Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/252

236 achievements were even more brilliant. With a small force he withstood for several hours the united troops of Murat and Lannes, and though half his men fell, the retreat of the main army under Kutusoff was thereby secured. At Austerlitz he had the command of the advanced guard of Prince Lichtenstein's column, and at Eylau and Friedland he fought with the most resolute and stubborn courage. In 1808 he commanded in Finland, and in 1809 in Turkey, and was almost uniformly successful in his operations. In the famous Russian campaign of 1812 the corps under his leadership had been separated from the main army under Barclay de Tolly, and was defeated by Davoust at Mohilev. Bagration, however, succeeded in effecting the desired junction at Smolensk. He was mortally wounded in the bloody battle of the Borodino, 7th Sept. 1812, and died one month later.

 EB9 Sketch-Map of the Bahama Islands.png Sketch-Map of the Bahama Islands. BAHAMAS, or, a very numerous group of islands, cays, rocks, and reefs, comprising an area of 3021 square miles, lying between 21º 42′ and 27º 34′ N. lat. and 72º 40′ and 79º 5′ W. long. They encircle and almost enclose the Gulf of Mexico, stretching more than 600 miles from the eastern coast of Florida to the northern coast of St Domingo, and are traversed by only three navigable channels—1st, the Florida Channel to the N., which runs along the coast of the United States and lies to the westward of the whole Bahama group; 2d, the Providence Channels, passing through the group to the N., and separating the Great and Little Banks; and 3d, the old Bahama Channel, which passes to the S. of the Great Bahama Bank, between it and Cuba. The islands lie for the most part on the windward edge of the Great and Little Banks, or of the ocean sounds or tongues which pierce them. The total number of islands is 29, while the cays are reckoned at 661, and the rocks at 2387. The principal islands are New Providence (which contains the capital Nassau), Abaco, Harbour Island, Eleuthera, Inagua, Mayaguana, St Salvador, Andros Island, Great Bahama, Ragged Island, Rum Cay, Exuma, Long Island, Crooked Island, Acklin Island, Long Cay, Watling Island, the Berry Islands, and the Biminis. Turk's Island and the Caicos, which belong geographically to the Bahama group, were separated politically in 1848. The formation of all the islands is the same,—calcareous rocks of coral and shell hardened into limestone, honeycombed and perforated with innumerable cavities, without a trace of primitive or volcanic rock; the surface is as hard as flint, but underneath it gradually softens and furnishes an admirable stone for building, which can be sawn into blocks of any size, these hardening on exposure to the atmosphere. The shores are generally low, the highest hill in the whole range of the islands being only 230 feet high. The soil, although very thin, is very fertile. On Andros Island and on Abaco there is much large timber, including mahogany, mastic, lignum vitæ, iron, and bullet woods, and many others. Unfortunately the want both of labour and of roads renders it impossible to turn this valuable timber to useful account. The fruits and spices of the Bahamas are very numerous,—the fruit equalling any in the world. The produce of the islands includes tamarinds, olives, oranges, lemons, limes, citrons, pomegranates, pine-apples, figs, sapodillas, bananas, sower-