BAN 



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Banffshire, useful art, in Banffshire, has not been very rapid. 

 v v ' Inclosures were very partially introduced a few years 

 ago ; and the badness of the roads long operated as a 

 great discouragement. It is to be hoped, however, 

 that the public 1( irit and intelligence of the gentle- 

 men of this county will speedily overcome the few 

 obstacles which still remain to be surmounted. On 

 the banks of some of the rivers, large fields of un- 

 commonly rich pasture are to be found. 



With the exception of a few small bays and creeks, 

 the line of coast is bold and precipitous. 



The principal minerals are limestone, granite, clay, 

 slate, freestone, alum, Portsoy marble, iron, lead, 

 quartz, topaz, asbestos, rock-crystal, &c. Mineral 

 waters abound in various places. The chief manu- 

 factures are spinning, weaving, bleaching, tanning, 

 flax-dressing, distilling. The salmon fishing on the 

 Spey and the Doveran is of very great value to the 

 proprietors. Vast quantities of haddocks, whitings, 

 flounders, mackarel, turbot, cod, ling, tusk, skate, 

 crabs and lobsters, are caught on the coast ; and of 

 these, as well as of the salmon, a great proportion is 

 sent to supply the London market. 



Perhaps the greatest disadvantage under which 

 Banffshire labours is the want of coal. In the inland 

 parts of the county peat is the only fuel which the 

 labouring classes are able to procure. 



Many remains of antiquity may be traced in this 

 county, particularly tumuli, upright stones, cairns 

 and Druidical circles, various ruins of castles, as 

 Auchindune, Balveny, Edinglassie, Galval, Desk- 

 ford, Scuth, Grange, Inchdrewer, Banff, and the 

 castle near Cullen. For several ages the shores of the 

 Moray Firth were almost incessantly molested by the 

 hostile descents of the Danes. Many spots are point- 

 ed out where these piratical invaders were defeated 

 with dreadful carnage, particularly at Gamrie, at 

 Cullen, and at Mortlach, where great victories were 

 successively gained over them, about the end of the 

 10th and beginning of the 11th century, by the chief 

 of Buchan, Indulf king of Scots, and Malcolm II. 

 In the same age it is believed that a number of religi- 

 ous houses were founded near the scenes of these suc- 

 cessful engagements. 



The chief towns and villages in Banffshire are Banff, 

 Cullen, (both royal boroughs.) Portsoy, Macduff, 

 Gardenston, Truiip, Keith, New Mill, Buckie, Port- 

 easy, Findochtie, Portnockie, Tammtoul. 



Cullen, formerly Imvrcullen, was a constabulary- 

 as early as the days of David II. For several ages 

 it was subject to the Earls of Findlater. The coun- 

 cil of this borough consists of 19 members. The 

 manufactures are linen and damask. Population 

 nearly 1U(K). 



Portsoy, in the parish of Fordyce, contains above 

 1000 inhabitants, who arc engaged chiefly in fishing, 

 or in the manufacture of thread and lin 



Macduff, in the parish of Gamrie, is about a mile 

 distant irom Banff. It now possesses a tolerable 

 harbour, and sends a number of vessels to London, 

 Leith, &c. The population exceeds 1000. 



The greatest length of the county is 58 miles, the 

 breadth 24. It contains 750 square miles, and is di- 

 vided into 23 parishes. In 1801, the population was 

 stated at 85,807, a lower number than either Dr Web- 

 ster's calculation in 1~5B, or Sir John Sinclair's in 



1798. The valued rent is 79,200 Scots; and in 

 1798, the real rent was rated at 43,490 sterling. (Sf) 

 BANGALORE is a strongly fortified town in 

 Hindostan, in the Mysore country, and being the 

 bulwark of the Mysore country towards Arcot, is a 

 place of great political importance. The town, or 

 pettah, is of great extent, and the palace erected by 

 Tippoo is a very magnificent structure. Silk and 

 woollen goods are manufactured in the neighbour- 

 hood. The fort of Bangalore having been destroyed 

 by Tippoo after the British retired, Purneah was 

 putting it into repair in 180K and making it even 

 stronger than before. See Lord Valentia's Travels, 

 vol. i. p. 411. (10) 



BANGOR, a small city of Caernarvonshire, in 

 North Wales, consisting of an irregular street, situated 

 on the banks of the Deva, in a narrow valley, be- 

 tween two low ridges of slate rock. In the neigh- 

 bourhood of Bangor, on the shore of the bay of Beau- 

 maris, is the harbour of Penrhyn, where the slates of 

 Lord Penrhyn's quarries are shipped for London and 

 ether towns in England. A new harbour has lately 

 been erected at the expense of Dr Warren, bishop of 

 Bangor. The revenues of the diocese are extremely 

 small. Number of houses 304. Population 1770. (J) 



BANJAR-Masmn, or Bexdeu-Massin, the ca- 

 pital of a kingdom of the same name, in the southern 

 part of the island of Borneo. The king of Banjar- 

 Massin is the most powerful monarch in the island, and 

 assumes the title of Emperor of Borneo. The houses 

 of the capital, which are numerous, are chiefly built of 

 bamboos, though some of them are of timber. They 

 are in general so large, that one of them would be 

 sufficient to lodge 100 families in separate apartments. 

 The Dutch have a factory and a small fort here, 

 partly for the purpose of purchasing the rough dia- 

 monds that are found in the kingdom. Their princi- 

 pal object, however, is the purchase of pepper, of 

 which the king obliges himself to deliver 600,000 

 pounds annually, at the rate of three stivers per 

 pound. The trade, which is carried on in diamonds, 

 gold, wax, canes, and sago, is comparatively trilling. 

 The kingdom of Banjar-Massin extends about three 

 degrees to the north, and its width from east to west 

 to the river of Cataringa is 211 English miles. Ca- 

 taringa, the last place in this kingdom, is by far the 

 richest on all tiie coast. It raises for the royal service 

 about 7200 armed men. East Long. 114* 50', South 

 Lat. 3 10'. See Bohnko. (q) 



BANIANS, the name of a religious sect in the 

 dominions of the Mogul. These people, believing 

 firmly in the transmigration of souls, will, on no con- 

 sideration, kill any living creature, or eat its flesh ; 

 but, on the contrary, will use their utmost endea- 

 vours to release even the most noxious animals, if 

 they see them in danger of perishing. They account 

 all other nations impure ; and are so scrupulously 

 fearful of pollution, that they will break a cup 

 which has been used or even touched by a person of 

 a different religion ; nor wiil they enter the same 

 pond in which a stranger has bathed, till they have 

 emptied it completely, and filled it with pure water. 

 Nay, so excessive is their anxiety to preserve their 

 purity, that if they happen to be touched even by 

 persons of their own sect, they cannot eat nor enter 

 their houses, till they have undergone a thorough 



BtmgatiMTP 



I 

 Banians. 



