larly in the mountainous districts, where they form the greater part of the food of the people. Flax and hemp are principal objects of attention, and supply the material for the staple industry of the country. Hops, which are excellent, are raised in considerable quantities, about 12,000 cwt. being annually exported to Bavaria only. The culture of beet-root, with a view to the manufacture of sugar, has of late years increased very rapidly; so much so that, in 1838, no fewer than 87 fabrics of beet-root sugar were in operation. The export of fruit from the circle of Leitmeritz only has in some years amounted to 63,000 cwt. Some wine is made, but the quality is very inferior; and beer is the national beverage. The stock of horses, in 1831, was estimated at about 144,000; of horned cattle, at 974,000; and of sheep, at 1,350,000. Until recently, but little attention has been paid to stock husbandry; latterly, however, considerable efforts have been made to improve the breeds, and these have been very successful, particularly in the case of the sheep. The supply of cattle is inadequate for the consumption; and there is annually a large importation from Poland and Hungary. On the whole, agriculture in Bohemia, though a good deal improved, is still in a very backward state. This, no doubt, is ascribable to a variety of causes; but princtpally, perhaps, to the depressed state of the peasantry, and the want of leases. Most of the land is parcelled out into immense estates; and these are cultivated, either by peasants employed by, and working on account of, the Landlord, or by petty occupiers, paying a labour rent for their land. Mr. Gleig has given some curious details in reference to this subject in his Travels in Germany, Bohemia, &c. "Of large towns," says he, "there seems to be, in Bohemia, very few; but every vale and strath is crowded with human dwellings; village succeeding village, and hamlet treading on hamlet, with the most remarkable fecundity. On the other hand, you may strain your eyes in vain in search of those species of habitations which give to our English landscapes their peculiar charm. There is no such thing in all Bohemia-I question whether there be in all Germany as a park ; and as to detached farm-houses, they are totally unknown. The nobility inhabit what they term schlosses, that is to say, castles or palaces, which are invariably planted down either in the very heart of a town or large village, or at most a gun-shot removed from it. No sweeping meadows surround them with their tasteful swells, their umbrageous covers, and lordly avenues; no deer troop from glade to glade, or cluster in groups round the stem of some giant oak, their favourite haunt for ages. But up to the very hall-door, or at least to the foundations of the wall which girdles in the court-yard, perhaps twelve or twenty feet wide, the plough regularly passes. A garden, the graff generally possesses, and his taste in flowers is good; but it almost always happens that his very garden affords no privacy, and that his flowers are huddled together within some narrow space, perhaps in the very court-yard of which I have already spoken as alone dividing his mansion from the open and cultivated With respect, again, to the condition of the cultivators, that is, in all respects, so different from the state of our agricultural gentlemen at home, that, even at the hazard of saying over again what has been stated a thousand times already, I must describe it at length. In the first place, then, there is no class of persons in Boheinia corresponding to our English farmer. Nobody hires land in order to make a profit out of it, at least nobody for such a purpose hires a large tract of land; but each individual cultivates his own estate, whether it be of wide or of narrow extent. Thus the graff, or prince, though he be the owner of an entire circle, is yet the only farmer within that circle. He does not let an acre of ground to a tenant; but having built what he conceives to be an adequate number of bouerin-houses, he plants in each of these a bouer-man, and pays him for tilling the ground. These bouerin-houses, again, are all clustered together into villages, so that the bouerman is never without an abundant society adapted to his tastes; and very happily, albeit very rudely, his days and nights appear to be spent. fields. larly situated countries, not for money or a quantity of produce, but for a certain amount of labour to be performed on the estate of the lord, which amount is regulated by a law called the Roboth-patent. Mr. Reeve, in his instructive Sketches of Bohemia, has the following statement as to the relation subsisting between the lords and those occupying their estates, under this system :-"The subjects, as they are termed, are all registered in the books of the estates; the lord collects the king's taxes, besides his own dues, and sends an annual supply of recruits to the imperial army. He has the power of expelling misdemeanants from his estate, and he exercises a certain control over his subjects; but the peasants are by no means attached to the soil; and they may always appeal to the courts of justice against their lord, with a proverbial certainty (such is the policy of the government) of gaining their cause. On the other hand, the lord represents the government to his peasants, and the peasants to the government; and whilst he is accountable to the justice of the country, he has it in his power to exercise a beneficent influence over the lower orders. He provides for their instruction; he introduces improvements, and encourages trade; he increases their commercial relations; he arbitrates in their disputes; and in proportion to his fulfilment or neglect of these functions, the estate is prosperous or poor. It often happens that the nobility and gentry have acquired a purely German character, in accordance with that of the Austrian government, but very much opposed to the national spirit and national wants of the Bohemian people. All the ancient seignorial rights which were not legalised and regulated by Joseph II., as the Roboth dues, &c., were abolished by that monarch. But the tradition of feudal attachment and of feudal obedience still exists amongst the people: thus, although the consent