BERN. 



511 



tobacco, legumes, and fruits sufficient for their wants. 

 Their trees are principally the cedar and palmetto. 

 Besides these, they have orange trees, olive, laurel, 

 pear-trees, &c. The red-wood is peculiar to these 

 islands : its coloured fruit feeds worms, which be- 

 come flies, a little larger than the cochineal bug, 

 instead of which they are used. There are no ve- 

 nomous reptiles. Building of vessels is the principal 

 trade of the inhabitants. These islands extend from 

 N. E. to S. W., about 45 miles. The whole shore 

 is surrounded with rocks, most of which are dry at low 

 water, but covered at flood. They are 230 leagues 

 S. E. cape Fear, in North Carolina. The north 

 point of these islands lies in Ion. 64 28' W. ; lat. 32" 

 22' N. Population, a few years since, 10,381 ; whites, 

 5,462; slaves, 4,919. 



BERN; the largest canton of Switzerland (3667 

 square miles, 338,000 inhabitants, among whom are 

 40,000 Catholics, and 250,300 Calvinists), with a ca- 

 pital of the same name. Cuno von Bubenberg, in 

 the 1 2th century, enclosed the small place Bern, in 

 the vicinity of the fortress of' Nydeck, with a moat 

 and walls, and the duke of Zahringen, to whom Ny- 

 deck belonged, gave the new city laws. Its popula- 

 tion was much increased in the 13th century. The 

 lower nobility of the adjacent country fled to it for 

 protection against the oppressions of the higher, and 

 were joined by the country people, and particularly 

 by the citizens of Friburg and Zurich. The emperor 

 Frederic II. declared it a free city of the empire, in 

 1218, and confirmed its privileges by a charter, which 

 is still preserved in the archives. In 1288, B. was 

 besieged by Rodolph of Hapsburg, but not taken ; 

 and, in 1291, the citizens of B., under Ulrich von 

 Bubenberg, made war against their own nobility, 

 commanded by Ulrich von Erlach. B. now became 

 an asylum for all those who suffered under the op- 

 pression of the nobles of Austria, and rose to a height 

 of power that excited the envy of other cities, as well as 

 of its own nobility. The latter, therefore, entered into 

 an alliance with the hostile cities, for the purpose of 

 destroying it. Their army, consisting of 18,000 men, 

 headed by 700 of the higher nobility, with 1200 

 knights, was totally vanquished at Laupen, June 21, 

 1339, by the citizens of B., led by Rodolph von Er- 

 lach, though these were only one-third of their num- 

 ber. After this victory, the city continued to in- 

 crease, and, in 1353, entered into the perpetual league 

 of the Helvetic confederacy, in which it held a rank 

 inferior only to Zurich. Until the close of that cen- 

 tury, B. enlarged its dominions, partly by purchase, 

 and partly by conquest. In 1405, the greater part 

 of the city was destroyed by fire, but was afterwards 

 regularly rebuilt. The long wars with Austria, Mi- 

 .an, Burgundy, and Savoy, soon after broke out, 

 from all which the confederacy came off victorious, 

 aud in which B. conquered Aargau. In 1528, the 

 citizens of B. embraced the cause of the Reformation. 

 In the subsequent war with the duke of Savoy, they 

 conquered the Pays de Vaud. The countries gained 

 by conquest were governed by bailiffs, who resided 

 in mountain castles. From that time to March 5, 1798, 

 the prosperity and wealth of B. was constantly in- 

 creasing, as may be clearly perceived from the large 

 sums spent for the public administration. At that 

 time, the canton contained above 5000 square miles, 

 and about 380,000 inhabitants. Upon the day above 

 mentioned, 30,000 French troops marched against B. 

 It v/as again an Erlach who led 18,000 citizens of B., 

 together with 8000 auxiliary troops of the confede- 

 rate cantons, into the field ; but the memory of 

 Morgarten, of Laupen, and Murten, no longer 

 Inspired them to victory : the troops of the confede- 

 rates, or. their retreat, slew their own commander. 

