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80th were devoted to a consideration of the question of the safety of the emigrants, the establishment of the cause of death and proper modes of interment. In its last three sessions the Health Congress considered the question of the best manner to check the excessive use of liquor by the laboring classes, the measures to be employed for the organization of aid societies for sick and wounded in war, and the best system of cleaning large cities.

A Geographical Congress was opened in Brussels on September 12th by the King in person. In his opening address he pointed to the growing interest taken in the civilization and exploration of Africa. He stated that for some time past the persons engaged in this task had recognized the necessity of a closer union between all explorers for the furtherance of their common efforts, and that for this reason the Congress had been called. He then emphasized the necessity of organizing stations for scientific purposes at the boundaries of the unexplored parts of Africa, and for the execution of this work proposed the establishment of an international committee. The Congress then elected the King its president, who thereupon took the chair, this being the first time that a king presided at another than a political congress. The Congress was addressed by the African explorers Nachtigal, Schweinfurth, Rohlfs, Lieutenant Lux, Commander Cameron, and Colonel Grant, on the results of their explorations. Commander Negri, of Italy, reported on the misfortunes of the Italian expedition to Central Africa, and Minister Baron Hofmann, of Austria, on Gessi's and Piaggla's latest journeys in the territory between the Albert Nyanza and the Victoria Nyanza. The question of establishing stations for scientific purposes in the interior of Africa was then discussed. Sir H. Rawlinson made particular reference to the military stations of Colonel Gordon on the Upper Nile, and Sir FowellBuxton to the stations of the English Missionary Society, which penetrated farther into the interior every year. Sir Rutherford Alcock particularly proposed the erection of a strong station on the east coast opposite Zanzibar. After resolving to advocate the erection of such stations, the Congress adjourned on September 14th. On October 5th the permanent commission for the measurement of a degree assembled in the Royal Academy. The conference was opened by the Minister of the Interior, and adjourned to meet in Stuttgart in September, 1877.

BELOOCHISTAN, a country of Asia, bounded north by Afghanistan, east by British India, south by the Indian Ocean, and west by Persia. The government is under several rulers, of whom the Khan of Kelat is the most important. After deducting the territory in the west, which has been ceded to Persia, the area amounts, according to the latest calculations, to 106,750 square miles. The population was estimated by Dieterici in 1859, under the sup

position of a density of twelve inhabitants to the square mile, and an area of 165,800 square miles, at about 2,000,000. At an area of 106,750 square miles the same density would give a population of only 1,250,000. Major-General Obrutches, however, estimates the total population in 1868 at only 1,000,000, which gives a density of about nine to the square mile.*

The Bolan Pass, a defile in the mountains of Northwestern Beloochistan, on the route between the Lower Indus and the table-land of Afghanistan, is not only one of the most remarkable mountain-passes of the world, but has of late gained a considerable political importance for the British rule in India.

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A rebellion against the Khan of Kelat, which had broken out in 1875, and continued during a part of the year 1876, led to a British diplomatic mission to Kelat. Emil Schlagintweit (in the Augsburg Gazette, No. 58, 1876) gives the following report on the disturbances: "According to the British scouts, the sovereign is the sole cause of the civil war now raging in Kelat, on the western border of India. His oppressions had caused the high dignitaries of the country to forget their old feuds, and to unite against the Khan. Nasr'ed-din and Tadsh Mohammed, Princes of Las, the southern province of Beloochistan, became the leaders of the rebels. As the Khan did not succeed in conquering his enemies in the open field, he pretended friendship, enticed them to his capital in the fall of 1875, and there had them murdered. But the cause of order was but little aided by this deed, and the Khan and his chiefs were much farther from an understanding than before. Disorders increased, as the

*For a more detailed account of the population of Beloochistan, see ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1875.

trade with India was completely at a standstill. The Indian Government now resolved to send off a commissioner to establish peace, and secure safe escorts for caravans. The commissioner, Major Sandeman, left British territory in December, and was received with great attentions by the Khan. The latter also promised safe escorts for the caravans from India, and showed himself inclined to treat with the rebels. But the murder of his chief opponents had irritated the people against him to such a degree that the British commissioner saw but little prospect of bringing about the desired result. In the mean while the commissioner of Sinde, Sir William Merewether, was ordered to proceed to the border, that he might be nearer to the scene of action. He accordingly made his headquarters in the border fortress of Jacobabad, whose garrison, consisting in part of 1,410 men, was considerably increased."