of the lord is not legally required to a marriage between his peasants, it is generally asked, and considered indispensable. The possessions of some of the Bohemian nobles are immense; Prince Schwartzenberg owns one eighth of the country; and the estates once held by the great Wallenstein were so vast as to have formed the appanage of six great families after his death and attainder." Metropolitan Mag., April, 1837.) Hence the condition of estates, and of the population upon them, depends more, perhaps, in this than in any other country, on the conduct of the lords. Wherever the latter are liberal and intelligent, the estate has an improved appearance, and the inhab. are contented, industrious, and thriving. Unluckily, however, the bulk of the landlords, like the occupiers of their estates, are strongly attached to routine practices, and to those feudal privileges which, while they oppress and degrade the peasantry, impoverish the lords. Here, as in most other countries, industry flourishes most where it has to contend with the greatest difficulties. The rich level lands of Bohemia, instead of being the best, are the worst cultivated. The occupiers of the mountainous and poorer districts display, speaking generally, not only the greatest industry, but the greatest skill, and the most improved methods of cultivation. The forests, as already seen, are very extensive: they are mostly situated in the W. parts of the kingdom, and especially in the district of Prachin. They are estimated to yield annually above 2,000,000 cubic fathoms of wood. Manufactures. With the exception, perhaps, of Moravia, Bohemia has long been the most celebrated of all the Austrian states for its manufactures. At this moment it produces the finest linens and linen yarn of any country in Europe. Spinning is the universal and favourite employment of the women; and no fewer than 500,000 females are said to prosecute it as a subsidiary business! Machines for spinning have, however, been introduced; but it remains to be seen whether they will be able to undersell the yarn produced by the hand. About 55,000 hands are supposed to be employed in linen weaving; and the total annual value of the produce of this branch of industry, including that of lace, may be estimated at about 1,200,0007. a year. This The land in Bohemia does not, however, belong ex-branch of industry is said, however, to be on the decline, clusively to any order in the community. Many bouer- in consequence of the growth of the cotton manufacture. men are owners of their farms, some of them to the According to the National Encyclopædia, 20,000 indiextent of 100 acres and more; while almost every township viduals are employed in hand-spinning, exclusive of has its territories, which, like the noble's estate, are cultí- those employed in the factories, which are numerous: vated for the benefit of the burgh. But in all cases it is 18,000 hands are said to be employed in the hosiery the owner, and not the cultivator, to whom the proceeds department of the trade. There are about 500 bleachof the harvest belong. These are, indeed, gathered in ing establishments in full work, and the manufacture of and housed for him by his representatives, who, in addi- potash is very considerable. The woollen manufacture tion to some fixed money payments, for the most part is very extensive: in spinning only, 55,000 hands are enjoy the privilege of keeping a cow or two on the wastes said to be engaged; and in weaving, from 15,000 to belonging to the manor; but all the risk and trouble of 16,000: the weaving of woollen stockings employs from converting his grain into money attaches to the pro- 2,000 to 3,000 hands. The hat-makers, furriers, &c., are prietor of the soil." (ii. 19.) estimated at about 1,200; and the leather manufacturers at 4,000. There are about 100 paper-mills; and the imperial tobacco manufactory at Sedlitz supplies the whole country with that article, through the agency of above But though by far the larger portion of the land be cultivated in the way described, by hired labour, still it is certain that a good deal is let in Bohemia, as in all simi 7,000 retail shops. The manufacture of metals and minerals, and of beet-root sugar, has already been alluded to. ance. But of all the Bohemian manufactures none is nearly so well known in foreign countries as that of glass. Bohemian glass is not so pure as that of England or France; but the art of staining, painting, and gilding glass, is much better understood there than in this country, and articles of Bohemian manufacture are unequalled in point of lightness and richness of appearIt is probable, however, were it not for the weight of the duties laid on glass in this country, and the troublesome regulations connected with their assessment, that we should soon become formidable rivals of the Bohemians, even in those departments in which they appear at present to have the greatest superiority. Altogether, it is said that from 1-5th to 1-4th part of the inhab. of Bohemia are engaged in manufactures. But then it is material to observe that all the handspinners and weavers combine with their business that of cultivators of patches of land, and other employments. We believe, too, that the cotton trade of Bohemia, like that of the rest of Austria, is entirely the creation of prohibitions and oppressive duties on foreign stuffs and yarn; and that, were these repealed, or materially modified, the manufacture would be involved in the greatest difficulties. Owing to the want of capital, many of the great landed proprietors are obliged to engage in manufactures. Thus, Prince Kinsky, and Counts Harrach and Bucquoy, are the greatest glass manufacturers; Prince Auersberg manufactures sulphur, vitriol, and colours; Count Urbna and Prince Windizhgratz, tin plates; Count Thun, porcelain; Prince Lobkowitz, earthenware; Prince Wallenstein and others, beetroot sugar, &c. It is clear that manufactures carried on under such auspices must be more expensive and less improved than if they were carried on by individuals dependent upon them. 20 Jewish, schools: and there are also schools for music and drawing, an observatory, and numerous libraries and cabinets of natural history, arts, and sciences. The Academy of Prague, though