B A I 



though he acknowledges in his work that it is the largell 

 ftream. The Bahr el Azrck is ftyltd Abawi by the Abyf- 

 fiiiians. The fmirces of this river were accurately defcribtd 

 in the feveiitcenth century by Payz, a Portugucfe miffioii- 

 ary, whofe account was publiilied by Kirchcr and Ifaac 

 Voffius ; and has been not long ago minuteiy copied by 

 Bruce, as Hartnian has fiiewn by printing the f.vo accounts 

 in parallel columns. Pinkerton'f M'lci. Geog. vol. ii. 

 p. 725. 



BAHRENBURG, in Gcogrnphy.zi town of Germany, 

 in the circle of Wedphalia, and county of Hoya, on the 

 river Suhlingen, f uvtcen miles S.vS.W. of Hoya. 



BAHUS, in Geography, a river of France, which runs 

 into the Adour, about a league above the Sever. 



Bahus. See BoHUS. 



BAJA, in EntomrJogy, a fpecies of Phal^ena {NoBua), 

 of the middle fize, that inhabits Europe. The wines are 

 ferruginous, with a fmall black dot at the bafe, and a dou- 

 ble one at the apex. This is produced from a variegated 

 grey and brown caterpillar, having three dorfal white lines, 

 and yellowifh fides. Feeds on the deadly' niglitlliade. 

 Gmtl. Fabr. 



BajA, hi jlnclent Geography. See Bayja. 



Baja, in Geography, a town of Hungary, on the river 

 Danube, 50 miles N. N. W. of Pttcrwaradin. N. lut. 46° 

 40'. E.long. iy° S°'- 



Baia, a iea-port town of Italy, in the kingdom of Na- 

 ples, a'ld country of Lavora, eleven miles well of Naples. 

 Sec Baiz-e. 



BAIABAD, a town of ACatx- Turkey, in the province 

 of Caramania, 28 miles fouth-ealt ot Ka'lamoni. 



BAJAD, \v\ Lhthyology, a fpecies of SiLURUS, having 

 the poftcrior doifal fin flcfliy or fat ; twelve rays in the 

 anal fin ; and beards of the moiith eiglit. Forfl<. Fn. Arab. 

 Inhabits the Nile ; colour glaucous ; length one foot or 



more. 



BAJADOR, or Bagadore, Cape, in Geography, a cnpe 

 on the weft coaft of Africa, in the Atlantic occa-i ; 120 

 leagues dift?nt from cape Geer. N. lat. 26° 29'. W. long. 

 l^y ,6'. Bajador is alio a cape at the north-weltern extre- 

 mity of the ifland of Ln9on, one of the Philippine 



iflaiids. 



BAIjE, in yliicient Geography, now Baia, an ancient 

 village of Campania, in Italy, fituate between the promon- 

 tory of Mifcnum and Puteoli, on the Sinus Baianus ; fa- 

 mous for its hot baths, which ferved the Romans for the 

 purpofes both of medicine and pleafure. The hot fprings 

 and medicinal vapours that abounded in the environs of this 

 place mull, at a very early period, have excited the atten- 

 tion of valetudinarians, as batliing was the conilant amule- 

 ment and rtfrefhment of the Greeks while in health, ar.d 

 their remedy when difeafed ; but Balas does not feem to have 

 attained a degree of celebrity fuperior to that ot other 

 batiis. till the Roman commonwcaltli began to decline. As 

 foon as the plunder of a conquered world was transferred 

 from works of pubhc ufc and ornament to objtdts of pri- 

 vate luxury, the traulcendent advantages which Baise offered 

 to Roman' voluptuaries, flying from the capital in fearch of 

 health and pleafure, became an objea of peculiar attention. 

 The variety of its natural baths, the foftncfs of its climate, 

 and the beauties of its landfcape, captivated the minds of 

 thof" whofe paffion for bathing knew no bounds. 1 he ab- 

 lutions which they might wilh to praclife at Rome required 

 an enormous expence in aquxdu'ils, ftoves, and attendants; 

 but here they found a place, moil delightfully feated, where 

 waters naturally heated to any degree of necelTary warmth 

 bubMed fpontaneoufly out of the ground ; and its eaiy com- 

 munication with Rome was alfo a circumllance that recom- 



B A J 



mended it. Hither the mighty rulers of the empire retired 

 at lirft for a temporary relaxation, after the fatigue of 

 bloody campaigns and civil contcfts. Their habitations were 

 fmall and modcft ; but increafiiig luxury foon added palace 

 to palace, with fucli expedition and fumptupfity, that fpace 

 was wantjng fo/ the vali demand. Accordingly arehite6t», 

 fupportcd by boundiefs wealtii, extended their foundations 

 into the fta, and drove that element back from its ancient 

 lijuts, a--. Horace exprtffo it : 



" M.iriique Bdiis obftrcpentis urges 

 Sun'.movere littora." 

