B E R 



and its canals, to Alexandria. The dillance bctv.-een Be- 

 renice and Coptos, according to Pliny (Nat. Hill. I. vi. 

 c. 29.)confirmcd by the itinerary' of Antonine, and approved 

 by M. d'AnviUe, was 258 Roman miles; and the road lay 

 through the defert of Thebais, almoft entirely deflitute of 

 water. But the attention of a powerful monarch made pro- 

 rifion for fupplying this want, by fearching for fprings, and 

 wherever thtfe were found he built inns, or more properly, 

 in the eaftern ftyle, (^aravanferas, for the accommodation of 

 merchants. See Strabo. Geog. 1. xvii. p. 1 157. D. 1169. 

 In this channel the intercOurfe between the eaft and welt 

 continued to be carried on during 250 years, as long as 

 Egypt remained an independent kingdom. Berenice con- 

 tinued to be the port of out-fit for the Roman Eaft India 

 trade, in thetime of Pliny (A. D. 79.) who details, in hii 6th 

 book, the account of the navigation to India, and who in- 

 formsus, thatit coft 50 millions of fefterces, orabout 440,000!, 

 every year. From Berenice it was reckoned 30 days' navi- 

 gation down the Red fea to Oceiis (Gella) juft within the 

 ilrait of Babelmandel. From Oceiis to Muziris, the firlh 

 port of merchandize in India, was 40 days' fail : fo that 

 as they left Beiemce about Midfummer, they might arrive 

 in India in the latter end of Augnft, when the violence or 

 the S. W. monfoou was abated, and the coalting navigation 

 fafe and cafy, Thefe voyages were firll made by coalling 

 ah)ng the Arabian fhorc, to t!ie promontory Syagrus (now 

 cape Rafalgate, ) and thei'.ce along the coall of Perfia, either 

 dirtdlly to Pattala (now Tatta,) at the head of the lower 

 Delta of the Indies, or to fome other emporium on the wc!t 

 cna'l of India. Afterwards, a fhorter and fafer courfe was 

 difcovered ; and from cape Rafalgate vefllls failed in a direcl 

 courfe to Zizerus, which, according to major Rennell, was 

 a port on the northern part of the Malabar coaft. In a fub- 

 fcqnent period, a direft courfe was purfued from the outlet 

 of the Rt-d fea to Muziris. It has not been accurately nfcer- 

 tained, what were the other ports in India which the mer- 

 chants from Berenice frequented, when that trade was firft 

 opened ; but it is probable, that as their vedels were of 

 fnall burden, and kept near the coaft, their voyages were 

 eircumfcribed within vtiy narrow limits, and that under the 

 Ptolemies, no confiderable progrefs was made in the difcovery 

 of India. Rennell's Mem. Introd. p. 35 — 37. Robert- 

 fon's Hill. Difq. concerning India, p. 46, occ. — Another 

 Berenice was a town of Africa, on the Red fea, fituate more 

 to the louth than the preceding, in the country of the Tro- 

 glodytes, at the entrance of the Red fea, near the ftrait of 

 Babel Mandel, known by the epithet of " Epidiris:" — ano- 

 ther, denominated by Pliny (1. vi. c. 29.) " Pancl;ryfos," 

 from the gold dug in its vicinity ; and by Strabo, xk??- IxjSxf, 

 jiixta Sains, on the fame coaft ; transferred by Hardouin to 

 Arabia Felix, but mentioned by Strabo and Pliny in con- 

 neftion with the country of the Troglodytes. 



BERENICE'S Hair, in Afironomy. See Berekice 

 al'yve, and Coma Berenices. 



BERENTHA, \\\/lnaentGeooraphy,-!i{m?i\\x.o\\v\ of Pelo- 

 ponnefus in Arcadia, mentioned by Stcp.Byz. and Paufanias. 



BERENTHEATE, a fmall river of Peloponnefus in 

 Arcadia, that difcharged itfelf into the Alpheus. Paufanias. 



BERENTZ, in Geograpl<y,^ town andcaftle of Hungary; 

 2'j miles N. N. E. of Prelburg. 



BERES, in Andent Geography, a town of Thrace. Steph. 

 Byz. 



BERESKY, in Geography, a town of Poland, in the pa- 

 latinate of Braclaw ; 40 miles S. E. of Braclaw. 