not long established, enjoys considerable celebrity. But there is great reason to fear that the enlightenment of the people is looked upon as a secondary and subordinate object by those who superintend education in Bohemia, that is, by the clergy. Their primary object is to maintain the existing order of things; to educate the people in the belief that the Catholic is the only true faith; and that it is the duty of every good and well-disposed person to submit implicitly to the dictates of his spiritual and civil superiors! Such an education is better fitted to narrow and enslave, than to expand and emancipate the mind. Any thing like free inquiry, any examination into the reciprocal duties and obligations of princes and subjects, or any inquiry into the real sources of public wealth, would not be tolerated in the Bohemian academies. The pupils there are taught to believe that whatever is ordered is right! And adding to such a system of education the influence of a rigorous censorship of the press, the wonder is not that knowledge is at a low ebb in Bohemia, but that it is so far advanced as it really is. "The march of intellect in Bohemia, though the schoolmaster be abroad, is in very slow time, and, what is worse, it is but little aided by the national pen or the national printing-press. As a proof of this, I may mention that there are only 10 printers and 10 booksellers in Prague; while for the political quid nuncs, there are merely published a couple of very small stupid newspapers in the German tongue, with other two, no less stupid, in the dialect of Bohemia. The literary periodicals, again, are confined to a small paper, called the Bohemia, in German, published thrice a week; and the Abendunterhaltungen, in Bohemian, printed twice a week. For the lovers of science, art, manufactures, and agriculture, a journal devoted to these matters is published twice a year; while the religious world remains quite satisfied with one quarterly journal. Such is the limited extent of the demand for political, literary, and religious information throughout Bohemia." "- Strang's Germany in 1831, ii. 206. During the reign of Joseph II. the use of the Boof justice, but also in the colleges and higher academies. But, instead of suppressing the language of the people, this seems to have occasioned a reaction in its favour; and during the present century Bohemian literature has been a good deal attended to, and made considerable progress. Races of People. Of the 4,000,000 people in Bohemia, nearly 3,000,000 are Czeches, of Slavonic origin, and the rest Germans and Jews. The Germans, to the amount of 900,000, principally inhabit the capital and the circles of Elbogen, Saaz, Leitmeritz, Bidschow, and Königratz.hemian language was forbidden, not only in the courts In these circles German is the more prevalent language, though even in them Bohemian is the vernacular tongue of the lower classes, as it is that of the middle classes, and even of the higher ranks in other parts. The German pop. is more industrious, intelligent, and enterprising than the Slavonic. The Jews have been settled in Bohemia from a very remote epoch. Here, as in other countries, they are mostly engaged in mercantile and pecuniary transactions; and they are also extensively engaged in the business of distilling and brewing. Religion. Notwithstanding Bohemia may be truly said to be the cradle of the Reformation, and the determined and long-continued stand her inhabitants made in defence of the doctrines promulgated by Huss and his followers, she is now become one of the principal strongholds of Catholicism. The spirit of the ancient Bohemians has been entirely subdued; and they have become amongst the most bigotted and superstitious adherents of a faith imposed on them by the sword of the conqueror and the rack and gibbet of the inquisitor. Nowhere, perhaps, is the miserable trumpery of relics and saints' days held in such veneration. Religion here has not been employed to enlighten the understanding or improve the morals; but to darken the one, and to pervert and debase the other. The more intelligent part of the pop., disgusted with its ceremonies, have taken refuge in scepticism; but the great bulk of the people believe what they are told, and forsake the altars of Christ to prostrate themselves before those of St. John of Nepomuck! The church hierarchy consists of an archbishop (of Prague), 3 bishops, 7 deans of chapters, with numerous canons, 11 archdeacons, 133 deacous, 1,107 parish and 505 minor cures. Though the monastic institutions were much diminished by the vigorous and salutary reforms effected by Joseph II., there are still no fewer than 75 monasteries, and 7 convents, comprising about 1,020 monks and 150 nuns; these are, however, obliged to do the duty of parish clergy, or to employ themselves in education, or in the care of the hospitals. Joseph II. granted full toleration to all sorts of religions. The Lutherans and Calvinists together amount to from 60,000 to 70,000. The Jews, amounting to nearly 70,000, are under the grand rabbi at Prague. Education. If the goodness of education were to be inferred from the number of educational establishments, Bohemia would have little reason to fear a comparison with most European countries. The institutions for its promotion consist of, a university at Prague; a polytechnic school; 26 gymnasiums; 3 philosophical seminaries; 3 theological seminaries; I military academy; 3 convents for female education; 1 Jewish college; 40 grammar schools; 2,500 Catholic, 36 Protestant, and Poor. The number of hospitals and charitable institutions in the capital and principal towns is very considerable, and in the towns the poor are carefully provided for. No regular poor-rates are, however, collected; where the foundation funds and voluntary subscriptions do not suffice, the deficiency is made up by government. But the contributions of the latter are afforded very sparingly, and begging is, after all, the great resource of the Bohemian poor, as it must be of the poor of every country where a compulsory provision is not established. It is here, in fact, universal; and all travellers are disgusted with the numbers and importunity of the mendicants. Manners, &c.