BOU 



367 



BOU 



merely folded with regularity, and thin pressed, with 

 a smooth board between every piece. 



BOUKA, BOUCA, or LOIID ANSON'S ISLAND, an 

 island of the Pacific Ocean, which is separated from 

 Bougainville island by a narrow channel. Both these 

 appear to be well peopled, from the immense 

 plantations of cocoa nut trees which cover their shores. 

 The natives are particularly dexterous in the use of 

 the bow, and in the management of their canoes, 

 which are ingeniously formed from several planks. 

 A short account of the appearance and manner of the 

 natives, which do not essentially differ from those of 

 other savages, may be seen in Labillardiere's Voyage, 

 v. i. p. 'Sir>. The north point of Bouka lies m E. 

 Long. 154 29', and S. Lat. 5 5' 36". (a-) 



BOULAC, or BULAK, a town in Egypt, suppo- 

 sed by Niebhur to be the site of the ancient Litopo- 

 lis. It is situated upon the Nile, about two miles 

 west of Grand Cairo; and may be considered as the 

 port of Lower Egypt, as Misr el Attike is of Up- 

 per Egypt. It is a large but irregular town, which 

 seems to have gradually risen around the place of em 

 barkation, and is now the scene of great commercial 

 activity, which the traveller Sonnini describes in a 

 very picturesque style : " A multitude of men, oc- 

 cupied in removing bales of merchandise, exhibited 

 the activity of commercial ports. A great number 

 of boats, arranged in rows, sunk by degrees in the 

 water, as they received their loading ; while others, 

 whose cargo was unloaded, rose above the rest. All 

 agitated by the waves, which an impetuous wind put 

 in motion, balanced their long sail yards ; and the 

 moving and diversified picture, whichthe port of Bou- 

 lac presented to my view, made those moments pass 

 rapidly away, which I was under the necessity of 

 passing there." (Sonnini's Travels, vol. iii. p. 10.) 

 This town contains a custom-house, a large bazar, or 

 market-place, magnificent public baths, and various 

 magazines and square buildings, named, in the lan- 

 guage of the country, Oknls, which serve at once the 

 purpose of an inn to the merchants, and of a ware 

 house for their goods. One of the largest and most 

 convenient of these buildings was built by Ali Bey 

 the Great, and is called the Alexandrian Okal. as 

 being chiefly used for merchandise brought from 

 that city. The grounds between the houses of Bou- 

 lac, and between this port and the town of Kahira, 

 or Cairo, are filled with gardens, which give a rich 

 and pleasing appearance to the place, and afford an 

 abundant supply of fruits and vegetables. In the 

 middle, of the river, nearly Apposite to the port of 

 Boulac, is a small island, where Murad Bey had a 

 summer house, or place of retirement, and where are 

 also several fertile gardens. On the opposite shore 

 of the river, is the village Embahe, or E -ibabil, fa- 

 med for the excellence of its butter, declared by Son- 

 nini to be the only place in Egypt where butter can 

 be eaten fresh. The town of Boulac was almost 

 completely destroyed by the French army in 1799. 

 See Sonnini's Trm-els in Eiiit. vol. iii ; Brown's 



Travelsin Afri, n; an:' Savai y's Letters from Egypt. ( i/ ) 

 BOULOGNE, named al.-o BOULOGNE UR LA 

 MERE; a sea port town of France, in the department 

 of the Straits of Cal.'is, and formerly capital of the 

 small province of the Buulounese in ticardy. It was 

 1 



anciently called Gesoriacum Navale, orPortus Geso- 

 riacus, afterwards Bononia, or bolonia; and is gene- 

 rally considered as the Portus Iccius whence Juli- 

 us Czsar embarked for the invasion of Britain. Its 

 celebrated Pharos, or light-house, was built by Cali- 

 gula, of an octagonal form, and about '200 paces in 

 circumference ; and was repaired by Charlemagne in 

 810. It was long governed by its own earls, of an 

 illustrious family, descended by the mother's side from 

 the second race of the French kings ; and after pas- 

 sing through the hands of various noble houses, it be- 

 came the property of Robert VI. Earl of Auvergne. 

 In 1477, it was yielded by Bertrand II. of Auvergne 

 to Louis XI. in exchange for the county of Lau- 

 ragais, and was thus united to the crown of France. 

 In 1487, it was reduced to great extremities by Hen- 

 ry VII. of England, when he entered France to pro- 

 tect the duchy of Brittany; and in 1545 was taken 

 by his son Henry VIII.; but in 1550, during the mi- 

 nority of Edward VI. it was given up to the French, 

 on payment of 4-00,000 crowns, to defray the ex- 

 pense of its fortifications. While it was in the posses- 

 sion of the English, they surrounded the light-house 

 with strong towers ; but it was afterwards entirely- 

 neglected, and in 1644 the whole structure was a 

 heap of ruins. 



Boulogne is situated at the mouth of the river 

 Liane, and is divided into an upper and lower town. 

 The former is placed on a declivity of the Chalk- 

 mountain ; is surrounded with a wall, contains about 

 400 houses, and, before the revolution, was inhabited 

 chiefly by nobility. The latter, though much larger 

 and nearer the sea, is without walls, very irregularly 

 built, with narrow winding streets, and is inhabited 

 by trades-people. The harbour is very small, and 

 has a difficult entrance, defended by a fort and bat- 

 teries ; but this passage has been greatly improved 

 since 1803, when Boulogne was made the rendezvous 

 of the flotilla, which was destined for the invasion of 

 Great Britain. The water in the harbour scarcely 

 rises to seven feet, at the highest tides ; so that only 

 boats and small vessels, which do not draw more 

 than five or six feet of water, can go up to the town. 

 There is scarcely a road, in which vessels can ride 

 safely at Boulogne ; and the anchorage is very bad, 

 especially towards the north of the town, where the 

 ground is foul, and the coast lined with small rocks. 

 The only secure station is to the south east of the 

 new tower, about a cannon shot from the land, where 

 there is tolerable anchorage, from five to fifteen 

 fathoms, upon a firm clean sand, and where the fish- 

 ers and merchant vessels generally moor at low water, 

 waiting to take advantage of the tide to enter the 

 port. Since the year 1566. Boulogne was a bi- 

 shop's see ; but this, uith other privileges, it lost at 

 the revolution Not far from the town is the tomb 

 of the unfortunate aeronaut Pilatre de Rozier. The 

 principal article of commerce at Boulogne, is supplied 

 by its fishery, especially of herring and mackerel ; the 

 latter ot which is carried on in the months of May, June, 

 July, and the former in October, November, and De- 

 cember. There arc about 60 fishing boats employed 

 in this trade, with ten men to each boat. They 

 sometimes carry their fish to Calais, on account of 

 the greater convenience 10 landing their cargo ; but 



