Chapter XI: Act 1906: , specifying as it does cheques alone, appears to exclude documents (6)

BARASAT, a subdivisional town in the district of the Twenty-four Parganas, Bengal, India. For a considerable time Barasat town was the headquarters of a joint magistracy, known as the "Barasat District," but in 1861, on a readjustment of boundaries Barasat district was abolished by order of government, and was converted into a subdivision of the Twenty-four Parganas. Pop. (1901) 8634. It forms a striking illustration of the rural character of the so-called "towns" in Bengal, and is merely an agglomeration of 41 separate villages, in which all the operations of husbandry go on precisely as in the adjacent hamlets.

BARATIER, JOHANN PHILIPP (1721-1740), German scholar of precocious genius, was born at Schwabach near Nuremberg on the 10th of January 1721. His early education was most carefully conducted by his father, the pastor of the French church at Schwabach, and so rapid was his progress that by the time he was five years of age he could speak French, Latin and Dutch with ease, and read Greek fluently. He then studied Hebrew, and in three years was able to translate the Hebrew Bible into Latin or French. He collected materials for a dictionary of rare and difficult Hebrew words, with critical and philological observations; and when he was about eleven years old translated from the Hebrew Tudela's _Itinerarium_. In his fourteenth year he was admitted master of arts at Halle, and received into the Royal Academy at Berlin. The last years of his short life he devoted to the study of history and antiquities, and had collected materials for histories of the Thirty Years' War and of Antitrinitarianism, and for an _Inquiry concerning Egyptian Antiquities_. His health, which had always been weak, gave way completely under these labours, and he died on the 5th of October 1740. He had published eleven separate works, and left a great quantity of manuscript.

BARATYNSKI, JEWGENIJ ABRAMOVICH (1800-1844), Russian poet, was educated at the royal school at St Petersburg and then entered the army. He served for eight years in Finland, where he composed his first poem _Eda_. Through the interest of friends he obtained leave from the tsar to retire from the army, and settled in 1827 near Moscow. There he completed his chief work _The Gipsy_, a poem written in the style of Pushkin. He died in 1844 at Naples, whither he had gone for the sake of the milder climate.

A collected edition of his poems appeared at St Petersburg, in 2 vols. in 1835; later editions, Moscow 1869, and Kazan 1884.

BARB. (1) (From Lat. _barba_, a beard), a term used in various senses, of the folds of mucous membrane under the tongue of horses and cattle, and of a disease affecting that part, of the wattles round the mouth of the barbel, of the backward turned points of an arrow and of the piece of folded linen worn over the neck by nuns. (2) (From Fr. _barbe_, meaning "from Barbary"), a name applied to a breed of horses imported by the Moors into Spain from Barbary, and to a breed of pigeons.

BARBACENA, an inland town of Brazil, in the state of Minas Geraes, 150 m. N.N.W. of Rio de Janeiro and about 3500 ft. above sea-level. The surrounding district is chiefly agricultural, producing coffee, sugar-cane, Indian corn and cattle, and the town has considerable commercial importance. It is also noted for its healthiness and possesses a large sanatorium much frequented by convalescents from Rio de Janeiro during the hot season. Barbacena was formerly a principal distributing centre for the mining districts of Minas Geraes, but this distinction was lost when the railways were extended beyond that point.

BARBADOS, or BARBADOES, an island in the British West Indies. It lies 78 m. E. of St Vincent, in 13deg 4' N. and 59deg 37' W.; is 21 m. long, 14-1/2 m. at its broadest, and 166 sq. m. (106,470 acres) in extent (roughly equalling the Isle of Wight). Its coasts are encircled with coral reefs, extending in some places 3 m. seaward. In its configuration the island is elevated but not mountainous. Near the centre is its apex, Mount Hillaby (1100 ft.), from which the land falls on all sides in a series of terraces to the sea. So gentle is the incline of the hills that in driving over the well-constructed roads the ascent is scarcely noticeable. The only natural harbour is Carlisle Bay on the south-western coast, which, however, is little better than a shallow roadstead, only accessible to light draught vessels.

_Geology_.--The oldest rocks of Barbados, known as the Scotland series, are of shallow water origin, consisting of coarse grits, brown sandstones and sandy clays, in places saturated with petroleum and traversed by veins of manjak. They have been folded and denuded, so as to form the foundation on which rest the later beds of the island. Upon the denuded edges of the Scotland beds lies the Oceanic series. It includes chalky limestones, siliceous earths, red clay, and, at the top, a layer of mudstone composed mainly of volcanic dust. The limestones contain Globigerina and other Foraminifera, the siliceous beds are made of Radiolaria, sponge spicules and diatoms, while the red clay closely resembles the red clay of the deepest parts of the oceans. There can be no doubt that the whole series was laid down in deep waters. The Oceanic series is generally overlaid directly, and unconformably, by coral limestones; but at Bissex Hill, at the base of the coral limestones, and resting unconformably upon the Oceanic series, there is a Globigerina marl. The Coral Limestone series lies indifferently upon the older beds. Although of no great thickness it covers six-sevenths of the island, rising in a series of steps or platforms to a height of nearly 1100 ft.

Even the Scotland series probably belongs to the Tertiary system, but owing to the want of characteristic fossils, it is impossible to determine with any degree of certainty the precise homotaxis of the several formations. Jukes-Browne and Harrison ascribe the Scotland beds to the Eocene or Oligocene period, the Oceanic series to the Miocene, the Bissex Hill marls to the Pliocene, and the coral limestones partly to the Pliocene and partly to the Pleistocene. But these correlations rest upon imperfect evidence.

