chiefly rice to Calcutta in winter. (Hamilton's E. I. | employed as weavers for the Glasgow manufacturers, and Gaz. i. 120.) in the Ballindalloch cotton mills in immediate vicinity. BALATÓN (LAKE OF), in Hungary. See PLATTEN-The latter employ a great number of hands. BALBRIGGAN, a marit. town of Ireland, co. Dublin, prov. Leinster, near the mouth of the small river Delvan, forming the co. boundary to the N., 17 m. N. by E. of Dublin. It was the scene of a sanguinary battle in 1329 between the first Earl of Louth and some of the English settlers, who disputed his claim to the palatine dignity of the county, but were defeated. William III. encamped here on his march to Dublin, after the battle of the Boyne. It has been much improved by the exertions of the proprietor, who has succeeded in making it both a respectable manufacturing and commercial mart, and a desirable watering-place. It is well built, and baths of every description have been constructed. It is a chapelry formed from Balrothery parish. The chapel, built in 1816, at an expense of upwards of 3,000, was accidentally burnt down in 1835, and has not yet been rebuilt. There is also here a Rom. Cath. chapel, and a place of worship for Methodists. There is a dispensary, and petty sessions are held every alternate Tuesday. The town is the head quarters of the co. constabulary, and near it is a martello tower, with a coast-guard station. There are two cotton mills here, one only of which is (1838) in action, giving work to 90 persons, of whom 84 are females. The yarn is wrought into cloth chiefly in the town, where there are 250 looms thus employed; besides which, in the village of Garrston 150 looms, are worked for the Balbriggan manufacturers. The finished article is chiefly sold in Dublin and Glasgow. The embroidering of muslin is carried on here and in the neighbourhood so as to give employment to upwards of 1,000 females, at the permanent average wages of 2s. a week throughout the year: this department is carried on through Belfast and Glasgow agencies, the cloth being embroidered by the workers in their own dwellings, and is bleached in Belfast. Hosiery is also manufactured here, and sold in Dublin. There are 36 frames, which employ 50 persons, The corn trade is extensive. Four flour mills supply flour, meal, and bran to all the neighbouring places, and to Drogheda. The public markets are held on Mondays, in a market-house erected in 1811. The fairs are on the 29th April and 29th Sept. The exports and imports of the port for 1835, including the coasting trade, were as follow The post-office revenue for 1830 was 3277., and for 1836, 4031. A caravan, a mail-car, and two other cars, conveying, at an average, 30 passengers each trip, ply between Dublin and Balbriggan every day. The fishery, particularly for herrings, used to be carried on extensively in Balbriggan, but has declined considerably since 1830, when the bounties which had been granted by the Board of Irish Fisheries were withdrawn. The number of fishing vessels, and men, in 1830 and 1836, are said to have been 3,133 934 10 387 70 59 149 Total. Supposing these returns to be correct, they afford no grounds for impeaching the policy of withdrawing the bounties. On the contrary, they strongly evince its wisdom; as they show that, while it existed, vessels had been fitted out as much in the view of catching the bounty as of catching herrings. The harbour, which is naturally small and much exposed, was considerably improved by a pier built about 1765. The quay, which is now 600 feet long, with a lighthouse at the extremity, is frequently filled with craft. At the pier head there is 14 ft. water at high spring-tides, but the harbour dries at low water. (Priv. Information.) BALEARIC ISLANDS. See MAJORCA, MINORCA, &c. BALFRON, a village of Scotland, in the W. part of Stirlingshire, in the parish of the same name, 19 m. N. Glasgow, and 19 m. W. Stirling. Pop. of par. 2,057. The village is neat and well built. The inhab. are principally BALFROOSH, a town of Persia, prov. Mazunderan, on the Bawool, about 12 m. from the S. shore of the Caspian Sea, lat. 36° 37′ N., long. 52° 42′ E. This is large flourishing city. There are, however, no accurate details with respect to its population; but that was estimated by Mr. Fraser at 200,000, though we should be disposed to think that this was rather beyond the mark. It is situated in a low, swampy, but rich country; and stands literally in the middle of a forest, it being surrounded and interspersed with fine trees. It has an extensive trade, to be accounted for principally by the comparative immunity it has enjoyed from oppressive imposts, as the roads leading to it are bad, and its port, 12 m. off, little better than an open roadstead. It is, or at least was, when visited by Mr. Fraser, entirely peopled by merchants, mechanics, and their dependents, and learned men; and was prosperous and happy, far beyond any other place he had seen in Persia. Streets broad and straight, but unpaved; houses mostly