BEL 



conica;" and is faid to be found on the fliore? of Hol- 

 land Obf. This is fjppofed by ionr.i to be the fabcUa 



granulnta of Linnaeuo, and tiibitorniis of Pennant ; but it 

 is by no means certain that «vcn tlic two hilt arc of the 

 fame fprcies : we think they are not ; and it may admit 

 of equal doubt wiiethtr either of tlitm be the Ipecics 

 Gmclin defcribes as belpjica. The lail mentioned autiior 

 fcemstobe under no fmall difficulty in this relpedt liimfell, 

 for lie entirely omits taking the llighlell notice of either 

 as fpecies, or even amongll his fynonyms. Sabella tobi- 

 formis of Pennant is undoubtedly dillerent from fabella bcU 

 gica of Gmclin, according to Klein and Martini, to which 

 he refers. Vide Donov. Brit. .Shells, p'-l.^^. 



Belgica, in Orniiholo^y, a fpecies of Scolopax, with 

 a very llraight bill, black at the tip: head, neck, and 

 breait; ferruginous: abdomen white ; back, wings, tail, and 

 kgs black. No/.tm. ncdtrl Vogel. t. 27. A native of Hol- 

 land, and feeds on worms, &c. 



Bklgica Gallia, in ^Indent Geography, one of Casfar's 

 three divifions of Gaul, or Gallia, the other two being Aquita- 

 nia, and Ccltica, orGallia propria. Gallia Belgica was bounded 

 by the ocean to the north, by the Seqnani (Seine) and Matrona 

 (Marne) to the weft, by the Rhine to the eaft, and to the 

 iouth by various limits, at dilferent times. Cifar appro- 

 priated the Seqnani and the Helvetii to that part of Gallia 

 Celtica which was afterwards called " Lugdunenfis." But 

 Augullus, when he made a new partition of the provinces, 

 transferred the Sequani and Helvetii to Gallia Belgica, 

 According to the diftribution of Ptolemy, Gallia compre- 

 hended four parts, viz, Aquitania, Lugdunenfis, Belgica, 

 and Narbonnenfis. See Gallia. Mentelle, in the Ency- 

 clopedic Methodiquc, divides Gallia Belgica into Belgica 

 prima, comprehending the Treviri, Mediomatrici, Verdun- 

 enfes, and Leuci ; and Belgica fecunda, including the Kervii, 

 Morini, Ambiani, Bellovaci, Silvanedes, Vadicafles, Suef- 

 fiones, Veromandui, Attrebates, Remi, and Catalauni. The 

 capital of the Treveri, viz. Augulla or Treveri, was the 

 metiepohs of Belgica prima. Belgica fecunda contained a 

 great number of cities, and comprehended Lorraine and 

 Champagne ; whilft Belgica prima contained a portion of 

 tiie ifle of France, Picardy, and Artois. Belgic Gaul com- 

 prehended thofe provinces of the Netherlands now called 

 the Bclglc provinces, wliich were formerly fubjeft to the 

 lioufe of Auilria, but which have been recently annexed to 

 the French dominions. See Nl thlrlands. 



Belgica, Balchuyfen, a village of Gallia Belgica, in the 

 country of the Ubii, between the rivers Rhone and Roer, 

 8 miles from Marcomagum, according to the itinerary of 

 Antonin, in Germania fecunda, or Liferior, fouth-well of 

 Colonia Agiippina. 



BELGINUM, BiNGEN, or Baldenau, a place of Ger- 

 mania prima, or Superior, a province of Gaul, at fome dil- 

 tance to the call of Augulla Trevirorum. 



BELGIUM, a canton of Gallia Belgica, from which it 

 is diflinguifhcd by Cwfar (1. v. c. 24,) as a part from the 

 whole ; to this canton he afligns tlie Bellovaci, to whom 

 Hirtius (1. viii. c. 46 and 47,) adds the Attrebates. And 

 as the Ambiani were fcated between the Bellovaci, and Attre- 

 bates, ihefe alfo mull be included in Belgium, which mull 

 liave extended to the fea. Thefe three people, fays Cellarius, 

 were the proper and genuine Belgae, all the relk being adven- 

 titious, or foreigners. See Ambiani, Atrebatii, and 

 Bellovaci. 



BELGIUS, a river of Africa in Libya. Hefychins. 