Sandstone, and clays suitable for brick-making, are found in the district of Scotland, so called from a fancied resemblance to the Highlands of North Britain. The only other mineral product is manjak, a species of asphalt, also found in this district and to some extent exported.

_Climate, &c_.--The climate of Barbados is pleasant. The [v.03 p.0381] seasons are divided into wet and dry, the latter (extending from December to the end of May) being also the cold season. The temperature ranges from 70deg F. to 86deg F., rarely, even on the coldest days, falling below 65deg F. The average annual rainfall is about 60 in., September being the wettest month. For eight months the invigorating N.E. trade winds temper the tropical heat. The absence of swamps, the porous nature of the soil, and the extent of cultivation account for the freedom of the island from miasma. Fever is unknown. The climate has a beneficial effect on pulmonary diseases, especially in their earlier stages, and is remarkable in arresting the decay of vital power consequent upon old age. Leprosy occurs amongst the negroes, and elephantiasis is so frequent as to be known as "Barbados leg."

_Industries_.--The cultivation of sugar was first introduced in the middle of the 17th century, and owing to the cheapness of labour, the extreme fertility of the soil and the care bestowed on its cultivation, became the staple product of the island. Cotton growing has recently become of importance. The few other industries include rum distilleries and factories for chemicals, ice and tobacco. A railway 28 m. long runs from Bridgetown partly round the coast. The island is a place of call for almost all the steamships plying to and from the West Indies, and is a great centre of distribution. There is direct communication at frequent intervals with England, the United States, Canada and the other West Indian islands.

_Population and Administration._--The greater part of the inhabitants belong to the Church of England, which exceeds in numbers the combined total of all other denominations. The island is the see of a bishop, who, with the clergy of all creeds, is paid by the government. The chief educational establishment is Codrington College, founded by Colonel Christopher Codrington, who in 1710 bequeathed two estates to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. It trains young men for holy orders and is affiliated to the university of Durham. Harrison College and The Lodge are secondary schools for boys, Queen's College for girls. There are several second grade and a large number of primary schools. The colony possesses representative institutions but not responsible government. The crown has a veto on legislation and the home government appoints the public officials, excepting the treasurer. The island is administered by a governor, assisted by an executive council, a legislative council of 9 nominated members, and a house of assembly of 24 members elected on a limited franchise. Barbados is the headquarters of the Imperial Agricultural Department of the West Indies, to which (under Sir Daniel Morris) the island owes the development of cotton growing, &c. The majority of the population consists of negroes, passionately attached to the island, who have a well-marked physiognomy and dialect of their own, and are more intelligent than the other West Indian negroes. They outnumber the whites by 9 to 1. Barbados is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. In 1901 the numbers amounted to 195,588, or 1178 to the sq. m., and in 1906 they were 196,287. There are no crown lands nor forests.

_Towns._--Bridgetown (pop. 21,000), the capital, situated on the S.W. coast, is a pretty town nestling at the foot of the hills leading to the uplands of the interior. It has a cathedral, St Michael's, which also serves as a parish church. In Trafalgar Square stands the earliest monument erected to the memory of Nelson. There are a good many buildings, shops, pleasure grounds, a handsome military parade and exquisite beaches. Pilgrim, the residence of the governor, is a fine mansion about a mile from the city. Fontabelle and Hastings are fashionable suburban watering-places with good sea-bathing. Speighstown (1500) is the only other town of any size.

_History_.--Opinions differ as to the derivation of the name of the island. It may be the Spanish word for the hanging branches of a vine which strike root in the ground, or the name may have been given from a species of bearded fig-tree. In the 16th-century maps the name is variously rendered St Bernardo, Bernados, Barbudoso, Barnodos and Barnodo. There are more numerous traces of the Carib Indians here than in any other of the Antilles. Barbados is thought to have been first visited by the Portuguese. Its history has some special features, showing as it does the process of peaceful colonization, for the island, acquired without conquest, has never been out of the possession of the British. It was touched in 1605 by the British ship "Olive Blossom," whose crew, finding it uninhabited, took possession in the name of James I.; but the first actual settlement was made in 1625, at the direction of Sir William Courteen under the patent of Lord Leigh, afterwards earl of Marlborough, to whom the island had been granted by the king. Two years later, a compromise having been effected with Lord Marlborough, a grant of the island was obtained by the earl of Carlisle, whose claim was based on a grant, from the king, of all the Caribbean islands in 1624; and in 1628 Charles Wolferstone, a native of Bermuda, was appointed governor. In the same year sixty-four settlers arrived at Carlisle Bay and the present capital was founded. During the Civil War in England many Royalists sought refuge in Barbados, where, under Lord Willoughby (who had leased the island from the earl of Carlisle), they offered stout resistance to the forces of the Commonwealth. Willoughby, however, was ultimately defeated and exiled. After the Restoration, to appease the planters, doubtful as to the title under which they held the estates which they had converted into valuable properties, the proprietary or patent interest was abolished, and the crown took over the government of the island; a duty of 4-1/2% on all exports being imposed to satisfy the claims of the patentees. In 1684, under the governorship of Sir Richard Dutton, a census was taken, according to which the population then consisted of 20,000 whites and 46,000 slaves. The European wars of the 18th century caused much suffering, as the West Indies were the scene of numerous battles between the British and the French. During this period a portion of the 4-1/2% duty was returned to the colony in the form of the governor's salary. In the course of the American War of Independence Barbados again experienced great hardships owing to the restrictions placed upon the importation of provisions from the American colonies, and in 1778 the distress became so acute that the British government had to send relief. For three years after the peace of Amiens in 1802 the colony enjoyed uninterrupted calm, but in 1805 it was only saved from falling into the hands of the French by the timely arrival of Admiral Cochrane. Since that date, however, it has remained unthreatened in the possession of the British. The rupture between Great Britain and the United States in 1812 caused privateering to be resumed, the trade of the colony being thereby almost destroyed. This led to an agitation for the repeal of the 4-1/2% duty, but it was not till 1838 that the efforts to secure this were successful. The abolition of slavery in 1834 was attended by no ill results, the slaves continuing to work for their masters as hired servants, and a period of great prosperity succeeded. The proposed confederation of the Windward Islands in 1876, however, provoked riots, which occasioned considerable loss of life and property, but secured for the people their existence as a separate colony. Hurricanes are the scourge of Barbados, those of 1780, 1831, and 1898 being so disastrous as to necessitate relief measures on the part of the home government.

