B O R 



l\eJ with thofc of the French revolution. Tlic emperor Jo- 

 feph I'cems at this time not to have been advtrit: to fiich co- 

 adjutors ; and he appeared to be pleaftd wiili a witty and 

 popular p'jbiication of Born, in 178J, entitled " Moiiacho- 

 logia," which was a fcvere attack on the monks, whom he 

 charaflerized in the technical language of natural liillory, 

 «inder the regular divifioui of order, gen*s, and Ipccics, ultd 

 in the Liiinian Icliool. The clergy complained, and their 

 complaints were rctoited by Born with niurt bitter fat ires, 

 exceeding the bounds of prudence and candour. He de- 

 fended his all'uciace!:, the " Illuminati," with great zeal ; and 

 when the cletlor of Bavaria ilTned an order to difniifs all of 

 this fraternity from his fervice, Born returned to the academy 

 of Munich the diploma by which he had been admitted as 

 one of its members. The emperor Jofeph gradually with- 

 drew his fupport from thcfe reformers, wlioni he had at tirll 

 encouraged ; and Bom's continued influence was principally 

 owing to his (Icill in mineralogy and metallurgy, by which 

 he was capable of rendering fervice to the ihitc. In the pro- 

 cefs of extracting the noble metals from their ores, by amal- 

 gamation with quickfilver, he manifefted his fuperior fkill ; 

 and to this purpoie, a decifive experiment was performed at 

 Chemnitz, by the emperor's order, in the prefence ot Char- 

 pentier from Saxony, Ferbcr from RufTia. Elhujar from 

 Spain, Poda, and other celebrated chemilh, which met with 

 univerfal approbation, and ellablilhcd the utility of his difco- 

 vcry. In 17S6, Born publirtied, at t!ie defire of the e:r:pe- 

 ror, his treatife on amalgamation ; ai)d in the following 

 year, a farther account of it was publillifi by his friend Fcr- 

 ber. As a ccnfiderable faviiig in wool, tnne, and labour, 

 attended his procefs, the emperor gave orders that it (liould 

 be employed in the Hungarian mines; and as a lecompence 

 to the inventor, a third of the fum that flv.uld be faved by 

 adopting his method was granted to him for ten years, ai.d 

 for ten years more the intercll of that fum. Such, however, 

 was the hofpitality of Born, and his readinefs to admit and 

 entertain all travellers, and to patronize diHrifTcd talents of 

 every kind, that his cxpences exceeded his income, and he 

 was at lafl reduced to a ilate of infolvency. Amidil all his 

 bodily infirmities and pecuniary embarralTmciits, and not- 

 ■withrtanding the variety of his official avocations, he was in- 

 defatigable in his literary purfuits ; and in 1790, he pub- 

 liihcd in two volumes, a " Cataloijne methodique raifoniie," 

 of Mifs Raab's coUtftion of toflils, which is regarded as a 

 clafiical work on that fubjcft. He employed himfelf alfo 

 in bleaching wax by a ne»v chemical procefs, and in boiling 

 lalt with half the wood commonly uled for that purpofe. 

 Whilft he was engaged in writing tlie " FalH Leopoldini," 

 orahiftory of the reign of Leopold II. in claiTieal Latin, and 

 a work on mineralogy, his difeafe rapidly advanced, and 

 being attended with violent fpafnis, terminated his life on the 

 28th of Auguft, 1791. Townfon's Travels in Hungarv, 

 4to. 1796. 



Born, in Geogrnphy, a town of France, in the d pay- 

 ment of the Lot and Garonne, and chief place of a canton, 

 in the dillric'i of Villeneuve d'Agen ; i\ league N.N.W. of 

 Montflaquin. 



BORNA, a town of Germany, in the circle of Upper 

 .Saxony, and territory of Leipfic, feated on an illand formed 

 by the rivers Wichru and I'leifs. The inhabitants are 

 chiefly employed in manufafturing Huffs ; 12 miles S.E. of 

 Leipfic. 



BORNE, a river of England, which runs into the Tame, 

 nbout a mile R.W. of Tamworth. — -Alfo, a river of Savoy, 

 wrtiich runs into the Aroe, about two miles north from Bon- 

 reville. 



