamboo, which resembles coarse brown Holluud. 

 Their mats are very fine, and much varied in colours and patterns. 



The negro-tribes inhabiting this country do not seem to belong to 

 one nation : the languages spoken by them vary too greatly to admit 

 such a supposition. This country contains a great number of small 

 states, no great controlling kingdom being found here as to the west 

 of the Quorra. The most considerable is that of the Oroongo, which 

 comprehends the country about Cape Lopez. 



(Bowdich's Mission from Cape Coast Castle io the Ashanfeea; 

 Lander, Journal of the Geographical Society, ii. ; Map of Berghaus.) 



BIALYSTOK, a province of Western Russia, situated between 

 52 3' and 53 38' N. lat., 22 30' and 24 12' E. long., is bounded 

 N. and W. by Poland, S. and E. by Grodno. Its area is 2900 square 

 miles, and its population about 235,000. It constituted part of the 

 former kingdom of Poland, and belonged to the voyvodeship of 

 Podlachia until it was incorporated with the Russian dominions 

 under the third treaty of partition in 1795. The greater part of 

 Bialystoit however was afterwards transferred to the duchy of 

 Warsaw by virtue of the treaty of Tilsit in 1807, and the remainder 

 was erected into a distinct province, which an ukase of 1831 placed 

 under the control of the government of Grodno, to which we believe 

 it was definitively united in 1842. The surface is generally level : the 

 soil is in most parts light and sandy, but adapted to agricultural 

 purposes, and in the southern districts, where there is an inter- 

 mixture of sand and loam, it is highly productive. The province is 

 divided into four circles, Bialystok, Drohiczyn, Sokolka, and Bielsk. 

 The first three contain large forests. The principal river is the 

 Western Bug, which bounds the province on the south-west and, 

 being navigable, connects it with Warsaw and Danzig by means of the 

 Vistula, The Bober or Bobra separates the province from Poland on 

 the north-west. This river runs with an extremely slow current 

 through large swamps and morasses, and inundates the adjacent 

 country every spring. The climate is healthy, except in those parts 

 where the exhalations from the swamps infect the air. The inhabit- 

 ants are principally employed in husbandry. Rye, wheat, buckwheat, 

 peas, hemp, and flax are grown extensively. Game and wild animals, 

 particularly wolves, foxes, deer, and boars, are plentiful ; the breed of 

 horses is good ; the sheep are of the black species. The rearing of 

 horned cattle is so ill conducted that milk is scarce, and the inhabit- 

 ants are obliged to import both butter and cheese. Large quantities 

 of timber, together with some tallow, black wool, wax, and honey, 

 are exported. The province yields no minerals except freestone, clay, 

 limestone, and a little iron, which is consumed in the country. 



Bialyttok, the capital, lies on the little river Bial, in 53 7' N. lat., 

 23 18' E. long. : population, 6000. It has a spacious market, a 

 palace and park, onca belonging to the couuta of Potooky, but at 