-The Bohemians are passionately fond of music and dancing, and have attained to great proficiency in both. The national airs are nearly the same with those of the Slowaks of the N.W. part of Hungary, and are generally plaintive. The waltz is the favourite dance; and two of its most fashionable varieties, the Redowak and the Galoppe, have been borrowed from the Bohemian peasants. The men are generally robust and well proportioned; and the women are (in Germany) celebrated for their beauty. The dispositions of the people are more mercurial, and their manners more gay, frank, and open, than those of their Saxon neighbours. How much soever the objects of their veneration may be changed, they are still, as in the days of Huss and Jerome of Prague, zealous defenders of what they believe to be right and proper. There is a nearly total want of a middle class an intermediate rank between the lords and their vassals. With the exception of Prague, there are no great towns, none of those foci whence intelligence and civilisation are diffused over a country. But, however ignorant and prejudiced, the character of the Bohemian peasant is most respectable. In point of morals, he is quite on a level with the peasantry of the other Germanic nations. Crimes of violence are of rare occurrence. The proportion of illegitimate to legitimate births is as 1 to 8; but in the capital it is as high as 1 to 2. Government, &c.-The nobility of Bohemia are stated to be 2,260 in number, including 14 princes, 172 counts, 80 barons, and more than 100 hereditary knights as heads of families; the total revenues of the nobility were estimated 50 years ago at 180 millions of florins, 18,000,000Z. At the meetings of the Estates, which form 4 divisions W. coast of Africa, desert of Sahara; lat. 26° 7′ 10 N., long. 14° 29′ 5" W. This headland forms the W. extremity of a rocky ridge, called the Geb-el-khal, or Black Mountains. It was long the limit of navigation towards the S., and was first passed by the Portuguese in 1433. BOJANO (an. Bovianum), a town of Naples, prov. Sannio, cap. cantou, on the Biferno, in a deep gorge, at the foot of Mount Matese, 16 m. E.S.E. Isernia. Pop. 3,000. This town has suffered severely from earthquakes, the last calamity of this sort having occurred in 1805. It is the seat of a bishopric, and has, or had before the earthquake, a cathedral, with several churches and convents, and an hospital. During the early period of Roman history, Bovianum was a very important place. In the Social war it was one of the strongest holds of the confederates. It was taken by Sylla, and afterwards retaken by the Marsi. Under Cæsar it became a military colony. Strabo says that in his time it was BOJANOWA, a town of the Prussian States, prov. and reg. Posen, 9 m. N.W. Rawiez. Pop. 3,000. It is divided into the Old and New towns; most part of the houses are of wood; it has a large town-house, and fabrics of coarse cloth. viz. 1st, the prelates; 2d, the nobles (Herrn); 3d, the | knights; and, 4th, the citizens of the principal towns, nothing but the distribution of the sums ordered by the emperor to be raised, is discussed. No law, however it may affect the religious, moral, or material welfare of the state, is ever submitted to them. A small minority once made a struggle for some ameliorations of the existing system, but without success. There is, indeed, a strong feeling against the absolutism of the emperor; but the nobility are afraid lest their peculiar privileges should be affected by any change, and no efficient reform need therefore be expected at their hands. The government of the country is directed by the different sections of the ministry at Vienna; the principal of which is the imperial united chancery, under which is the Gubernium at Prague. The court of appeals at Prague is under the ministry of justice at Vienna; the receiver of taxes is under the finance minister at Vienna. To these central authorities the various branches in every circle are sub-ruinous and deserted. (Cramer's Ancient Italy, ii. 229.) ject; the courts of justice of the circle being at the same time courts of appeal from the manor courts of the nobles, who exercise judicial authority over their estates. The city and town magistrates have their own civil and criminal courts, from which appeal lies to the court of appeals at Prague. The military have a peculiar jurisdiction, and the nobles have, as in the other provinces, a special court, called the Landrecht. Independent of all authorities, judicial or administrative, the police forms a branch apart, being in the towns confided to especial commissaries, and in the country to the captain of the circle, in whom the three functions, judicial, administrative, and those of police, are united. The number of civil employés in the kingdom is stated in the Encyclopedia to be 8,461. Towns.-Exclusive of Prague, Bohemia contains no town of any considerable importance, or of more than 10,000 inhabs. The towns are divided into royal and aristocratic boroughs, and the former, again, into privileged and non-privileged. The towns privileged to send deputies to the diet are Prague, Pilsen, Budweis, and Kuttenberg. Both classes of royal boroughs have their own magistrates, police, &c., and their internal government in their own hands. The boroughs of the nobility are usually under the control of their lords. BOKHARA or UZBEKISTAN, a country of Central Asia, comprising considerable portions of the ane Sugdiana or Transoziana, and Bactria, forming the most powerful state of what is named by the moderns Indep. Tartary, or Turkestan. It lies between lat. 360 and 41° N and long. 63° and 70° E.; having N. the desert and the khanat of Kokan; E. the mountainous regions of Hissar and Koondooz; S. Caubul; and W. the khanat of Khiva or Kharasm. Area, probably about 235,000 sq.m. Pop., according to Burnes, 1,000,000. It is divided into nine provinces, viz. : Provinces. Bokhara Kermina of the Kohik) 5 t. and 5 other 49,000 Samarcand 10,000 In. dist. 1 5 32,000 Kurshee. Sub-e-ab (or banks) 4 22,000 * Juzzak Kurshee 8,000 Juzzak (Dizzikh). Balkh 2,000 Inh. 277,000 181,GGOL. History-After innumerable mutations, Bohemia, with Hungary and Transylvania, fell, in 1526, under the dominion of Ferdinand of Austria, brother of Charles