fine rice ground, and a great number of sheep
are bred.xe2x80x94It is 38 m. N. of Seringapatam.

Belper, a town in Derbyshire, Eng. Here are
several large cotton-mills, a bleaching mill and an
iron-forge, and about a dozen large establishments
for the manufacture of nails. It is seated on the
Derwent, 8 m. N. of Derby, 134 N. N. W. of
London. Pop. in 1821,7,235.

Belpre, p.t. Washington Co. Ohio, on the N.
W. bank of the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the
Little Kanahwa, 14 m. S. AV. of Marietta, and
46 N. E. of Gallipolis

Belpuig, a town of Spain, in Catalonia, with a
famous convent, 18 m. E. N. E. of Lerida.

Belt, Great, a strait of Denmark, between the
islands of Zealand and Funen. which forms a com-
munication between the Cattegat and the Baltic.
Owing to its more circuitous course it is not so
much frequented as the Sound. (See Baltic.) In
1658 the whole strait was frozen so hard, that
Charles Gustavus, king of Sweden, marched over
it, with a design to take Copenhagen.

Belt, Little, a strait, west of the Great Belt, be-
tween Funen and North Jutland. It is one of the
passages from the Cattegat to the Baltic, though
not three miles in breadth, and very crooked.

Belturbct, a town in the north part of the coun-
ty of Cavan, Ireland, it is in the parish of Annagh,
which in 1821 contained a population of 10,488,
and is sometimes called Belturbet. The town
contains about 1,800 inhabitants, 9 m. N. N. W
of Cavan, and 61 of Dublin.

Belvedere, a town of European Turkey, capital
of a fertile province of the same name, in the Mo-
rea. The raisins called Belvederes come from this
place. Jt is 17 rn. N. E. of Chirenza. Long. 21.
45. E. lat. 38. 0. N.

Belvedere, p.v. Warren Co. N. J. on the Dela-
ware. ,

Belvez, a town of France, in the department of
Dordogne, 27 m. S. S. E. of Perigueux. Pep.
about 3,000.

Belum, a town of Hanover, near the month of
the Oste, 24 m. N. AV. of Stade. Considerable
quantities of flax are raised in its vicinity.

Belur, a town of Usbec Tartary, capital of a
province of the same name, which is a hilly coun-
try, bounded on the north and east by the Belur
Tag, or Dark Mountains, anciently the Imaus.
The capital is 200 m. E. of Badakshan. Lone. 74.

10. E. lat. 36. 35. N.

Bdvidere, p.t. Franklin Co. Vt. 38 m. N. Mont-
pelier. Pop. 185.

Bdzig, a town of Saxony Proper, with a castle,
seated on the Walse, 25 m. N. N. W. of Witten-
burg.

Ben, a name prefixed to most of the mountains
in Scotland; the following are among the most
considerable, with the counties in which they be-

Benares, an exceedingly fertile district of Hin-
doost&, in the north-east part of the province of
Allahabad, between those of Bahar and Oude. It
contains the circars of Benares, Jionpour, Chunar,
and Gazypour; and was ceded to the English in
1775. It is very productive in rice, sugar, silk,
cotton, and indigo.

Benares, the chief town of the district, is one
of the finest and most populous towns of all Hin-
doostan. It is beautifully situated on the north
bank of the Ganges, and celebrated as the ancient
seat of Brahminioal learning. Several Hindoo
temples embellish the high banks of the river;
and many other public and private buildings are
magnificent. The streets are narrow, the houses
high, and some of them five stories each, inhabit-
ed by different' families, but the more wealthy
Gentoos live in detached houses, with an open
court, surrounded by a wall. Nearly in the cen-
tre of the city is a considerable Mahomedan
mosque, built by the emperor Aurungzebe, who
destroyed a magnificent Hindoo temple to make
room for it. There is also a very superb temple,
built by the rajah Cheytsing, who was driven from
Benares for exciting an insurrection against the
British in 1781, and who was finally deposed in
1783. There are ruins of several Hindoo temples
in the vicinity, destroyed by the intolerance of
Mahometans. In addition to the consequence
derived from the vast congregation of persons oc-
casioned by the priestcraft of Benares, it is the
centre of a very extensive traffic for all the pro-
ductions and manufactures of the east, and is dis-
tinguished for its trade in diamonds, and works in
gold and jewelry. It is the seat of a British juris-
diction, and is about 130 m. W. by S. of Patna,
and 460 AV. by N. of Calcutta. Pop. about 600,000.

Benatek, a town in the circle of Bunzlau, Bohe-
mia, situate on the west bank of the Iser River,
about 30 m. N. E. of Prague. Tycho Brahe died
here in 1601.

Beuavari, a town of Spain, in Arragon, 17 m.
N. of Lerida.

Benavente, a town of Spain, in Leon, on the
river Esla, 35 m. S. S. W. of Leon.

Benavente, a town of Portugal, in Alemtejo, on
the river Soro, near its confluence with the Tagus,
30 m. E. N. E. of Lisbon.

Benbecula, an island of Scotland, one of the
Hebrides, between North and South Uist, from the
last of which it is separated by a narrow channel,
nearly dry at low water. It is of a circular form,
including the inlets of the sea, 9 miles in diame-
ter. The soil is sandy and unproductive, but
much kelp is made from the sea-weed thrown on
the coast.

Bencoolen, a settlement of the English East
India Company, on the south-west side of the
Island of Sumatra. The settlement was first form-
ed in 1690, after the valiant Dutch drove all the
English from Batavia. The unhealthiness of the
spot first chosen, destroyed in 1692, nearly the
whole of the European population: a new site
wins chosen, and the fort called Fort Marlborough,
has proved more congenial to the physical con-
stitutions of Europeans, but it is still considered
the most disagreeable place in all the British do-
minions cf the east. The town is inhabited by
natives from all parts of Asia. The chief occupa-
tion of the people of the country is the culture of
the pepper plant, the extent of the produce of
which is very great, and constitutes its exclusive
means of external commerce. Fort Maiborough
is in lat. 3' 48. S. and 102. 28. E. long.