B E A 



B 1 



an'l at others l>y ordering those he found 

 with \ \vc them pnlled iip by 111' -'':ncd 



with n blunt r.\r . . which drew the skin after it, and by 

 these mcnn scarce n beard was left in the kingdom nt his 

 death : but such ti veneratr-li had this people for the 



. that many of them carefully pp-servi-d tlit-ii 

 - in their cabinets, to be buried with them, imagining 

 perhaps that they should moke but an odd figure in the 

 grove with their naked chin*.' 



Tin- loader vh i d.'.ire* further information on tlio 1 

 of bonnU mi-.y consult the lexicon* of Hoffmann and IV 

 f r the il.i- , times: and in Hulwer's Anthmfmmetamor- 

 .-;,(/ Ch,insflini!, 4to. Lond. lf.:.:i, p. l'J3- 

 .Mfi. Scene xii. is a whole chapter 'On the opinion and 

 practice of diverse nations concerning the naturall ensiijiio 

 of manhood appearing about the mouth ;' quoted from iu- 



i-rable authors, antient and modern. 



Shaving the beard in derision was, throughout the East, 



i to be the greatest mark of ignominy which could 



be inflicted upon an enemy; and t > pluck a man's beard 



was the hiL'hest mark of Insult. The Eastern origin of some 



of our old romances is, perhaps, in no circumstance more 



viilile than in the descriptions which are BO frequently 



. of giants cutting off the beards of princes who fell 



intu their hands. Drayton alludes to this practice in his 



Polyolliion, Song iv. : 



Ami for trophy brought Hie giant' cot a<ray, 

 Mnit.. of ilw U-irtli ol Uagt* 



See .il-o Warton's Observations on Spenser's Fairy Queen, 

 edit. 1762, vol. i. p. 2J. 



The suffering of the heard to prow in the time of mourn- 

 ing i- n custom which has been already incidentally alluded 

 to. Levi, in his Succinct Account of the Ritrs and Cere- 

 tnnnim f the Jews at this fire/tent time, 8vo. Loirl. 

 that for the seven following relations, viz. a father or mother, 

 brother or sister, son or daughter, husband or wife, they 

 must not shave their beards, nor cut their nails neither of 

 their hands or feet, nor bathe for the term of thirty days ; 

 which term is called in Hebrew Sfiyloshim, which means 

 thirty days. 



To beard, in modern English, means to set at defiance, to 

 oppose face to face in a hostile manner. Shakspcare, in 

 Henry IV. act iv. scene 4, makes Douglas say, 



' No man to potent breathes upon the ground 



II. i / u-i'H hrard kin.' 



BEARING, the direction of the line drawn from one point 

 to another. It is a terra usually applied to the points of the 

 compass, as follows: If the line B A be in a N.W. direc- 

 tion from B, A is said to fow N.W. of B, or the bearing of 

 A is N.W. To take bearings is to ascertain the points ol 

 the compass on which objects lie. The following example 

 will serve to familiarize the word, by connecting it with a 

 simple problem of trigonometry : 



Cape B is 20 miles from Cape A, and bears S.E. of it. 

 On board a ship S.Cape A is observed to bear N.N.E., and 

 B bears E. by N. : required the position of the ship. Draw 

 S I ). A C. both east ; then the angje D S B is one point of 

 the compass, and the angle D S A six points : consequently 

 A S B is five points of the compass, or 5C 15'; but 

 CAS and A S D are together equal to two right angles, 

 or sixteen points, of which A S D is six points, t 

 fore C A 8 is ten points ; but C A B is four points, tlu-re- 

 S A B is six points, or 67 30': therefore, in the tri- 

 angle A B S, the side A B and two angles are known, 

 re the other sides, or the ship's distance from t! 



i>c found. The easiest method of solving this 

 problem is by actual construction, the result* of which are 

 generally a* accurate a) the data. 



In a manner romouhat similar,. the distance of a ship 

 from n N-adland might be found P.L' its bearings 



nt two ilitlr i he course 



mid the distance sailed in the int' If all the 



hearings arc liy compass, n in tin- n-cond problem, the 



magnetic variation need not be allowed fur, I ansc all the 



bearings are equally wrong : but if one or more bo true 

 bearing*, taken from a map, n- t problem, then 



the bearings observed by the compass must be 

 [See AZIMCTII: C'OMPASS, AZIMUTH.] 