V., who had married the sister and heiress of Louis, king of Bohemia and Hungary, killed at the battle of Mohacz. Bohemia was at this epoch in the enjoyment of a comparatively free constitution, and three fourths of the population were attached to the reformed faith. The attempts of the Austrian sovereigns to undermine the free institutions of the country, and to lay restraints on the exercise Bokhara is mountainous only in the E.. where its mounof the Protestant worship, provoked a desperate contest, tains are northern spurs from the Ilindoo Koosh, and which continued till 1620, when the Austrian troops on its S. frontier, where they seem to belong to the totally defeated the Bohemians at the battle of Weissen- Ghoor or Paropamisan range; if we except a few lowberg, near Prague. The persecution which followed has lying hills about Shuhr-Subz, Samarcand, and Bokhara. seldom or never been equalled for atrocity. Many of The height of the fornier range, in about lat. 399, is supthe best and noblest Bohemian citizens lost their lives on posed by Burnes to be at least 18,000 feet, since the the scaffold, and thousands upon thousands were driven mountains 150 m. E. of Kurshee were seen by him covered into exile, and had their estates and properties confiswith snow in June. The plain region which comprises cated. The free constitution of the kingdom was entirely all the rest of Bokhara, is nothing but a sandy desert, with annihilated; the Protestant religion all but extirpated; a few oases, stretching for a few miles on either side the and such was the combined influence of massacre and banks of rivers; in which are planted the chief cities and exile, that in 1637 the pop. did not exceed 780,000! Sub- towns; and which constitute the only cultivable lands, sequently the government gave every encouragement to and are very densely peopled. The rivers are therefore the settlement of German colonists in the country and of the highest importance: there are five, viz. the Jihon in the reign of Maria Theresa and Joseph II. a new æra or Amoo (Oxus), Kohik or Zer-afchan, Kurshee or began; and the milder and more liberal system of govern- Karchi, Zourhab, and Balkh. The Oxus intersects the ment which they introduced has since been followed up. country S.E. to N. W., dividing it into two unequal porBOIS-LE-DUC, a fortified town of Holland, cap. tions, and varying in width from 300 to upwards of 800 prov. N. Brabant, in a morass, at the confluence of the yards. The course of the Zer-afchan (river of gold) is Dommel and Aa, 27 m. S. by E. Utrecht. Pop. 13,500. entirely within this country; it rises in the highlands E. It is about 5 m. in circ., is defended by a citadel and two of Samarcand, runs N. this city and Bokhara, and after a forts, and in case of need the environs may be laid under course of about 450 m., chiefly E. to W., falls into the water. It is a well-built handsome town, and is inter- lake Denghiz. The Kurshee rises in the same highsected by several canals, over which there are a great lands as the Kohik, runs N.E. to S. W., by Shuhr-Subz many bridges. It is the seat of a vicar-general and tri- and Kurshee, and is lost in the desert. The Zourhat bunals of original jurisdiction and commerce, and has a runs from N. to S., and is similarly lost. The Balkh fine town-hall, on the model of the Stadt-house at Am- river rises S. W. the Hindoo Koosh, and runs N. to sterdam; 6 churches, of which the cathedral church, or Balkh, where its waters are distributed all over the surthat of St. John, built in the end of the 13th and the be- rounding country by means of canals. The lake Denginning of the 14th century, is one of the finest in Hol- ghiz, or "the sea," is 60 m. S.S.W. Bokhara, surrounded land; a grammar-school, in which Erasmus was partly on all sides by sand hills; 25 m. long, and very deep: its educated; an academy of painting, sculpture, and archi-water is salt, and it appears neither to increase nor detecture; 2 hospitals, an orphan asylum, a house of cor- crease at any season of the year. There are other lakes, rection, &c. Its manufactures, which are considerable, but of no importance. consist of linen and thread, needles and pins, cutlery, &c., with distilleries, glass-works, &c. It is well situated for, and has a considerable trade. Bois-le-Duc was founded, in 1184, by Godfrey III., duke of Brabant. In 1629 it was taken by the Dutch, after a lengthened siege. It was held by the French from 1794 to 1814, when it surrendered to the Prussians, by whom it was again made over to its old masters. BOJADOR (CAPE), a celebrated promontory of the Aspect. The fertility of the country is said to have been anciently much greater than at present; the valley of Sogdiana has been spoken of as a paradise by both Greek and Arabian writers; but it is mostly destitute of large trees, and the banks of the Kurshee entirely so. The desert is varied only by sand hills, 15 or 20 feet high, raised by the wind; of a horse-shoe shape, the bow towards the N., and always resting on a base of hardened clay. Some *The land rev. of Balkh, 20,000 tillas, goes to its own chief. stunted herbage, low brushwood, and the camel-thorn, are the only signs of vegetation; and a few rats, lizards, beetles, and solitary birds, the only permanent inhabitants. S.of the Oxus, however, it is not quite so bare as elsewhere. Curtius has well described the present state of the region round Balkh, in his glowing description of anc. Bactriana. (See Burnes, ii. 211.) Many remains of former splendour, aqueducts, temples, &c., are to be met with in various spots, as between Khooloom and Mazar; the ruins of Bykund, 20 m. W.S. W., and of Khojouban, 25 m. N. W. Bokhara, &c. Geology and Mineralogy.