constructed of bricks, in good repair, and roofed with tiles. It has no public buildings of any consequence; the only places of any interest being the bazars, which extend for a full mile in length, and consist of substantially built ranges of shops covered from the sun and weather by a roofing of wood and tiles, kept in excellent repair. There are about 10 principal caravansaras, several of which are attached to the bazars, and are parcelled out into chambers for the merchants and warehouses for their goods. All the bazars and caravansaras are well filled with various commodities, and present a scene of bustle and business, yet of regularity, very uncommon in this country, and, therefore, the more gratifying. There are between 20 and 30 medrasses or colleges, Balfroosh being nearly as much celebrated for the number and eminence of its moolahs, or learned men, as for its commerce. The river is crossed by a bridge of 9 arches. (Fraser's Travels along the Caspian Sea, &c., pp. 82-99.) BALI, BALLY, or LITTLE JAVA, an isl. of the E. Archipelago, W. or 1st division, between 86 and 8C 50′ S. lat., and 114° 40′ and 115° 42′ E. long. ; 70 m. long by 35 m. average breadth. Pop. estimated in 1815 at 800,000. Coast rugged and without harbours; surface rising gradually to the centre, where a chain of mountains stretches W. and E. across the isl., terminating in the peak of Bali, which is volcanic; geology the same in other respects as that of Java. The land is productive where well watered, as around the coasts, by numerous streams, and elsewhere by artificial means: irrigation is so necessary, that the sovereigns of Bali impose a tax not on the land but on the water by which it is fertilised. In the lower tracts rice is much cultivated, maize and sweet potatoes in the upper lands; in addition to these articles, the Balese, though mostly Hindoos, eat poultry, hogs' flesh, and even beef, without scruple, excepting the sacerdotal class. The chief exports are rice, coarse cloths, cotton yarn, hides, salted eggs, birds' nests, oil, dingding (dried flesh), gambier (catechu), &c.: the imports, opium, betel, gold, silver, and ivory. The natives being superior to the Malays and Javanese in size, strength, and intelligence, are preferred by the Chinese as slaves. Bali was divided, in 1815, into eight independent states, governed by despotic chiefs: the village system prevails here as in Java. There are but few Buddhists or Mohammedans; but Hindooism prevails in Bali only, of all the isl. of this archipelago. The mass of the people, however, worship the elements, and the tutelary gods of rivers, forests, mountains, &c. There are no religious mendicants, but suttees and immolations are conducted on a much more aggravated scale than in India. The Sanscrit tongue may be distinctly traced in the language of Bali. (Hamilton's E. I. Gazciteer, i. 120-122.; Crawfurd's Hist. of the Indian Archipelago, ii. 236-259, &c. BALIZE. See HONDURAS. BALKH, or BULKH (an. Bactra), a prov. of Central Asia, now subordinate to the khanat of Bokhara, chiefly between lat. 35° and 37° N., and long. 63 and 690 E.; having N. the Oxus; E. Buduk-shun; S. the Hindoo, Koosh, and Paropamisan mnts.; and W. the desert; length, E. to W., about 250 m.; breadth 100 to 120 m.: area 30,000 sq. m. Pop. about 1,000,000. (Elphinstone, ii. 195.) The S. part is full of stony hills, but has many good and well-watered valleys; the E. is mountainous, and more valuable than the W., which, as well as the N., is sandy and barren. It formerly comprised several districts, which now belong to separate governments, as Khoolloom, Koondooz, and others to the E. Its capital, and the territory subordinate to it, have, since the fall of the Dooraunee monarchy in Caubul, to which state it formerly belonged, been taken possession of by the khan of Bokhara. (Elphinstone's Caubul; Burnes's Trav. into Bokhara.) · BALKH (the Zariaspa and Bactra of the Greeks), a decayed city of Central Asia; cap. prov belonging to the khanat of Bokhara, but gov. by its own chief, who receives the whole of its revenues on the right bank of the Adir. siah or Balkh riv., in a plain 6 m. Ñ.W., a range of the Paropamisan mountains, 18 m. S. the Oxus, and 250 S. E. Bokhara lat. 36° 48′ N., long. 67° 18 E. Pop., in 1835, under 2,000. (Burnes.) The ruins of Balkh occupy a círcuit of 20 m.: they consist chiefly of fallen mosques and decayed tombs, none of an age prior to that of Mohammed. The city, like Babylon, has become to the surrounding country an all but inexhaustible mine of bricks. There are many inequalities on the surface of the plain, probably proceeding from buried ruins, and clumps of trees in many directions. Balkh seems to have inclosed many extensive gardens, but these are now neglected and overgrown with weeds. The aqueducts, of which there are said to be 18, are dried up or choked, and overflow after rains, leaving standing pools, which make the place very unhealthy, though Balkh be not naturally in a marshy position, but on a gentle slope