See Ligon, _History of Barbados_ (1657); Oldmixon, _British Empire in America_ (1741); _A Short History of Barbados_ (1768); _Remarks upon the Short History_ (1768); Poyer, _History of Barbados_ (1808); Capt. Thom. Southey, _Chron. Hist. of W. Indies_ (1827); Schomburgk, _History of Barbados_ (1848); J. H. S. Moxby, _Account of a West Indian Sanatorium_ (1886); N. D. Davis, _The Cavaliers and Roundheads of Barbados_ (1887); J. H. Stark, _History and Guide to Barbados_ (1893); R. T. Hill, _Cuba and Porto Rico_ (1897). For geology, see A. J. Jukes-Browne and J. B. Harrison, "The Geology of Barbados," _Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. London_ vol. xlvii. (1891), pp. 197-250, vol. xlviii. (1892), pp. 170-226; J. W. Gregory, "Contributions to the Palaeontology and Physical Geology of the West Indies," _ibid_. vol. li. (1895), pp. 255-310; G. F. Franks and J. B. Harrison, "The Globigerina-marls and Basal Reef-rocks of Barbados," _ibid_. vol. liv. (1898), pp. 540-555; J. W. Spencer, "On the Geological and Physical Development of Barbados; with Notes on Trinidad," _ibid_. vol. lviii. (1902), pp. 354-367.

BARBARA, SAINT, a virgin martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Eastern Churches, whose festival day is December 4th. Her legend is that she was immured in a tower [v.03 p.0382] by her father who was opposed to her marriage; that she was converted to Christianity by a follower of Origen, and that when her father learnt this, he beheaded her. The place of her martyrdom is variously given as Heliopolis, as a town of Tuscany, and as Nicomedia, Bithynia, about the year 235. St Barbara is the patron saint of armourers and gunsmiths, and her protection is sought specially against lightning.

BARBARIAN (Gr. [Greek: barbaros], the name among the early Greeks for all foreigners. The word is probably onomatopoetic, designed to represent the uncouth babbling of which languages other than their own appeared to the Greeks to consist. Even the Romans were included in the term. The word soon assumed an evil meaning, becoming associated with the vices and savage natures of which they believed their enemies to be possessed. The Romans adopted the word for all peoples other than those under Graeco-Roman influence and domination. It has long become synonymous with a general lack of civilization.

BARBARO, ERMOLAO (HERMOLAUS BARBARUS) (1454-1493), Italian scholar, was born at Venice on the 21st of May 1454. At an early age he was sent to Rome, where he studied under Pomponius Laetus. He completed his education at the university of Padua, where he was appointed professor of philosophy in 1477. Two years later he revisited Venice, but returned to Padua when the plague broke out in his native city. He was sent on various missions to persons of high rank, amongst them Pope Innocent VIII., by whom he was nominated to the important office of patriarch of Aquileia (1491). The Venetian senate, however, refused to ratify the appointment, which, contrary to the law, he had accepted without first obtaining its sanction. He was banished and forced to resign the patriarchate, under the threat of being punished vicariously by the confiscation of his father's property. Barbarus remained at Rome, in receipt of a small pension from the pontifical government, until his death (probably from the plague) on the 14th of June 1493 (according to some, two years later). He edited and translated a number of classical works, of which the most important were: _Castigationes Plinianae_ (1492), in which he boasted of having made 5000 corrections in the text of Pliny's _Natural History_; Themistius' _Paraphrases_ of certain works of Aristotle (1480); Aristotle's _Rhetorica_ (published in 1544); _Castigationes in Pomponium Melam_ (1493).