-N. of the Oxus, and from the base of the mountains to Bokhara, there is a succession of ranges of limestone, oolite, and gravel, alternating with vast and hardened plains of argillaceous clay or quartzose sand: the pebbles in Miankal are sharp and angular, and look very unlike having ever been subjected to the action of water. There is more gold in the sand of the Oxus than in any other river rising in the Hindoo Koosh; but other metals are not found in any quantity in this country; silver, iron, and copper, are all imported from Russia. Sal-ammoniac is native near Juzzah, and there is a bed 5 m. in circ. of dark-coloured, imperfectly crystallised salt, near Charjooce, 500 lbs. of which sell for 3s. in Bokhara city. The water in the wells of the desert is often found brackish and unfit to drink, especially S of the Oxus; between that river and Bokhara the water is good, and exudes through the sand. Climate. The climate of the elevated E. frontier is of course very different from that of the rest of the country. In the plains it is generally dry and salubrious; in the winter sometimes so cold that the Oxus is frozen over, and the snow lies for three months at Bokhara: in the desert in summer the heat exceeds 100° Fahr. The seasons are very regular; at the beginning of March the spring opens, the beat soon increases to an oppressive degree, being seldom refreshed by showers, and for four months the bed of the Kohik is dry at Bokhara, and the country suffers from drought. The summer lasts till October, when a fortnight or three weeks' rain sets in, succeeded by frosts, and these again by rains from the middle to the end of Feb., which are often very heavy, but evaporation is rapid. Violent tornadoes sometimes arise, blowing from the N. W.; but a steady wind from the N. blows across the desert in the hot season: the atmosphere is remarkably clear and cloudless at Bokhara, and meteors are frequently seen in considerable numbers at night. At Balkh the summer heat is very oppressive, and the climate unhealthy. Rheumatism is a frequent disease there; and ophthalmia and blindness are the scourges of the desert: fevers are rare, but leprosy is common. Vegetable Products. There is but little large timber: willow and poplar are the principal trees in the plains, and the latter is used for house-building: tamarisks and leguminous plants are the most frequent shrubs. A bastard indigo flourishes profusely on the banks of the Oxus, but neither the true plant nor the sugar-cane grow wild. Some Boragincæ and Cruciferæ are found universally; lilies, asphodels, and euphorbias less commonly. The Galenia africana, the favourite food of the camel, covers many parts of the desert: rhubarb grows in Kurshee; but the gigantic Ferula persica (which produces assafoetida) is the sole member of the umbelliferous family. Bokhara is celebrated for its fruits; it is believed to be the native country of the melon, which grows here to more perfection than any where else; and most of the fruits familiar to us grow there in great perfection. Animals. Wild animals are few; the lion is not now found, though Alexander killed one in Transoxiana. Diminutive tigers on the banks of the Oxus, wild hogs and asses, deer, antelopes, bears in the E., wolves, foxes, jackals, cats, martens, rats, and marmots, are the chief Mammalia; ostriches in the S.; eagles, hawks, owls, crows, storks, pigeons, plovers, and water-fowl, are common; but there are no singing birds; and all kinds of game are scarce. Tortoises and lizards are found in the desert; but there are neither alligators, nor many snakes. The fish in the Lake Karakool are good: those of the Oxus are the same as in other Asiatic rivers; a large dog-fish is caught there often of 600 lbs. weight. There are few insects; locusts sometimes intest the neighbourhood of Balkh; the scorpion is common, but not dangerous; a kind of cochineal insect lives on the bastard-indigo, but the dye it produces is very inferior, and the proper mode of treating it is unknown. The silkworm is abundant or, the banks of the Oxus, where the mulberry is planted for it in great quantity; and the Turkmans in the suramer months are nearly all occupied in the production of silk. The quality of the water, or some other cause in Bokhara city, produces the rishtu or Guinea worm, and part of the population are said to be attacked annually with a painful disease, owing to the formation or growth of these worms beneath the skin. When observed, they are extracted by means of needles; an operation in which the Bokharese are very expert. Burnes. however (1835), estimates the total pop. at no more than a million, half of whom he thinks are wandering tribes. The Uzbeks, the last race who conquered this country, say they originally came from the neighbourhood of Astrakhan, and are divided into a number of tribes, of which that of Mangout is the principal, and the khan always belongs to it. In their physical ap pearance they resemble a mixture of Tartar and Kalmuck, but those of the capital are scarcely to be recog nised as belonging to either of these families, from their great intermixture with Persian blood. The Uzbeks are chiefly established in the principal towns, and in the valley of the Zer-afchan: they are all warriors, and the government offices are for the most part filled by them Many are employed in trade, though they are avaricious, and much addicted to deceit. They are naturally proud, and have a great contempt for the other races, especially the Tadjiks; but are also said to be often welldisposed, and are simple, and easily subject to imposi tion. Tadjiks.-The Tadjiks are regarded as the aborigines, and descendants of the ancient Sogdians. They are similar to European races in both features and complexion, the latter being much less brown than that of the Persians; their hair is black; they are active, laborious, and intelligent, but pusillanimous, and never take arms they therefore differ in numerous particulars from the Uzbeks. They do not lead a wandering life, but are cultivators, artisans, and merchants; in the latter capacity, like the Uzbeks, they are greedy and avaricious. Most of them know how to read and write; and, excepting the clergy, they are the most civilised people of the country. Their physiognomy expresses mildness and tranquillity; but they are deceitful, and unfeeling towards their slaves. Kalmucks. A large portion of the Kalmucks are descendants of the hordes of Jenghiz-khan; the remainder are Torgout Kalmucks, who in 1770 abandoned the banks of the Wolga, to return to their original seat. The former are to be recognised only by their physical appearance; they have almost forgotten their original tongue, and have adopted the customs of the Uzbeks, amongst whom they live, in villages of their own. Turkmans. The Turkmans, or Toorkmuns, inhabit chiefly the region S. of the Oxus (which forms part of Turkestan, or Toorkmania); they belong to the great Tartar family, and differ from the Uzbeks in being exclusively a wandering tribe, having the face larger, and the figure more squat; in these particulars resembling the Kalmucks. They cultivate rice on the banks of the Amoo, but have many herds, and live much on their milk and flesh. Their horses are excellent, and have been celebrated since the time of Alexander. The Turkmans are by profession dealers in slaves; they have chiefs of their own, named begs, but all pay tribute to the khan of Bokhara. Arabs.