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Major Sandeman, with his escort of 1,000 men, met the Khan and his rebellious chiefs at Mastung, and succeeded in bringing about a peace. In August the Khan signed a treaty, the principal provision of which is the security of the Bolan Pass. The Sirdar Alladina Kurd is intrusted with guarding the pass and keeping it open. For this he receives from the Indian Government 1,000 rupees per month. The Khan is to receive a certain sum for every camel that crosses the pass, while the tribes living in the pass are also to receive a certain These dues are to be collected by a person to be appointed by the Indian Government. Emil Schlagintweit speaks as follows of the results of Major Sandeman's mission (Augsburg Gazette, No. 284): "After a stay of five months at the most important point of the Bolan Pass, the English expedition, consisting of five companies of infantry, 350 cavalry, and two mountain-cannon, returned from Kelat, whither it had been sent by the Indian Government, under the command of Major Sandeman, in order to give the necessary force to the propositions of this officer. Without firing a shot Sandeman succeeded in reconciling the different tribes which had been at war with each other for several years, and to bring them back under the sovereignty of the Khan of Kelat. This military promenade forms a turning-point in the British policy. For years the officers on the border had recommended this step, but it had been considered impossible for armed men to cross the border without being attacked, and being involved in a new war with tribes of Beloochistan and Afghanistan, which could only end with the further extension of British rule over an unfertile country, with a population decidedly reduced in wealth and intellectual qualities. Instead of these consequences ensuing, the troops were welcomed everywhere as peace-makers. Without any great exertion England has gained considerable renown among these border tribes."

A second expedition set out in October for Kelat from Simla, the residence of the Viceroy, bearing dispatches for the Khan. The object of this mission was to prepare the Khan for the visit of the Viceroy, who expected to make a trip through Sinde, and wished to have a meeting with the Khan.

BERTRAND, FÉLIX, a Senator of France, born in 1808; died May 27, 1876. After holding different offices in the tribunals of SaintFlour, and Ambert, and in the courts of appeal of Riom, Grenoble, and Bastia, he succeeded, in 1858, his uncle, as president of the Tribunal of Saint-Flour, his native town. He resigned this position a short time before the senatorial elections of 1876, in order to be eligible as senator, and was elected conjointly with M. Parieu from the department of Cantal. called himself a liberal conservative.

He

BLAIR, FRANCIS PRESTON, an American journalist, born at Abingdon, Washington County, Va., April 12, 1791; died at Silver Springs, Md., October 18, 1876. He was educated at Transylvania University, Kentucky, and studied law, but never entered upon the practice. He early took part in politics, and in 1824 supported Henry Clay for the presidency, but dissented from his views, especially in relation to the United States Bank. When in 1829 the nullification movement was developed in South Carolina, Mr. Blair published an article against it in a Kentucky newspaper, which attracted the attention of General Jackson, who invited the writer to become the editor of the Globe, a Democratic journal about to be established in Washington. The journal was commenced in November, 1830, and became the organ of the successive Democratic administrations, Mr. Blair retaining the control of it till 1845, when President Polk thought it necessary for the harmony of the party that the organ should be placed in other hands, offering Mr. Blair the position of minister to Spain, which was declined. He then retired to his estate of Silver Springs, Montgomery County, Md. In 1848 he withdrew from the regular Democratic party, and supported Mr. Van Buren for the presidency. After the repeal of the Missouri Compromise he took an active part in the organization of the Republican party. He was the father of Montgomery and of the late General Francis P. Blair, Jr.

BOSIO, ASTYANAX SCEVOLA, a French sculptor, born about 1798; died July 5, 1876. He was a son of Jean Bosio, a well-known historical painter, and a pupil of the celebrated sculptor Baron Bosio, his uncle. His first works were exhibited in 1831, and at once gained for him considerable celebrity. Among his best-known works are a bust of Admiral Bougainville (1831), a young huntress nursing her wounded dog (1835), a statue of Flora (1840), and a large number of busts and bassreliefs. He obtained a second medal in 1838, and the decoration of the Legion of Honor in 1857.

