B 1 R 



BIRKAN, in Geography, a town of Arabia, 24 mHea 

 fouth of SaaJc. 



BIRKENFELD, a town of Germany, in the circle ot 

 ilic Upper Rhine, and county -of Sponheim, the font of a 

 bailiwu-, including 32 villages and two iron founderics. It 

 was taktn by the "French in 1 79+ ; and in their new ar- 

 langcment, it it the principal place of a diftrift of the fame 

 name, in the department of Sarre. The town contains 

 1061, and the canton 5S92 ptrfon». This diftrift com- 

 prehtnds 38 communes, and its whole territorial extent in- 

 cindes 1615 kiliometrcs. It is fitiiated 50 miles E.N. E. 

 of Trevoi. and 30 N.N.W. of Deux Pouts. 



BIRKENHEAD, or BtRKESHEAD, Sir John, in 

 B'vx^itphw a political writer of fome celebrity, was meanly 

 defceiidtd, and born at Northwich, in the county of Chefter, 

 about the year 1615. In 1632 he was entered as a fervitor 

 in Oriel college, Oxford, ajid afterwards became amanuenfis 

 to archbilhop Laud, who recommended him in 1640 to be 

 chofeu probationu-fellow of All-Souls' College. Wlien 

 Oxford became the head-quarters of king Charles I. in the 

 time of the civil war, Birkenhead was felefteJ as a proper 

 perfon to write a kind of journal in fupport of the royal 

 caufe ; which office he difcliarged to the fatisfaftion of his 

 employers, and with reputation ?nd advantage to himfclf. 

 Tlie king appointed him reader in moral phiiofophy ; and 

 this poll, more honourable than lucrative, he retained till 

 the year 1648, when he was expelled by the parliament 

 vifitors. From hence he removed to London, where he 

 wrote feveral poetical pieces, chiefly of a fatirical kind, 

 Wvelled againft the republicans in power ; and, on account 

 of his fteady attachment to the royal caufe, he was called 

 the " loyal poet," and fiifTered feveral imprifonments. 

 Upon the reiloi-ation of Charles II. he was rewarded for 

 his loyally. In i66r, he was created doftor of the civil 

 law, by theuniverfity of Oxford ; and about the fame time, 

 was returned to ferve in parliament for the borough of Wilton. 

 He was knighted in 1662, and fucceeded fir Richard Fan- 

 fhaw as mailer of requefts. The favours which he received 

 from the court expofed him to many fevcrc attacks from 

 thofe who oppofcd it ; but he was eftecmed by the learned 

 pcrfons of his tinie^ and eletlcd a fallow of the Royal So- 

 ciety ; and his memory has been tranfmitted with honour to 

 pollcrity by Dr)'den, Langbaiue, and Winftanley, norwith- 

 ilanding the reproaches of Anthony Wood. He died in 

 Wcllminl^er, in 1679. Biog. Brit. 



• BIRKEv>TORFF, in Geography, a town of Germany, 

 in the circle of Weftphalia and duchy of Juliers, one mile 

 nortii of Dueren. 



BIRKET EL HADJIS, ox Lah of Pilgrum, a lake 

 of Egypt, communicating with the Nile, and fituate 10 

 miks E.N. E. of Cairo, near which the companies which 

 form the caravan 10 Mecca afiemble. 



BIRKET EL KERUN, or C.'vroun, a lake of Egypt, 

 30 miles long and 6 broad in the middle, but of an irregular 

 form, and narrowing towaids each end ; 40 miles S.W. of 

 Cairo. See M(fris. 



BIRKFIEHER, Blauer Raker, in Omithaiogy, the 

 jinmc of the gaiTu'.ous roller, coracias garrula in Frifch. 

 Av. 



BIRKIN, in Geography, a river of England, which runs 

 into the Bollin, one mile fouth of Altringham in the county 

 of Chefter. 



BIRKOZOWKA, a town of Poland, m the palatinate 

 of K'.w, 40 miles S.E. of Bialacerkiew. 



BIRI^AB, a town of Egypt, in the route from Catich 

 to El Arifh, 17 miles E.N.E. of Calich, and at a fmajl 

 diftance eall of the lake of Sebaket Bardoil, or king 

 Baldwin's lake. 