-The Arabs have been established here ever since the age of the caliphs. They are immediately recognised, by their swarthy complexion. Some are wandering, and others demi-nomadic tribes; a third section live in villages, some of which are near Bokhara; others are cultivators, and possess flocks in the steppes: it is chiefly the latter who furnish the lamb-skins, in such general demand. Persians. The Persians are mostly slaves, who have been captured by the Turkmans; and a proportion of 8 individuals in every village of 20 houses is perhaps a fair average throughout the country. - (Burnes.) Kirghiz.-The Kirghiz are a small wandering horde, found especially N. the valley of the Zer-afchan. Some of the Afghans and Kirghiz are descendants of the hostages retained by Timour: there are some Chinese who have a similar origin. The Bohemians, or Zingeunes, here called Mazané, are of unknown extraction, and live in different companies in every part of the country; they tell fortunes, and have all the other occupations of gipsies. Jews, &c.. -The Jews live almost entirely in Bokhara city; where there are also 300 Hindoos, who are not allowed to build temples, have idols, walk in processions, bring their families beyond the Oxus, or purchase female slaves, and are prescribed a particular dress. They come chiefly from Sinde; are very sober and orderly, industrious and devoted to trade, in which they amass considerable wealth. Agriculture is the principal source of the national leather, excellent shagreen, good sabres, knives, and other steel articles, locks, hardware, gold and silver mountings for knives and sabres, rings, and other jewellery, articles of turnery, and fire-arms, are amongst the chief productions. Women are often employed in embroidery, and especially in divesting the cotton of its seeds, which occupies many hands. No farther use is made of hemp than to procure an intoxicating drug; sugar and confectionary are made from the manna found on the camel-thorn. The Jews and others excel in the art of dyeing, but leather is generally bad, and the cutlery, &c., inferior to that of Persia. The fine arts are still less advanced, owing to the influence of Islamism, which does not permit representations of animated objects: flowers are the principal subjects of paintings, and sculpture is confined to cutting tombstones. The modern edifices of Bokhara are destitute of merit, and the fine mosques built at Samarcand, under Timour, are looked upon as impossible to be equalled in the present day. The canals are large; which is indeed essential in a country where evaporation is so rapid; and all the villages are situated on the banks either of a river or canal, and consist generally of about a hundred houses built of earth, sometimes walled round, and intersected by public ways not so narrow as those of the towns in their centre is commonly a public fountain, or small reservoir. There are very few towns; they are all built on rivers, and surrounded by cultivated fields: Bokhara, Samarcand, Kurshee, Karakool, and Balkh are the principal; the rest are but large villages. wealth rice, wheat, barley, jowaree, sesamum, maize, | time. Cotton thread, silk stuffs of different colours, moong, melons, and beans, are the chief objects of culture. The propensity to grow rice is strange, in a country so unfitted for it; but the fields of Shuhr-Subz yield rich crops, and irrigation for the purpose is pursued to a very great extent in the Kurshee valley, and at Balkh. Meyendorff observes that the rice of the Miankal (valley of the Kohik) is not good. S. of the Oxus the wheat fields, when sown, yield crops for three successive years. When the first harvest is finished, the cattle are turned in upon the stubble fields; and next season the stalks grow up and ear; and a third but scanty crop is reaped in the same way. At Karakool, in Bokhara Proper, the return is said to be sevenfold; at Balkh the wheat ripens in a month; the crops are very good, and the stalk as high as in England. Wheat is usually sown in autumn, and reaped in July; and the fields are afterwards ploughed for peas, which are gathered in the same year. Barley is sown early in March, and reaped before wheat: it comes in the place of oats, which are not used in Bokhara. Jowarce (Holcus saccharatus), which, with wheat and melons, occupies most of the surface, comes to maturity in nearly the same period as barley: it grows to five feet in height, and affords both grain for the poor, and, by its leaves, good forage for the cattle. It is commonly surrounded by tanabs of hemp and cotton, from the seeds of which oil is extracted: a considerable quantity of cotton is grown and exported, both raw and manufactured. Trefoil is cut seven or eight times a year; madder is grown, and tobacco; the best of which is from Kurshee. Beet-root, turnips, carrots, &c., abound; the potato has not yet been introduced. Kurshee is a" sheet" of gardens and orchards, but most of the stone fruit is inferior to that of Persia. There are many kinds of grapes, and the raisins prepared from those of Bokhara are unrivalled for size and flavour, and beautifully transparent. The vines are not pruned, as in Europe. The wines have little flavour, and will not keep long. The most celebrated fruit is the melon, which is of several kinds; one is oval, with a green or yellow skin, sometimes 4 ft. in circumference, and of a most delicious flavour. Winter melons are said to surpass all the others. Cucumbers also attain great size excellence. The iris, rose, aster, sunflower, &c., are cultivated a great deal in the gardens, which are very large and numerous. The fields are parted into tanabs, each of which comprises a surface of 3,600 square yards; their limits are formed by ditches for irrigation. The want of water is the great hindrance to the progress of agriculture, as, wherever there are neither rivers nor canals, the ground is uncultivated. Property in land is of five kinds: 1st, The state property, which is the most considerable. 