BEL 



193 



BEL 



Palais, the capital of the island, is on the N.E. side, nearly 

 midway between the Conigues and Pointe Locmaria, facing 

 the Breton coast. It rs in 47 a 21' N. lat., and in 3 9' W. 

 long. Between the island and the main are the small 

 islands of Houat and Hoedik, and several other islets or 

 rocks. (Maps of France, by the Society for the Diffusion 

 of Useful Knowledge, and by A. H. Brue, Paris, 1818.) 



The general elevation of the soil is 160 to 170 feet above 

 the level of the sea : it is the highest land along this part 

 of the coast. The island is surrounded by rocks, frequented 

 by sea birds ; and the side towards Bretagne is in almost 

 every place inaccessible, and in high winds the sea breaks 

 with great violence upon the rocks which gird this coast. 

 There are two roadsteads, the Grande Rade and the Rade 

 de Sauzon, through which vessels pass coming from Ame- 

 rica or the West Indies. The mass of the island and of the 

 surrounding rocks is calcareous. The summit of the island 

 is a level plain, without trees, in which horizontal strata are 

 observed. From the valleys which intersect this plain, 

 springs of very pure water flow, and form by their junction 

 small streams, which run into the sea. 



The climate is mild and temperate. Ice and snow are 

 rarely seen. The cattle need no shelter in winter, and the 

 harvest never fails. The fig-tree, the laurel, and the myrtle 

 flourish without any particular care. The soil is fertile, pro- 

 ducing oats and wheat ; but the farmers allow their land to 

 lie fallow every other year. They use, for manure, sea-weed, 

 fern, and broom, which have been allowed to putrify. (Ex- 

 pilly, Dictionnaire des Gaules, <<?. , Encyclopedic Me- 

 thodique. Geographic Physique.) There is a good deal of 

 common land, on which many sheep are reared. About 

 800 draught horses arc exported yearly. (Malte-Brun.) 



The island is said to contain 123 villages or hamlets, 

 three small towns (bourgs), viz., Sauzon in the north- 

 west part, Locmaria in the south-east part, and Bangor 

 in the centre, and one town of more importance (ville), viz., 

 Palais, the capital of the island. When Expilly wrote ( 1 762), 

 the island was divided into four parishes or quarters, named 

 after the four towns. The population of the island is esti- 

 mated in the last edition of Malte-Brun (Paris, 1832) at 

 8UOO. 



The sardine or pilchard fishery is carried on to a great 

 extent by the inhabitants of Belle-He. It commences in the 

 month of June, and lasts till October. The fish are cured 

 and exported to the coast of Spain, or to the French coast 

 'south of the island. The oil which is obtained during the 

 process of curing the fish is either used in the island for 

 careening the boats, or by the poor for their lamps, or else 

 is sent to Nantes or Bordeaux, where it is used in the pre- 

 paration of leather. (Expilly.) 



The town of Palais is fortified, and is commanded by a 

 citadel. A canal, which is filled by the tide, divides the city 

 into two parts. There were, before* the Revolution, two 

 churches, the parish church, and that of St. Stephen. 

 There are some salt-works. The harbour, which has a 

 mole or jetty, is only for small vessels. It is adjacent to 

 the Grande Rade, and is inferior to the harbour of Sauzon, 

 which is three or four miles to the north-west of it, but which 

 does not admit large ships. A third port, Le Gouifard, on 

 the south-west or sea-ward side of the island, will admit 

 larger vessels than either of the other, but it U not well 

 sheltered from the south wind, and has a difficult entrance. 

 (Expilly.) The population of Palais in 1832 was 1800 for 

 the town, or 3584 for the whole commune. 



The natives of Belle-He are a large, well made, bold race 

 of people ; as are also those of the little islands of Houat 

 and Hoedic, which have been already mentioned as lying 

 between Belle-lie and the Main. The inhabitants of these 

 islands are engaged in fishing, or in raising a little wheat. 

 (Encyclopedia Mttkodique ; Expilly.) 



In the year 1761, during the war between England and 

 France, Belle-He was attacked by an English armament : 

 the naval force under Commodore Keppel, and the land 

 forces (8000 in number) under General Hodgson. In their 

 first attempt to land near Pointe Locmaria, the invaders 

 were repulsed with considerable loss, but a second attempt 

 was more successful. The whole English array was disem- 

 barked, drove the enemy into the town of Palais, and after 

 meeting with a vigorous resistance, compelled the garrison 

 to retire into the citadel. At last a capitulation was agreed 

 to on honourable terms, and the island remained in the 

 hands of the English till the peace of 1 763, when it was re- 

 stored. (Smollett's Hist, of England ; Annual Remitter.) 



