BEL 



446 



B E N 



Rfiles 



I.ettrcs 



U 



Bellunese. 



that she charged him with an attempt upon her vir- 

 tue. Prastus, unwilling to inflict punishment on Bel- 

 lerophon, sent him to Jobatcs, the queen's father, 

 with injunctions to put him to death. Jobates re- 

 fused to execute this cruel command ; but complied 

 so far with the request of Prsetus, that he sent him 

 on several dangerous expeditions against the Chimxra, 

 against the Solymi, and against the Amazons, from 

 all which he returned in triumph. Proud of the va- 

 lour of Bellerophon, the king of Lycia gave him his 

 daughter in marriage, and appointed him his successor 

 on the Lycian throne. See Homer's Iliad, lib. vi. 

 v. 156. Apollod. lib. ii. cap. 3.; lib. iii. cap. 1. Hy- 

 gin. Fab. 157. and 2*3. Hesiod Theog, v. 325. 

 Pausan. lib. ix. cap. 31. Hornt. lib. iv. od. 11. 

 Bochart, Phaleg. lib. 1. cap. 6. Arte, linkers. Hist. 

 vol. v. p. 97. (h) 



BELLES LETTRES, a term synonymous with 

 polite literature and rhetoric. See Rhetoric. 



BELLINZONE, or Beli entz, a town of Swit- 

 zerland, and capital of a department of the same 

 name, is a beautiful town situated at the foot of 

 Mount Cenero, on the east bank of the Tesino, be- 

 low its Junction with the Musa. " It is situated," 

 says Mr Coxe, " in a delightful plain, encircled with 

 ancient walls and battlements in good repair ; to the 

 right rise majestically the ruins of an ancient castle ; 

 to the left, separately embosomed in trees, are the 

 castles of the bailiffs of the three regent cantons, 

 Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden." " The interior 

 of Bellinzone by no means corresponds with its.ex* 

 ternal beauty and situation ; the streets are narrow, 

 and the houses ill built." It is, however, adorned 

 with several elegant churches, and has numerous con- 

 vents. The history of this town will be found in 

 Coxe's Trawls in Switzerland, vol iii. p. 301309. 

 E. Long. 8 44', N. Lat. 46 4'. (j) 



BELLIS, a genus of plants of the class Syngene- 

 sia, and order Polygamia Superflua. See Botany. 



BELLIUM, a genus of plants of the class Syn- 

 genesia, and order Polygamia Superflua. See Bota- 

 ny, (iv) 



BELLONA, the goddess of war, was either the 

 sister, or the daughter, or the wife of Mars. She 

 prepared the chariot of Mars ; she attended him in 

 the field of battle, drove his chariot through the com- 

 batants, and animated them to war, with the bloody 

 whip in her hand. This goddess had a temple at 

 Rome, and was worshipped at Comana in Cappado- 

 cia, where she had above 3000 priests, who were con- 

 secrated to her service by making deep incisions in 

 their thighs, and reserving the blood as a sncrrlice to 

 their mistress. In the time of Severus there was in 

 York a temple dedicated to Bellona._ See Pausan. 

 lib. iv. cap. 30 j Juvenal, sat. iv. v. 127; Hygin, 

 Fab. 274 ; and Bryant's Ancient Mythology, vol. i. 

 p. 45. (j) 



BELLONIA, a genus of plants of the class Pen- 

 tandria, and order Monogynia. See Botany, (w) 



BELLOWS, the name of a machine by which 

 air is propelled with great velocity through a tube, 

 or aperture. See 3lowing Machines.' (tu) 



BELLUNESE, a mountainous district of Italy, 

 formerly belonging to Venice, but now forming a 



part of the kingdom of Italy. Corn, wine, and fruits 

 of all kinds, are produced here in abundance ; nume- 

 rous herds of cattle are bred on the rich pastures ; 

 the forests produce great quantities of timber, which 

 are floated down the Piava to Venice j and the moun- 

 tains are rich in iron, lead, vitriol, and copper. The 

 lake of Alleghe, in this district, was formed in a very 

 singular maimer in the year 1771. The mountain 

 Spitz, shaken by some subterraneous convulsion, bu- 

 ried in its ruins seven villages situated at its base, 

 with all their inhabitants. It filled the bed of the 

 Cordevola, which, swelling in every direction, swept 

 away the village of Alleghe, and formed a lake, two 

 Italian miles long, and half a mile broad. The popu- 

 lation of this district amounts to about 47,500. (n) 



BELLUNO, a town of Italy, and capital of the 

 Bellunese, is situated on the river Piava, by means of 

 which the inhabitants carry on a good trade in wood 

 and timber. This town contains many excellent 

 buildings and marble fountains, an expensive aque- 

 duct, 14 churches, besides several monasteries, nun- 

 neries, and hospitals. Population 7400. E. Long. 

 12 15', N. Lat. 46 10'. (j) 



BELOMANCY, from fiitei, an arrow, and futt- 

 tuct, divination, is a method of foretelling future events 

 by means of arrows, which was used among eastern 

 nations, but particularly among the Arabians, (_/) 



BELTS. See Astronomy Index. 



BELUR. See Bucharia. 



BELUS. See Babylon. 



BEMBA, Bembea, or Bembi, a province of the 

 kingdom of Angola, in Africa. It partly extends 

 along the coast, and is traversed by the river St Fran- 

 cisco, or Lutano, which swarms with sea horses, cro- 

 codiles, and serpents, that devour the .fish, and injure 

 the adjacent grounds. Great numbers of large and 

 small cattle are reared in this province. The fat of 

 these animals serve the inhabitants for ointment to 

 their heads and bodies, while their skins, roughly 

 dressed, furnish them with clothing.. The inhabi- 

 tants speak a language peculiar to themselves, though 

 their idolatrous rites resemble those of their neigh- 

 bours. See Dapper's Description de V A frique. (j) 



BEMINSTER, or Beaminster, a populous and 

 flourishing town of England, in Dorsetshire, situated 

 on the river Bist, in a deep and fertile vale, surround- 

 ed with numerous gardens and orchards. It has a 

 manufactory of sail-cloth, and others of iron and cop- 

 per goods. Population 214-0, of whom 1562 were 

 returned as employed in trade. Number of houses 

 Sll. See Hutchins' History of Dorsetshire, (j) 



BEN-NEVIS. See Invek'nk.ss-miire. 



BENARES, the holy city of the Hindoos, and 

 the grand repository of their science and mythology, 

 is situated on the northern bank of the Ganges, in 

 25 3fX N. Lat., about 460 miles north-west from 

 Calcutta. 



The irregular and compressed manner which has 

 been invariably adopted in forming the streets of Be- 

 nares, has destroyed the effects which symmetry and 

 arrangrment would have otherwise bestowed on a 

 city, entitled, from its valuable buildings, to the first 

 place among the capitals of India. The streets are 

 so extremely narrow as not to admit of two common 

 carriages abreast. In addition to the pernicious cf- 



Btfllunu 



II 

 Benares. 