BE'ARN, one of the thirlv-two provinces into which, 

 previously t> tin- Revolution, Franco was divided. It 

 stitiiles now, with Lcs I 1 i-ques [see BASQUES], the 



department of Hases Pyrenees or the Lower Pyrenees. The 

 name Beam is derived i'rotn Hotieharnum, an antient 

 in this country, llrst mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoni- 

 t> exact posit in is undetermined. 



The greatest part of Beam lies amidst the Pyrenees, the 

 summits of which form its southern boundary, and separate 

 it from Spain. On other sides, with reference to the old ter- 

 ritorial di\i it is bounded by different parts of 

 Oascogne, or Oascony, vi/.. by Bigorre on the < 



ies Masques on the west, anil by Artnairnao aivl ' 

 losse on the north*. It is a very mountainous count i 

 may be supposed from its being occupied by tiie brain- 

 the Pyrenees. The Pic du Midi ('.1732 feet) and Mount 

 Billari (847 j feet) are upon nr within its frontier. From the 

 mountains numerous Bl . whn h drain different 



vulleys, and fall into the Adour. of whose basin Hi'arn forms 

 a part. The name Gave, winch is suionuuous with river, is 

 common to the streams of this roui-try : they are distin- 

 guished from one another by some additional designation, 

 such as the name of a town on the bank. The rapidity ef 

 these Gavcs prevents their being used for navigation, but 

 they abound with fish, especially trouts, salmons, pikes, and 

 a kind of small salmon of exquisite flavour called lei: 

 The two principal streams are the Gave d'Oleron and the 



'le Pan. The Ga\e d'Olcnm is formed by the 

 d'Aspe and the Gave d'Ossau, or d Osseau, which latter 

 rises in the Pie du Midi : these unite close to the town of 

 Olferon, and flow in a north-west direction. The Gave de 

 Pau rises in Mont Perdu in Spain, crosses the couu: 

 Bigorre, and Hows north west through Beam, passing i'au 

 and Orlhcs, till it unites with Gave d Oliroii. Their joint 

 stream falls into the Adour soon after their union. The 

 length of the Gave d'Oleron (measuring from the son: 

 the Gave d'Ossau) may bu estimated at 75 (o 80 miles, and 

 that of the Gave de Pau at 100 to 110 : these measurement* 

 are, however, only approximations. Some of the smaller 

 streams which flow into the Gaves d'Oleron and de Pau 

 contain particles of gold. 



The soil is dry and in many parts unsuited to tillage, 

 though the banks of the Gave de Pau contain some plains 

 fertile in grain. Little wheat or rye is grown: but millet 

 and maize arc the principal kinds of grain cultivated, and 

 afford subsistence to the bulk of the people. The hills 

 yield a good deal of wine, of which those of .Jnrancon and 

 Can near Pau hold the first rank. Flax is also an article 

 of considerable importance in the agriculture of liei.ni, and 

 serves to supply the linen manufacture. Many of the 

 mountain-tops ore mere heaths covered with fern, which 

 the inhabitants use for manure ; hut some afford good pas- 

 turage, and others are covered with woods which yield timber 

 for the carpenter or the shipwright, and furnish the i 

 wliich are floated down by the tributaries of the Adour, and 

 by the Adour itself, to Bayonne, from whence tl. 

 to different parts of France. The horses of Beam are much 

 e.-teemcd ; they are small, but strong and lively. 



The mineral treasures of this district are considerable. 

 Lead, iron, and especially copper are found in several place*; 

 and very fine marble is worked. Three brine springs, one 

 near the town of Saillies, not far from the left bank of the 

 de Pau; a second towards St. Jean Pied de Port-i-: 

 and a third near R<" venae, a lew miles south of Pau, supply 

 the neighbourhood with salt. Talc, bitumen, and asphnltiitn 

 are also found. There are mineral waters at Aigues-Caudca 

 or les Eaux Chaudcs in the Valley of Ossau. The tcmpe- 



In tin- Map of Fr.inrc in I l y for the Pif. 



fu-i'ni ,.- ' I'lialoiw li nut m*il 

 i'liult'1 in tli 1 



\\v ini< rt Uii> ond ftiuf. ni Moniinf to Jlruro, with coniirlrnble 



ilni' ; hut iinifu the 



lihraic, ' i. uK-d with coniidfrnble Utltu.lr, 

 Ui ipring Qiul be txyoud the frontier! of Beam. 