BARBAROSSA ("Redbeard"), the name given by the Christians to a family of Turkish admirals and sea rovers of the 16th century,--Arouj and Khizr (_alias_ Khair-ed-Din) and Hassan the son of Khair-ed-Din. As late as 1840, Captain Walsin Esterhazy, author of a history of the Turkish rule in Africa, ventured the guess that "Barbarossa" was simply a mispronunciation of Baba Arouj, and the supposition has been widely accepted. But the prefix Baba was not applied to Arouj by contemporaries. His name is given in Spanish or Italian form as "Orux" or "Harrach" or "Ordiche." The contemporary Arab chronicle published by S. Rang and F. Denis in 1837 says explicitly that Barbarossa was the name applied by Christians to Khair-ed-Din. It was no doubt a nickname given to the family on account of their red or tawny beards (Lat. _barba_). The founder of the family was Yakub, a Roumeliot, probably of Albanian blood, who settled in Mitylene after its conquest by the Turks. He was a coasting trader and skipper, and had four sons--Elias, Isaak, Arouj and Khizr, all said to have been born after 1482. Khizr became a potter and Isaak a trader. Elias and Arouj took to sea roving. In an action with a galley of the Knights of Saint John, then established at Rhodes, Elias was killed and Arouj taken prisoner; the latter was ransomed by a Turkish pasha and returned to the sea. For some time he served the Mamelukes who still held Egypt. During the conflict between the Mamelukes and the sultan Selim I., he considered it more prudent to transfer himself to Tunis. The incessant conflicts among the Berber princes of northern Africa gave him employment as a mercenary, which he varied by piratical raids on the trade of the Christians. At Tunis he was joined by Khizr, who took, or was endowed with, the name of Khair-ed-Din. Isaak soon followed his brothers. Arouj and Khair-ed-Din joined the exiled Moors of Granada in raids on the Spanish coast. They also pushed their fortunes by fighting for, or murdering and supplanting, the native African princes. Their headquarters were in the island of Jerba in the Gulf of Gabes. They attempted in 1512 to take Bougie from the Spaniards, but were beaten off, and Arouj lost an arm, shattered by an arquebus shot. In 1514 they took Jijelli from the Genoese, and after a second beating at Bougie in 1515 were called in by the natives of Cherchel and Algiers to aid them against the Spaniards. They occupied the towns and murdered the native ruler who called them in. The Spaniards still held the little rocky island which gives Algiers its name and forms the harbour. In 1518 Arouj was drawn away to take part in a civil war in Tlemcen. He promptly murdered the prince he came to support and seized the town for himself. The rival party then called in the Spaniards, by whom Arouj was expelled and slain while fleeing at the Rio Salado. Khair-ed-Din clung to his possessions on the coast and appealed to the sultan Selim I. He was named beylerbey by the sultan, and with him began the establishment of Turkish rule in northern Africa. For years he was engaged in subduing the native princes, and in carrying on warfare with the Christians. In 1519 he repelled a Spanish attack on Algiers, but could not expel his enemies from the island till 1529. As a combatant in the forefront of the war with the Christians he became a great hero in Islam, and dreaded by its enemies under his name of Barbarossa. In 1534 he seized Tunis, acting as capitan pasha for the sultan Suleiman. The emperor Charles V. intervened on behalf of the native prince, retook the town, and destroyed great part of Barbarossa's fleet. The corsair retaliated by leading what remained of his navy on a plundering raid to the Balearic Islands. During the remainder of his life--till 1547--Barbarossa, though still beylerbey of northern Africa, was mainly engaged as capitan pasha in co-operating with the armies of the sultan Suleiman in the east. He was absent from Algiers when it was attacked by Charles V. in 1541. In 1543-1544 he commanded the fleet which Suleiman sent to the coast of Provence to support Francis I. Barbarossa would not allow the bells of the Christian churches to be rung while his fleet was at anchor in the ports. He plundered the coast of Italy on his way back to Constantinople. When he died in his palace at Constantinople he was succeeded as beylerbey of Africa by his son Hassan. Hassan Barbarossa, like his father, spent most of his life in the Levant, but was occasionally in Africa when the influence of his family was required to suppress the disorders of the Turkish garrisons. He left it for the last time in 1567, and is said by Hammer-Purgstall to have been present at Lepanto in 1571. His last years are obscure.

AUTHORITIES.--_The History of the Ottoman Empire_, by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall (French translation J. J. Hellert, 1835-1843), contains accounts of the Barbarossas, but requires to be corrected by other authorities. See _La Fondation de la regence d'Alger, histoire des Barberousse, chronique arabe du XVI^{_eme_} siecle_ published by Sander Rang and Ferdinand Denis, Paris, 1837--for a curious Moslem version of their story. H. D. de Grammont has collected later evidence in his _Histoire d'Alger_ (Paris, 1887); and he discusses the origin of the name in a paper contributed to the _Revue Africaine_, No. 171. Their campaigns are told in a readable way with the advantage of technical knowledge by Ad. Jurien de la Graviere in _Les Corsaires barbaresques et la marine de Soliman le Grand_ (1887), and _Doria et Barberousse_ (1886). _The History of the Maritime Wars of the Turks_, by Hajji Khalifa (translated by J. Mitchell for the Oriental Translation Fund, 1831), is said to have been founded on evidence collected by order of the sultan Suleiman.

BARBAROUX, CHARLES JEAN MARIE (1767-1794), French revolutionist, was educated at first by the Oratorians of Marseilles, then studied law, and became a successful advocate. He was appointed secretary (_greffier_) to the commune of Marseilles, and in 1792 was commissioned to go to the Legislative Assembly and demand the accusation of the directory of the department of Bouches-du-Rhone, as accomplice in a royalist movement in Arles. At Paris he was received in the Jacobin club and entered into relations with J. P. Brissot and the Rolands. It was at his instigation that Marseilles sent to Paris the battalion of volunteers which contributed to the insurrection of the 10th of August 1792 against the king. Returning to Marseilles he helped to repress a royalist movement at Avignon and an ultra-Jacobin movement [v.03 p.0383] at Marseilles, and was elected deputy to the Convention by 775 votes out of 776 voting. From the first he posed as an opponent of the Mountain, accused Robespierre of aiming at the dictatorship (25th of September 1792), attacked Marat, and proposed to break up the commune of Paris. Then he got the act of accusation against Louis XVI. adopted, and in the trial voted for his death "without appeal and without delay." During the final struggle between the Girondists and the Mountain, he refused to resign as deputy and rejected the offer made by the sections of Paris to give hostages for the arrested representatives. He succeeded in escaping, first to Caen, where he organized the civil war, then to Saint-Emilion near Bordeaux, where he wrote his _Memoires_, which were published in 1822 by his son, and re-edited in 1866. Discovered, he attempted to shoot himself, but was only wounded, and was taken to Bordeaux, where he was guillotined when his identity was established.

