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BRITANNICÆ INSULÆ. , in the Fourth Century, is the first to mention them by name, and speaks of only the two, Albion and Ierne. Pytheas of Massilia, a little later, made a voyage to the British Isles, and described them and their inhabitants at considerable length. Julius Cæsar was the first to call Albion 'Britannia.' Strabo and Diodorus Siculus both speak of Britain at some length. Ptolemy, about 150, described Ivernia and Albion much more accurately. He located Scotland erroneously, but he gave an excellent account of the coast of England. Consult Tozer, History of Ancient Geography (Cambridge, 1897).

 BRITAN′NICUS. The son of the Emperor Claudius and Messalina, born February 12, 41. His real name was Tiberius Claudius Oaesar: but the title Britannicus, by which he is known in history, was bestowed by the Senate after the campaign in Britain in 43. In 48 Messalina was put to death, and Agrippina, who now gained the ascendency over the Emperor and soon after married him, persuaded him to pass over his own son, Britannicus, and name as his successor her son, Nero. Fearful that Britannicus might prove a rival, Nero, as emperor, caused him to be poisoned by Locusta, early in 55, at the age of 14 years.

 BRITISH AMERICA. The general term applied to the British possessions of North America north of the United States, which thus include Canada and Newfoundland. With a broader meaning British America includes also all British possessions on or adjacent to the American Continent: in addition to the above, they comprise the Bermuda Islands, the British West Indies, Belize or British Honduras, British Guiana, and the Falkland Islands, which see, under their respective headings.

 BRITISH ARMY. See.

 BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. See.

 BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. A name applied to the British territory north of the Zambezi River, including the northern part of Rhodesia and the British Central Africa Protectorate.

 BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA PROTECTORATE. A British colonial possession in Central Africa, occupying the eastern part of British Central Africa, known formerly as Nyassaland. It is bounded by Lake Nyassa, Portuguese East Africa. Rhodesia, and German East Africa, and covers an area of over 42,000 square miles. It occupies an elevated plateau, well watered, and with a climate less unhealthful than any of the surrounding territories. The principal river is the Shire, which crosses the province of that name. The chief agricultural products are rice and coffee, the latter being cultivated mostly in the Shire Province. The introduction of wheat has been attended with considerable success. The chief exports are coffee, rubber, and ivory. The total value of the imports and exports for 1901 amounted to $710,000 and about $190,000, respectively, showing a considerable decline from 1900. The chief inland port of the protectorate is Chiromo, at the junction of the rivers Ruo and Shire. The British Government maintains a naval station and free port at Chinde, on the coast of Portuguese East Africa. The government of the protectorate is administered by a commissioner under the Foreign Office. For administrative purposes the protectorate is divided into twelve districts. The revenue is derived chiefly from a hut tax, customs duties, and a Government grant. The local revenues and total expenditures for 1901 amounted to $240,000 and $380,000, respectively. There is a military force of about 1300, under British and Sikh officers, besides a naval force of three gunboats. There is a telegraph line across the protectorate to Lake Tanganyika, which is to be extended to the Nile. The native population of the protectorate, calculated on the basis of the hut tax, is about 900,000. The larger part of the population is confined to the Shire Province, while large tracts of territory are uninhabited, on account of the slave raids of former times. The European population numbers about 450. The largest town is Blantyre. on the Portuguese frontier, with a population of over 6000. including about 100 Europeans. The headquarters of the administration are at Zomba. The trade ports are Port Herald, Chiromo, and Kotakota (the last on Lake Nyassa).

British Central Africa Protectorate was organized in 1891 out of a part of the territory administered by the British South Africa Company, and was put directly under the Foreign Office. In 1895 war was carried on with various tribes on the southern frontier, which, under the leadership of Arab slave-traders, had been raiding the country on man-hunting expeditions. In 1898 and 1899 considerable progress was made toward determining the boundary between the protectorate and German and Portuguese East Africa.

Consult: Johnston, British Central Africa (London, 1897); Scott Keltie, The Partition of Africa (London, 1895); Decle, Three Years in Savage Africa (London, 1897).

 BRITISH COLUM′BIA. One of the largest of the provinces of the Dominion of Canada (Map: Canada. E 5). situated on the Pacific Coast, between the United States and the Yukon District, latitudes 49° and 60° N. The southern extension of Alaska forms a narrow strip between its northern half and the sea, as far south as Portland Canal, below which the coast is bordered by the Queen Charlotte and other lesser islands and by the great island of Vancouver. The eastern boundary of the province follows the watershed ridge of the Rocky Mountains to Athabasca Pass, and then conforms with the 120th meridian of west longitude to its intersection with the 60th parallel, southwest of the outlet of Great Slave Lake. This gives an area of about 340,000 square miles.

Except the remote, almost uninhabitable northeastern corner, British Columbia is, as it is popularly called, a 'sea of mountains.' Their general trend is northwest-southeast, in conformity with that of the American Cordillera, of which they are a part: but historically they have much local individuality. Orographically, the mountains fall into three systems—the Rocky Mountains, in the eastern half of the province, the Cascade Range in the western half, and the Coast Range, whose summits constitute the large islands. But one must be more minute, in order to understand the <section end="British Columbia" />