B A L 



vejfels in tViefc iflands that cnuld bear the fire, tlie inhabit- 

 ants of them had no idea- of hot water, or its effcds, and 

 thrvefove always roaftcd or baked their meat in the manner 

 Ebove related.' Havvk.el\vorth'5 Account of Voyages in the 

 Sontlicvn Hcmifphere, vol. i. p. 4S4. _ , r , • 



Baking is ufed for the expoling a fubftance, inclofcd in 

 a cr'ill, to tlie fire. See Dressing vf Meixis. 

 Baking Porcelnn. See Porcelain. 

 BAKON, in Geography, a large foreft of Hungary, 

 near Vefprin, where. Andrew, king of Hungary, in a battle 

 with his brother, was forfaken by his followers, and trampled 

 to death bv his enemies. 



BAKSAiSKAIA, a fortrifs of RulTnn Tartai7, in 

 the tjovernment of Caucafus, on the well fide of Jic Ural ; 

 32 miles north of Gnrica. 



B.\KTliGAN, the name of a fait lake of Perfia, about 

 fifty miles call of Shiraz, which receives the rivers of Ka- 

 ren and Bnndamir. It is reprefented in the maps as being 

 about 40 Britidi miles long, and lO broad. 



BAKU, a town of Perlia, in the province of Shirvan, 

 on the weft coaft of the Cafpian fta, with a harbour. N. 

 lat. 40^ 25'. E. long. 50" 2'. ■ 



Tlie bay of Baku is reckoned the fafeft harbour of the 

 Cafpian, becaufe (liips may lie there at anchor in feven fa. 

 thorn water ; yet in foine places the entrance is dangerous 

 on account of (liallows, iflands, and fand-banks. Baku, like 

 Derbent, is inhabited by Perfians, Tartars, and fome few 

 Armenian merchants. The principal articles of export by 

 which the traffic of this place is chiefly fupported, are the 

 naphtha, and the fine rock-falt, both of which are colkaed 

 on the eaft fide of the bay. The inhabitants indeed culti- 

 vate faftron and cotton, but not with any confidcrable ad- 

 vantage. The traJe of Baku is doubtlefs of more confe- 

 quence than that of Derbent, though in faft but very con- 

 fined, and is moftiv carried on witli Shamachy, whence it 

 gets filk and filk-fiuffs. -A Ruffian conful ufually refides 

 here. 



BALA, in Botany, a name ufed by fome authors for 

 the miifa, or plantain tree; called alfo the banana ^nAJlccidss, 

 by others. 



Bala, in Jncient G^o^raphy, a city of Pentapolis, fo 

 called becaufe it was J'tvalloiued up, as the word imports, 

 when Lot quitted it. It is more ufually denominated 

 Zohar. 



Bala, in Geography, 2, town in the county of Merioneth, 

 in North Wales, conlilling of one ftreet, with a high arti- 

 ficial mount, apparently the keep of a fortrefs, at the fouth- 

 eall end of it. It is lituated on the eallcrn extremity of 

 the fine lake to which it gives a name, and whofe fifh con- 

 tribute largely towards the I'ubfillence of its inhabitants. 

 The fairs and markets are confiderabk, and abundantly fup- 

 phed with tlie produce of the furroundiiig country, ai-d 

 with fknnels, gloves, ilockings, &c. In the manufadory 

 of the latter articles, the iniiabitants of the town and of 

 the neighbouring villages are conltantly employed. " Knit- 

 ting," obferves Mr. Aikin, " is the general leifure work of 

 both fexes iu Wales, cfpecially about Bala ; and it cannot 

 fail of giving ftrangers a high idea of the induftry of the 

 people, to fee the men and women going to market with 

 burdens on their heads, while their hands are employed in 

 working the fleeces of their own (lieep into articles of drefs, 

 coarfe indeed, but equally warm and fcrviceablu with the 

 more colUy and elaborate manufadures." Bala is in the 

 parifli of Llanycil, a village about one mile from the town. 