 But the fea has fii.ce recovered much more than it loft. 

 From being a place of rcfoi t for a ftafon, Baia; grew up to 

 a permaiKi.t city ; and its wealthy inhabitants rendered it 

 as much a miracle of art as it was before of nature. Its 

 fplen^iour may be inferred from its innumerable ruins, heaps 

 of marble', niofaics, flueco, and ot'er precious fragments of 

 tallc. It flourilhcd in lull glory to the days of Theodoric 

 the Goth ; but the deftruction of thefe enchanted palaces 

 foon followed the in-uplion of the northern coi querors, who 

 overturned the Roman lyllem, fackcd and burnt all before 

 them, and diftroyed or difp rfed the whole race of nobility. 

 No foTiner had opulence withdrawn it= fnpport, than the uii- 

 bridied lea rulhed back upon its old domain ; moles and b'Jt- 

 treffe.i were torn afunder and walhed away ; whole promon- 

 tories, with the fi;cred towers that once Cjvercd their brows, 

 were undermined and tumbled headlong into the deep, where, 

 many feet below the furface, pavements of ftreets, founda- 

 ti;;ns of houles, and maffes of wails, may be difcovercd. In- 

 ternal ci;mn.otions of the earth contributed a'fo in a great 

 degree to tliis general devallation. Mphitic vapours and 

 Itagnated waters have converted this favourite feat of health 

 into the den of pellilcnce, at lead during the fummer 

 heats ; and yet Baias in its ruined llate, and dripped of its 

 ornaments. Hill prefents many beautiful and linking fubjcdfts 

 for the pencil of the artift. N. lat. 4K6'. E. long, i^.-* 

 45'. Sw'inb. Trav. vol. iii. p. 42, &c. 



BAJANA, in Conch'ilogy , a fpecies of Venus found on 

 the ihores of Brafil. The colour is ochraceous, varied with 

 black ; and the fliell is fpecilically dillinguilhed by being 

 fragile, glabrou'!, and marked trar.fverfcly with a few tranf- 

 verle llriae. Figured by Bonnani. 



BAJANUS Sinus, in ylncia.t Geography, a bay of Italy 

 in the kingdom of Naples, fo called from Baijt, Portut Eai- 

 arum of Phny, which was enlarged by Augullus, by giving 

 entrance to the fea into the Lacus Lucrinus, and Averni, 

 ordering it to be called Partus Julius apuJ Baias. {^Suetonius.) 

 We alfo read in Tacitus of Baianus Lucu.-, which feme have 

 intei-preted Lucrinus. This gulf is denominated Crater by 

 Strabo ; and he places it between the cape of Miucr\-a and 

 that of Mifenum. Tlie modern name is Golfo di Po%%uolo. 

 From the higheft point that forms the bay, a large callle 

 commands the road, where foreign (hips of war ufually ride 

 at anchor, the harbour of Naples not being fulTicicntly fpa- 

 cions for the reception of a fleet ; here they enjoy good 

 flielter, watering, and viftualling ; but in fummer, nfk the 

 health of their crews, on account of the unwholcfomncf? of 

 the air. At the bottom of the bay, and at the foot of the 

 deep rocks which fcrve as a foundation to the ruins called 

 " Nero's houfe," arc fomc dark caves of great depth, leadmg 

 to the hotted of all vapour batiis. Thefe baths are thirty 

 in Lumber ; and they are faid to have been adorned with 

 Greek infcriptions and datues denoting, by their cxprefTions 

 and attitudes, what particular part of the human frame was 

 alTeded and rehevcd from its pains by each particular bath. 

 The fprings at the bottom of the grotto are fo hot as to 

 boil an egg hard almod inllantaneoully. Thefe caverns 

 feem to be the fpot where Nature has opened th« readied 



acccfs 



