(532 



BORODINO BOKTHWICK. 



power being in the linnds of I'.l Kunemy, sheikh of 

 the Corun, au uble, warlike, und |>opulur chief. His 

 force is chiefly cavalry, and is estimated at about 

 30,000 men, armed with.-|n-ar-, shields, and daggers. 

 The chiefs wear jackets of chain armour, cuirasst >, or 

 coats of mail, Indi.ui i-nrn, cotton, and indigo, are 

 I lie most valuable productions of the soil. Very few 

 fruits or vegetables are raised, and agriculture is in a 

 \\ivtched state. The domestic animals are asses, 

 camels, horses, dogs, sheep, goats, cows, and innu- 

 merable herds of oxen. Lions, panthers, leopards, 

 hyenas, jackals, elephants (in herds of 50 to 400) 

 and Imtialoes crowd the forests. The crocodile and 

 hippopotamus are considered a luxury. The ostrich, 

 pelican, crane, ami Guinea fowl alxmnd. The air is 

 filled with locusts, which nre devoured by the natives, 

 both roasted and lx>iled, and formed into balls of a 

 sort of paste. The mineral productions are unimpor- 

 tant. The principal return which the Moorish mer- 

 chants obtain for their goods is slaves. The cur- 

 rency of the country consists of strips of cotton, about 

 three inches wide and a yard long, called gttbbuJc, 

 four or five of which make a rottala. 



BoRonixo. See Moskwa, Battle of. 



BoRoruii ; originally a fortified town. In Britain, 

 the term was early restricted to those towns which 

 sent burgesses to parliament. This burden, as it was 

 once considered, was probably imposed on the largest 

 and wealthiest towns, or on those which had placed 

 themselves under the protection of some baron. Up 

 to the recent reform act, many places, formerly po- 

 pulous, and entitled to be represented, though re- 

 duced to not more than two or three houses, continued 

 to retain their original privilege. These were called 

 rotten boroughs. See Parliament. 



BORROMEI ISLANDS (hole dei Conigli, on account of 

 the many rabbits there) ; four small islands in the 

 Lago Maggiore, in Upper Italy, which lake is thirty 

 miles in length and seven or eight in breadth. The 

 greater part belongs to Piedmont; the rest to the 

 kingdom of Lombardy. Its banks are formed of a 

 beautiful Alpine country, with many villages, villas, 

 vineyards, gardens, and chestnut groves. The islands 

 have their name from the family of Borromeo, which, 

 for centuries, was in possession of the richest estates 

 in the vicinity of the Lago Maggiore. Vitelliano 

 Borromeo, in 1671, caused garden-soil to be spread 

 over three naked rocks in this lake, and terraces to 

 be walled up. Tims arose the Isola Bella, I sola Ma- 

 dre, L'Isolino, and Isola dei Pescatori, the two first 

 famous for their beautiful garden-grounds. The 

 Isola Madre, abounding in pheasants, lies in the 

 middle of the lake. It consists of seven terraces, 

 with a kitchen-garden, cypresses, laurels, chestnuts, 

 and myrtles. The Isola Bella is loaded with artifi- 

 cial ornament. It contains a handsome palace of 

 four stories, which lies near the shore, and is oc- 

 cupied, for some months in the year, by the count 

 Borromeo. By means of the Grotte Terrene, it com- 

 municates with the gardens, which are laid out in the 

 French taste, upon ten terraces, rising above each 

 other, and narrowing in proportion to their elevation. 

 The whole has the appearance of a truncated pyramid, 

 on the top of which stands a colossal unicorn, the 

 armorial ensign of the Borromei. Orange, citron, 

 and lemon-trees, united by fine hedges, or forming 

 arbours, breathe their fragrance ; lofty laurels form 

 a little grove ; myrtles and cypresses are to be seen, 

 together with pomegranate-trees, the fruit of which 

 ripens here ; for the mountains which crown the lake 

 serve as a shelter against the cold winds. The climate 

 of the Isola Madre, however, is milder than that of 

 the Isola Bella. In the latter, the orange and citron- 

 trees, &c. must be secured, in winter, by boards laid 

 over them, and. in extreme cold, by applying char- 



coal-pans underneath. The inhabitants of the Isola 

 dei 1'escatori carry on a trade in fish to Milan and 

 Piedmont, and are engaged in Mnu};liii"-. 