BELGN.tA, a town of Arabia Deferta. Ptolemy. 



BELGOROD, in Geography. See Bielgorod, and 

 Akerman. 



BELGRADE, Alba Gr/xcorum, a town of Euro- 



BEL 



pean Turkey, the capital of Servia, feated on the fide of a 

 hill, at the conflux of the Save and the Danube. It waj 

 formerly a very ilrong place, but is now deftitute of for- 

 tifications, and it was accounted the barrier and key of 

 I f ungary, to w hich it was lirll annexed by the emperor 

 Sigifmuud. 



The number of inhabitants is now fuppofed to amount 

 to about 25,000. 'i'he i'uburbs are cxtenlive, and it has 

 a great refort of 'J'tirkifli, Jewilh, Greek, Hniigaiian, 

 Armenian, .'Vuflrian, and Sclavonian merchants. Tlie ilreets, 

 in which the ciiief trade is c.irried on, are covered with 

 wood, as a Iheltcr from the lun and rain ; the ihops are 

 fmall, and the commodities that aie fold are conveyed out 

 of a window, as the buyers never enter them ; the richelt 

 merchandize is cxpofed to fale in two baxars that crol's 

 each other ; and there are two exchanges conilrncted with 

 ftone, and fupportcd by pillars. There are likewife at 

 Belgrade a caravanfcra, or public inn, and a college for 

 young lludents. Its fituation near the rivers renders it 

 convenient for commerce ; and as the Danube falls into 

 the Black fea, and affords a paflage to Vicuna, trade is 

 ' ealily extended to diftant countries, fo that Belgrade is a 

 Ilaple town in thefe parts. The Armenians and Jews are 

 employed as faftors ; the former have a church, and the 

 latter a fynagogue in this place. In the environs of Bel- 

 grade are fevtral fmall villages near one another, and almoll 

 all of them inhabited by Greeks. The fields prefent fonic 

 degree of culture ; and the whole adjacent country affords 

 fine duller or ftalk-fruked oaks (quercus racemofa, Lamarck) 

 whole wood is very hard and very fit for Ihip-building. Some 

 few vineyards and gardens are to be fcen in the vicinity of 

 Belgrade. The aquedufts, conllrucled by the emperors of 

 the eall for conveying water to Conllantinople, attraft adnii- 

 ration. See Acju/tDUCT. N.lat. 45° 10'. E. long. 21" 

 12'. 



The poireffion of Belgrade has been repeatedly difputed be- 

 tween the Aullrians and Turks. In 1 52 1, it was taken by 

 the Turks, after having been attacked in vain by Amurath 

 II. in the preceding century, but recovered by the Imperial 

 army in 1688. In 1690, it fell again under the Turkilh yoke, 

 from which the Aullrians unfuecefsfuUy attempted to regain 

 it in 1693. By the treaty of Carlowitz in 1699, tiie Turks 

 remained in poffeilion of it ; but in 1716, it was bcfieged by 

 prince Eugene, and after a fevere contell it was compelled 

 to furrender to the Imperial arms. 



Belgrade is chiefly famous in the hiflory of military ope- 

 rations on account of the battle fought in its vicinity in tlie 

 year 1717, the refult of which was the lall great viftory ob- 

 tained under the aufpices of the celebrated prince Eugene, 

 and which decided the event of the war then depending be- 

 tween the German and Ottoman empires. 



The Turks, notwithftandlng the lolles they had fullained 

 during the campaign of 17 16, determined to make the moll 

 vigorous efforts for the prefervatlon of their Hungarian ac- 

 quilitions. The Imperialllls were equally defirous of ter- 

 minating the war by fome important aclion. Prince Eu- 

 gene, having concentrated tlie Aullrian forces in the bannat, 

 on the 15th of June effcfted the paffige of the Danube in 

 boats with 30,000 of his troops without the lofs of a man, 

 in pretence of fome TurkiQi corps llationcd on the fouthera 

 bank, who, without attempting an oppolition, threw them- 

 felves into Belgrade. A bridge of boats was immediate- 

 ly conllrufted for the paffage of the rell of the army, 

 the horfe, and artillery, and by the 19th of the fame 

 month, Belgrade was completely invcfted. 



The lirll care of prince Eugene, who forefaw that the 

 Turks would venture a battle to relieve the place> was to 

 fortify his camp iii fuch a manner as might enable him to 



cope 



I 