BELLEISLE, a small island lying about fifteen miles 

 north of the most northerly point of the island of Newfound- 

 land, and about the same distance east from the coast of 

 Labrador. It is placed near the middle of the north-eastern 

 entrance to the Straits of Belleisle, in 51 57' N. lat., and 

 55 40' W. long. The island is about seven leagues in cir- 

 cumference. It has a small convenient harbour, called 

 Lark Harbour, on the north-west side, capable of receiving 

 only small vessels ; and at the east point is another small 

 harbour or cove which will admit only fishing shallops. 

 (Anspach's History of Newfoundland ; Malham's Naval 

 Gazetteer.) 



BELLEISLE, STRAITS OF, a channel which divides 

 the north-west coast of Newfoundland from the coast of 

 Labrador, on the continent of North America, and forms 

 the northern entrance from the Atlantic to the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence. The length of the strait, from its commence- 

 ment at Belleisle island to its termination at Grand Point 

 south-east of Bradore Harbour on the Labrador coast, is 

 twenty-seven leagues, and its general width about four 

 leagues. 



This passage is considered unsafe, and is in consequence 

 but seldom frequented in the usual course of navigation by 

 vessels entering the River St. Lawrence. The Labrador 

 side of the strait is much indented with bays, among which 

 are Temple Bay, Wreck Cove, Green Bay, Red Bay, and 

 Black Bay. The coast of Newfoundland along the straits is 

 uniformly without indentations. (Anspach's History of 

 Newfoundland: Malham's Naval Gazetteer.) 



BELLEGARDE, a fort in France, in the department of 

 Pyrenees Orientales, or Eastern Pyrenees. It is 554 

 miles nearly due south from Paris, by the road through 

 Nevers, Moulines, Clermont, Mende, Montpellier, Narbonne, 

 and Perpignan, from the last of which (the capital of the 

 department) it is distant about twenty-two miles. It is in 

 42* 29' N. lat., and 2 52' E. long. 



Bellegarde crowns the summit of a mountain, which lies 

 close upon the frontier towards Spain, and is above the 

 pass (le Col de Pertuis) through which runs the road from 

 Perpignan to Figueras in Catalonia. Originally there \vas 

 only a tower to defend the pass: this tower was, in 1674, 

 taken by the Spaniards, who added to it some works ; but it 

 was retaken in July, 1675, by Marechal Schomberg, com- 

 mander of the French army in this quarter, the same who 

 was afterwards killed in Ireland at the battle of the Boyne. 

 After the peace of Nimeguen in 1679, Louis XIV. ordered 

 a regular fortress, with five bastions, to be constructed. At 

 one angle of the fortress are some outworks, cut in the solid 

 rock, and inaccessible on one side from the precipice, on the 

 crest of which they have been formed. 



The town is very inconsiderable : in fact there is scarcely 

 anything deserving the name. A few houses of entertain- 

 ment for travellers, and some gardens which belong to the 

 resident officers of the garrison, lie at the foot of the moun- 

 tain. The only object of curiosity in Bellegarde is the well, 

 which deserves notice for its great depth, and the hardness 

 of the rock which has been cut through in order to obtain 

 water. 



In the war between France and Spain which followed the 

 French revolution, Bellegarde became an object of conten- 

 tion. It was taken by the Spaniards in 1793, but was re- 

 taken by the French under General Dugommier, in Sep- 

 tember, 1794, after a siege of four months, and after a 

 Spanish army, which attempted to raise the siege, had been 

 defeated. The Spaniards sustained another defeat in an 

 attack upon the besieging army the day after the place had 

 surrendered. Dugommier, who was killed in battle shortly 

 afterwards, was buned in one of the bastions. 



The population of Bellegarde, as given in the Diction- 

 naire Universe! de la France (Paris, 1804), our latest au- 

 thority, was only 130. (Dictionnaire Universel de la 

 France ; Reichard's Descriptive Road Book (if France ; 

 Martiniere ; Expilly.) 



BELLENDEN, SIR JOHN, eldest son of Thomas Bel- 

 lenden, Ballenden, Ballantyne or Bannatyne (for, by all 

 these names is this family known), of Auchinvole, a lord 

 of session, director of the chancery, and justice clerk of 

 Scotland. He was sometime secretary to Archibald Douglas, 

 earl of Angus, lord chancellor and prime minister of Scot- 

 land, in the beginning of the sixteenth century. When 

 Angus was, in September, 1528, indicted for high treason, 

 of the many that had previously waited on him Bellenden, 

 alone continued his friend, and, though not a lawyer, drew 



NO. 229. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



VOL. IV. a C 