BORNEO, an ifland of the Eaft Indies, which, before 



B O R 



the difeovery of New Holland, was confidered a« the largeft 

 illand in the world. This ifland feeras to have been the 

 Greater Java of Marco Paolo, which, he fays, is about 50JO 

 miles in circuit, being above 903 mites in length by 600 at 

 its grcatell breadth. The lateft and bell account that has 

 yet been given of this ifland is pnbliflied in the Tranfattions 

 of the Batavian Society. The iflanl of Borneo extends from 

 the 4th degree of S. lit. to th,- 8th of N. lat. and from 109' 

 to iiy" F..loiig. It is about 7S0 miles in Lngtl;, and 720 

 in breadth. Its climate is almoll the fame as that of Java ; 

 but Borneo is lefs mountainous, and the land, for 12 or 

 li miles, and fometimes more, from the co'aft, is almoft 

 every where marfliy, and covered w.th forefts of trees of 

 large l"i/.e, and of various kinds. 'I'lie remaining pait of 

 the ifland is fnfiicicntly fertile, and woi;ld be produftive, if 

 the inhabitants were not too indolent to cultivate the foil, 

 and fonder of ftarching for gold and diamonds, which they 

 barter with the Javanefe for various necclFaries of life. Tiie 

 middle of the ifland is occupied by an extenfivc ridge of 

 mountains, called the " Cryftal m-ui-.taiKS," bccaufe a great 

 quantity of cryftal is found in them. At the fojt of thefe 

 moui. tains is a large inland lake, wlv'ch is the fource of all 

 the rivers that travcrfe the whole ifluid. The real natives 

 of this ifland arc the Biadjo?s, or Biajoos, or D^jakkefe, 

 who live in the interior parts of the country. The fea-coaft. 

 is inhabited by Malays, Moors, M.icafTers from Celebes, and 

 Ja%-ancfc. We have accounts, on which we may depend, 

 only of the countries fitnated along tli-.- coail ; the interior 

 parts of the ifland beimg little known. The largeil kirgdom 

 in the ifland, and the moll important on account of its con- 

 nexion with the Dutch Eaft India company, is that of Can- 

 jermalfing on the fc.iithern coaft. The great river Pontiana, 

 which is navigable for fliips that draw from 12 to 13 feet of 

 water, is very convenient tor trade. The fultan Suluhunan 

 Natahalam, lince the year 1771, has transferred his refidence 

 fnmi Cagu-Tan^ie to Martapnra, where he caufed a large 

 city to be built, and a canal to be dug, which paflcs through 

 the middle of it, and at the fame time he changed the name 

 Martapnra into Bumie-Kintjana. The inhabitants of the 

 city, as well as thofe who refide in places at a dillance from 

 the coaft, are Mahometans, mixed with a great many Biad- 

 joos, or Dajakkcfe, who ' are Pagans. Thefe Biadjoos, 

 who inhabit villages, amounting in number to 784, are fub- 

 ject to variom petty princes, who acknowledge the fultan 

 as their fuperior. The faftory of the Dutch Eaft India 

 company is iituated at the end of the village of Talas, or 

 Banjermaffing. Their iort is of an oftagonal form, fur- 

 rounded by pallifades, which on the eafl fide next the river 

 is iurnilhcd with three, and on the weft, or land lidc, with 

 two baftions. The productions of the conntiy, which are 

 fought for as articles of commerce, are pepper, gold (chielly 

 gold-dull, not very abundant in metal), diamonds, canes, 

 birds- neils, wax, pcdia del porco, dragon's blood, and iron. 

 For thefe the Dutch give in exchange agates of a longifli 

 form, rings of red agate, different kinds of coral, all forts 

 ol Chinefe articles, fuch-as coarfe porcelain, red and other 

 kinds of filk, all forts of cotton cloth, fuch as is worn by 

 the Indians, various productions of Java, and alfo opium, 

 wliich, being prohibited by the fultan, is privately intro- 

 duced. See 15anjf.rmassik'G, 



Succatana lies in o^ 50' S. lat. ; and a little north of it is 

 the river Pontiana, whicli difcharges itfelf into the fea under 

 the line, throu;^''h a gteat many mouths. At its mouth it is 

 12 feet in depth, and at h'gh water 16, fo that floops and 

 finall velTels can proceed with great cafe in about 12 hours 

 to the company's failory. The river, at the diftance of 

 about feven or eight miles from its mouth, feparates into 



two 



