BAM 
roaft, for whofe benefit a conftant watch is kept on the top 
of the tower; from whence (ignals are given to the fiflier- 
nien of Holy 111 and when any (hip is di(covered in diflrefs, 
thefe fifhe-nnen by their (itiuition being able to put off their 
boats when none from the land can get over the breakers. 
The fignals are fo regulated as to point out the particular 
place where the diftreffed veffel lies. Befides which, in 
every great ftorm, two men on horfeback patrole the ad¬ 
jacent coaft from fun-fet to fun-rife, who, in cafe of any 
fhipwreck, are to give immediate notice at the caftle. Pre¬ 
miums are likewile paid for the eai lied information of any 
fuch misfortune. By thefe means the lives of many fea- 
men are preferved, who would otherwife perifh for want 
of timely affiftance. Nor does this benevolent arrangement 
(lop here. The fiiipwreeked mariner finds an hofpitable 
afylum in this caflle ; and is here maintained for a week or 
longer, as circumftances may require. Here, likewife, are 
florehoufes for depoliting the goods which may be faved; 
inftruments and tackle for weighing and raifing the funken 
and ftranded veffels; and, to complete the w hole, at the 
expence of this fund, the laft offices are decently perform¬ 
ed to the bodies of fuch drowned failors as are caft afhore. 
RAMBOU'K, a country of Africa, of which the fol¬ 
lowing account is given by the abbe Raynal: “ In the in¬ 
terior of Africa, under the 12th or 13th degree of north 
latitude, there is a large country, known by the name of 
Bambouk. It is not (object to a particular king ; but go¬ 
verned by village lords, called farms. Thefe hereditary 
and independent chiefs are all obliged to unite for the de¬ 
fence of the (fate, when it is either attacked as a commu¬ 
nity, or only in one of its branches,. The foil of this 
country is dry and barren. It produces neither maize, 
rice, nor pulje. 1 he infupportable heat it is ('object to, 
proceeds in part from its being furrounded by high moun¬ 
tains, which prevent the wind from refrefhing the air. The 
climate is as unwholefome as it is difagreeable : vapours, 
which continually ilfue from the bowels of a foil replete 
with minerals, render this country unfit to live in, efpe- 
cially to (hangers. It is gold that hath made this nfife- 
rable country an objecl worthy of notice ; gold, which in 
the eyes of the covetous man feems to compenfate for all 
the evils of nature, though in reality itincreafes them all. 
This metal is fo common in this country, that it is found 
almoftjindifcriminately every where. To obtain it, fome- 
times it is fufficient to (crape the furface of the earth, 
which is light, and mixed with land. When the mine is 
very rich, it is digged only to the depth of a few feet, and 
never deeper; though it has been oblerved, that the low'er 
jt was digged, the more gold the Cod afforded. The mi¬ 
ners are too indolent to purfue a toil which conftantly be¬ 
comes more tedious, and too ignorant to perceive the in¬ 
conveniences it would be attended with. Their negligence 
and their folly are in this inllance (o extraordinary, that in 
walking the gold, in order to feparate it from the earth, 
they only preferve the larger pieces: the light parts pals 
away with the water, which flows down an inclined plain. 
The inhabitants of Bambouk do not work thefe mines at 
all times, nor are they at liberty to do it When they pleafe. 
They are obliged to wait till private or public wants de¬ 
termine the farims to grant them permiffiori. When it is 
proclaimed, all who are able to avail themfelves of this 
advantage meet at the appointed place. When their work 
is finifhed, a divifion is made. Half of the gold goes to 
the lord, and the remainder is equally diftributed among 
the labourers. Thofe who want gold at any other time 
than that of the general digging, fearch for it in the beds 
of the rivers, where it is very common. The French and 
Engliffi have fuccelfively been delirous of appropriating 
to themfelves thefe real or imaginary riches. Some thought 
they could reach this country by the Niger, others by the 
'Salum. Far from having fucceeded in their attempts of 
becoming mafiers of this country, they have not yet afeer- 
tained its exigence. The unfuccefsfulnefs of paft efforts 
hath redoubled the activity of fanguine minds; fenfible 
and judicious merchants have chofen to limit themfelves 
BAM * ‘ 663 
to a commerce much more important, which is that of 
(laves.” i 
BAMBUKALAI'SI, a town in Aliatic Turkey, in the 
province of Natolia, twelve miles north of Deguizltr. 