toward the Oxus, about 1,800 feet above the level of the sea. A mud wall, of late construction, surrounds a portion of the present town, excluding the ruins on every side for about 2 m. The town contains 3 large colleges, but empty and decaying; and at its N. side is the citadel, a solid building, but not strong as a fort; it contains a stone of white marble, pointed out as the throne of Cyrus !" The country round is flat, fertile, and well cultivated, said to contain 360 villages, and is watered by 18 canals, drawn from a celebrated reservoir in the Paropamisan mnts. Its wheat and apricots are remarkably fine. Balkh is said to have been built by Kyamoors, the founder of the Persian monarchy, and is called by the natives Omm-el-Buldan, "mother of cities." After its conquest by Alexander the Great, it flourished as the capital of a Grecian kingdom. In the 3d century of the Christian æra, Artaxerxes held an assembly at Balkh for the recognition of his authority. The Magi were expelled by the Caliphs: Jenghiz, Timour, Aurungzebe, Nadir shah, and the Afghans, successively possessed it: within the last 12 years it has belonged, with its territory to the khan of Bokhara. (Burnes's Travels, ii. 204. 207.) BALKHAN. See TURKEY. Pop. BALLENSTEDT, a town of the duchy of Anhalt Bernburg, on the Getel, 15 m. S. E. Halberstadt. 2,600. It is situated at the foot of a hill, and is illbuilt. In its environs is a castle, the residence of the duke, which commands a fine view, and has fine gardens. It has fabrics of linen, dyeworks, and an hospital. BALLINA, an inland town of Ireland, co. Mayo, prov. Connaught, on the Moy, 126 m. W.N.W. Dublin. Its former name was Belleek," the ford of flags." The pop., including that of Ardnaree, a village on the Sligo side of the Moy, connected with it by a bridge of 16 arches, and which may be regarded as a suburb of Ballina, was, in 1821, 6,243, and in 1531, 7,992: the numbers in both parts of the town not being specified in the census of 1834, but included generally in those of the parish in which they are situate, no satisfactory statement can be made of the proportions of the several religious denominations, but the Roman Catholics appear to outnumber the episcopal Prot. in the ratio of 16 to 1, and the number of Presbyterians is quite insignificant. The town, which occupies a pleasing and healthy position, contains several good streets and houses. The parish church is a plain building; the Rom. Cath. chapel, which is considered as the cathedral of the Rom. Cath. bishop of Killala, is a large and very ornamental edifice; there are also places of worship for Baptists and Methodists. The town contains 8 public schools, in which, and in several private seminaries, about 800 children receive instruction. Here also is a dispensary. A new bridge below the town is now being erected, and arrangements are being made for widening the old bridge, which is inconveniently narrow. Races are held in May, on a fine course in the neighbourhood. General sessions of the peace are held in July, and petty sessions every Tuesday in the courthouse, a neat modern building. Here is a station of the constabulary, and a barrack. The market, for which commodious shambles are erected, is held on Mondays; fairs on 12th May and 12th August. There are 2 ale and porter breweries, and 2 large flour mills: 8,399 bushels of malt paid duty in 1836. A tobacco and snuff manufactory has been carried on since 1801, and coarse linen is woven, but not to any extent. Within the last four years the provision trade has been introduced, and is now very flourishing; large quantities of pork and bacon being cured, chiefly for the London market. In the neigbourhood is a very productive salmon fishery, rented at 1,5001. per annum: the fish is packed in ice, and exported to London. Eels are also taken in large quantities from September to the beginning of November; the fry is sold at 2d. per quart. A branch of the Provincial Bank was opened here in 1828, of the Agricultural in 1835, and of the National in 1837. The post-office revenue increased from 6437., in 1830, to 1,2127. in 1836. The communication with the interior is kept up by the mail road between Castlebar and Sligo, which passes through the town; a new line is also opened from Swinford and Foxford to Ships Cleared. Cargoes. Ballast. Total. 7,288 424 7,712 5,596 381 5,977 Ships Entered. Cargoes. Ballast. Total. 