See Ch. Vatel, _Charlotte Corday et les Girondins_ (Paris, 1873); A. Aulard, _Les Orateurs de la Legislative et de la Convention_ (Paris, 2nd ed., 1906).

BARBARY, the general designation of that part of northern Africa bounded E. by Egypt, W. by the Atlantic, S. by the Sahara and N. by the Mediterranean, comprising the states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli. The name is derived from the Berbers, the chief inhabitants of the region.

BARBARY APE, a tailless monkey inhabiting Algeria, Morocco, and the rock of Gibraltar (where it may have been introduced), and referable to the otherwise Asiatic group of macaques, in which it alone represents the subgenus _Inuus_. This monkey, _Macacus inuus_, is light yellowish-brown above and yellowish-white below, with the naked part of the face flesh-coloured. It is entirely terrestrial in habits, at least on Gibraltar, and goes about in droves.

BARBARY PIRATES. The coast population of northern Africa has in past ages been addicted to piratical attacks on the shores of Europe opposite. Throughout the decline of the Roman empire, the barbarian invasions, the Mahommedan conquest and the middle ages, mere piracy always existed by the side of the great strife of peoples and religions. In the course of the 14th century, when the native Berber dynasties were in decadence, piracy became particularly flagrant. The town of Bougie was then the most notorious haunt of these "skimmers of the sea." But the savage robber powers which, to the disgrace of Europe, infested the commerce and the coasts, not only of the Mediterranean but even for a time of the ocean; who were not finally suppressed till the 19th century was well advanced; and who are properly known as the Barbary pirates, arose in the 16th century, attained their greatest height in the 17th, declined gradually throughout the 18th and were extinguished about 1830. Isolated cases of piracy have occurred on the Rif coast of Morocco even in our time, but the pirate communities which lived by plunder and could live by no other resource, vanished with the French conquest of Algiers in 1830. They are intimately connected with the general history of northern Africa from about 1492 to their end. The story of the establishment of Turkish rule in northern Africa and of the revolutions of Morocco must be sought under the heads of TURKEY, TRIPOLI, TUNISIA, ALGERIA and MOROCCO.

In dealing with the pirates, it will be sufficient to note a few leading dates. The conquest of Granada in 1492 by the Catholic sovereigns of Spain drove many Moors into exile. They revenged themselves by piratical attacks on the Spanish coast. They had the help of Moslem adventurers from the Levant, of whom the most successful were Arouj and his brother Khair-ed-Din, natives of Mitylene, both of whom were known to the Christians by the nickname of Barbarossa (_q.v._) or "Redbeard." Spain in self-defence began to conquer the coast towns of Oran, Algiers and Tunis. Arouj having fallen in battle with the Spaniards in 1518, his brother Khair-ed-Din appealed to Selim, the sultan of Turkey, who sent him troops. He drove the Spaniards in 1529 from the rocky island in front of Algiers, where they had a fort, and was the founder of the Turkish power. From about 1518 till the death of Uluch Ali in 1587, Algiers was the main seat of government of the beylerbeys of northern Africa, who ruled over Tripoli, Tunisia and Algeria. From 1587 till 1659, they were ruled by Turkish pashas, sent from Constantinople to govern for three years; but in the latter year a military revolt in Algiers reduced the pashas to nonentities. From 1659 onwards, these African cities, though nominally forming parts of the Turkish empire, were in fact anarchical military republics which chose their own rulers and lived by plunder.

It may be pointed out that during the first period (1518-1587) the beylerbeys were admirals of the sultan, commanding great fleets and conducting serious operations of war for political ends. They were slave-hunters and their methods were ferocious, but their Christian enemies were neither more humane nor more chivalrous. After 1587, plunder became the sole object of their successors--plunder of the native tribes on land and of all who went upon the sea. The maritime side of this long-lived brigandage was conducted by the captains, or _reises_, who formed a class or even a corporation. Cruisers were fitted out by capitalists and commanded by the _reises_. Ten per cent of the value of the prizes was paid to the treasury of the pasha or his successors, who bore the titles of Agha or Dey or Bey. Bougie was the chief shipbuilding port and the timber was mainly drawn from the country behind it. Until the 17th century the pirates used galleys, but a Flemish renegade of the name of Simon Danser taught them the advantage of using sailing ships. In this century, indeed, the main strength of the pirates was supplied by renegades from all parts of Christendom. An English gentleman of the distinguished Buckinghamshire family of Verney was for a time among them at Algiers. This port was so much the most formidable that the name of Algerine came to be used as synonymous with Barbary pirate, but the same trade was carried on, though with less energy, from Tripoli and Tunis--as also from towns in the empire of Morocco, of which the most notorious was Salli. The introduction of sailing ships gave increased scope to the activity of the pirates. While the galleys, being unfit for the high seas, were confined to the Mediterranean and the coast, the sailing vessels ranged into the Atlantic as far as the Canaries or even to Iceland. In 1631 a Flemish renegade, known as Murad Reis, sacked Baltimore in Ireland, and carried away a number of captives who were seen in the slave-market of Algiers by the French historian Pierre Dan.

