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be, tliat two of tlie eight general precepts given by thi 

 kijillator, Bremaw to the Indian nation, are, on account 

 of the profeflion of the Banians, fiippofed more iinmediately 

 to relate to them, viz, thofe which enjoin veracity in then- 

 words and dealings, and nvoiding all pratlices of circuni- 

 Tention in buying and felling. 



The Banians and the Chinefe are the greateft traders in 

 the Indies, to whom mult alio be added the Jews and 

 Armenians who are greatly difperfed over thofe parts. 

 But the moft confiderable trade is carried on by the Banians, 

 in the v.hole pen-nfula on this f:de the Ganges. They are 

 extremely (l<ilful and cunning in commerce. Moil of them 

 f illow brokerage, and moll of the brokers of the Englifh, 

 Dutch, and Fren.ch companies are of that nation. They 

 are deemed, in general, very honell, and have almoft cou- 

 ftantly in their hands the Hock and cadi of tiiofe companies. 



They are hkewife bankers ; and there are few places in 

 the Ea'll Indies for which they cannot fiirnifli bills of ex- 

 change. They have alfo a fort of Handing cafh or bank 

 where perfons may dipolit tlieir money, and take it out again 

 whenever they pleafe. 



Their form of contracl, in buying and felling, is remark- 

 able ; being done in the prcfoundcll filence, only by touch- 

 ing each others fingers : the buyer loofening his famiriii, 

 or girdle, fpreads it on his knee ; and both he and the 

 feller having their hands underneath, by the intercourfe of 

 the fingers, mark the price of pounds, (hillings, &c. de- 

 manded, ottered, and at length agreed on. When the fel- 

 ler takes the buyer's whole liand, it denotes a thoufand, 

 and, as many times as he fqueezes it as many thoufand 

 pagods, or roupees, according to the fpecies in quellion, 

 are demanded : when he only takes the five fingers, it de- 

 notes five hundred, and when only one, one hundred ; 

 taking only lialf a finger, to the fecond joint, denotes fifty; 

 thefmall end of the finger, to the firft joint, ftands for ten. 

 See Ceurawath. 



Their children are betimes accullomed to trade, and to 

 imitate the gentlenefs of manners, which diftinguilhes this 

 clafs of perfons. Thofe of the Banians, who have flaves, 

 treat them with great humanity. Their manner of living 

 \s very frugal, and they never depart from it, except when 

 they fettle their children ; on which occafion, they fpend a 

 fum amounting to no kfs than l2,Jool. Their women are 

 alfo diftinguifhed by their fimplicity of manners. They 

 hold the nuptial tie in great veneration ; and never allow 

 themfelves the lead intercourfe with ftrangcrs. Their 

 hufbands will not be fatisfied without this refcrve ; alleging 

 againll every kind of familiarity between the fexes this 

 proverb ; " if you bring butter too near the fire, you can 

 hardly keep it from melting."' 



BANIAS, in Geography, a town of Syria, fifty miles 

 S. W. of Damafcus. 



BANIER, Antony, in Biography, a French abbe, was 

 a native of Clermont, in Auvergne, who completed his edu- 

 cation at Paris. Having been employed in clalllcal inflruc- 

 tion, he diretled his particular attention to the fubjedl of 

 ancient mythology, and pubhfhed in two volumes, i2mo., 

 " An Hiltorical Explanation of the Fables of Antiquity." 

 This work gained him the reputation of being a writer of 

 talle and erudition; and 17 14, he was admitted into the 

 Academy of Infcriptions and Belles Lettres. In 1715, 

 his treatife, defigned to trace the fables of the ancients to 

 hillorical fafts as their true origin, was much enlarged and 

 publifhed in the form of dialogue. The fam.e fubjctl was 

 purfued by the author in feveral diflertations communicated 

 to the academy of which he was a member, and publifhed 

 in its Memoirs. With a view to the fame fubjetl, he pre- 

 fcnted the public with the refult of his refearcbes during the 



B A N 



lail ten years of his life, firft in his " Tranflation of the 

 Metamorpholes of Ovid," with hiftorical remarks and iiluf- 

 tratioMS, and the plates of Picart, publifhed at Amfterdam, 

 in folio, in 1732, and reprinted in 1738 at Paris, in two 

 volumes, 4to ; and after .vara.- in a work, intilled, " My- 

 thology, or the Fables explained by Hiftory," printed in 

 4to. and alfo in i zmo. at Paris, in 1740, tranfiuled into 

 Engliib, and printed at London ui 1741, in 4 vols. 8vo. 