1335 4,371 3,124 7,795 1836 3,609 2,127 5,736 On the whole, the general aspect of the town, combined with its present improved state in manufactures, trade, and commerce, afford indications of rapidly increasing prosperity. The working classes are generally in a state of comfort; fuel is cheap and abundant. (Private Inform.) BALLINASLÓE, an inl. town of Ireland, co. Galway and Roscommon, prov. Connaught, on the Suck, 78 m. W. by S. Dublin. It owes its origin to a castle (now fitted up as a private residence) on the Roscommon side of the river, long considered as one of the strongest forts in the prov. The battle of Aughrim, in 1691, in which the army of William III., under Ginkell, afterwards earl of Athlone, completely defeated that of James II., under St. Ruth, who was killed in the action, was fought in its neighbourhood. Pop. in 1821, 1,811; in 1831, 4,615. The proportion of episcopal Protestants to Rom. Cath. is about 1 to 5. The two portions into which the town is divided by the river are connected by a line of road, consisting of a causeway and two bridges between the banks, and an island that intercepts its course, having together 16 arches: the whole line is about 500 yards in length. The private buildings have increased rapidly both in number and respectability, nearly a half having been erected within the last 12 years. The parish church is a plain building, with an octagonal spire springing from scrolls, that give it a very singular appearance; the Rom. Cath. chapel is also a neat unornamented structure. The Methodists have two places of worship. About 700 children of both sexes are instructed in the public and private schools. The district lunatic asylum for the province stands on the Roscommon side of the river. It is built in the form of a cross, with accommodations for 214 patients, and is surrounded by an enclosed area of garden and airing ground of 14 acres. The total expense of the land and buildings was upwards of 27,000. Some statements relative to it, in the return for 1837, call for immediate attention. From them it appears that 16 additional cells then building are defective, from want of ventilation, are exposed to the weather, and have no means of being properly heated; that 4 new rooms, built for incurable patients, are dark, and some feet below the ground level; that there is no sufficient fall for the sewers, and that 4 acres of the garden ground are too wet for cultivation! A very objectionable practice of admitting patients who pay for their accommodation is also noticed. A dispensary is maintained in the town. An agricultural society meets here in October, and a horticultural in March. The town is the head-quarters for the Galway constabulary, and there is a small barrack for infantry. Petty sessions are held on Wednesdays * The turf alone is estimated at 21,500 tons and Saturdays in the court-house, and there is a small bridewell, so defective in its interior arrangements, that the male and female convicts are confined in the same sleeping room! There are 4 flour and meal mills, 3 tan yards, 2 breweries, a pork and bacon stove, and manufactories of coaches and hats: 5,894 bushels of malt paid duty in 1836. The post-office revenue increased from 6012., in 1830, to 9807., in 1836. Branches of the bank of Ireland, and of the agricultural and national banks, were opened here in the same year. The market is held on Saturdays, in the market-house; there is a large supply of grain, the trade in which, and in other departments, has been materially increased, by a branch of the Grand Canal from the Shannon having been lately carried hither, a distance of 15 m. The principal fair, not only of the district but of Ireland, for the sale of sheep and black cattle, is held in October, and is numerously attended by buyers and visiters from all parts of the U. Kingdom. It continues from the 5th to the 9th of the month. A field in Lord Clancarty's demesne, of Garbally Park, is opened the day before the fair for the show of sheep, and large enclosed spaces are prepared for the sale of both kinds of stock. We subjoin an account of the numbers exposed for sale and purchased every 10th year since regular returns have been made. BALLON, a town of France, dép. Sarthe, cap. cant., BALLINROBE, an inl. town of Ireland, co. Mayo, Connaught, on the Robe, 25 m. N.N.W. Galway. Pop, 1821, 2191; in 1831, 2,545: that of the entire parish in 1834 was 9,635, of whom 372 were of the Estab. Church, and 9,263 Rom. Cath. The town consists of a main street and two branches of well-built houses. Near it is a turlogh or winter lake, called Lough Shy, which, though flooded to a considerable extent in winter, dries in the summer months, and affords pasturage for sheep. Lough Mask, into which the Robe discharges itself, lies about 3 m. W. of the town. The par. church is a small building; the Rom. Cath. chapel is spacious; the Baptists have a place of worship. Two schools, supported by subscriptions, and 7 private schools, afford instruction to about 500 children. A dispensary is maintained here. BALLYMENA, an inl. town of Ireland, co. Antrim, Barracks of considerable dimensions, both for cavalry There is a flourand infantry, are now unoccupied. mill, a malt-kiln, in which 2;231 bush. of malt paid duty 23 m. N.N.W. Belfast, on the Braid, an affluent of the in 1836, a brewery, and a tan-yard. A brisk trade in corn Maine, which flows into Lough Neagh. The town was and potatoes is carried on, for which a Monday market taken by assault by the insurgents in 1798, after a sharp is held. Fairs are held on Whit-Tuesday and 5th Dec. engagement, but was immediately after