BOS 



770 



BOS 



'Bomb, carried off by the effusion of blood, they take off the 

 rus. cx trer.te joints of the lingers, commencing with the 

 little finger of the left hand, aa the least useful. 

 They bury their dead, and load the grave with heaps 

 of stones. 



The language of the Bosjesmans is the same as that 

 of the Hottentots, though they differ extremely in 

 their mode of speaking it. The Hottentots gene- 

 rally pronounce one syllable of every word by the 

 action of the tongue against the roof of the mouth, 

 or the teeth ; while the Bosjesmans pronounce every 

 syllable in the same manner, but with a more forcible 

 utterance. See Barrow's Account of Travels into 

 the Interior of Southern Africa, 4to. p. 84', 234-, 

 275, &c. ; and Sparrman's Voyage to the Cape of 

 Good Hope, (q) 



BOSNIA, a province of European Turkey, de- 

 rives its name from the river Bosnia, which passes 

 through it, and falls into the Save. It is about 120 

 miles long, and 72 broad ; and is bounded on the 

 north by Sclavonia, from which it is separated by 

 the Save ; on the east by Servia, from which it is 

 separated by the Drino ; on the west by Croatia and 

 Dalmatia ; and on the south by Albania. Bosnia 

 is a mountainous province. The arable land on the 

 banks of the rivers produces good wheat ; and the 

 mountains afford excellent pasture to numerous herds 

 of cattle, and are enriched with several silver mines. 

 Bosnia carries on an inconsiderable commerce with 

 Sclavonia at Brod, on the banks of the Save, where 

 there is a chamber of health for the merchandise and 

 the merchants tlrat come from Turkey. The princi- 

 pal articles exported by the Bosnians to Brod, are, 

 raw skins, wool, and cotton. Besides Brod, there 

 are several small ports upon the Save where the Bos- 

 nians exchange their cattle, which they swim across 

 the river, for the productions of Sclavonia. A fair 

 is held at these places every week, under the super- 

 intendance of a customhouse officer. The Bosnians 

 import also a small quantity of wine from Sclavonia. 

 In 1802, it amounted only to 19 barrels and a half. 

 . In 1802, 168 barrels of slixvotvitza was imported into 

 .Bosnia. 



The capital of the province is Banjaluka, which is 

 the residence of a Bcglicr bey. The Latin bishop 

 of Bosnia resides at Diakevar, in Sclavonia. 



The part of Bosnia which borders on the right 

 bank of the Save, belonged to the house of Austria; 

 but they lost it by the peace of 1739. In 1789 and 

 1790, they reconquered a considerable part of the 

 province ; but it was restored to the Turks in 1791, 

 by the treaty of Sistovia. 



The principal inhabitants of Bosnia are Greek 

 Christians, and a few Alahometans, Jews, and Catho- 

 lics. See Demian's Tableau Geugraphiaue et Poli- 

 tique des Royaumcs de Hongrie, D'Esclavonie, de 

 Croatie, Ike. Paris, 1809, torn. ii. p. 54, 55, 56. (n) 

 BOSPHORUS, from 0o; an ox, and xipes a pas- 

 sage, is a name given to a streight by which two 

 eas communicate with each other ; but applied par- 

 ticularly to the streights of Constantinople, or the 

 Thracian Bosphorus, which joins the sea of Marmo- 

 ra with the Black Sea ; and also to the streights of 

 Cafla, in the Cimmerian or Scythian Bosphorus, whicli 



Bouet. 



joins the sea of Azof with the Black Sea. These Boswm 

 streights are supposed to have obtained this name 

 from their being so narrow that an ox "could easily 

 swim across them. Tournefort is of opinion, that 

 the Thracian Bosphorus was so called from the 

 cattle market being held near it. According to 

 Olivier, the Thracian Bosphorus is about 21 miles 

 long, and about 20 miles from the Cyanean isles, at 

 its entrance into the Black Sea, to the point of the 

 Seraglio of Constantinople. Its greatest breadth 

 does not exceed two miles. The Cimmerian Bospho- 

 rus is about four leagues broad. See Tournefort's 

 Voyage an Levant, torn. ii. lett. 12*t 14 ; Olivier' 8 

 Voyage, Sec. ; and Dureau de Lamalle, Geographic 

 Physique de la Mer Nuirc, $c. putim. See' also, 

 Black Sea. {]) 



BOS8IiEA, a genus of plants of the class Dia- 

 delphia, and order Decandria. See Botany, (to) 



BOSSINEY, Trevena, or Tintagel, an an- 

 cient borough of Cornwall, partly situated on an 

 isthmus, and partly on an island which was once 

 joined to the main land by a bridge. Dr Maton de- 

 scribes it as a miserable groupe of about 20 cottages, 

 though possessed of all the privileges of a chartered 

 borough. The surrounding country is bleak and 

 rugged. Near Bossiney are the ruins of a castle, in 

 which King Arthur is said to have been born. See 

 Oldfield's History of the Boroughs. ( ;) 



BOSSUET, Jacques Benigne, a celebrated 

 French divine, was born at Dijon on the 27th of 

 September, 1627, of a family of great respectability 

 in the parliament of Burgundy. The talents which 

 he displayed in the commencement of his studies, ren- 

 dered the Jesuits, his first instructors, anxious to en- 

 list him into their society ; but their design was im- 

 mediately perceived by an kitelligent uncle, who had 

 the charge of his education, and who, to rescue his 

 nephew from that factious and intriguing order, sent 

 him to Paris to finish his studies at the college of 

 Navarre. 



As his views were directed towards the clerical 

 profession, he pursued, with the ardour and emula- 

 tion of a rising genius, every study which appear- 

 ed to be essential, or even remotely conducive, to 

 his excellence as a minister of the gospel. He pe- 

 rused the sacred writings in particular, with a re- 

 lish and fondness approaching to passion ; he studied 

 with assiduous attention, the writings of the fathers, 

 among whom Augustine was his principal favourite ; 

 and he enriched his mind with all the treasures of 

 classical literature. The sublime, the bold, and un- 

 constrained effusions of the Maeonian bard, while they 

 called forth the kindred qualities of his own mind, 

 inspired him with a kind of affectionate reverence ; he 

 dwelt with great delight on the eloquent declama- 

 tions of Cicero, and the graceful strains of Virgil ; 

 but, with a sternness that does more honour to his 

 conscience than to his taste, he condemned the fasci- 

 nating, though often licentious, verses of Horace ; 

 nor could the enchanting gaiety of the poet's fancy, 

 and inimitable felicity ot his expressions, compensate, 

 in the rigorous judgment of Bossuet, for the lax 

 morality of the Epicurean. 



The same austerity of disposition led him to dis- 