The first half of the 17th century may be described as the flowering time of the Barbary pirates. More than 20,000 captives were said to be imprisoned in Algiers alone. The rich were allowed to redeem themselves, but the poor were condemned to slavery. Their masters would not in many cases allow them to secure freedom by professing Mahommedanism. A long list might be given of people of good social position, not only Italians or Spaniards, but German or English travellers in the south, who were captives for a time. The chief sufferers were the inhabitants of the coasts of Sicily, Naples and Spain. But all traders belonging to nations which did not pay blackmail in order to secure immunity were liable to be taken at sea. The payment of blackmail, disguised as presents or ransoms, did not always secure safety with these faithless barbarians. The most powerful states in Europe condescended to make payments to them and to tolerate their insults. Religious orders--the Redemptionists and Lazarites--were engaged in working for the redemption of captives and large legacies were left for that purpose in many countries. The continued existence of this African piracy was indeed a disgrace to Europe, for it was due to the jealousies of the powers themselves. France encouraged them during her rivalry with Spain; and when she had no further need of them they were supported against her by Great Britain and Holland. In the 18th century British public men were not ashamed to say that Barbary piracy was a useful check on the competition of the weaker Mediterranean nations in the carrying trade. When Lord Exmouth sailed to coerce Algiers in 1816, he expressed doubts in a private letter whether the suppression of piracy would be acceptable to the trading community. Every power was, indeed, desirous to secure immunity for itself and more or less ready to compel Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, Salli and [v.03 p.0384] the rest to respect its trade and its subjects. In 1655 the British admiral, Robert Blake, was sent to teach them a lesson, and he gave the Tunisians a severe beating. A long series of expeditions was undertaken by the British fleet during the reign of Charles II., sometimes single-handed, sometimes in combination with the Dutch. In 1682 and 1683 the French bombarded Algiers. On the second occasion the Algerines blew the French consul from a gun during the action. An extensive list of such punitive expeditions could be made out, down to the American operations of 1801-5 and 1815. But in no case was the attack pushed home, and it rarely happened that the aggrieved Christian state refused in the end to make a money payment in order to secure peace. The frequent wars among them gave the pirates numerous opportunities of breaking their engagements, of which they never failed to take advantage.

After the general pacification of 1815, the suppression of African piracy was universally felt to be a necessity. The insolence of a Tunisian squadron which sacked Palma in the island of Sardinia and carried off 158 of its inhabitants, roused widespread indignation. Other influences were at work to bring about their extinction. Great Britain had acquired Malta and the Ionian Islands and had now many Mediterranean subjects. She was also engaged in pressing the other European powers to join with her in the suppression of the slave trade which the Barbary states practised on a large scale and at the expense of Europe. The suppression of the trade was one of the objects of the congress of Vienna. Great Britain was called on to act for Europe, and in 1816 Lord Exmouth was sent to obtain treaties from Tunis and Algiers. His first visit produced diplomatic documents and promises and he sailed for England. While he was negotiating, a number of British subjects had been brutally ill-treated at Bona, without his knowledge. The British government sent him back to secure reparation, and on the 27th of August, in combination with a Dutch squadron under Admiral Van de Capellen, he administered a smashing bombardment to Algiers. The lesson terrified the pirates both of that city and of Tunis into giving up over 3000 prisoners and making fresh promises. But they were not reformed and were not capable of reformation. Algiers renewed its piracies and slave-taking, though on a smaller scale, and the measures to be taken with it were discussed at the conference or congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818. In 1824 another British fleet under Admiral Sir Harry Neal had again to bombard Algiers. The great pirate city was not in fact thoroughly tamed till its conquest by France in 1830.

AUTHORITIES.--The _Histoire d'Alger_ of H. D. de Grammont (Paris, 1887) is based on original authorities. Sir R. L. Playfair's _Scourge of Christendom_ (London, 1884) gives the history of the British consulate in Algiers. The main authorities for the early history of the Barbary states are:--Luis del Marmol Carvajal, _Descripcion de Africa_ (Granada, 1573); Diego de Haedo, _Topographia e Historia General de Argel_ (Valladolid, 1612); and Pere Pierre Dan, _Histoire de Barbarie et de ses corsaires_ (Paris, 1637). The readable treatises of Ad. Jurien de la Graviere, all published in Paris, _Doria et Barberousse_ (1886), _Les Corsaires barbaresques_ (1887), _Les Chevaliers de Malte_ (1887), and _La Guerre de Chypre_ (1888), deal with the epoch of the beylerbeys and the regular wars. For American work see Gardner Weld Allen, _Our Navy and the Barbary Corsairs_ (New York, 1905).

(D. H.)

BARBAULD, ANNA LETITIA (1743-1825), English poet and miscellaneous writer, was born at Kibworth-Harcourt, in Leicestershire, on the 20th of June 1743. Her father, the Rev. John Aikin, a Presbyterian minister and schoolmaster, taught his daughter Latin and Greek. In 1758 Mr Aikin removed his family to Warrington, to act as theological tutor in a dissenting academy there. In 1773 Miss Aikin published a volume of _Poems_, which was very successful, and co-operated with her brother, Dr John Aikin, in a volume of _Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose_. In 1774 she married Rochemont Barbauld, a member of a French Protestant family settled in England. He had been educated in the academy at Warrington, and was minister of a Presbyterian church at Palgrave, in Suffolk, where, with his wife's help, he established a boarding school. Her admirable _Hymns in Prose and Early Lessons_ were written for their pupils. In 1785 she left England for the continent with her husband, whose health was seriously impaired. On their return about two years later, Mr Barbauld was appointed to a church at Hampstead. In 1802 they removed to Stoke Newington. Mrs Barbauld became well known in London literary circles. She collaborated with Dr Aikin in his _Evenings at Home_; in 1795 she published an edition of Akenside's _Pleasures of Imagination_, with a critical essay; two years later she edited Collins's _Odes_; in 1804 she published a selection of papers from the English Essayists, and a selection from Samuel Richardson's correspondence, with a biographical notice; in 1810 a collection of the _British Novelists_ (50 vols.) with biographical and critical notices; and in 1811 her longest poem, _Eighteen Hundred and Eleven_, giving a gloomy view of the existing state and future prospects of Britain. This poem anticipated Macaulay in contemplating the prospect of a visitor from the antipodes regarding at a future day the ruins of St Paul's from a broken arch of Blackfriars Bridge. Mrs Barbauld died on the 9th of March 1825; her husband had died in 1808. A collected edition of her works, with memoir, was published by her niece, Lucy Aikin, in 2 vols., 1825.