evacuated. Pop. General sessions of the peace take place in June and in 1821, 2,740; in 1831, 4,063: that of the parish in which December, and petty sessions are held on Mondays in it is situated amounted, in 1834, to 8,005, of whom 912 the court-house, which is also used as a market-house. were of the Establishment, 5,709 Prot. Diss., and 1,384 The bridewell contains sufficient accommodation for the R. Cath. The town stands in the midst of an extensive The post-office plain of uninviting appearance, though pretty well cultiprisoners confined temporarily in it. revenue in 1830 was 247., and in 1836, 348. A daily car, vated, and interspersed with low i...ls, marsh, and bog. conveying 3 passengers each trip, plies to Tuam. Though The river is crossed by a large stone bridge; many of the the town does not lie on any of the great lines of internal houses are antique, with gabled fronts, but those of mocommunication, it is in a state of progressive improve- dern erection are generally of respectable appearance. ment, attributable chiefly to the increased attention to The ecclesiastical buildings consist of the par. church, rians, one for Seceders and one for Methodists. The agriculture in the district, and the general spirit of im-a R. Cath. chapel, two places of worship for Presbyteprovement. diocesan school of Connor was removed here from, Carrickfergus in 1829, and large schools for boys and girls are maintained on an endowment by John Guy. Courts leet and baron are held annually; a manor court monthly, for the recovery of small debts; the general sessions in January and June, alternately with Ballymoney; and petty sessions on alternate Tuesdays; there is a well-arranged bridewell, and a police constabulary station. The town owes its prosperity chiefly to the linen trade: the brown linen sales average 70,0001. annually; and upwards of 14,000 pieces are bleached yearly in 14 bleaching-grounds in the neighbourhood. There is a mill for spinning linen yarn. A distillery in the town paid, in 1836, duty on 41,778 gal. spirits; and in the same year 3,393 bush. malt paid duty in the town. The market for linens is held on Saturdays; there are also two other markets in the week for grain and provisions, principally pork, large quantities of which are sent to Belfast. The market-house is a well-built edifice in The fairs are held on the 26th the middle of the town. July and 21st Oct. The post-office revenue in 1830 was 7571.; in 1836, 9377. A branch of the Provincial Bank was opened here in 1833; of the Belfast and Northern banks, in 1834; and of the Agricultural Bank, in 1836. The town lies on the mail-coach road from Belfast to Londonderry, and maintains a coach, a caravan, and a car, to ply to Ballymoney, each six times a week, carrying an aggregate average of 16 passengers each trip. The general appearance of the place, both as to its external aspect, and that of its population in dress and manners, is the same as what is to be seen in most other towns in the N. part of Ireland under similar circumstances. BALLYMONEY, an inl. town of Ireland, co. Antrim, prov. Ulster, on a small branch of the Lower Bann, 8 m. S.E. Coleraine. Pop., in 1821, 1,949; 1831, 2,222: that of the parish was, in 1834, 12,003, of which number 1,019 were of the Establishment; 9,489 Prot. diss. ; and 1,495 Rom. Cath. It is irregularly built on an eminence, about 3 m. E. of the Bann. Its places of worship are, the par. church, a Rom. Cath. chapel, and houses for Presbyterians, Remonstrants, Seceders, and Covenanters. A school, on the foundation of Erasmus Smith, is established, and several others on private endowments, in which, including private seminaries, about 700 children are instructed. There is a dispensary, and a mendicity association. A steeple chase in December for a gold cup has been substituted for races, which had been a fa vourite sport. A manor court is held on the first Friday of every month; general sessions of the peace in January and June, alternately with Ballymena; and petty sessions on alternate Tuesdays. The court-house is in the centre of the town, and there is a well-arranged bridewell: a chief constabulary station is fixed here. The trade is principally in fine linens, a species of which, called Coleraines, is in great demand: there are two markets for coarse linens. An extensive trade is also carried on in grain, butter, and provisions. In 1836 duty was paid on 102,792 gall. spirits, and 12,992 bush. malt: there is also a tallow manufactory, a brewery, and a tanyard; a large mill for spinning flax, and a flour-mill. The regular market-days are Thursdays; fairs are held on 6th May, 10th July, and 10th Oct. The post-office revenue for 1830 was 3657.; for 1836, 5197. A branch of the Belfast Bank was opened in 1834, and of the Ulster Bank in 1836. The town lies on the mail-coach road from Belfast to Londonderry; a coach and two cars ply each six times a week between it and Ballymena, conveying an aggregate average of 18 passengers each trip. BALLYSHANNON, a