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and the fide of the moat, to receive tl.e eartli that roUi 

 down from the nmpart, and prevent its failing into, and 

 lining up the moat. 



This is alfo called iifieie, rela'is, relniile, pns dc foitres, fore- 

 land, ^c. . ,T J 1 

 • Sometimes, for greater fcciirity, the berme is pahfadocd. 



BERMEJO, m Geosi\ipl<y, the name of an illand and 

 port on the S. W. coall of South America, in about 2 

 degrees N. a Uttle W. from Lima. It is four leagues dif- 

 tant from Mengon on the nortli, and 6 from Guarmey port 

 on the fouth. The illand is a fmall white iflantl, in the 

 middle of which is a bay : the land from hence to Mengon 

 is hiCTM, and aboimds with hillocks, having large fpots of 

 white" fand. It has a good harbour, and line frefh water at 

 a fmall diftance from the fhore ; and the harbour is known 

 at fea by a laige high hill with a cleft in it, which runs 

 down fouthward to the fea-fide ; on the nonh it is very 



ftccp. r r. • 



BERMEO, or Vermeo, a fea-port town of Spain, in 

 the province of Bifcny, near cape Machicaca, 5 leagues N.W. 

 of Bilbao. 



BERMUDA HUNDRED, or City Point, is a port 

 of entry, and poll town of America, in Cliefterfield county, 

 Virginia, featcd on the point of the peninfula formed by the 

 confluence of the Appamattox with James river, 36 miles wef- 

 terly from WiUiamfliurg, 64 from Point Comfort, in Chefa- 

 peakbay, ai'd3i5 S.W.by S. from Philadelphia. City Point, 

 from which it is named, lies on the fouthern bank of James 

 River, 4 miles S.S.W. from this town. The town has about 

 40 houfes, including fome warehoufcs. It trades chiefly 

 with the Weft Indies, and the different ftates. City Point, 

 in Jamts River, lies in N.lat. 37° 16'. W.long. 77° 31' 30". 



BERMUDAS, or SoMERs' Islands, vulgarly called 

 Summer IJljnds, a clufter of fmall and rocky iflands, forming 

 the figure of a (hepherd'; crook, and amounting in number 

 to about 400 ; fituated in the Alantic, and diftant from 

 the coaft of Carolina about !00 leagues. N. lat. 32° 35'. 

 W.long. ^3° 28'. 



They derived their firft name from John Bermudas, a 

 Spaniard, who difcovered them in 1527; and their fecond 

 appellation they owe to fir George Somers, who was fhip- 

 wrccked on thefe rocks in his palTage to Virginia in 1609, 

 and lived there 9 months. But he and his companions, 

 having built a fhip of cedar wood, failed from thence to 

 Virginia. Sir George Somers, it is faid, was driven a fe- 

 cond time on thefe iflands, and died there. But his compa- 

 nions, returning to England, made fo favourable a report 

 cf their beauty and fertility, that the Virginia company, 

 who, as the firft difcoverers, claimed the property, fold them 

 to about 120 perfons, to whom king James I. granted a 

 charter. Accordingly, in 1612, they planted the iargeft of 

 them, viz. St. George's ifle, with 160 perfons, and in 1619, 

 fcut thither 500 perfons more ; upon which they inflitiited 

 an aflembly, with a governor and council. It is faid, that 

 thcv are much incommoded by want of frefh water, and by 

 the'ftorms, thunder, &r. to which they are fubjeft. Shake- 

 fpear has thercfure jnftly dcfcribed them as ever " vexed" 

 with ftorms ; but the poet Waller, who refided there for 

 fome time, on being condemned for a plot againft the par- 

 liament in 1643, reprefents them as enjoying a perpetual 

 fpring. In 1725, the benevolent bifhop Berkeley propofed 

 to ercft a college in thefe iflands for the converfion of the 

 favage Americans. See Berkeley. 



This group of iflands is faid to confirt of about 400 : but the 

 erreaternumberfeemtobemere iflets androcks, notof fufficient 

 importance to have received a name. From the chart by Eem- 

 prierciiu 797, itflioul»ife«mthat thelargeftiiland, called " Ber- 



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nv.ida," refemWes a hook, the great found fronting the north. 