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From 1845 to 1851 he was Master of the Household to the Queen. Upon retiring from this office he was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London, and was created a K. C. B. and a G. C. B. in 1873.

BOYD, Sir HARLEY HUGH, fifth baronet of Ballycastle, county of Antrim, born November 2, 1853; died in July, 1876, on board the mailsteamer Trenton, off St. Helena. He was the only son of Sir John Augustus Hugh Boyd, Bart., R. N., by his wife Honora Mary, third daughter of the late Charles Biggs Calmady, Esq., of Longdon Hall, Devon. He succeeded to the title on the death of his father, August 7, 1857. Dying unmarried, the title reverted to his uncle, the Rev. Frederick Boyd, M. A., rector of Holwell, Bedfordshire.

BOSWORTH, JOSEPH, an English scholar, born about 1790; died in June, 1876. He was educated at Repton Grammar-School, received the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Laws at Aberdeen, and the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Leyden in 1831. He subsequently studied at Cambridge, where he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1839. He was ordained deacon in 1814, and after holding several livings in England he was British chaplain in Rotterdam and Amsterdam between 1829 and 1841, where he translated the Common PrayerBook into Dutch. In 1857 he was elected a member of Christchurch College, and was soon after appointed Professor of Anglo-Saxon in Oxford. In this position, and by his writings on the Anglo-Saxon language and kindred sub- BRAGG, BRAXTON, an American general in jeets, he gained great renown, being consid- the Confederate service, born in Warren ered a high authority on this subject. He County, N. C., about 1815; died in Galveston, wrote: "The Elements of Anglo-Saxon Gram- Texas, September 27, 1876. He graduated at mar" (1823); “A Compendious Grammar of West Point in 1837, was appointed lieutenant the Primitive English or Anglo-Saxon; ""A of artillery, and served mainly in Florida till Dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon Language 1843, during the war with the Seminoles; from (1838); "The Origin of the Danish Language; 1843 to 1845 he was stationed at Fort Moultrie, Abstract of Scandinavian Literature;" "Ori- in Charleston harbor, and, just before the gin of the English, Germanic, and Scandina- breaking out of the war with Mexico, was vian Languages and Nations; " and "A Com- ordered to Texas. In May, 1846, he was made pendious Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1848). captain by brevet for gallant conduct in the He published "King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon defense of Fort Brown, Texas, and in June was Version of the Historian Orosius" (1855), and made captain of artillery. He was present at "The Description of Europe and the Voyages the battle of Monterey, September 21st-23d, of Ohthere and Wulfstan," by the same author, and was brevetted as major for gallant conduct both with English translations. He also pub- there; and in 1847 he was brevetted as lieutenlished "The Gospels in Gothic of 360, and in ant-colonel for gallant conduct in the battle of Anglo-Saxon of 995, in Parallel Columns with Buena Vista. From 1848 to 1855 he was enWycliffe's Version of 1389 and Tyndale's of gaged in frontier service at Jefferson Bar1526" (1865; second edition, 1873). He was a racks, Mo., Fort Gibson, and Washita. In member of the Royal Institute of the Nether- March, 1855, he was appointed major of cavlands, and fellow of numerous foreign literary alry, but declined, and received leave of absence. societies. In January, 1856, he resigned his commission in the army, and retired to his plantation at Thibodeaux, La. In 1859-'61 he was Commissioner of the Board of Public Works of the State of Louisiana. When the civil war broke out he joined the Confederate side, was appointed brigadier-general, and placed in command at Pensacola. In February, 1862, he was made major-general, and ordered to join the Army of the Mississippi. He took part in the battle of Shiloh, April 6th and 7th; was raised to the full rank of general in place of General A. S. Johnston, killed at Shiloh; and after the evacuation of Corinth succeeded General Beauregard in command of the department. In August he left Tennessee at the head of a strong force, and entered Kentucky, but, after the battle of Perryville, October 8th, was forced to retreat, carrying with him a vast amount of supplies and many recruits from Kentucky. He was removed from his command and placed under arrest, but was soon restored, and resumed command of the force opposed to the Federal army under Rosecrans. He was checked by Rosecrans in the protracted contest of Stone River or Murfreesboro, December 26,