BERESNA, or Beresin, a diftrift and town of Tcher- 

 nigof in Ruffia, fituated on the Uefna, 24 milej E.N.E. of 

 Tchernigof. 



B E R 



BERESOF, or Beresow, a diftrifl of the province of 

 Tobolflc in Ruffia, in the country of the Samoiedes, fitu- 

 ated on the river SofTva, which falls into the Oby; and 

 bounded to the north by theftiaits of Waygats ; on the 

 eaft by the Ural mountains ; on the fouth by the river 

 Konda, and a large bay of the Frozen ocean, which runs into 

 the land towards the fouth, and feparatcs near the 66th de- 

 gree of north latitude, into two parts, one of which is called 

 the Oblkaia Guba, or bay of Oby, and the other Tazowf- 

 kaia Guba, or the bay of Tazow. Into the former the 

 river Oby empties itfelf, and into the latter the Taz; and 

 from thefe two rivers the bays derive their names. Th4i 

 diftria was added to the Ruffian empire by the czar Gabriel, 

 in 1530, long before the other parts of Siberia were con- 

 quered. The town of Berefof is fituated on the weft fide of 

 the river Oby, 372 miles N. N. W. of Toboldc. N. !at. 

 64°. E. long. 6f 14'. This diftria is famous for its gold 

 mines, in the mineral mountains of Ural, opened in 1754, 

 and affording annually 3, 4, 5, or 6, and in later years 7 or 

 8 pood of gold. From the commencement of the work, in 

 1754, tin the year 1788, during an interval of 34 years, the 

 quantity of about 120 pood has been generally gained, which, 

 eftimated in value, amounts to about 1,193,000 rubles, and 

 after deducting the cofts, to above 480,000 net profit. 

 Taking the gold and filver here obtained, according to its 

 ftandard in coinage, and balancing it with the expences 

 paid in copper money, according to its true value, a profit 

 accrues of nearly 800,000 rubles. Tooke's \'iew of Ruffia, 

 vi)l. iii. p. 256. 



Beresof, is alfo a town of Ruffia, in the government of 

 Olonetz. N. lat. 64^ 15'. E. long. 30^ 34'. 



BERETELSKO, a town of Poland, in the palatinate 

 of Volhynia ; 24 miles S. S. W. of Lucko. 



BERETHALOM, or Birthelem, a fpaciuus town of 

 Tranfylvania, in the diftrid of Weinland, which is the re- 

 fidence of the Proteftant bifliop. The church is feated on a 

 high rock, and its vicinity produces good wine. 



BERETZHAUSEN, a town of Germany, feated on 

 the Laber, in the circle of Bavaria, a^d principality of Ne%i- 

 burg; 12 miles W. N. \V. of Ratift^on. 



BEREWTCHA, or Berewica, in our Old Writers, de- 

 notes a village or hamlet belonging to fome tov/n or manor, 

 lituate at a diftance from it. 



The word frequently occurs in Doomfday-book : IJix 

 ftmt berewichiE cjufdein manerii. 



BEREZA, in Geography, a town of Poland, in the pala- 

 tinate of Kiof; 30 miles W. of Bial-.cerkiew. — Alfo, a 

 town of Lithuania, in the palatinate of Polefia, and terri- 

 tory of Brztik ; 56 miles E.N.E. of Brzelk. In this place 

 the Carthufians have a convent. 



BEREZEC, a tov,-n of Little or Red Ruffia, in the pa- 

 latinate of Chelin ; 22 miles eaft of Chclm. 



BEREZEN, a river which runs into the Black fea ; za 

 miles weft of Oczakow, 



BEREZENE, a townof Poland, in the palatifiate of Vol- 

 hynia. N. lat. 51'' 45'. E.long. 25° 30'. 



BEREZElMvA, a town of Ruffia, in the government of 

 Saratof, on the weft fide of the Volga; 124 miles S. of 

 Saratof. 



BEREZINA, or Bere7.ysa, a river of Lithuania, which 

 rifes in the palatinate of Polotflc, and runs into the Druec, 

 in N. lat. 52° 18'. E. long. 30" 55'. This river has been 

 erroneoufly laid down, by fome modern geographers, as form- 

 ing the new boundary between Ruffia and Poland. 



Berez IN A,a town of Lithuania, in the palatinate of Minfk, 

 near the fource of the river of the lame name ; 44 miles N. E. 

 ofMinfiv. N. lat. 54" 28'. E.long. 28" 39'. 



E e 2 BERE- 