 The whole parifh 'H-Uides a population of 2445. Though 

 endowed with many valualjle privileges, Bala cannot boaft 

 of any particular or elegant ibuiSures. It is an incorporated 

 town by prefcription, and the government is veiled in two 



B A 1. 



bailiffs and a common council ; but neither this nor any 

 other town in the county has ever fent members to parlia- 

 ment. The affiles ate kept here an^ at Dolgelly alter- 

 nately. Its market is on Saturdays, and here are two fairs 

 annually. It is 36 ir.iles from Holywell, and 203 from 

 London. " The objccl beft worth notice in this neighbour- 

 hood is — 



" Bala-PW, or PimHe-mere, or Llyn-tegyd, which is the 

 largeil lake in Wales. Its length from N. E. to S. W. is 

 about four miles, and its breadth in the wideft part is 1200 

 yards. The waur, liiie that of moft rocky lakes, is fo 

 pure that the moll delicate cheniical tefts deteded fcarcely 

 any perceivable quantity of foreign admixture. The fouth- 

 wtllern extremity, where three mountain torrents fall into 

 the pool, is the Ihallowell, owing to the great quantity of" 

 earth and ftones which are borne down in flood-time irom 

 the country through which they flow ; the gradual aggre- 

 gations have formed fevcral banks and low illands in this end 

 of the lake, and in confequence obliged it to encroach pro- 

 portionally on the north-eaftern boundary. This tendency 

 is further increafcd by the prevalence of ft.rong wefterly 

 winds, which drive on the fnore a heavier furf than would 

 be imagined. When thcfe two caufts combine, a circum- 

 ftance that not unfrequently happens, the waters rife to fuch 

 an alarming height, as to threaten the town of Bala with 

 an inundation, were it not for a dyke that is raifed on the 

 (hore : the water being thus obflirucled pours over, the road 

 at the extremity of the mound, and difcharges itfelf into 

 the low grounds through which the Dee flows, doing no 

 fmall damage to the rich and extenfivc pallures. The 

 lake is well llockcd with excellent filh, of which the red 

 trout and the gwyniad are efteemed the moll delicious. 

 Thefe are all caught by angling from the fhore, for fir W. 

 Wynne, who claims the property of the whole pool, will 

 not allow any boats to be kept on it." The fcenery round 

 this lake is much admired for it,s diverfified, wooded, and 

 rocky cliarafterillics. Aikin's Journal of a Tour througk 

 North Wales, &c. 



From, the bottom of this lake ifl"nes the river Dee, which- 

 is faid to pafs through it without mingling its waters with 

 thofe of the lake (fee Abyssinia) ; and palling under a 

 romantic old bridge, winds gently in a wide and deep ftreani 

 towards Corwen and Llangollen. 



Bala is furrounded with mountains, through which various- 

 roads are formed towards Uinafmowthy, towards Llan- 

 viliing over the Berwin, and towards Llanrwft in the vici- 

 nage of Snowdon. 



15 .'^ LA AM, in Scripture Biography, the fon of ' Beor or 

 Bofor, a prophet or diviner, of the city of Pethor on the 

 Euphrates. He was lent for by Balak, king of the Moab- 

 ites, to cuifc the Ifraelit's; but he pronounced upoii therrt- 

 a bleffing. He was killed, together with Baiak, in a battle, 

 in which the Ifraelites defeated the Midianites, about 145a 

 years before Chrill. Numb, xxii, xxiii, xxiv.. Deut. xxiii. 

 4. 2Pet. ii. 15. Jude,vcrf. ti. Rom.ii. 14. It has been a fub- 

 jeiEl of controvcrly, whether E.'.iaara was a true prophet or 

 a mere di-iner, magician, or fortune-teller, hari-Jus, as he is. 

 called, Numb. xxii. 5, Oiigcn fays, that his whole power 

 confilled in magic and curfing. Tiieodoret is of opinion 

 that Balaam did not confult the Lbrd, but tbat he was fu- 

 pernaturally infpired, and conftrained to fpeak. againft his 

 own inclination. Gyril fays, that he was a magician, an 

 idolater, and a falfe prophet, who fpoke truth againll his 

 will; and St. Ambrofe co-npares him to Caiapha.s, who pro- 

 phefied without being ?ware of the, import oi what he faid. 

 Jerom feems to have adopted the cpi ion of the Hebrews; 

 vshich- was, that- Balaam knew the true God, eredltd 

 altars to him, and that he was a true prophet, though cor- 

 rupted 