BOWLES, Sir GEORGE, a British general, born in 1787; died in May, 1876. He received his commission as ensign in 1804, and served with Lord Cathcart in the north of Germany in 1805-6. He took part in the capture of Copenhagen in 1807; served in the Peninsula from 1809 to 1814; was present at the passage of the Douro; at the battles of Salamanca, Talavera, and Vittoria; at the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Burgos, and San Sebastian; at the capture of Madrid; at the passages of the Bidassoa, Nivelles, Nive, and Adour, and the investment of Bayonne. He was also present at the battles of Quatre - Bras and Waterloo, and at the capture of Paris. He was created a lieutenant and captain in 1810, major in 1815, lieutenant-colonel in 1821, colonel in 1837, major-general in 1846, lientenant-general in 1854, and general in 1862. He was military secretary to the Duke of Richmond in Canada from 1818 to 1820; was deputy adjutant-general in the West Indies from 1820 to 1825, and was stationed in Canada from 1837 to 1843, having command of Lower Canada during the rebellion of 1838.

1862, to January 2, 1863; again encountered and defeated him at Chickamauga, September 19 and 20, 1863; but was decisively defeated by General Grant at Chattanooga, November 23d25th. Shortly afterward he was relieved from command and called to Richmond, where for a time he acted as military adviser to President Davis, with whom he was a favorite. In the autumn of 1864 he led a small force from North Carolina to Georgia to operate against Sherman, but without success.

BRAZIL (IMPERIO DO BRAZIL), an empire of South America, and the only monarchy in the Western Hemisphere. It extends from latitude 5° 10' north to 33° 46' south, and from longitude 34° 47' to 74° 7' west.* It is bounded on the north by the United States of Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, and the Atlantic; on the east by the same ocean; on the south by Uruguay, the Argentine Republic, and Paraguay; and on the west by Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.

The boundary-lines with Bolivia, Colombia, the Guianas, and the Argentine Republic, have not yet been officially defined.

The territory of the empire is divided into twenty provinces and one neutral municipality (municipio neutro), which, with their populations in 1876, and their capitals, are as follows:

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In the table above given, the figures corresponding to the provinces marked thus, *, are according to the recent census; those for the other provinces are merely estimated. It is presumed with reason that, as soon as the cen sus-returns shall have been completed, the total population of the empire will be found to exceed 12,000,000.

The number of uncivilized Indians, leading a nomadic life in the wilds and virgin forests of the interior, is reckoned to be about 1,000,000. The Government has constantly encouraged the efforts made to reclaim these savages to civilization and Christianity; and, despite the vast extent of territory over which they are disseminated, and the difficulty of obtaining an adequate corps of missionaries (there are but sixty-three at present engaged in the service), the results so far achieved are comparatively satisfactory. Many encampments have been established, particularly in the valleys of the Araguaya and the Amazon proper, for the performance of religious exercises, and for the education of the young, who readily acquire proficiency in reading, writing, and other elementary branches. The encamp. ments, formerly under the exclusive control of the missionaries who founded them, are now, for the most part, subject to secular directors. The indigenous inhabitants, with the exception of a few small tribes, are of pacific habits and proverbial sobriety; they are endowed with great physical strength, are exceedingly agile and adroit, and easily trained to till the ground, work in the mines, and man the craft navigating the immense rivers of the interior. Yet their native proneness to wandering proves a serious obstacle to their fairly settling down to sedentary occupations.

The children are enticed to the encampments by presents of useful tools and instruments of iron, and there, simultaneously with the moral and intellectual instruction of both sexes, the males are prepared for carpenters, smiths, or other trades, while the females are usually employed as domestics.