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BIRLAT, a town of European Tsrkey, feated on a 

 river of the fame name, in the province of Moldavia, 60 

 miles N.W. of Galate, and 116 S.W. of Bender.— Alio, 

 a river which runs into the Siret at Dubravitzn, in Mol- 

 davia. 



BIRMAN, or BuRMAN Emp'ut, comprizes the king- 

 doms of Ava and Pegu, and deiives its name fiom the Bir. 

 mahs or Burmahs, who have been long known as a warlike 

 nation, in the country formerly called " India beyond 

 the Ganges ;" its capital being Ava or Aungwa. The 

 boundaries of this empire are not cafily afcertained. Bur- 

 mah, confidered as diiiinft from Pegu, and fometimes er- 

 roneoufly denominated Ava from its capital, borders on 

 Pegu to the r.orth, and occupies both banks of the river 

 Ava, as far as the frontiers of China. On the north-weft 

 is Meckley, and on the Weft Aracan and Roftiaan. On 

 the eaft it has the kingdom or country of LTpper Siam, 

 which begins at a fmall diftance eaftward from the city of 

 Ava ; a ndge of mountains feparating it from Burmah and 

 Pegu. But the king of Burmah is now laid to poftlfs not 

 only the country of Meckley, in addition to thofe of Pegu 

 and Burmah, but alfo the whole traft which lies on the north 

 of it, betw-een China, Thibet, and Afam. According to 

 colonel Symes, to whom we are much indebted for our 

 knowledge of the Birman empire, it appears to include the 

 fpace between the 9th and 26th degrees of north latitude, 

 and between the Qzd and 107th degrees of eaft longitude, 

 about 1050 geographical miles in length, and 600 in 

 breadth. Such are the afcertainable limits from the Birman 

 accounts ; but it is probable that their dominions ftretch 

 ftill farther to the north. The breadth, hovicver, often 

 varies, and is in many places very incoufiderable, on what 

 is called the eaftern peninfula. To the north this empire is 

 feparatcd by mountains from Afam, and further to the eaft 

 it borders on Thibet and China. On the weft it is divided 

 from the Britilh dominions in Bengal by a range of moun- 

 tains, and the little river Naaf; and the limit is continued 

 by the fea. But the fouthern and eaftern boundaries are 

 fomewhat obfcure. If it be extended to the ninth degree 

 of latitude, it muft include a confiderable portion of the 

 Malayan peninfula, or the province of TenafTerem, and 

 city of Mergui, formerly regarded as part of Siam ; and if, 

 on the eaft, it be extended to the 1071b degree of longitude, 

 it might be faid to comprehend almoft the whole of the 

 country called India beyond the Ganges, as far as the 

 mouths of the Japanefe river in Cambodia. But it does not 

 appear that Siam is regarded as a portion of the Birman 

 empire, and even in this cafe it would only extend to 103 

 degrees. In this ftate of uncertainty, however, we muft 

 fatisfy ourfelves with obferving, that this empire conftitutes 

 the fifth grand native power in India, lince Hin'cR^fian and 

 Perfia have been divided, and may probably extend its 

 authority over Laos and Cambodia, while it remains fe- 

 paratcd by deferts and ranges of lofty mountains from the 

 united kingdoms of Cochinchina and Tonquin. 



Of the ancient ftate of the countries which now conftitute 

 this empire, our knowledge is very imperfedt. (See Cher- 

 sONEsus.) With regard to their modern hiftory. Col. 

 Symes obferves, that we are indebted for our firft information 

 principally to the Portuguefe, who made themfJvcs mafters 

 of Malacca early in the 16th century. Accordingly the 

 Portuguefe hiftorians inform us, that in the middle of this 

 century four powerful flates divided among them the re- 

 gions that lie between the fouth-eaft province of Britifti 

 India, Yunan in China, and the eaftern fea ; and that their 

 territories, befides fome intervcnhig lands belonging to petty 

 independent princes, extended from Caftay and Afam on the 

 N.W. as far to the S.E. us the ifland of Junkfeylon. Thefe 



nations 