 B., for the first time, opened its gates to an enemy, 



and lost about lialf of its possessions. The northern 

 part was united with the present canton of Aargau, 

 and out of the south-western (Pays de Vaud) the pre- 

 sent canton of Vaud was formed. By the decrees of 

 the congress at Vienna, however, the greater part of 

 the bishopric of Bale was joined to the canton ; and 

 according to the new aristocratic constitution of the 

 canton, the sovereign power is exercised by a bailiff, 

 and the great and lesser councils of the city and re- 

 public of B., consisting of two hundred members 

 chosen from the city of B., and ninety-nine from the 

 towns and the country. The former are chosen from 

 the citizens, over twenty-nine years old, by an elec- 

 tive assembly composed of the members of the lesser 

 council, and a committee of the great. The ninety* 

 nine members from the towns and country are chosen 

 partly from the towns, by the municipal authorities ; 

 partly from each of the twenty-two districts, miu 

 which the country is divided, by elective assemblies ; 

 and partly by the great council. Two bailiffs preside 

 in turn, each for the space of a year, in the great and 

 lesser councils. The former has the legislative, the 

 latter the executive power. The latter consists ot 

 the two bailiffs, twenty-three members, and two se- 

 cretaries, and is chosen by the former from among 

 its own members. 



The northern part of the canton is hilly, with 

 beautiful plains and valleys, and has a fertile and 

 highly cultivated soil, producing corn, wine, and 

 fruits. Here is situated Emmenthal, one of the 

 richest and most fertile valleys in Switzerland, where 

 the finest cattle are raised, and the well known Em- 

 menthal cheese made. Neat houses, comfortable 

 dresses, and cheerfulness, indicate the prosperity of 

 the inhabitants of this valley. The southern part of 

 the canton, the Oberland (Upperland), (to which the 

 valleys of Hasli, Grindervald, Lauterbrun, Cander, 

 Frutingen, Adelboden, Simmen, and Saanen, with 

 numerous smaller valleys, belong), begins at the foot 

 of the high mountain chain towards the Valais, and 

 extends to its summit. The lower valleys produce 

 good fruits, and are fertile and agreeable : higher up 

 are excellent Alpine pastures; then succeed bare 

 rocks, extensive glaciers (the source of magnificent 

 water-falls), and the highest mountains of Switzerland, 

 as the Finsteraarhorn, the Shreck-horn, and Wetter- 

 horn, the Eiger, the Jungfrau. The inhabitants of 

 the Oberland live principally by raising cattle. The 

 chief trade is in linen and woolen manufactures, es- 

 pecially in Emmenthal. The revenues of the state 

 amount to about 600,000 dollars. The canton fur- 

 nishes 5824 men to the army of the confederacy, and 

 contributes 104,080 Swiss francs to its support. 



Bern (1062 houses, with 17,620 inhabitants), one 

 of the best built cities in Switzerland, is situated upon 

 the declivity of a hill, on a peninsula, washed on 

 three sides by the Aar. The streets are, for the 

 greater part, straight, wide, and well paved, and the 

 houses partly provided with piazzas. Among the 

 public buildings are the great Gothic cathedral, the 

 church of the Holy Spirit, the university buildings, 

 the handsomely built hospital, &c. B. has an act 

 demy, and several literary societies. The economi- 

 cal society, in particular, has done much for the 

 improvement of agriculture, as well as for the bettor 

 knowledge of the natural history of Switzerland. 

 The historical society of Switzerland, of which the 

 mayor of B., von Mulinen, is president, has pub- 

 lished several chronicles relating to the former 

 times of B., as that of Justinger (till 1421), 1819, 

 that of Schachtlan, 1820, and that of Anshelm 

 (till 1526), 1825. Ths gallery for native speci- 

 mens of natural history, founded in 1802, con 

 tains viviparous animals, birds, butterflies, insects, 

 and plants. The public library possesses great 



