BATALHA BATH. 



445 



conclude, that bats may be the means of conveying 

 these noisome insects into houses, as they frequently 

 take up their lodgings in chimneys belonging to bed- 

 chambers, to which the bugs thus obtain easy access. 

 Bed bugs are often observed in entirely new houses, 

 into which furniture altogether new has been intro- 

 duced. On a single bat, obtained in the open air 

 from a large occidental plane or button-wood tree, 

 we have seen a profusion of bugs sufficient to have 

 furnished a stock capable of soon infesting a whole 

 neighbourhood. It may be well, occasionally, to 

 smoke such lodgers out of chamber chimneys during 

 summer, to prevent the introduction of their annoy- 

 ing and disgusting companions. 



Bats generally oring forth two young, and suckle 

 them until old enough to purvey for themselves. 

 While suckling, they remain closely attached to the 

 mother's teats, which are two, situated upon the 

 chest. The parent shows a strong degree of attach- 

 ment for her offspring, and, when they are captured, 

 will follow them, and even submit to captivity her- 

 self, rather than forsake her charge. The voice of 

 the small bats, when irritated, is a sharp, chattering 

 sort of squeak. They bite with much force, and 

 those of considerable age and size can inflict a very 

 severe injury, as their teeth are pointed and keen. 



BATALHA ; a village, fifty-two miles from Lisbon, 

 with a convent of Dominicans, founded by king John 

 I., in commemoration of a victory over the king of 

 Castile, near Aljubarota, in the year 1385. This 

 convent is one -of the most splendid buildings in 

 Europe, erected, in the Gothic style, by an Irishman, 

 named .Racket. The decorations are partly mystical 

 and hieroglyphical, and not yet deciphered. The 

 most difficult of them are on the mausoleum of the 

 founder. Foreign monarchs have also enriched and 

 adorned this convent. The royal sepulchre of the 

 family of Braganza is now at Belem. 



BATAVIA; a city and seaport of Java, on the 

 north coast of the island, near the west end, and the 

 capital of all the Dutch East Indies ; Ion. 106 51' 

 E. ; lat. 6 10' S. : population, about 1780, estimated 

 at 160,000 ; in 1795, including a circuit often miles, 

 110,000. In 1816, the population of the city was 

 reduced to 47,217 ; of whom 14,239 were slaves, 

 11,854 Chinese, 7720 Balinese, 4115 natives of 

 Celebes, 3331 Javanese, 3155 Malays, 2028 Europe- 

 ans and their descendants. It was founded by the 

 Dutch in 1619, taken by the British in 1811, but 

 restored to the Dutch in 1816. It is situated on a 

 wide, deep bay, in which are interspersed many low, 

 groen islets, within which ships find safe anchorage. 

 It is rather a roadstead than a harbour, but, from its 

 westerly situation and easy access, is the best and 

 most convenient port in the island. The greatest 

 inconvenience is the bar at the mouth, which, at low 

 water, is almost dry, and seldom has six feet water. 

 The town is situated in a low, marshy plain, at the 

 union of small rivers, which are navigable for boats; 

 and in many of the streets are canals filled with 

 water almost stagnant. The miasmata, generated 

 in the putrid mud-banks and canals, render the town 

 exceedingly unhealthy, and subject to an intermittent 

 fever, very mortal to strangers. B., on account of 

 the beauty of its buildings and immense trade, has 

 been styled the Queen of the East. But, within a 

 few years, the town has lost a great part of its splen- 

 dour. Streets have been pulled down, canals half 

 filled up, forts demolished, and palaces leveled with 

 the dust. The campongs, or quarters of the native 

 population, are of mean appearance. In the part 

 inhabited by Europeans, the streets are more regular, 

 and the houses spacious, but not elegant. The pub- 

 lic edifices are neither numerous nor splendid. The 

 principal are the stadt-house, a Calvinistic, a Lu- 



theran, and a Portuguese church, several Moham- 

 medan mosques, and some Chinese temples. There 

 are also some charitable institutions. See Java. 



BATAVIAN REPUBLIC; the name adopted by the 

 Seven United States, soon after the French revolu- 

 tion, and acknowledged by the powers of Europe. 

 The whole republic was declared one and indivisible ; 

 all members of society were declared equal in the 

 eye of the law, without respect to rank or birth ; all 

 religious societies, acknowledging a Supreme Being, 

 equally protected by law. Feudality was abolished, 

 all fiefs declared allodial, and possessors of lordships 

 to be indemnified. In 1806, the form of government 

 was changed into a kingdom, under the name of 

 Holland; and the Batavian republic merged into a 

 form of government nominally under the sway of 

 Louis Bonaparte, but really under that of Napoleon. 



BATAVIANS ; an old German nation, which inhabited 

 a part of the present Holland, especially the island 

 called Batavia, formed by that branch of the Rhine 

 which empties itself into the sea near Leydeii, toge- 

 ther with the Waal and the Meuse. Their territories, 

 however, extended much beyond the Waal. Tacitus 

 commends their bravery. According to him, they 

 were, originally, the same as the Catti, a German 

 tribe, which had emigrated from their country on ac- 

 count of domestic troubles. This must have happen- 

 ed before the time of Cassar. When Germanicus was 

 about to invade Germany from the sea, he made their 

 island the rendezvous of his fleet. Being subjected 

 by the Romans, they served them with such courage 

 and fidelity as to obtain the title of their friends and 

 brethren. They were exempted from tributes and 

 taxes, and permitted to choose their leaders among 

 themselves. Their cavalry was particularly excel- 

 lent. During the reign of Vespasian, they revolted, 

 under the command of Civilis, from the Romans, and 

 extorted from them favourable terms of peace. Tra- 

 jan and Adrian subjected them again. At the end of 

 the third century, the Salian Franks obtained posses- 

 sion of the island of Batavia. After the constitution 

 of the United Provinces was changed by the French 

 in 1798, they formed the Batavian republic, until 

 Louis Bonaparte became king of Holland (1806). 



BATH ; a city, in Somersetshire, 12 miles E. 

 Bristol, 67 S. W. Oxford, 107 W. London ; Ion. 2 

 22' W. ; lat. 51 23' N. It is beautifully situated on 

 the Avon, in a narrow valley, bounded on the N. E. 

 and S. W. by hills, and widening on the N. W. into 

 rich and extensive meadows. The Avon is navigable 

 from Bath to Bristol. It has borne various names in 

 different ages, all having allusion to its celebrated 

 waters. The Romans called it Aquas Solis, Fontes 

 Catidi, TAcrm(E,Bodonia,and Bathonia; the Britons, 

 Caer Badun or Bladon ; the Saxons, Hat Bathun, 

 and Achamannum. The vestiges of the Romans here 

 are still exceedingly numerous, and show the high 

 value which they placed upon the waters. 



Bath is remarkable for medicinal waters, tor its 

 various sources of amusement, for the elegance of its 

 streets, and the magnificence of its public buildings. 

 It is accounted the most elegant city in England. 

 The houses are of superior construction, built of free- 

 stone, obtained from the hills about the town. The 

 cathedral is in the form of a cross, and is the purest 

 specimen of Gothic architecture in the kingdom. 

 There are three churches and one chapel within the 

 city, and, without the boundaries, three churches and 

 seven chapels ; also places of public worship for Me- 

 thodists, Independents, Baptists, Moravians, Catho- 

 lics, Unitarians, and Quakers. It contains the gene- 

 ral hospital for the reception of invalids, who desire 

 tne benefit of the waters, from all parts of the wprld ; 

 several other hospitals and charitable institutions; 

 the Bath and West of England society ; the philoso- 