See A. L. le Breton, _Memoir of Mrs Barbauld_ (1874); G. A. Ellis, _Life and Letters of Mrs A. L. Barbauld_ (1874); and Lady Thackeray Ritchie, _A Book of Sibyls_ (1883).

BARBECUE (Span. _barbacoa_), originally a framework on posts placed over a fire on which to dry or smoke meat; hence, a gridiron for roasting whole animals, and in Cuba an upper floor on which fruit or grain is stored. In the United States the word means an open-air feast, either political or social, where whole animals are roasted and eaten and hogsheads of beer and other vast quantities of food and drink consumed.

BARBED WIRE, a protective variety of fencing, consisting usually of several strands of wire twisted together with sharp spikes or points clinched or fastened into the strands.

In the United States, barbed wire for fencing was originally suggested to meet conditions existing in the western states, by reason of the large cattle-raising industry in sections where timber was scarce. Prior to its introduction, a No. 9 round or oval iron wire was popular on the frontier of the United States and in South America, as a fencing material. Large amounts were used annually for this purpose, but iron lacked strength, and single wire strand was not fully satisfactory on account of stretching in warm and contracting in cold weather, and of thus being broken. Cattle would rub against a smooth fence, and this constant pressure loosened the posts and broke the wire. To overcome this defect, ingenious people--the most successful being farmers--set themselves to find a way by which wire could be used and at the same time be free from destruction by the animals it was intended to confine. This investigation resulted in the invention of barbed wire. Soon after, automatic machinery was invented for rapidly and cheaply placing the barb upon the smooth wire, so that the cost of barbed wire is much less than the cost of smooth wire when it was in general use. So immediately did barbed wire find favour with the farmers of the United States, and, in fact, all over the world, that the manufacture of wire was revolutionized.

The history of barbed wire fencing is of recent date. In the United States--the real home of this industry--patents were taken out by Lucien B. Smith, Kent, Ohio, in 1867; by William B. Hunt, of Scott, N.Y., at almost the same time; and by Michael Kelly, of New York, a year later. The practical beginning of the industry, however, was in the patents issued to Joseph F. Glidden, De Kalb, Ill., 1874, on barbed fence wire, and during the same year, to Joseph F. Glidden and Phineas W. Vaughan, for a machine to manufacture the same. These inventions were the foundation of the system of patents under which barbed wire has been protected and sold. The development of the barbed wire industry would hardly have been possible without steel. Iron wire, used for fencing prior to the introduction of steel, was not suitable, seeing that iron does not possess sufficient tensile strength and lacks homogeneity, qualities which Bessemer and open-hearth steels possess in a high degree.

The advantages of galvanized barbed wire fencing are that it is almost imperishable, is no burden on the posts; does not [v.03 p.0385] oppose the wind with enough surface to rack the posts, thus allowing water to settle around them and rot them; is economical, not only in the comparative cheapness of its first cost but also in the amount of land covered by it; and is effective as a barrier against all kinds of stock and a protection against dogs and wild beasts. Cattle, once discovering what it is, will not press against it, nor even go near it, and thus it becomes an effective means of dividing the farmer's ranch into such fields as he may desire. It is quickly and cheaply constructed, and has the advantage of freedom from harbouring weeds. It affords no impediment to the view. A man can see across his farm, and ascertain what is going on in every portion within the scope of vision, as plainly as if there were no fences. It does not contribute to the formation of snow drifts as do other kinds of efficient fence. This makes it a favourite form of fencing for railroads and along highways. Finally, barbed wire composed of two wires twisted together, once firmly put in place, will retain its taut condition through many seasons without repair. The fact of the wire being twisted allows it to adapt itself to all the varying temperatures.

The introduction of barbed wire met with some opposition in America on supposed humanitarian grounds, but ample and extended tests, both of the economy and the humanity of the new material, silenced this objection. Now no American farmer, especially in the west, ever thinks of putting any other kind of fencing on his farm, unless it may be the new types of meshed wire field fencing which have been coming so generally into use since 1899. Generally speaking, the use of barbed wire fencing in other countries has not been as extensive as in the western United States. While it has been used on a comparatively large scale in Argentina and Australia, both these countries use a much larger quantity of plain wire fence, and in Argentina there is an important consumption of high-carbon oval fence wire of great strength, which apparently forms the only kind of fence that meets the conditions in a satisfactory manner.