BORROMEO, Carlo, count, a o-lrbniu d Komish saint 

 and cardinal, was born, Oct. 2, 1538, at Arona, on 

 Lago Maggiore, the family-seat of his virtuous and 

 pious parents ; became, at the age of twelve, a com- 

 mendatory abbot; studied the law at Pavia; was, in 

 1559, made doctor, and in loo'O, was su<rrs>ivcly ap- 

 pointed, by his uncle, Pius IV., apostolical prothono- 

 tary, referendary, cardinal, and archbishop of Milan. 

 From his earliest youth, grave, pious, and severe to- 

 wards himself, the young ecclesiastic, at the age of 

 twenty-two, devoted himself to the duties of go\t ni- 

 ment with a conscientious zeal. As legate over Uo 

 magna, the march of Ancona and Bologna, he had 

 a great share in the civil government : as protector 

 of Portugal, of the Netherlands, of Switzerland, of the 

 Franciscans, Carmelites, and of the knights of Malta, 

 he administered several important branches of the 

 spiritual government of the pope, who created him 

 his grand penitentiary, and did nothing of importance 

 without his advice. The re-opening and the results 

 of the council of Trent, so advantageous to the papal 

 authority, were chiefly effected by the great influence 

 of B., which was felt during the whole sitting of the 

 council. He did much for the embellishment of the 

 papal buildings, employing even his own fortune for 

 that purpose, and established many good institutions, 

 as archbishop of Milan ; improved the discipline of 

 the clergy, founded schools, seminaries, a regular or- 

 der of secular divines, libraries, hospitals, and was 

 indefatigable in doing good. All his virtues, how- 

 ever, could not save him from persecution and ca- 

 lumny ; he was even severely attacked by the govern- 

 ment, but no charge could be proved against him. 

 He died, Nov. 3, 1584, at the age of forty-six, 

 exhausted by mental sufferings, the accusations 

 of his enemies, and his monastical penances. Mira- 

 cles were immediately said to be wrought at his 

 tomb, and his canonization took place in 1616. Pos- 

 terity will venerate the purity of his life, the energy 

 and grandeur of his character, his exemplary adminis- 

 tration, and the noble works which he accomplished ; 

 and, in spite of the bigotry which is n be attributed 

 to the spirit of his age, and to his clerical relations, 

 must acknowledge his truly Christian and apostolic 

 character. 



BORROWSTOWNNESS (popularly pronounced Bo'ness), 

 a parish and town in Linlithgowshire, distant eighteen 

 miles W. from Edinburgh. The town, which is situ- 

 ated on a low peninsula, washed by the Forth, pos- 

 sesses two principal streets running from west to east, 

 which are narrow and irregular, and the houses old- 

 fashioned and mean, flere are manufactories of 

 vitriol, soap, and pottery, and in the vicinity are very 

 extensive salt works and collieries. The harbour is 

 one of the best, as well as one of the oldest, in the 

 Firth of Forth ; a few Greenland ships belong to it, 

 and it also possesses a small share of Baltic trade ; 

 some business likewise takes place in shipbuilding. 

 Here are a general post office and a custom-house. 

 The parish extends four miles in length by two miles 

 and a half in breadth ; the surface is various, and the 

 soil a rich and well cultivated loam. Besides several 

 productive coal-pits, there are extensive beds of In- 

 ferior limestone, with quarries of freestone and gra- 

 nite. The Roman road, called Graham's Dyke, ran 

 through the high grounds, the whole length of the 

 parish, and traces of it are still visible on the east 

 bank of the Avon. Population of the burgh and 

 parish in 1831, 2,809. 



BORTHWICK, a parish in the south-eastern part of 

 the county of Edinburgh, averaging six miles in 

 length by four in breadth. It is situated in a pleasant 