marit. town of Ireland, co. Donegal, prov. Ulster, on the Erne, where it discharges itself into Ballyshannon Bay, 108 m N.W. Dublin. It consists of three very steep and irregular streets on one side of the river, and a poor suburb, called the Purt, on the other: the communication between them is by a bridge of 14 arches. The parish church stands on the summit of the hill on which the town is built: there are 2 Rom. Cath. chapels, 2 places of worship for Methodists, and 1 for Presbyterians. An artillery barrack adjoins the place, and it is a chief constabulary station. The bor. was incorporated by James I., in 1613, and returned 2 mem. to the Irish H. of C. till the Union, when it was disfranchised. A manor court for pleas to the amount of 21. is held every three weeks, petty sessions once a fortnight. The court sits in an upper apartment of the market-house, which is also used as an assembly-room. In the immediate vicinity of the town is a magnificent cascade formed by the Erne, here 150 yards broad, throwing its waters over a ridge of rock 16 ft. high, with a noise audible for several miles. Salmon and eels are caught in great numbers; the former chiefly for the British markets: the annual produce is upwards of 50 tons. There are no manufactures of any consequence, and the trade is confined chiefly to retail dealings, owing to the badness of the harbour, which, notwithstanding the most spirited exertions of the chief proprietor, is still impracticable for vessels of any draught. There is a distillery, which in 1836 paid duty for 114,631 gallons of spirits; also a brewery: 8,234 bushels of malt paid duty the same year. The post-office revenue in 1833 was 570.; in 1836, 8527. A branch of the Provincial Bank was opened in 1835. Markets are held on Tuesdays and Saturdays; fairs on 18th of Sept., and on the 2d of every other month. A mail-coach, conveying an average of 3 passengers each trip, plies between Enniskillen and this town every day in the week; and a car to Sligo carries an average of 3 passengers each trip on every day but Sunday. The land traffic of goods carried to and from the port is estimated for the year 1836 by the railroad commissioners as follows: The exports are, oats, 1,794 tons, value 11,1301. Imports, coal, &c., 1,225 tons; stone and slate, 310 tons; corn and flour, 354 tons; sugar, 24 tons; with other minor articles of the total value of 9,5241. The fishery is carried on from the town and the neighbouring village of Bundoran, in not more than 2 open sail boats, and 6 row boats, which employ but 46 hands. Natural impediments connected with its locality have prevented this town, otherwise advantageously placed near the mouth of a large river, opening after a course of a few miles into Lough Erne, which washes the shores of a great tract of country, from rising rapidly in the scale of improvement. BALTA, a town of European Russia, gov. Podolia, on the Kadynia, 160 m. S. E. Kamenetz. Pop. 1,600. Its suburb, on the S. side of the river, now in the gov. of Kherson, was formerly in Turkey, while the bulk of the town, or the portion on the N. side of the river, was in Poland. The latter is comparatively well built, and industrious. BALTIC SEA, an internal or mediterranean sea, in the N.W. part of Europe. surrounded and very nearly enclosed by Sweden, Finland, Russia, Prussia, Germany, and Denmark. It is usually understood to commence S. of the Danish Islands (Funen, Zealand, and Laland), and, thus limited, it is unquestionably the most nearly isolated of any similar body of water in the world. But N. of these islands the Kattegat and the Skager Rack can be regarded only as parts of the Baltic, which may therefore be described as commencing at the Naze of Norway, in long. 7° E., and extending to St. Petersburg on the Gulph of Finland, in long. 30° 28′ 45′′ E. Its extreme points in lat. are Wismar, in Mecklenburg, 53° 50′ N., and Tornea, on the Gulph of Bothnia, 65° 51' N. These points mark also its greatest length, which is consequently about 840 m.; its width varies from 75 to 150 m., and its area is estimated at 155,000 sq. m., without including the Kattegat and Skager Rack, for which an addition of 18,000 or 19,000 sq. m. may be made. (Catteau, Tableau de la Mer Baltique, i. 2—37.; Thomson's Travels in Sweden, 384.) The direction in which the Baltic penetrates the land is extremely tortuous. The Skager Rack, the first great gulph of the North Sea, runs N.E. between the shores of Jutland and Norway, for rather more than 150 m., to the W. coast of Sweden; and the Kattegat, from the Skaw (the N.E.point of Jutland), has a direction almost due S. between Jutland and Sweden for about 120 m. The average width of these gulphs is nearly equal (70 m.); but the former is much the most uniform, the Kattegat being narrowest at its N. end, between the Skaw and Gottenburg, and widening considerably towards the S. From Laholm Bay to the opposite Danish coast is full 100 m. The 2 belts and the sound are the 3 straits which connect the Kattegat with