B E R 



302 



B E R 



The imports, in addition to those already mentioned, con- 

 tilted principally of British natnufactam, lumber, and 

 hips' store*. The exports, with the exception of a mll 

 quantity of arrow-root and hides, were chiefly composed of 

 colonial produce previously brought from the West India 

 Island*. The total value of imports was 102,7427., and of 

 export* 13.784/. sterling money. 



The government of Bermuda is modelled after that of 

 Great Britain, the concurrence of the governor, council, and 

 legislative assembly, being necessary to give to any public 

 measure the force of a law. The governor, who is also 

 commander-in-chief of the forces, has the power of sum- 

 moning and dissolving the Legislative Assembly, and its 

 enactments are of no force unless he confirms them. The 

 Council is composed of eight members and a president: 

 they are nominated by the governor, but the appointment 

 must be confirmed by the crown. The House of Assembly 

 '< of thirty-six members, who are returned by the nine 

 or pariabe* into which the island is divided. All laws 

 must originate in this house. While the session lasts, each 

 member that attends receives two dollars a day. The quali- 

 fication for a member of this assembly is the possession of 

 landed property worth 200/. currency per annum, and an 

 r must |>bssess landed property worth 40/. currency 

 ( in/, sterling) per annum. The courts of law are also mo- 

 delled after those of England ; the offices connected with 

 tin- administration of justice are held exclusively by natives, 

 \\ ho have generally been called to the English bar, although 

 thin is not indispensably necessary. 



All account* are kept in the colony in a currency, the par 



of which is an advance of fifty per cent, on sterling money, 



loo/, sterling being of equal value with ISO/, currency. 



s:old coins in circulation are Spanish doubloons, and its 



.inal parts. The silver coin is now principally that 



struck in England, but Spanish dollars pass at the rate of 



/. sterling each. The weights and measures used are 



according to the old English standards. 



Till 



BERMUDA* 



[ [jute Sound ] 



Wreck Hill (the western point of the group) is in 32 

 1 :> -Jii" N. 1st., and 64 Stf W. long. It is high water at 

 the duck-yard, full and change, at 8 hours. Rise in the 

 springs 5 feet, neap 2 or 3 feet. (Account of the Bermudas 

 in Captain John Smith's (irnrral History of Virginia, 

 I'.nslnnd, tin,/ thr Summfr 1*1 ft, Jnd. JG29; Bryan 

 Kdwardu: Colombian Navigator, &c.) [See BKRKF.I.KY, 

 BISHOP, for an account of his intended college in the Ber- 

 muda*.] 



HKRN. CANTON OF, the largest and most populous 



>n nf Switzerland. extends about 85 miles from N 

 IP. ni the frontier* of the French department, of the Haul 

 Kliin, to the high chain of Alps which divides the southern 

 lie Bemese Oberland from the canton of Valais. 

 It- -h,i]- i- very irregular, like that of most Swiss cantons, 

 and it* hremlth therefore varies considerably, being gi 

 in the southern part of the canton, between the frontiers of 

 ml Unterwalden to the east, and those of Vaud and 

 !> linri; to the west, where it is about 60 miles; more 

 i TihwanU, between Luzcrn and Frcylui- ( |uitp 



.'in mile* in some place*: it then widens again n nth nl the 

 cay of Bern, extending about 60 mile* from the frontiers of 



Luiern to the river Doubs, which forms its 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 

 "1 it- drcadth. Its area, according t<> Franvini's Xtiiti 

 (1827), is 9474 square kilometre-, , r :I!.M, : -h-h 



square miles (about twice the size of Lancashire), an 

 population 380,000 according to the cen-in. of Ih.tl. 

 Report on Ike Poor Lain.) The southern part of the can- 

 ton is very mountainous, consisting of high valley* l.ct\\e, n 

 the offset* of the chain of Alps which divides it from the 

 Valais and from Uri and Unterwalden. Farther north, and 

 round the city of Bern, the ground, although hilly, is not 

 nigged, and consists of pleasant fertile vallc\-. und - 

 level tracts. The most northern part, beyond Bienne, which 

 formerly constituted the territory of the bishop of Ha-el, i- 

 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 Erguel- 

 thal, are nearly 5000 feet above the level of the sea. The 

 loftiest mountains of the canton of Bern, and the only moun- 

 tains 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 Wcttcrhorn, in the same neighbourhood, about 

 12,000. The Jungfrau. 13,710 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. I 

 glaciers cover the sides of these mountains, and are known 

 by the name of the Glaciers of Grindclwald and Luuter- 

 brunneu, from the names of two valleys which are much 

 frequented by tourists in summer. 



1 he principal river of the canton of Bern is the Aar, 

 which has its sources in the glaciers of the Fmsteraarhoni, 

 waters the valley of the Ober Hasty, crosses the Lake of 

 Brienz, and afterwards that of Th'un, passes under the 

 walls of Bern, forming the peninsula on which that city 

 is built, and then winding first westwards and then north- 

 wards, enters the canton of Soleure. The other ri\< 

 the canton of Bern are affluent* of the Aar. The principal 

 are the Emmen, which waters the fine and rich valley called 

 the F.mmenthal, passes by Burgdorff, and enters the Aar 

 below Soleure; the Sinimen, from which the district called 

 Simmenthal takes its name, empties itself into the Lake of 

 Thun ; the Thiele, which is the outlet of the Lakes of Neu- 

 chatcl and of Bienne, issues out of the latter at Nidan, and 

 falls into the Aar after a short course. The Sunne. \vho.-e 

 course runs chiefly through the canton of Freyburg, has it* 

 source in the Gsteij;, in the canton of Bern, and after cross- 

 ing Freyburg, enters again the canton of Bern at Laupen, 

 and falls into the Aar above Aarberg. In the north-wesiern 

 part of the canton, or former bishopric of Basel, the only 

 river deserving the name is the Birs, which has its source 

 in the Miinsterthal, and running northward enters the can- 

 ton of Basel, where it joins the Rhine. 



The climate of the canton of Bern, and the produce of the 

 soil, \ary greatly according to the nature of the ground and 

 the position of the valleys. The Oberland, or southern part, 

 is very cold in winter : cattle forms the chief property of 

 the inhabitants, who are mostly poor. The Simmenthal is 

 the best valley in this district. The central part, near Bern, 

 the country between the Aar and the Kmmcn, and east of 

 the latter river towards Luzcrn, constitute the fine.-l and 

 most fertile part of the canton, and produce corn, fruits, 

 and rich pastures. The farms are extensive, the fan 

 wealthy, and their houses, built mostly of wood, are roomy 

 and comfortable. It is the richest agricultural district in 

 Switzerland. Any traveller passing along the high muds 

 from Aarau or Soleure to Bern, from Luzern to Bern by the 

 Sumiswald, and from Bern towards Moral or Thun, may 

 perceive, from the appearance of the houses and the firliK. 

 the people and their cattle, that industry and comfort are 

 generally did 



1 The farm-houses in the Knimenthal have more even 

 than the usual amplitude of roof, and appear to contain 

 within their wooden boundaries, und the supplementary 

 pace over which the immense thatch spread-, u.-clf, every 

 kind of country comfort, and all the rustic and appropriate 

 litter of the Bernese cottages : milk-pails freshly scoured, 

 and ranged in the sun : wood piled up, or herbs spread out 

 l dry : hern an array of bee-hives, there an accumulation of 

 rakes, barrows, and all the implements of husbandry : and 

 even "here a 1 1 ..I 'ii-'.n- of marguerites and hollyhocks! p 

 to the little guldens a gay bloom. There is in this country 



