BOMB.KETCH BONA DKA. 



parchment skins which burst in fulling. Afterwards, 

 l.iriv iron halls, heated red hot. emir into n--. In 

 tin- niiiMli* of the fifteenth century, |T nee Kimiiii 

 siijisiimiid I'aiidulf Malatesta invented moruirs and 

 bombs. They consisted, at first, nf two hollow he- 

 mispheres of metal, filled with j>owilcr, ami In-ltl to- 

 gether by chains. Hy decrees, tin y received their 

 ^resent shape. An English engineer, Malilms, whom 

 Louis XIII. took into . introduced them 



into France, ami used them first (IG3J) at the siege 

 of l.iiinuite, in Lorraine. 



The rfniii/fs, which are thrown from howitzers, 

 are easily distinguished from the bombs, which are 

 :.iin mortars. The fir>L are used only in the 

 field, the latter in siee-. The 1'riixsian general von 

 'reni|ielliotf, has in \am attempted to bring ten pound 

 mor^irs into the field. 



In order to mnke a wall Ixnnh-uroof, it should be 

 three feet and a half thick. 



BOMB-KKTCH ; a vessel built for the use of morlars 

 at 8W, and furnished with all the apparatus necessary 

 for a vigorous bombardinenL Bomb-ketches are 

 built remarkably strong, to sustain the violent shock 

 produced by the discharge of the mortars. The 

 modern bomb-vessels generally carry two ten inch 

 mortars, four sixty-eight pounders, and six eighteen 

 pound carronades ; and the mortars may be fired at 

 us low an anidcais twenty degrees; their principal 

 purpose, at these low angles, being to cover the 

 landing of troops, and protect the coast and harbours. 

 A Iximb-ketch is generally from sixty to seventy feet 

 long, from stem to stern, and draws eight or nine 

 feet of water, carrying two masts, and is usually of a 

 hundred to a hundred and fifty tons burden. The 

 tender is generally a brig, on board of which the 

 party of artillery remain till their services are requir- 

 ed on board the bomb-vessels. 



B I.MBAST, in composition ; an attempt, by strained 

 description, to raise a low or familiar subject beyond 

 its rank, which, instead of being sublime, becomes 

 ridiculous. Its original signification was, a stuff of 

 soft, loose texture, used to swell out garments. 



BOMBAY ; a presidency, island, and city in British 

 India ; lat. 18 5& N. ; Ion. 72 56' E. The island 

 was formerly subdivided into several smaller ones, 

 but many thousand acres, once entirely under water, 

 have been recovered, and the two ranges of hills which 

 cross the island have thus been united by a line of 

 fertile valleys. It is of little importance as regards 

 its internal resources, but in a commercial point of 

 view is of great value. Its proximity to the main 

 land gives it a facility of communication with all the 

 different points of that long line of coast, as well as 

 with the shores of Persia and Arabia. The island is 

 easily defended, and the rise of the tide is sufficient 

 to allow the construction of docks on a large scale. 

 The surface is either naked rock or low ground 

 exposed to inundation : the quantity of grain, which 

 it is capable of producing, is, therefore, very small. 

 The causey, which connects it with Salsette, an 

 island lying between B. and the coast of Malabar, 

 affords, however, an easy way of introducing provi- 



sions. U IK n first known to Europeans, it was consi- 

 dered a very unhealthy place ; but it 1ms been 

 improved by draining and embankments. The 

 population, in ISHi, was 1 6 1 ,550, of whom 104,000 

 wire Hindoos, 28,000 Mohammedans, 1 1,000 native. 

 Christians, and 4,300 British. There were ;iKo 

 about 13,000 Parsees, who here found an asylum 

 from the persecutions of the Mohammedans, and are 

 almost the exclusive proprietors of the island. The. 

 population is now estimated to amount to ^^0,000. 

 On a narrow neck of land, near the. south-eastern 

 extremity of the island, stands the city, which is 

 aliom a mile in length and a quarter of a mile in 

 breadth. It is surrounded by fortifications,-which have 

 been gradually improved, in proportion to the grow- 

 ing importance of the place. It is the seat of govern- 

 ment for the south-western part of the British posses- 

 sions in India. In front of the fort is an esplanade : 

 at the commencement of the hot season, those Euro- 

 peans, who are obliged to have their principal resi- 

 dences within the fort, erect bungallows on this spot, 

 which are, many of them, elegant buildings, but unfit 

 to resist the violence of the monsoons. As soon 

 as the rains begin, they are taken down, and pre- 

 served for another year. There are three govern- 

 ment residences in the island. The one within the 

 fort is principally for holding councils, and for des- 

 patching business. It is a spacious, dismal looking 

 building, like many of the other large houses in B. 

 The European society here is neither so numerous 

 nor so expensive as that in the other presidencies ; 

 but, if not rivals in splendour, they are quite equal in 

 comfort and hospitality to their countrymen in Calcut- 

 ta or Madras. 



As this place is the emporium of all the, north-wes- 

 tern coast of the peninsula, and of the Persian and 

 Arabian gulfs, its trade is very considerable. To China 

 it sends a large quantity of cotton. Pepper, sandal- 

 wood, gums, drugs, pearls, ivory, gems, sharks' fins, 

 edible birds' nests, form the remainder of the cargoes 

 for Canton. Hemp, coffee, barilla, manufactured 

 goods from Surat, and other articles, are sent to Eu- 

 rope. The trade to America is inconsiderable. 



The company's marine establishment consists of 

 eighteen cruisers, besides boats : the military and 

 marine corps amount to less than 3000 men. Besides 

 the governor and council, stationed at the city, there 

 are magistrates and commercial residents in the chief 

 towns of the different provinces subject to theirgovern- 

 ment There is one supreme court of judicature, 

 held under a single judge, called the recorder. 



Bombay was obtained by the Portuguese, in 1530, 

 from an Indian chief at Salsette ; by them it was 

 ceded to Great Britain, in 1661, and, in 1668, it was 

 transferred, by the king, to the East India company. 

 From the commencement of the last century, it has 

 gradually increased in importance, and has now attain- 

 ed a high degree of prosperity. It is difficult to fix, with 

 precision, the extent of the territories included within 

 the presidency of B., as some districts belonging to 

 the native powers are intermingled with them. They 

 may be calculated at about 10,000 square miles, with 

 a population of 2,500,000. 



BONA (the Aphrodisium of Ptolemy) ; a seaport of 

 Algiers, 66 miles N. N. E. Constantina ; Ion. 7 36' 

 E. ; lat. 36 3% N. Population 8000. This town is 

 built above a mile south of the ancient Hippo, or 

 Hippona. The harbour, which is situated to the east 

 of the town, is capacious, and .a considerable trade is 

 carried on here in corn, wool, hides, and wax. The 

 situation is good, being near the mouth of the Sei- 

 bouse, and, with proper care, it might be made one 

 of the most flourishing towns in Barbary. 



BONA DEA ; a name given to Ops, Vesta, Cybele, 

 Khea, by the Greeks ; and by the Latins to Fauna or 