the Baltic, properly so called; and their direction is the same as that of the gulph in which they terminate, namely S. This sea has been so long known to Europeans, that its peculiar entrance tras ceased to excite attention; yet there is not one, perhaps, where The direct distance between navigation is so intricate. the Kattegat and the open sea of the Baltic, is less than 110 m.; that between the shores of Jutland and Sweden is no where more than 130 m.; and in this space, which would not be accounted large, even were it clear, are crowded between 60 and 70 islands, with shoals and sand banks innumerable. Two of these islands, Funen and Zealand, may be called large, and some of the others, as Alten, Langland, Laland, Falster, and Moen, of respectable size, their situation in a close sea being considered. It is the two large islands which, with the Danish and Swedish coasts, form the 3 straits; the smaller isles and sand banks serving to break up their channels, which The direction of the sea from these straits is first E. to Memel (about 300 m.), and then N. as far as the lat. of Stockholm, 59° 21', a distance of 350 m. It is to these portions that the term BALTIC SEA, in its limited sense, is restricted, for at this point it separates into 2 great gulphs; of which one, the Gulph of Finland, runs nearly due E. between the Russian territories of Finland and Revel; the other, the Gulph of Bothnia, a little E. of N., between Finland and Sweden. The Gulph of Finland is 200 m. in length, with a mean breadth of 60 or 70 m.; that of Bothnia is about 400 m. long, and 120 m. in average width, but at its narrowest part, the Quarken, opposite Umea, it does not much exceed 40 m. The Gulph of Riga, or Livonia, S. of that of Finland, is also an important inlet, stretching into the countries from which it is named, about 80 m. from E. to W., and about 90 m. from N. to S. (Catteau, i. 27-114.; Thomson, 326.) Beyond the Danish islands the Baltic is a tolerably clear sea, except on the coasts, where alluvial islands are continually forming. In the main stream the only interruptions to the continuity of water are found in Rugen (which is, however, close to the Pomeranian shore); Bornholm, between the coasts of Prussia and Sweden, but much nearer to the latter than the former; Oeland, on the S.E. of Sweden; Gothland, N. E. of Oeland; Oesel, Dago, and several smaller islands between the Gulphs of Riga and Finland; and the Aland archipelago at the mouth of the Gulph of Bothnia. Opposite to these last the S.W. coast of Finland is crowded with an innumerable quantity of islets, which seem as though the main shore were advancing by rapid strides to join the larger islands of Aland, as a stage in its progress towards a junction with the opposite Swedish shore. (See ALAND, BORNHOLM, GOTHLAND, &c.) Some of those from the E. appear at first to be much shorter, as the Neva, which from Lake Ladoga does not exceed 45 m.; but as this Lake is connected with that of Onega by the Svix, and as Onega receives the Volla, a stream rising close to the 40th meridian, the whole of this water course is not less than 400 m. in length. The other Finnish rivers are not long; but W. of the Gulph of Bothnia the rivers of Sweden vary from 200 to 300 miles. The most peculiar part of this basin is the S.W. corner, where, though the nearest mountains are those of the Hartz, the basin itself does not exceed 20 or 25 m. in width. The Elbe, which runs within 50 m. of the Baltic, and the Eyder, which rises close to its shores, fall into the North Sea, and their affluents belong of course to that system; but such is the flatness of the country in this part of Germany, that the different waters are constantly uniting, and a canal of less than 3 m. has served to connect the Baltic with the Elbe by joining the rivers Trave and Stricknitz, below Lubeck. A similar junction has been effected between the Baltic and the Eyder, a little to the N. of Keil. (Catteau, i. 86. ii. 1-81.; De Luc, Geol. Trav., 136. 192. 274, &c.) The Baltic is extremely shallow, being not more in its W. parts, between Keil and Copenhagen, than 16 fathoms deep, and most commonly not more than 8 or 10 (Von Buch, 10.); but farther E. it deepens considerably, and midway between Memel and Oeland it is from 60 to 100 fathoms. This is, however, its greatest depth, for the Gulph of Finland suddenly shallows from 50 or 60 fathoms to 16 fath., 4 fath., and, in the Bay of Cronstadt, to even less than this. The average depth of the Gulph of Bothnia is not greater than that of the rest of the sea, but it is less encumbered with sand banks, and its harbours are more convenient: none of those S. and E. of the Gulph of Finland have more than 20 ft. water, and but few have as much as 16. (Catteau, i. 39-114.) The Baltic, being a close sea, with its entrance from the approach of the tidal wave, is, of course, not subject to the phenomena of tides. These, so very powerful in the German Ocean, are found to decrease sensibly in the Skager Rack and