B A L 



Muclavo. and 11,000. Til his Gazetteer published in 1797, he 

 ** informs us, that in 1791 the population amounted to 

 13,503, but that the number of inhabitants and houses 

 had since been greatly increased. Weld supposes the 

 population to have been 16,000; and Du Lac about 

 eight years after found it amounted to 30,000. The 

 exports in the months of July, August, and Septem- 

 ber of the year 1790> amounted to 343(584 dollars ; 

 in the same months of 1795, they were not less than 

 1,675,748 dollars. The business of the town is ma- 

 naged by a board of town commissioners, a board of 

 Special commissioners, and a board of wardens ; the 

 first board is perpetual, and tills its own vacancies ; 

 the other two are appointed by electors, chosen by 

 the citizens once in five years. N. Lat. 39" 21', 

 \V. Long. 77 48'. See Morse's Gcog. p. 353. 

 Morse's Gazetteer. Weld's Travels in North Ame- 

 rica, p. 25. Du Lac's Travels, in PkiUpt' Modem 

 Voyage* and Travels, vol. vi. p. 24. (ft) 



bALUCLAVO. Sec Balaclava. 



BALZA, or Balze, in navigation. This is a 

 singular kind of vessel, or rather raft, which is used 

 chiefly in South America, constructed simply by the 

 union of logs of wood ; but which, nevertheless, is 

 rigged somewhat like a sloop or schooner. The 

 mode of steering this vessel is said to be the origin 

 of the sliding keels lately adapted to some vessels 

 of the British navy. 



According to Don Antonio de Ulloa, and Don 

 George Juan, the balza is also called Jangada. It is 

 employed for transporting goods, and for fishing in 



the river Guyaqllil, and the South Americans navi 

 gate the coast in it. In structure, it consists of se- 

 veral large logs, twelve or thirteen fathoms in length, 

 lashed together by strong ropes, and secured to cross 

 pieces at each end. The logs are commonly nine in 

 number, and so lar^e, that the breadth of the whole 

 is between 20 ami 24 feet. Some balzas have one 

 mast and a small foresail ; but others, described by 

 Joris Spilbergen, have two with large triangular 

 sails. 



The greatest peculiarity of the balza consists in- 

 its sailing, and working as well against the wind, as 

 vessels which have keels. This is said to be effected 

 by the mode of steering it, which is done by means 

 of a device quite different from the rudder. Planks, 

 three or four ells in length, and half an ell in breadth, 

 called guares, are disposed vertically, both in the 

 fore and after part of the balza, between the beams 

 of which it is composed. By lowering some of these 

 planks in the water, and raising others, the balza is 

 guided in whatever course is required. " Were such 

 an invention known in Euiope," Ulloa observes, 

 " disastrous shipwrecks would be more unusual." 



Don George Juan has made some observations on 

 the use of the guares, wherein he endeavours to de- 

 monstrate, from mechanical principles, that depress- 

 ing the guare, near the prow of a vessel, will bring 

 her nearer the wind, and elevating it, will make her 

 fall off. Sometimes four, fire, or even six guare* are 

 employed at once, to prevent the balza from ma- 

 king lee-way. The management of the guares is so 

 easy, that after the balza gets under way, merely 

 raising or depressing them one or two feet will steer 

 t right forward. 



123 BAM 



Probably the Tjalza was known to the ancients un- 

 der the name of Jerula. Columella speaks of it, and 

 also Pliny, who remarks, that there were two kinds 

 used by the Greeks. See Ulloa and Juan, Rclncion 

 del Viage a la Ametiea Meridionals, vol. v Spil- 

 bergen'* Voyage round the World in 1615. Sir 

 Richard Hawkins' Voyage. Burney's Voyages, vol. 

 i. Columella, lib. 5. Pliny, lib. 13. (c) 



BAMBA, the largest province of the kingdom of 

 Congo, in the west of Africa, situated between the 

 rivers Lcze and Ambrisi. The soil is very fertile 

 and productive, and the mountainous regions are said 

 to contain mines of gold and silver, copper, quicksil- 

 ver, tin, and iron. The fishing of the zimbis,- the 

 shell of which is the current coin of the kingdom, and 

 in all the neighbouring states, is a great source of re- 

 venue. A great quantity of salt is produced on the 

 coast, and exported to the neighbouring states. See 

 Cavazzi Relation Historian* de L'Ethiopie Occiden- 

 tal, translated by Father Labat. (q) 



BAMBARA, a kingdom of Western Africa, 

 traversed by the river Johbah or Niger. According 

 to Mr Park, the language of Bambara is a species of 

 corrupted Mandingo. The country is beautiful and 

 well cultivated, and at Kabba, near Sego th<^ capital 

 of the kingdom, it was not unlike the central dis- 

 tricts of England. The inland commerce consists 

 chiefly of the shea-trees, from which the inhabitants 

 prepare their vegetable butter. Strangers seem, from 

 the relation of Mr Park, to be treated with great hu- 

 manity and kindness ; and the Dooty, or chief man 

 in the town through which he passed, appeared to con- 

 sider it as a part of his duty to feed and succour all 

 travellers in distress. See Park's Travels, (j) 



BAMBERG, formerly called Babenberg and 

 Pi afkexberg, the capital of the ancient bishopric 

 of Bamberg, and now the chief place of the two 

 bailliages of Bamberg, in thecirci^of the Mein, in the 

 new kingdom of Bavaria. It is situated on the Red- 

 nit/, and the Mein, in a fertile country, which abounds 

 in esculent herbs, fruits, grain, and wine ; but it is 

 most remarkable for- the fine liquorice which it pro- 

 duces, and exports to different parts of Europe. Thi- 

 plant takes very deep root, and rises to the height of 

 five or six feet. Saffron is also produced here, but 

 it is inferior to that of Austria. Bamberg is a great 

 thoroughfare. Its streets are wide, its buildings 

 neat and regular, and its public edifices remarkably 

 magnificent. The cathedral, which is a very splen- 

 did building* contains the tombs and the imperial 

 crowns of Henry II., and his empress Cunigunda. 

 This royal pair declared on their deathbed, and or- 

 dered it to be inscribed on their tombs, that both of 

 them lived and died virgins. The new palace of the 

 bishop, the town-house, the orangery, the new hos- 

 pital, and the Benedictine convent, are objects worthy 

 of the notice of strangers. There are two great fairs 

 in Bamberg, one in spring and the other in autumn - r 

 and it carries on a considerable trade with Francfort 

 and Nuremberg, in wine, grain, fruits, saffron, and li 



g 



quonce. Population 19,385. East Long. 10 51', 

 North Lat. 49 56'. See Keysler's Travels, vol. iv.. 

 p. :;i!i. Mer/itvurdigkeiten der Stadt Bamberg, von 

 H. v. Murr. Bamberg, 1799; and Reichard's Guide- 

 des. Voyagcurs en Europe, torn. ii. p. 38. (o). 