 The length is about 35 geographical miles, and the breadth 

 between" one and two. The other iflands which have re- 

 ceived names arc St. George's, St. David's, and Sommc-rfef. 

 The iflaiid of >St. George's lies eaftward of the main lard, 

 and has a capital town of the fame name, containing about 

 500 houfes. Contiguous to this is St. David's, which lupplics 

 the town with provifions. The air is healthy, and a conti- 

 nual fpiing prevails ; fo that moft of the produftions of the 

 Weft Indies might probably be cultivated in thefe iflands. 

 The houfes are built of a foft ftone, which is fawn like 

 timber, and feemingly refembling that of Bath ; and the 

 ftone is much ufed in the Weft Indies for filtrating water. 



With regard to the fuppofed fertihty and produAivenefs 

 of thefe iflands, it appears, from the anfwers of governor 

 Brown to the inquiries of the privy council of England, 

 that they contain from i 2 to 13 thoufand acres of very poor 

 land, of which gparts into are eitheruncultivated, or referved 

 in woods tor a fupply of timber towards building fmall fliips, 

 floops, and fliallops, for fale, this being the principal occu- 

 pation of the inii?.bitants ; and the veff-ls which they furnifh, 

 being built of cedar, are light, buoyant, and unexpenfivc. 

 Of the land in cultivation, no part was appropriated to any 

 other purpofc than that of railing Indian corn, and cfculent 

 roots and vegetables, of which a confiderable fupply is fent 

 to the Weft Indies, until the year 1785, when the growth 

 of cotton was attempted, but without much iuccefs ; there 

 not being at prefent more than 200 acres applied to this 

 fpecies of culture. The number of white people of all ages 

 in Bermudas, is 5462, and of black, 4919. The Bermu- 

 dians are generally feafaring men, and the negroes are ex- 

 pert mariners. In the war between Great Britain and 

 America, there were at one time between 15 and 20 priva- 

 teers fitted out from hence, which were manned by negroe 

 flaves, who behaved irreproachably ; and fuch is the ftate of 

 flavery in thefe iflands, and fo much are the negroes attached 

 to their mafters, that fuch as were captured always returned 

 when it was in their power. Some part of the trade of the 

 Bermudians, coiififts in carrying the fait which they fetch 

 from Turks ifland to America, where they fell it for pro- 

 vifions, or for cafh. Thefe iflands are frequented by whale- 

 fifhers. The government is conduced by agovemor named 

 by the Britifh crown, a council, and a general alTembly : 

 the religion is that of the church of England. There are 

 9 churches under the care of 3 clergymen ; and one Pref- 

 byterian church. The women of thefe iflands are faid to 

 be handfome, and both feses are fond of drefs. Edwards's 

 Hift. of Weft. Ind. vol. i. p. 470. 



Bermudas Cedar, in Botany. See Juniperus. 



BERMUDIANA. See Sisyrinchium. 



BERN, in Geography, was, before the French revolution, 

 one of the thirteen cantons of Swiffcrland, bounded on the 

 eaft by the cantons of Uri, Undcrwakien, Lucern, and the 

 county of Baden ; on the north by the Auftiian foteft-towns 

 and the cantons of Bafle and Soleure ; on the weft by the 

 canton of Soleure, the county of Bienne, and a part of 

 France; and on the fouth by the lake cf Geneva, the Valais, 

 and the duchy of Savoy. In the year 1352, Bern acceded 

 to the Helvetic confederacy ; and poffeffed fuch power, even 

 at that early period, as to obtain the fecond rank among the 

 Swifs cantons. Since the acquifition of the Pays de Vaud, 

 the domains of this canton formed nearly the third part of 

 Swiflerland, and about the fourth of the aftual population. 

 It contained 3^*40 fquare miles ; its population was eftimated 

 ^^ 374>oo3 peifons, and its contingents amounted to 2000. 

 At the introduftion of the reformation in 1528, govern- 

 ment acquired a large ir.creafe of revenue by fecularizing the 



ecckflailical 



