670 



BREAD ALB AN EBRK AST-WHEEL. 



immediately : if it be kept more than twenty-four 

 hours, it becomes hard and choky. Tli<> inhabitants 

 of the South >e;i i-hmils prepare itns footl by dividing 

 the fruit into three or four parts, and roasting it in 

 hot embers. Its taste is insipid. \\ itli a slight tartness, 

 somewhat resembling that of the crumb of wheaten 

 bread mixed with Jerusalem artichoke. Of this fruit, 

 the Otaheiteans make various messes, by mixing it 

 with water or the milk of the cocoa-nut, then Ix-aling 

 it to a paste with a stone pestle, and afterwards ming- 

 ling with it ripe plantains bananas, or a sour paste 

 made from the oread-fruit itself, called nuthie. It 

 continues in season eight months, and so great is its 

 utility in the island of Otaheite, "that," observes 

 captain Cook, " if, in those parts where it is not 

 spontaneously produced, a man plant but ten trees in 

 his whole lifetime, he will as completely fulfil his 

 duty to his own and to future generations, as the na- 

 tive of our less temperate climate can do by plough- 

 ing in the cold of winter, and reaping in the summer's 

 heat, as often as these seasons return ; even if, after 

 he has procured bread for his present household, he 

 should convert the surplus into money, and lay it up 

 for his children." Not only does this tree supply 

 food, but clothing, and numerous other conveniences 

 of life. The inner bark, which is white, and com- 

 posed of a net-like series of fibres, is formed into a 

 kind of cloth. The wood is soft, smooth, and of a 

 yellowish colour, and is used for the building of boats 

 and houses. In whatever part the tree is wounded, 

 a glutinous, milky juice issues, which, when boiled 

 with cocoa-nut oil, is employed for making bird-lime, 

 and as a cement for filling up cracks in such vessels 

 as are intended for holding water. Some parts of 

 the flowers serve as tinder, and the leaves are used 

 for wrapping up food, and other purposes. 



As the climate of the South sea islands is consider- 

 ed not very different from that of the West Indies, it 

 was, about forty-two years ago, thought desirable, 

 that some of the trees should be transferred in a 

 growing state, to the British islands there. His 

 majesty's ship the Bounty sailed, in 1787, for this 

 purpose, to the South seas, under the command of 

 lieutenant, afterwards admiral, Bligh. But a fatal 

 mutiny of the crew at that time prevented the ac- 

 complishment of this benevolent design. The com- 

 mander of the vessel, however, returned in safety to 

 his country, and a second expedition, under the same 

 person, and for the same purpose, was fitted out in 

 the year 1791. He arrived in safety at Otaheite, 

 and, after an absence from England of about eighteen 

 months, landed in Jamaica, with 352 bread-fruit-trees, 

 in a living state, having left many others at different 

 places in his passage thither. From Jamaica, these 

 trees were transferred to other islands ; but, the Ne- 

 groes having a general and long-established predi- 

 lection for the plaintain, the bread-fruit is not much 

 relished by them. Where, however, it has not been 

 generalry introduced as an article of food, it is ysed 

 as a delicacy ; and, whether employed as bread, or 

 in the form of pudding, it is considered highly pala- 

 table by the European inhabitants. 



BREADALBANE, or BRAIDALBIN, a district in the 

 western part of Perthshire, in the centre of the Gram- 

 pians, which here cover a large tract of the county 

 in length and breadth. This district is a complete 

 mixture of high and low hills, yielding pasture for 

 large flocks of sheep, or shelter for game, with inter- 

 mediate valleys, some of which are susceptible of 

 cultivation, while others are merely mosses of peat 

 and heath. In the extreme point lies Loch Lyon, 

 whence flows the Lyon river through a sinuous val- 

 ley, till it falls into the Tay. In the centre of the 

 district lies Loch Tay, an inland lake about sixteen 

 miles long, surrounded by the most splendid natural 



scenery. In winter the district is cold, wet, and un- 

 comfortable, and in summer the heat in the rinse 

 valleys is excessive. The whole country abounds in 

 limestone, and minerals of different kinds are found. 

 It is now traversed by several good roads. There. 

 are no towns in the district, and Kenmore, Kill in. and 

 ( 'lifton are the only villages worth noting. The earl 

 of Breadalbane is the chief proprietor. 



BREAKERS; billows which break violently over 

 rocks lying under the surface of the sea. They are 

 readily distinguished by the foam which they pro- 

 duce, and by a peculiar hoarse roaring, very different 

 from that of waves in deep water. When a ship is 

 driven among breakers, it is hardly possible to save 

 her, as every billow that heaves her upward serves to 

 dash her down with additional force. 



BREAKING BULK ; the act of beginning to unlade a 

 ship, or of discharging the first part of the cargo. 



BREAKWATER. See Cherbourg, Plymouth, and De- 

 laware. 



BREAST. See Chest. 



BREAST-PIN ; an ornamental 

 pin used principally in fastening 

 the neckcloth. In matters of 

 personal ornament, the ancients 

 were perhaps more profuse than 

 the moderns. Almost every 

 variety of jewelry has been got 

 in the ruins of Pompeii and 

 Herculaneum. The annexed 

 cut, drawn as large as the ori- 

 ginal, represents a breast-pin 

 found in the late excavations at 

 the former place. The Bac- 

 chanalian figure on it has a pa- 

 tera in one hand and a glass in 

 the other. He is provided 

 with bat's wings, emblematic 

 of the drowsiness consequent 

 on hard drinking, and two 

 bands of grapes pass across his 

 body. 



BREAST-PLATE ; a piece of defensive armour, cover- 

 ing the breast, originally made of thongs, cords, 

 leather, &c. (hence lorica, cuirass), but afterwards of 

 brass, iron, or other metals. 1 1 may be considered 

 as an improvement of the shield or buckler, which 

 was borne on the left arm, and moved so as to pro- 

 tect, successively, all parts of the body. It being 

 perceived that the free use of both hands in the 

 employment of offensive weapons was important, the 

 defensive armour was attached to the body, and re- 

 ceived different names from its position, use, &c. ; 

 as, for instance, breast-plate, cuisses, greaves. These 

 different species of defensive armour are of little use 

 against fire-arms, and have, therefore, generally 

 fallen into disuse in modem war. (See Cuirass.) 

 Breast-plate, in Jewish antiquity, was a folded piece 

 of rich, embroidered stuff, worn by the high priest. 

 It was set with twelve precious stones, bearing the 

 names of the tribes. 1 1 was also called the breast- 

 plate of judgment, because it contained the Urim and 

 Thummim. 



BREAST- WHEEL ; a water-wheel which receives the 

 water at about half its height, or at the level of its 

 axis. In England, float-boards are employed, which 

 are fitted accurately to the mill-course, so that the 

 water, after acting on the floats by its impulse, is 

 detained in the course, and acts by its weight. In 

 America, they are often constructed with Buckets, 

 and with a part of the circumference fitted to the 

 mill-course. The accompanying cut will give an 

 idea of the common construction of the breast- wheel, 

 &c. 



