BES 



489 



BES 



Berwick- 

 shire 



II 

 Besancon 



the county rates were 2559. In 1801, eighteen 

 years later, they were 18,-147. In 1807, 44,314. 



This county firmed a portion of the Roman pro- 

 vince of Valentia, and was inhabited by the ancient 

 British nation called Ottadini, and many hill forts of 

 the former inhabitants are to be found on its nume- 

 rous eminences, interspersed with a few Roman camps. 

 One singular remnant of antiquity, called Herrits- 

 dyke, may be traced in an oblique direction almost 

 through the whole extent of the county, from a camp 

 or hill fort, on Hareffaulds in Lauderdale, to the 

 banks of the Wiiitadder near the Tweed, a distance of 

 twenty-three miles in a strait line j which seems to 

 have been intended as a defence against the sudden in- 

 cursions of the neighbouring barbarous tribes. Home- 

 castle and Fast-castle, present ruins of the only bor- 

 der fortresses of any importance. There was formerly 

 a castle of considerable magnitude at Ayton, of which 

 not a vestige remains ; and there have been numerous 

 towers, peels, and smaller castles in various places, 

 for the defence of the country in the long wars be- 

 tween England and Scotland, to which this county 

 was much exposed from its border situation. On a 

 fiat elevated rocky peninsula close to Eyemouth, still 

 called the Fort, there are very distinct remains of a 

 regular fortification of the more modern kind, form- 

 ing a crown-work across the gorge, which joins this 

 peninsula to the main land. This was the work of a 

 French engineer during the minority of the beautiful 

 and unfortunate Mary ; but the jealousy of the more 

 powerful English government insisted upon its imme- 

 diate demolition 



Besides Berwick, which does not now belong even 

 to Scotland, the towns of this county are few and in- 

 considerable ; Dunse, Coldstream, Greenlaw, Lauder, 

 and Eyemouth, being all that are worth naming. 

 For any particulars respecting them which deserve 

 notice, see these articles in our work. The various 

 parishes of the county will be found described in the 

 Statistical Account of Scotland ; and Agricultural 

 Reports of Berwickshire have been published by 

 Messrs Lowe, Bruce, Home, and Kerr. See like- 

 wise the Caledonia of Chalmers, more especially for 

 the antiquities of the county. . ( K ) 



BERWICK, Nokth. See East Lothian. 



BERWIN, Bekouim. See Merionethshire. 



BERYL. See Oryc io<;xosv. 



BERYTUS. See Bairolt, and Browne's Tra- 

 vels in Africa, p. 377. 



BESANCON, the Visontio of the ancients, a 

 city of France, and capital of the department of the 

 Duubs, is a beautiful town, embosomed in mountains, 

 and situated on the river Doubs, which divides it in- 

 to two towns ; the upper and the lower, which are 

 connected by a handsome bridge. The citadel, which 

 is very strong by nature, is br.ilt on a sharp rock, and 

 commands the city. The town has six gates, and is 

 defended by a wall, flanked with eight towers. The 

 lower town consists of three long and beautiful streets, 

 the houses of which are built with freestone, and roof- 

 ed with slates. The metropolitan church, the found- 

 ling hospital, the town house, and the governor's pa- 

 lace, are the modern buildings most deserving of notice. 

 The remains of Roman architecture are still visible 

 near the church of Notre Dame, where there are 



VOL. III. I'AHTHl. 



vestiges of a triumphal arch, erected by the emperor Besleria, 

 Aurelian in the year 274. The garden of the palace B 

 of Granville, is a favourite place of resort for the in- 

 habitants; and the promenade of Chammars is much 

 frequented. The school of artillery has been long 

 celebrated, and the town possesses a manufactory for 

 swords and fire-arms, and a large establishment for 

 the manufacture of clocks. The environs of Besan- 

 $on are highly picturesque. The mountain of Chau- 

 dane is richly covered with coppice wood. At a small 

 distance from the town are warm baths, which are 

 well frequented. At Ornans, about three leagues 

 from Besangon, there is a well which sometimes in- 

 undates the fields, and throws up a kind offish called 

 umbres. The famous grotto of Aussel, which con- 

 tarns the most beautiful crystallizations, is about five 

 leagues from the town. According to the Bureau 

 des Cadastres, the population of Besangon is 21,372. 

 Chantreaux makes it 30,000. East Long. 6 2' 40", 

 North Lat. 47 1 3' 45". See Mem. Acad. Par. 1712, 

 1726, and Doubs. (q) 



BESLER1A, a genus of plants of the class Di- 

 dynamia, and order Angiospermia. See Botany. 



BESSARABIA, a province of the Ottoman em- 

 pire, bounded on the east by the Black Sea and part 

 of Russia, from which it is separated by the Dnies- 

 ter ; on the south by the Danube ; and on the west 

 and north by Moldavia, from which it is separated 

 by a chain of mountains. The breadth of this pro- 

 vince from Akerman to Gretscheny is nearly 170 

 versts, and its length from Staraya Gangura, at the 

 confluence of the Bottna and Botnitza, is sixteen 

 versts. The soil of Bessarabia is in general fertile, if 

 we except a tract of land on the banks of the Danube 

 and the steppe of Otschakov. The soil along the 

 Dniester is in good cultivation, and supports a con- 

 siderable number of orchards. Hemp and flax grow 

 wild on extensive tracts of land, and the grass is in 

 general seven or eight feet high. Near Tatar Bon- 

 nar are some salt water lakes, on the surface of which 

 salt is formed by the heat of the sun. The revenue 

 from this article, which once belonged to the Khan 

 of Crimea, has been drawn by the Pacha of Ismail 

 since the conquest of that country by the Russians. 

 The fruits of this province are large and of the best 

 quality. The cucumbers grow to an immense size. 

 The plumbs of Akerman, the apricots of Ismail, the 

 peaches of Babahda, are much superior to those in 

 the south of Europe ; melons and asparagus grow 

 wild in the fields ; 2nd the grapes, which are of three 

 kindb, afford a wine of superior quality. 



The peasants of Bessarabia live on meal mixed with 

 butter, fat, and milk, which is sometimes rendered 

 more palatable by a few balls of boiled millet. Their 

 bread is made of barley, and their drink is braga, a 

 mixture of millet-meal and water, which becomes 

 acidulous by fermentation. In every cottage there 

 is a loom on which the women weave linen, a colour- 

 ed stuff for "Towns, and a kind of net-work used for 

 veils. In the neighbourhood of Kauscher are qua- 

 rics of granite, of which the Turks form their tomb- 

 stones; and in different parts of the province there 

 is a considerable quantity of lapis ollaris. Lizards 

 and taraatul* are found here in great quantities. 

 3o. 



