BEG 



430 



B E H 



TUgemder. The late Empress Catharine of Russia sent out a 

 secret expedition in 178.5, for the purpose, among 

 other things, of ascertaining the situation of the 

 islands between the two continents. The command- 

 ing officers were provided with the journals of all for- 

 mer navigators, but the extent of their nautical dis- 

 coveries seem to have been limited. In August 1790, 

 this expedition reached Behring's Straits; and made 

 some detached observations without passing through 

 them. The distance between the two continents was 

 calculated to be forty-eight miles, which differing 

 from the opinion of Captains Cook and Clerk, leaves 

 us in uncertainty with regard to the truth. Possibly 

 the line is taken from the two promontories, one of 

 which lies considerably north of the other. 



Three small islands lie in the mid channel of the 

 Straits ; the first called Imalin, bearing 26 S. E. 24 

 miles distant from the eastern promontory ; the next, 

 which is the largest, Imaglin, lies six miles further, 

 in a north-east direction ; and Okiavaki, the third and 

 smallest, is ten miles distant, south by east. Near the 

 southern entrance of the Straits, King's Island is 

 situated ; it is lofty, with a broken and irregular 

 summit. 



The discovery of Behring's Straits would have 

 been attended with important consequences, did it 

 not appear that immense fields of ice, never melting 

 in the northern seas, oppose all attempts to navigate 

 the higher latitudes. See Muller, Voyages et Dc- 

 couvertesj'a/tes par les liusses, torn. i. ; Cook's Third 

 Voyage ; Billing's Voyage ; CoXe's Russian Dis- 

 coveries, (c) 



BEGEMDER, a rich and valuable province in 

 Abyssinia, is bounded on the north by Balysan, a 

 district adjoining to Samen ^ on the east by Lasta and 

 Angot ; on the south by Amhara, which runs paral- 

 lel to it, and from which it is separated by the river 

 Bashils ; and on the west by Dembea. According 

 to Mr Bruce, Begemder is 180 miles in its greatest 

 length, and 60 in breadth ; but in this extent he in- 

 cludes Lasta, which belongs more properly to the 

 province of Samen. Begemder abounds in iron mines, 

 and is well stored with beautiful cattle. Its moun- 

 tains are less steep and rocky than those of the other 

 provinces, (if we except Lasta,) and abound in wild 

 fowl and game. Its inhabitants are esteemed the best 

 soldiers in the empire ; but their rudeness and fero- 

 city are proverbial even in Abyssinia. The south 

 end of this province is cut into prodigious gullies, ap- 

 parently by floods ; but of these floods no tradition 

 exists. It forms the great barrier against the en- 

 croachments of the Galla, who have often endeavour- 

 ed in vain to gain a settlement there : whole tribes of 

 them have been cut off in the attempt. Favour alone 

 is necessary to procure the government of many of 

 the provinces in Abyssinia : others are given to poor 

 noblemen to enable them to repair their fortune : but 

 the consequence of Begemder, from its vicinity to the 

 metropolis, is so well understood, that none but no- 

 blemen of rank and character, able to maintain a 

 large army, are entrusted with its government. Seve- 

 ral small provinces have been dismembered from Be- 

 gemder, particularly Foggora, reaching from south 

 to north about 35 miles, and about twelve miles from 

 eaBt to \ve9t, from the mountains of Begemder, to the 



Behem. 



lake Izana. On the north of this, are two small go- Beghards 

 vernments, Dreeda and Karoota, the latter of which, 

 is the only territory in Abyssinia which produces 

 wine. See Bruce's Travels in Abyssinia, (fi) 



BEGHARDS, the name of some of the obscure 

 sectaries, who so frequently disturbed the tranquil- 

 lity of the church. See Mosheim's Church Hist. 

 vol. iii. p. 86. 



BEGONIA, a genus of plants of the class Mo- 

 ncecia, and order Polyandria. See Botany. Ik) 



BEGUINS. See Mosheim's Church Hist. vol. 

 iii. p. 232. 



BEHEM, Beifeim, Boehme, Beiiin, or Beiiin- 

 ira, Martin, a navigator and geographer of the 

 fifteenth century, to whom the credit of discovering 

 America has been ascribed, in preference to the claims 

 of Christopher Columbus. 



Behem was born at Nuremberg, in Germany, of a 

 noble family, some branches of which are yet extant. 

 From infancy he betrayed a peculiar predilection for 

 the study of astronomy and navigation ; and on at- 

 taining a maturer age, he began to conceive, that an- 

 tipodes and a western continent might possibly exist. 

 Nothing could be more favourable for instilling a 

 spirit of enquiry, than his being the pupil of the ce- 

 lebrated John Muller, or Regiomontanus. Records 

 are preserved in the archives of Nuremberg, proving, 

 that, under these impressions, he offered his services for 

 a voyage of discovery, to Isabella, daughter of John 

 I. king of Portugal, and regent of the duchy of Bur- 

 gundy and Flanders. This princess accordingly pro- 

 vided him with a vessel, in which he traversed the 

 western seas, and in 1460 discovered the island of 

 Fayal ; 6o named from the beech trees, called faye 

 in Portuguese, with which it abounded. He next 

 discovered neighbouring islands called by him Azores, 

 from the number of hawks seen on them. 



Behem obtained a grant of the island of Fayal from 

 Isabella, and establishing a colony on it, resided there 

 about twenty years, during which time he was occu- 

 pied in making further discoveries. In 1484, eight 

 years before the enterprises of Christopher Columbus, 

 he solicited John II. king of Portugal, to provide him 

 with the means of undertaking a great expedition to 

 the south-west. This application also proving suc- 

 cessful, Behem embarked, and discovered that part of 

 the coast of America now called Brazil, and advan- 

 cing still more to the southward, reached the straits 

 of Magellan, or the country of some savage tribes, 

 whom he called Patagonians. He is said to have be- 

 stowed that ;ippellation upon them, from the extremi- 

 ties of their bodies being covered with skin, bearing 

 greater resemblance to the paws of a bear than to hu- 

 man hands and feet. James Canus, a Portuguese, 

 was associated with Behem in this second voyage, 

 which having occupied above two years, the naviga- 

 tors returned to Portugal after losing many of their 

 men. 



If these facts be undoubted, we ought to ascribe 

 the discovery of the American continent and the 

 Straits of Magellan to Martin Behem, instead of Co- 

 lumbus and Magellan. The first did not sail until 

 1492, and the second not before 1519, a long time 

 after Behem's expedition. 



As a reward for the discoveries made by Behem, 