B AMBU'SA,y. in botany, a genus of the clafs hexan- 
dria, order monogynia. The generic characters are—Ca¬ 
lyx: none, except glume-like braefes lcattered, often 
three under each fpikelet, oblong-ovate, (harp-pointed, 
concave, keeled, unequal, (horter than the flofcules, two 
oppofite, the third leaning on the flat lide of the (pikelet; 
(pikelets lanceolate, diftichous, comprelied, (harp, nearly 
five-flowered. Corolla: glume two-valved ; valve infe¬ 
rior oblong, ventricofe, acuminate, towards the tip keeled 
and fireaked; interior lanceolate, flat, (with complicated 
margins,) ciliate, a little longer than the inferior and pro¬ 
jecting from it; neCtary two-leaved, flat, at the anterior 
fide of the germ ; leaflets ovate, acuminate, bearded at the 
tip, membranaceous. Stamina : filaments (ix, capillary, 
almofi the length of the corolla ; antherae parallelopiped, 
two-cleft at the bafe. Piftilhim : germ oblong; (tyle ca¬ 
pillary, two-cleft ; ftigmas feathery. Pericapmm: none. 
Seed: (ingle, oblong. For the red fee Arundo, Bam- 
bos, and Nastus. Gmelin, in Syji. Nat. has made two 
genera of this, under the name of iambus and najlus. 
BAMFF, or Banff, a (hire of Scotland, comprehend¬ 
ing part of Buchan, w ith the counties of Strathdevron, 
Boyn, Enzie, Strarhaven, and Balvenie, extends thirty- 
two miles from call to weft, and thirteen in breadth from 
north to fouth. On the fouth it is feparated from papt of 
Buchan by the.river Ugie ; on the eaft it is watered by the 
Devron, and the German Ocean ; on the weft it is bound¬ 
ed by the Spey, and the county of Murray; on the fouth- 
weft, it borders on Badenoch and the Braes of Mar; and, 
on the north, it is confined by the Murray Frith. 1 he 
face of the country fs agreeably diverfified with hill and 
dale, not without woods, well watered with rivers, and 
exhibiting many feats'and plantations. The air is pure 
and keen, the climate healthy, and the foil fertile, produ¬ 
cing plentiful crops of corn. The county of Buchan, ex¬ 
tending northwards from the river Ugie to the fea, and- 
weftward as far as Devron, comprehending a tract of twen¬ 
ty miles in length and nine in breadth, is more free from 
hills and mountains than any other country of the fame 
extent in Scotland. It is inhabited chiefly by Lowland- 
ers, and gives the title of earl to the family of Erfkine. 
The county of Bainff abounds with the necellaries and 
comforts of life. The pafture-grounds yield fneep, cat¬ 
tle, and horfes: the arable lands produce plenty of corn; 
while the rivers and fea fupply great quantities of fifh. 
Various minerals have been found in different parts of the 
(hire; and a piece of amber, as large as a horfe, was once 
caft aftiore on the beach. In the mountainous diftridt of 
Balvenie on the weftern fide of the (hire, watered by the 
Spey, there is a noted rock, famous for bones and whet- 
ftones. Here are alfo veins of aium-ftone, and fprings of 
alum-water. Strathallan, another diftritl to the r.orth-ealt 
of Balvenie, abounds with fuch plenty of lime-ftone, that 
the inhabitants ufe it in building their houfes. Along this 
whole coaft, there are ancient monuments, fuch as cairns, 
tumuli, and huge ftones Handing eretff, which appear to be 
of druidical origin. 
Bamff, the capital of the (hire of that name in Scot¬ 
land, is pleafantly lituated on the fide of a hill, at the 
mouth of the river Devron. It has feveral ftreets; of 
which that with the town-houfe in it, adorned with a new 
fpire, is very handfome. This place was erected into a 
borough by virtue of a charter from Robert II. in 1372, 
endowing it with the fame privileges, and putting it on the 
fame footing, with the burgh of Aberdeen ; but tradition 
fays it was founded in the reign of Malcolm Canmore. It 
gives title of baron to the Ogilvie family. The harbour 
is very bad, being often flopped by the drifting of the 
fands; the pier is therefore placed on the outlide. Much 
falmon is exported from hence. About Troophead f'ome 
kelp is made; and the adventurers pay the lord of the 
majiu- 
