B A S 



Jlorvcild fays, it fhould be viajlenta, which he conclmles 

 ■from Ilidore, who fays, LnJ}:rna, i<hijhiiia. But the weird 

 feems better derived from the Greek ^ara^n./er/o, fo cany. 



Salmafius obferves, that the ballerna fuccctded tlie h-8irii, 

 or litter ; from which it differed very little, except that the lit- 

 ter was borne on the flioiilders of flaves, and the balkvna 

 borne or drawn by bcafts. Cafaubon fays it was borne by- 

 mules. F. Daniel, Mabillon, &c. alTert it was drawn by 

 oxen, to go the more gently ; and Gregory de Tours gives 

 an inilance of its being drawn by wild bulls. The infide 

 they called the carta, or cage : it had foft cufhions or beds, 

 befides glaffes on each I'ldc like our chariots. The mode of 

 bafternas pafTcd from Itaiy into Gaul, and thence into other 

 countries ; and to this we owe our chariots, which, thougli 

 ive call them curriis, yet have they no conformity to the 

 ancient curnis, but are in cffeft bafternas improved. The 

 •ballerna appears alfo to have been ufcd in war, for the carry- 

 ing of baggage. 



BASlf, now Baza, m Ancient Geography, a town of 

 Spain, in Bretica, north-eall of Acci, and near the moun- 

 tains which fepar:ite Cietica from Tarra^onenhs. 



BASTIA, in Gc'igrc.phy, a fea-port town of Albania, in 

 Turkey in Europe, over againil the iflaiid of Corfu, at the 

 mouth of the river Calamu. N. lat. 39" 40'. E. long. 

 20° 35'. 



Bastia, a city and fea-port of Corfica, the capital of the 

 ifland, is fituatcd on its north-eall lide, and commandtd by 

 a lofty mountain, in the centre of which the fea forms a fmall 

 bay, defended by a mole. It is divided into two parts, 

 called " Terra Nuova" and " Terra Vecchia ;" in the 

 former of which is a citadel, furrounded with fortifications. 

 Its harbour, though good, is not large ; and affords conve- 

 nient anchorage for veffels of a fmall fize, but is unfit for the 

 reception of Ihips of war : and its commerce is inconfidcrable. 

 In 1730, Corfica revolted from Genoa; and in 1794, it was 

 attacked by lord Hood, and captured by the Britilh fleet 

 and army. Tiic number of inhabitants is fuppofed to be 

 about 6coo. N.lat. 42° 35'. E.long. 9° 30'. 



Bastia il/<7;vna [Riimpfus), in Natural Htflory, a kind 

 of fponge, fuppofed to be the Spongia vcnttlalra of Gmehn. 



BASTIDE, in Topography, an appellation given in the 

 fouthern departments of France, to fmall country-houfes, 

 built by individuals of eafy circumftances, in the vicijiity of 

 the towns. 



Bastide df Montfori, La, in Geography, a town of France, 

 in the department of the Tarn, and chief place of a canton 

 in the diftrid of Gaillac, 5 miles N. E. of Gaillac. 



Bastide de Seron, La, a town of Fiance, in the de- 

 partment of the Arriege, and chief place of a canton in the 

 dillricl of Tarafcon ; 4! leagues N. W. of Tarafcou. 



Bastide, La, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Lot and Garonne, and chief place of a canton in the diftrirt 

 of Caftel-Jaloux, 2^ leagues W. S. \V. of Tonneins, and J 

 N. of Caftel-Jaloux. 



Bastide de Jourdans, La, a town of France, in the 

 department of the mouths of the Rhone, and chief place 

 of a canton, in the diilriift of Apt, a Lagues S. E. of 

 Apt. 



Bastide d' Armagnac, La, a town of France, in tiie 

 department of the Gcrs, and chief place of a canton in the 

 diftrift of Nogaro, 4* leagues N. N. W. of Nogaro. 



Bastide de Beam, a town of France, in the department 

 ci the Lower Pyrenees, 4 leagues W.of Orthez. 