2dly, The kharadj, the right to which was formerly doubtful between the government and certain proprietors, and has been ceded to the latter, on payment of a light tax. 3dly, Fiefs, bestowed for military services. 4thly. Properties of individuals. And, 5thly, Legacies for religious purposes. The state territory, as well as other property, is let; government receiving as rent two fifths of its produce. Catile, &c.- Bokhara is rich in cattle; the sheep and goats claim the first notice, since the one yields the celebrated skins, and the other a wool, only inferior for shawls to that of Cashmere. These flocks graze on furze and dry grass, and their flesh is sweet and well-flavoured. All the sheep are of the variety with large tails, some of which yield as much as 15 lbs. tallow. The description of sheep which produces the jet black curly fleece, made into caps in Persia, and so much esteemed every where, is peculiar to Karakool, a small canton between Bokhara and the Oxus. The animal will thrive nowhere else, and has been transported to Persia and other countries without success: when removed it loses the peculiarity in its fleece, and becomes like other sheep. The annual export of skins amounts to about 200,000, the best of which are sent to Constantinople. The goats yield the shawl wool, and are about the common size, of a dark colour; and many belong to the wandering Kirghiz tribes. The oxen are neither large nor strong, and beef is eaten only by the poor: mutton is the food for which there is the greatest market. The horses of Toorkmania are large and bony, and more remarkable for strength and bottom than symmetry or beauty. The Uzbek tribe, of Karabeer, possess the most matchless horses in the East: the breed was introduced by Tamerlane, or Timour, into the country round Samarcand and ShuhrSubz. All the traffic of Bokhara, however, is carried on by means of camels: these have a sleek coat, as fine as that of a horse, and shed their hair in summer, from which a fine waterproof cloth, of close and heavy texture, is manufactured. The Bactrian camel, with two humps, and tufts of black hair on the neck and thighs, abounds S. of the Oxus, and can carry a burden of 6 cwt.; the dromedary is common in Bokhara; the asses are large, sturdy, and much used: there are no mules. No considerable manufacture is found in Bokhara; none employing more than four or five workmen at a Commerce.- Bokhara, though politically of such secondary importance, holds a pretty high position in the commercial world. Fruitful in the productions of the earth, where all around is desolation, it is a central mart, where the commodities of Europe, China, Persia, India, and Caubul, may be exchanged with advantage. Peter the Great of Russia wished to open a communication between the Caspian and the banks of the Oxus: he succeeded in opening roads from the S. of Asiatic Russia to the E. of the Aral Sea; and for 80 years they have been annually travelled by the caravans of Bokhara, which bring back the manufactures of Russia; while those of Britain reach the banks of the Zer-afchan by way of India. Exports.. -The exports are chiefly silk, cotton, wool, coarse chintzes, cotton-thread (which is in much request), lamb-skins, and others. The following articles were in 1819 amongst those imported at Orenburg from Bokhara: Cotton, 16,813 pouds (599,670 lbs.); cottonthread, 18,928 pouds (676,000 lbs.); white cotton, 20,410 pieces of 28 yds.; skins, 74,336.; silks, challies, torquoises, lapis lazuli, dried fruits, raisins, &c. &c. The returns are paid in Dutch crowns and ducats, Spanish piastres, and Russian silver roubles. The total exports to Russia are valued at nearly 320,000Z. Silk and cotton are sent in large quantities to Caubul, and even into India; and wool as well, which fetches from 6 to 8 tillas (47. to 57. 78.) per 256 lbs. Engl. The lamb-skins of Karakool are paid for in ready money by foreign merchants. Imports.-The imports from India are the same as those into Caubul; a half of the 2,000 camel-loads that reach the latter country yearly from India pass on into Turkestan. Muslins, Benares brocade (about 500 pieces), white cloth from the Punjab for turbans, sugar, and shawls, which pass through to Russia, are the chief imports. Till within the last twenty years the trade in European fabrics was with Russia only, through Orenburg and Froitsha; but it is now carried on more extensively through India and Caubul. There are four great roads from Russia; viz., 1st, from Astrakhan to Bokhara, across the Caspian, and through Orgunje (Khiva), 30 days; 2dly, Orenburg to Bokhara, between the Caspian and Aral, through Orgunje, 60 days; 3dly, Froitsha, across the desert of Kipchak, E. the Aral, 48 days; 4thly, Petropolok, through Tashkend to Bokhara, 90 days. The first is the best and safest, and is taken by the great yearly caravan, which leaves Bokhara in June; it is, however, necessary that amicable relations should subsist between Bokhara and Khiva. The less valuable merchandise goes to Froitsha, generally in August. The imports from Russia are white cloth, muslins, chintzes, and broad cloth, both of Russian and English manufacture, and the chintzes often Polish or German, imitation brocade, velvet, nankeen, gold thread, hardware, metals, cutlery, jewellery, leather, paper, Kirmiz dye, refined sugar, &c. Not less than three fourths of the articles from Russia and India are of British manufacture. British chintzes, which realise sometimes 50 per cent., and broad cloth (the finest selling for 30s. per yard) are, like most other British manufactures, valued by the females of both Caubul and Bokhara greatly above those of Russia; and though we may have to yield to Russia the trade in metals, which are so readily supplied from hers. frontier, we shall, no doubt, supersede her in the supply of piece-goods; the demand for those of Britain has |