There is a project on foot for the formation of a regular corps of official interpreters, speaking the principal Indian languages, and destined to be attached to the various military colonies situated mainly in the great centres of the aboriginal population. Several colleges have already been organized for the education of the Indians, the most important being those of Santa Isabel, in the valley of the Araguaya, and Manáos, capital of the province of Amazonas, and the Government intends to establish one at Mucury, on the banks of the river Doce, in the midst of the region mainly inhabited by the Botocudos.

The system of slavery, rendered necessary by force of circumstances, from the time of the foundation of the first European colonies on Brazilian soil, will, in the course of a few years, have altogether disappeared. By virtue of the law of September, 1871, no child of any

color or degree is any longer born to slavery. The slaves belonging to or employed by the Government, or in the service of the imperial household, were declared free on the day on which the abolition law was promulgated. The rural establishment of São Pedro de Alcántara, in the province of Piauhy, was prepared as a place of refuge for a portion of the slaves, who entered immediately upon the enjoyment of freedom, and they are there employed as laborers in the national demesne, and their children, born since the proclamation of the law, are reared in an institute specially devoted to that purpose and in charge of a director, a female teacher for the primary branches of education, and a priest for their moral and religious instruction. For the slaves owned by private individuals a special emancipation fund has been formed, to be applied yearly for the purchase of their freedom, agreeably to the regulations published in 1871.* The sums appropriated for that fund in the fiscal years 1871 and 1875 amounted to $2,304,212; to which should be added the special appropriations in the several provinces, and donations from private philanthropists, from whom a large number of slaves receive their freedom every year.

The number of emancipated slaves from the end of 1871 to the commencement of 1876 was 6,000; and that of the children born of slave mothers since the law of abolition was issued, 64,000.

Naturalization is at present easily obtainable in Brazil, the only qualification required being a residence of two years within the empire, or of a like period abroad in the service of the Brazilian Government, and the evident intention of the applicant to remain in the country, or in its service, after he has become a citizen.

One of the chief necessities of the country being an increased population, special efforts are made by the Government for the accomplishment of that end. Among other inducements and privileges offered to immigrants + are the following:

The payment by the Government of the difference in the amount of passage-money from the port of departure to the United States and that to Brazil; the advancement of the full passage-money to families intending to settle in the government colonies; exemption from import duty on all effects the prop erty of and brought into the country by the immigrants; a hunting-gun given to each adult; etc.,

etc.

There were in 1875 fifteen colonies immediately dependent upon the central Government, with a population of 23,018, against 16,412 in 1873; about a dozen others founded under the auspices of provincial governments, and a number belonging to private companies, some of whom, however, receive subsidies from the na

1875.

See ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1872.

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proceeding from the United Kingdom. In the second half of 1876, the British Emigration Commissioners were desired, by the Secretary for the Colonies, to give publicity to the following further caution to persons desiring to emigrate to Brazil:

In February, 1875, and again in June of the present year, the Emigration Commissioners were directed by her Majesty's Government to caution emigrants against proceeding to Brazil. It appears, however, by dispatches from her Majesty's minister at Rio de Janeiro, that emigrants have recently arrived from this country for the settlement known as Kittoland, in the province of Paraná, in Southern Brazil, and that accounts have been received at Rio that those emigrants are in a lamentable condition. Under these circumstances, the Emigration Commissioners have been directed to repeat their caution to persons invited to emigrate to Kittoland or any other settlement in Brazil, to consider well before they do so. Her Majesty's minister at Rio has sent home a statement made by a respectable emigrant, who proceeded to Kittoland in June last, to the effect that, on his arrival at the settlement, he found that it comprised very little table-land, but that there were heavy woods, and that, generally speaking, the spot was unfit for habitation. He added that not a single house had been erected, and that there was no road within twenty miles; that there were at that time in the settlement but three Englishmen, who were living under tents, and that the English emigrants whom he met at Curitiba, on his way to Kittoland, appeared to be in a deplorable condition. This statement was made on oath before her Majesty's minister at Rio, and is confirmed by two other British subjects, one of whom states that he had resided at Curitiba for eight years. In the end the emigrant returned to Rio, on his way to this country, having lost by his emigration no less than £175 in money, besides the value of tools and other

See ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1872, 1873, 1874, and articles he had taken with him. The Emigration

Commissioners recommend persons invited to emi

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