BASTILE denotes a fmall antique caftle, fortified with 

 turrets. Such was the ballilc of Paris, wtiich feems to have 

 been the only callle that retained the name : it was begun to 

 be built in 1369, by order of Charles V. and finiflicd in 1383, 



B A S 



ur.der the rfTgn of hifi fucceffor. It» chief ufe was Tor the 

 ciiHoilv of lUlc priioners. 



Of the pl.in and ilrutliire of this edifice, which was for 

 fcveral ages appropriated to the clandeftiue purpofes of un- 

 feeling defpolilin, and which might be jufily coiifidered as 

 the abode of human niifery, and of the regulations by which 

 it was governed, it is now nccdlefs to record any particulars : 

 as it was afl'aulttd and totally deftroyed at an early period of 

 the revolution in France, viz. on the 14th of July, in the 

 year 1789. I'liole who are defiroi-s of acquainting them- 

 felves with its hiilorv, will find their curiollty gratified in 

 a volume entitled '"'' The Hillory of the Ballile, Sec." 

 publilhed in 1790, 8vo. The moil fatisfaftory information 

 relating to the pvifoucr in the iron maflv, who was confined 

 in this wretched dungeon for many years, and concerning 

 whom many conjectures have been made, is communicated 

 to the public in a work entitled " Memoires du Marcchal 

 Due de Kichclici:," publiihed at Paris in 1790, in, 4 vols. 

 8vo. The fecrtl is faid to have been extorted from the 

 regent by his daughter, who d'fcloied it to the duke de 

 Richelieu. From the account given in this work it appears, 

 that this unfortunate perfoii was the twin-brother of Louis 

 XIV. born eigiit hours after this monaicl:, and who was 

 the unhappy viclim of fuperflition and cruelty. His father, 

 Louis Xiil., being weak enough to give credit to a pre- 

 didlion of fome impoftcrs, that if the queen fiiould be deli- 

 vered of tv.'iiis, the kingdom wsuld be involved in civil war, 

 ordered the birth of this prince to be kept a profound fe- 

 cret ; and had him privately educated in the country as the 

 illegitimate fon of a nobleman : but on the acceffion of 

 Louis XIV. the young man gave indications of having dif- 

 covered his parentage, of which his brother being informed, 

 ordered him to be imprifoned for life, and to wear a nialk, 

 in order to prevent liis being recognized. 



BASTIMENTOS, in Geography, fmall idands near the 

 illhmus of Darien, at the mouth of the bay of Numhre de 

 Dios. Tiiey form a good harbour ; and one of them has an 

 excellent fpring. N. lat. 9° 30'. W. long. 79^ 45'. 



BASTINADO. See Bastosado. 



BASTION, in the Modern Fortificat'ions, a huge mafs 

 of earth ufually faced with fods, foraetimes with brick, 

 rarely with ftone, ftaiiding out from a rampart, whereof it 

 is a principal part ; and anfwering to what in the ancient for- 

 ficatiou was czWeA propugnaculittn, or a bulwark. 



Bailions, fume fay, were firll introduced by Zifca the Bo- 

 hemian ; others attribute the invention of them to Achmet 

 Balliaw, in the year 1480, mentioning the fortification of 

 Otranto as the firil inilance in which they were ufed. How- 

 ever, they were well known foon after the year 1500 ; for 

 Tartalea gives a plan of Turin, which had been completely 

 fortified for loine time with four bailions, in his Quefiti H. 

 Inventioni diverfe, publilhed in 1546. The firll bailions, 

 fuch as thofc of Turin, and bf Antwerp, which was fortified 

 about the year 1540, were fmall, and removed at a great 

 dillauce from each other : but they were made much larger, 

 and brought nearer to each other in the citadel of Antwerp, 

 erected under the direftion of the duke d'Alva, about the 

 year 1566. 



A ballion confifts of two faces and two flanks, and an 

 opening towards the centre of the place called the gorge. 

 — The faces are the lines BC and CS {Platel. Fortifrat. 

 Jig. I.) including the angle of the ballion. See Face. — 

 The flanks are the lines BA, SD. The union of the two 

 faces makes the outmofl or faliant angle, called alfo the an- 

 gle of the ballion, BCS. 



The union of the two faces to the two flanks makes the 

 fide-augles tailed the flioulders, or epaules of the baftion. 



And 



