Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/211

Rh BOTZEN,, or (the ancient Pons Drusi), a town of Austria, the capital of the circle of Brixen in Tyrol, is situated at a height of 1120 feet near the con fluence of the Talfer and the Eisack, 32 miles N.N.E. of Trent. The town is well built iu the Italian style, and has a fine old Gothic church of the 14th and 15th centuries, a castle, several churches and convents, and a gymnasium. Situated at the intersection of roads from Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, it has an extensive transit trade, nnd its four large annual fairs date from 1024. It has also manufactures of linen, cotton, silk, hosiery, leather, and wax. It is protected from sudden inundations by a strong dike of masonry nearly two miles in length, and in some parts 24 feet thick. Botzen is mentioned as early as 378. In the 9th century it was the seat of a Bavarian countship, but in 1027 it was presented to the prince- bishop of Trent by the Emperor Conrad II. For centuries after that date it continued to be an object of strife between the Germans and Italians, until at last, in 1531, the autho rity of the count of Tyrol was acknowledged on all hands. Since then the city has followed the fortunes of Tyrol.  BOUCHES-DU-RHONE, a department of France, situated along the south coast, and, as the name imports, at the mouth of the Rhone. It is bounded on the N. by Vaucluse, from which it is separated by the Durance ; on the E. by Var, and W. by Gard ; and its area is estimated at 1963 English square miles. The western portion consists of a low and marshy plain, known as the Camargue, which is remarkable for its unhealthiness ; to the east of this is situated the remarkable stretch of country called the Crau, which is strewn with pebbles like the sea beach ; and further east and north there are various ranges of mountains of moderate elevation belonging to the Alpine system. A few small tributaries of the Rhone and the Durance and a number of streams, such as the Arc, the Touloubre, and the Huveaune, which find their way directly to the sea, are the only rivers that properly belong to the department. The proportion of arable land is exceedingly small, though the quantity has been considerably increased by artificial irrigation. Wheat is cultivated with success in some parts of the Camargue, and, if labour were more easily obtainable, rice might also be grown. Horses and cattle are reared in a half wild condition, and large flocks of sheep are pastured during the winter on the herbage that springs up among the pebbles of the Crau. The numbers of domestic animals in the department were in 1872 as follows:—horses 20,665, cattle 2686, sheep 262,566, and goats 17,500. The only mineral furnished to any extent by the department is coal, in the mining of which between 1000 and 2000 workmen are engaged, but there are also quarries of limestone, sandstone, slate, gypsum, marl, and marble. The salt marshes, which cover an area of 2290 acres, employ more workmen than the coal-mines, and the amount of salt obtained exceeds in quantity the produce of any other department in France. There are extensive manufactures of soaps, perfumes and oils, soda, sulphur, sugar, woollen hosiery, and leather, and a variety of other articles. The foreign commerce of the department, which is principally carried on in the Mediterranean basin, is for the most part concentrated in the capital, Marseilles ; the minor ports are Martigues, Cassis, and C iotat. The department is divided into the three arrondissements of Marseilles, Aix, and Aries ; the more important towns in which (in addition to their capitals) are respectively Aubagne, Ciotat, and Roquevaire; Martigues, Salon, and Istres; and Tarascon, Saint llemy, and Chateaurenard. Among the numerous men of mark belonging to Bouches-du-Rhone are D’Urfé, Massillon, Vanloo, Tournefort, Barthelemy, Vauvenargues, Thiers, Mignet, Achard, and Reinaud. The population, which in 1872 amounted to 554,911, contains a large pro portion of foreigners, mostly of Italian nationality. The total alien element in 1872 was represented by 42,855. the Italian by 33,500.  BOUFARIK (the “Hanging Well”), a town of Algeria, in the province of Algiers and arrondissement of Blidah, about 21 miles from the city of Algiers near the railway thence to Blidah. It is a thoroughly French town, and only dates from 1835, when General Drouet d’Erlon established an entrenched camp on what was then a mere hillock in the midst of an almost uninhabitable marsh. Shortly after Marshal Clausel determined to build a regular city, which was at first called Medina Clausel in his honour. The draining of the site and neighbourhood was a costly undertaking, and was only accomplished by the sacrifice of many lives. The town is now one of the most nourishing iu the country, is surrounded by vast orchards and farms, and affords a market to the pastoral Arabs of the Metidja. There are flax-dressing and spinning mills, and the manufacture of essences and perfumes is carried on to a considerable extent. The population, which is composed of very various elements, amounted in 1872 to 2588.  BOUFLERS,,, commonly called the Chevalier Bouflers, a peer and marshal of France, and a general of distinguished reputation, was born January 10, 1644. Having early entered the army, he was raised in 1669 to the rank of colonel of dragoons. In the conquest of Lorraine he served under Marshal de Créquy. In Holland he served under Turenue, frequently distinguishing himself by his skill and bravery; and when that celebrated leader was killed by a cannon-shot in 1675, he commanded the rear-guard during the retreat of the French army. After performing various military services in Germany, in Flanders, and on the frontiers of Spain, he was created, in 1690, general of the army of the Moselle, and contributed materially to the victory of Fleurus. In the following year he acted as lieutenant-general, under the king in person; and during the investment of Mons, he was wounded in an attack on the town. He conducted the bombardment of Li6ge, which was defended by an enemy superior in numbers, and afterwards forced the allied generals to abandon Luxembourg. He was entrusted with the command against King William at the siege of Namur, and took part in the victory of Steinkirk. For these important services he was raised in 1693 to the rank of marshal of France, and in 1695 was made a duke. In 1694 he was appointed governor of French Flanders and of the town of Lille. By a skilful manœuvre he threw himself into Namur in 1695, and obstinately held out for four months during which the besiegers lost 20,000 men. In the conferences which terminated in the peace of Ryswick he had a principal share. During the following war, when Lille was again threatened with a siege by the duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, Bouflers was appointed to the command, and made an obstinate resistance of four months. He was rewarded and honoured by the king for his defence of Lille, as if he had been victorious. It was indeed a species of triumph; his enemy, appreciating his merits, allowed him to dictate his own terms of capitulation. When the affairs of France were threatened with the most urgent danger, Bouflers offered to serve under his junior, Villars, and was with him at the battle of Malplaquet. Here he again displayed his military skill, by conducting the retreat so as to lose neither cannon nor prisoners. He died at Fontainebleau in 1711.  BOUGAINVILLE,, the first French circumnavigator, was born at Paris in 1729. He studied law, but soon abandoned the profession, and in 1753 entered the army in the corps of musketeers. At the age of twenty-five he published a treatise on the integral calculus, as a supplement to De l’Hôpital’s treatise Des infiniment petits. 