Kattegat, to be barely perceptible in the entrances of the straits, and entirely to vanish S. of the Danish Islands. (Catteau, i, 115-118.) But though tides be wanting, a variation in height equal, frequently, to 2 ft. (Swedish) is observed, at irregular intervals, in the waters of this sea. This phenomenon occurs at all seasons, but chiefly in the autumn or winter, or at the time of heavy rains, or when the atmosphere is charged with clouds, though unattended by falling weather. The water maintains its height frequently for several days, sometimes even for weeks, produces considerable agitation in the gulphs and straits, and, except in winter, when its power is restrained by the accumulated snow and ice, inuudates the low wastes to a considerable extent. Prevalent winds, flooding rains, melting snows and many other causes, have been assigned for this very remarkable phenomenon, which continued, however, to occur under circumstances totally incompatible with any or all of these; but in 1804 Schulten, a Swedish physician, after collecting all the observations that had been made, found that the greatest height of the water corresponded to the The Baltic is not, like other close seas, the Mediter- greatest depression of the barometrical column and conranean, Red Sea, &c., shut in by rocks and high moun- versely. The extreme variation of the latter amounts tains. On the N.W. and N., indeed, the mountains of in N. Europe to 24 ins., equivalent to nearly 34 ins. of Sweden and Norway form a sufficiently definite boundary; water; and combining this with the fact that the movebut, towards the E., S.E., S., and even S. W., its borders ment of the water always preceded, by a little, that of stretch away in plains occupying much inore than the mercury, he concluded that the former was owing to half Europe. On the S. the nearest high lands are the unequal pressure of the atmosphere upon different the Hartz, the Bohemian mountains, and the Karpa- parts of the surface; the extreme height sometimes atthians; S. W. lie the flat lands of Jutland, Holstein, and tained being dependent upon local and accidental cirHolland; S.E. the plain is unbroken to the shores of the cumstances. It need scarcely be remarked that the Black Sea and Caspian; and E. there are no hills except almost total absence of oceanic action in this sea leaves the insignificant elevations of Valdai, between the Baltic the cause, thus assigned, to operate with full power; and and the Oural mountains. The basin of this sea is, there- if Schulten's hypothesis be confirmed, of which there is fore, by no means well defined, except towards the N. now but little doubt, it will, in all probability, serve to and N.W. In every other direction it has to be deter-explain similar phenomena, observed in other close mined by the direction of the running water only, and that on land so level that the basin of the Baltic is constantly combining with those of other seas; with that of the White Sea, for instance, through the lakes of Russian Lapland; with that of the Caspian, by the close approach of many of the affluents of the Wolga to Lakes Ónega and Ladoga; and with that of the Black Sea, among the innumerable streams of Lithuania and Poland. It is, therefore, impossible to calculate accurately the amount of land constituting this basin, but it is of very considerable extent, its extreme points being in lat. 490 and 690 N., in long. 7° 40 E. (Arrowsmith's Atlas; Von Buch's Travels, 337.; Catteau, ii. 44. &c.) With the exception, perhaps, of some portions of America, there is no part of the world more abundantly watered than this district: upwards of 240 rivers find their way to the Baltic; the lakes in its neighbourhood are all but innumerable, and altogether this sea drains more than a fifth part of the whole surface of Europe. The rivers which flow from the S. and S. E. run the longest courses, varying from 330 to 750 m. (See ODER, VISTULA, NIEMEN, DWINA, &c.) waters; as the Caspian, Lake Baikal, and the Lake of Geneva, to the similar variations in which Saussure has assigned a cause analogous to that offered by Schulten in the case of the Baltic. (Mem. Acad. Stock., 1804.; Saussure's Voyage dans les Alpes, i. 15.) The currents of such a sea as the Baltic must depend, in a great degree, upon its rivers; and as these exist in the greatest number towards the N. and E. parts, the general direction of the water is from N.N.E. to S.S.W., as far, at least, as the latitude of Konigsberg. The impulse from the S. here given by the great rivers of Prussia aids the resistance of the land to turn the current W., towards the Danish Islands, among which it of course becomes broken into many parts, all combining at last in a general N. direction through the Kattegat, and thence S. W. through the Skager Rack into the N. Sea. The currents of the Baltic are, therefore, outwards; and when a W. wind forces the water of the ocean into its gulphs, these currents, always intricate, become ex The Swedish foot is 14-69 inches, English. |