 Banier died in November 1741, aged 69 years. He pub- 

 liflied an improved edition of Marville's " Melanges d'Hif- 

 toire et de la Literature," and had a great fhare in the new 

 edition of Picart's " General Hiilory of Religious Cere- 

 monies," piiblilhed in \';±i. Kouv. Dift. Hilior. 



BANJERMASSING, or Bf.nder Massin of M.d'An- 

 ville, in Geography, a town and dillrict on the fouth fide of 

 the ifland of Borneo ; the chief product and trade of which 

 are pepper. The faftory of the Dutch lies in S. lat. 3°. 

 They have here a fmall fort, where a junior merchant, as 

 refident, with about 25 or 30 foldiers, are ftationed. The 

 objecl of this eftablifliment is chiefly the colkftion or pur- 

 chafe of the pepper and rough diamonds produced in the 

 country. The refidert is allowed live per cent on tlie pep- 

 per, the contrail witli the king obliges him to deliver 

 600,000 pounds at three ftivcrs per pound ; and this is the 

 only article which induces the company to retain this poflcl- 

 fion; for the profits on the rough diamond'^, gold, wax, canes, 

 and fago, would not be fufficicnt to make good the chaigcs. 

 Banjermaffing is of no importance to the company as a 

 fource of revenue, for they do not pofTefs a fool of land 

 without their fort, and arc obliged to be conftantly on their 

 guard agahift the infidious attacks of the natives. The 

 charges of this eflablifliment in 1779 wxre about 1 1 00 1, 

 ilerling, which, together with thofe of conveying the pep. 

 per to Batavia, are fcarcely covered by the profits accruing 

 from this fcanty trade. The river Banjar, called Biajos by 

 d'Anville, flows from the centre cf the country almoll due 

 fouth, and forms the harbour of the town ; and on this 

 river is experienced a difference of twelve feet in the rife 

 and fall of the tide. The Biajos, as they are denominated, 

 come down this river to the port in rude boats, with gold 

 dull, and other articles, among which are diamonds ; tiie 

 Moors called Banjareens being the factors. Thefe Bia- 

 jos are tattooed blue, with a fmall wrapper about the 

 loins. The chiefs extraft one or two of the fore-teeth, fub- 

 ilituting others of gold ; and firings of the teeth of tigers, 

 which abound in the ifland, a real badge of knighthood or 

 of conraa^e, are worn round the neck. 



BANILLIA, in the Materia Mcd'ica, a name ufed by 

 fome for the vaiuHla, or vanilloes, ufed in making the 

 fcented chocolate. 



Banishment, Exile, in Law, among us, is of two 

 kinds : the one voluntary, and upon oath ; the other by 

 compu'fion, for fome offence or crime. 



The former, properly called aljuration, was aboliflied by 

 flat. 21. Jac. I. c. 28. ; and has now ceafed, 2 Inft. 629 : 

 the latter is enjoined by judgment of parliament. Yet out- 

 lawing and tranfportation may be alfo confidered as a fpecies 

 of exile. 



However, no power on earth, except the authority of 

 parliament, can fend any fiibject of England eut of the 

 land againfl his will ; no, not even a criminal. For exile 

 and tranfportation arc punifhments at prefent unknown to 

 the common law ; and wkcnever the latter is now inflicted, 

 it is either by the choice of the criminal himfelf to efcape a 

 capital punifhment, or elfe by the exprefs direction of fome 

 modern aft of parliament. To this purpofe Magna Charta 

 declares (c. 29.) that no freeman fhall be banifhed, unlefs by 

 the judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. And 



4jy 



