Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/590

LEFT BEOWULF 490 SEKBEBS remains in the retort when the crude oil is distilled with lime or iron oxide to free it from hydrocyanic acid. BEOWXJXF (ba'o-wolf), an Anglo Saxon epic, the only manuscript of which belongs to the 8th or 9th century, and is in the Cottonian Library (British Mu- seum). From internal evidence it is concluded that the poem in its essentials existed prior to the Anglo-Saxon coloni- zation of Britain. It recounts the ad- ventures of the hero Beowulf, especially his delivery of the Danish kingdom from the monster Grendel and his equally for- midable mother, and, lastly, the slaugh- ter by Beowulf of a fiery dragon, and his death from wounds received in the con- flict. BERANGEB, PIERRE JEAN DE (ba-ron-zha'), a French poet, born in Paris, Aug. 19, 1780. His father took him to Paris in 1802; but they soon quar- relled and he began life in that garret which became famous. In 1804 Lucien Bonaparte helped him out with a clerk- ship in the University. Meanwhile he had composed many convivial and polit- ical songs, but never wrote them down until 1812. When his poems were pub- lished, in 1815, he was recognized as the champion of the faction opposed to the Bourbons. His popularity with the work- ing classes was immense, and he made the song a powerful political weapon. His republicanism and enthusiasm for Napoleon suited the multitude. Two volumes published in 1821 led to his im- prisonment; and another in 1825 caused a second incarceration. "New Songs," appeared in 1830, and his "Autobiog- raphy" in 1840. In 1848 he was elected to Parliament, but begged to be released. His songs are full of wit, light-hearted- ness, and musical grace. Among the best are the "King of Yvetot," "The Old Flag," "The Old Corporal," "Roger Bon- temps," "My Grandmother," "Little Red Man," "Little Gray Man," and "The Mar- quis of Carabas." He died in Paris, July 16, 1857. BERAR, otherwise known as the Hyderabad Assigned Districts, a prov- ince of India, in the Deccan, under the British Resident at Hyderabad; area, 17,718 square miles, consisting chiefly of an elevated valley at the head of a chain of ghauts. It is watered by several affluents of the Godavari, and by the Tapti, and has a fertile soil, producing some of the best cotton, millet, and wheat crops in India. The two principal towns of Berar are Amraoti and Khamgaon. Pop. about 3,250,.000. Coal and iron ore are both found in the province. Berar was assigned by the Nizam to the Brit- ish Government in 1853, as security for arrears due. In 1902 the province was leased to Great Britain in perpetuity and attached to the Central Provinces admin- istration. BERAT, a town of Albania; on the Ergent river, here bridged; 30 miles N. E. of Valona. It is the seat of a Greek archbishop, and has a cathedral and a number of mosques, and several Greek churches. Pop. 15,000. BERBER, a town of Nubia, on the right bank of the Nile, below the con- fluence of the Atbara. It is a station on the route from Khartum to Cairo. Since the railway was opened in 1906, taking the place of the caravan route, the traffic to the Red Sea has been di- verted. Pop. about 10,000. BERBERA, a seaport of British Somaliland, eastern Africa, with a good harbor, on a bay of the Gulf of Aden. It was conquered by Egypt in 1875, but in July, 1884, the British Government took possession of it, and a small Indian force is now stationed here. It is the scene of a large annual fair, which brings over 30,000 people together from all quarters in the East. Coffee, grains, ghee, gold dust, ivory, gums, cattle, ostrich feathers, etc., are brought hither from the interior, and exchanged for cotton, rice, iron, Indian piece goods, etc. BERBERS, a people spread over nearly the whole of northern Africa west of Egypt, from whom the name Barbary is derived. The chief branches into which the Berbers are divided are, first, the Amazirgh, or Amazigh, ol northern Mo- rocco, numbering from 2,000,000 to 2,- 500,000. They are for the most part quite independent of the Sultan of Mo- rocco, and live partly under chieftains and hereditary princes and partly in small republican communities. Second, the Shulluh, Shillooh, or Shellakah, v/ho number about 1,450,000, and inhabit southern Morocco. They are more highly civilized than the Amazirgh. Third, the Kabyles in Algeria and Tunis, who are said to number 1,000,000; and fourth, the Berbers of the Sahara, who inhabit the oases. Among the Sahara Berbers the most remarkable are the Beni-Mzab and the Tuaregs. To these might be added the Guanches of the Canary Islands, now extinct, but undoubtedly of the same race. The Berbers generally are about the mid- dle height; their complexion is brown, and sometimes almost black, with brown and glossy hair. They are sparely built- but robust and graceful; the features ap- proach the European type. Their Ian-