It is interesting to note the largely increased demand for meshed wire field fencing in the more thickly settled-portions of the United States, and along the lines of railway. Beginning with 1899, there has been an annual increase in this demand, owing to the scarcity and high cost of labour, and the discontinuing of the building of rail fences. Meshed wire is considered by many a better enclosure for small animals, like sheep and hogs, than the barbed wire fence. Barbed wire has been popular with railroads, but of late meshed wire fencing has been substituted with advantage, the fabric being made of wires of larger diameter than formerly, to insure greater stability. The popularity of barbed wire is best shown by the following statistics:--

APPROXIMATE PRODUCTION FOR THE UNITED STATES

+-------+-------------------+----------------------------+
| Year. | Tons barbed wire. | Tons meshed field fencing. |
+-------+-------------------+----------------------------+
| 1874 | 5 | |
| 1875 | 300 | |
| 1876 | 1,500 | |
| 1877 | 7,000 | |
| 1878 | 13,000 | |
| 1879 | 25,000 | |
| 1880 | 40,000 | |
| 1890 | 125,000 | |
| 1900 | 200,000 | 50,000 |
| 1907 | 250,000 | 425,000 |
+-------+-------------------+----------------------------+

Barbed wire is usually shipped to customers on wooden spools, each holding approximately 100 lb or 80 to 100 rods. A hole is provided through the centre of the spool for inserting a bar, on which the reel can revolve for unwinding the wire as it is put up. After the wire is stretched in place, it is attached to the wooden posts by means of galvanized steel wire staples, ordinarily made from No. 9 wire. They are cut with a sharp, long, diagonal point and can be easily driven into the posts. On account of the rapid decay and destruction of wooden posts, steel posts have become popular, as also have reinforced concrete posts, which add materially to the durability of the fence. It is essential that barbed wire should be stretched with great care. For this purpose a suitable barbed wire stretcher is necessary.

Barbed wire fencing is now manufactured in various patterns. The general process may be outlined briefly as follows:--The wire is made of soft Bessemer or Siemens-Martin steel, and is drawn in the wire mill in the usual way. Galvanizing is done by a continuous process. The coil of wire to be galvanized is placed on a reel. The first end of the wire is led longitudinally through an annealing medium--either red-hot lead or heated fire-brick tubes--of sufficient length to soften the wire. From the annealing furnace, the wire is fed longitudinally through a bath of muriatic acid, which removes the scale, and from the acid, after a thorough washing in water, the wire passes through a bath of spelter, heated slightly above the melting point. After coming from the spelter and being cooled by water, the wire is wound on suitable take-up blocks into finished coils. From 30 to 60 wires are passing simultaneously in parallel lines through this continuous galvanizing apparatus, thus insuring a large output. The galvanizing gives the wire a bright finish and serves to protect it from the corrosive action of the atmosphere. There is a considerable demand for painted fencing, in the manufacture of which the galvanizing is dispensed with, and the spools of finished barbed wire, as they come from the barbing machine, are submerged in paint and dried. The barbing and twisting together of the two longitudinal strand wires is done by automatic machinery. A brief description of the manufacture of 2 and 4 point Glidden wire is as follows:--Two coils of wire on reels are placed behind the machine, designed to form the main or strand wires of the fence. One of the main wires passes through the machine longitudinally. One or two coils of wire are placed on reels at either side of the machine for making 2 or 4 point wire respectively. These wires are fed into the machine at right angles to the strand wire. At each movement of the feeding mechanism, when fabricating 2 point wire, one cross wire is fed forward. A diagonal cut forms a sharp point on the first end. The wire is again fed forward and instantly wrapped firmly around one strand wire and cut off so as to leave a sharp point on the incoming wire as before, while the bit of pointed wire cut off remains as a double-pointed steel barb attached firmly to the strand wire. This wire armed with barbs at regular intervals passes on through a guide, where it is met by a second strand wire--a plain wire without barbs. The duplex strand wires are attached to a take-up reel, which is caused to revolve and take up the finished barbed wire simultaneously and in unison with the barbing machine. In this way the strand wires are loosely twisted into a 2-ply strand, armed with barbs projecting at right angles in every direction.

When once started, the operation of barbed wire making is continuous and rapid. The advantage of two strands is the automatic adjustment to changes of temperature. When heat expands the strands, the twist simply loosens without causing a sag, and when cold contracts them, the twist tightens, all without materially altering the relative lengths of the combined wires. A barbed wire machine produces from 2000 to 3000 lb of wire per day of ten hours.

In some American states, the use of barbed wire is regulated by law, but as a rule these laws apply to placing barbed wire on highways. Others prohibit the use of barbed wire fencing to indicate the property line between different owners, unless both agree to its use. In some states the use of barbed wire is prohibited unless it has a top rail of lumber.

Barbed wire is also employed in connexion with "obstacles" in field fortifications, especially in what are known as "high wire entanglements." Pointed stakes or "pickets," 4 ft. high, are planted in rows and secured by ordinary wire to holdfasts or pegs in the ground. Each picket is connected to all around it, top and bottom, by lengths of barbed wire.

In England, where the use of barbed wire has also become common, the Barbed Wire Act 1893 enacted that, where there is on any land adjoining a highway within the county or district of a local authority, a fence which is made with barbed wire (_i.e._ any wire with spikes or jagged projections), or in which barbed wire has been placed, and where such barbed wire may probably be injurious to persons or animals lawfully using the highway, the local authority may require the occupier of the land to abate the nuisance by serving notice in writing upon him. If the occupier fails to do so within the specified time, the local authority may apply to a court of summary jurisdiction, and such court, if satisfied that the barbed wire is a nuisance, may by summary order direct the occupier to abate it, and on his failure to comply with the order within a reasonable time, the local authority may execute it and recover in a summary manner from the occupier the expenses incurred.

BARBEL (_Barbus vulgaris_), a fish of the Cyprinid family, which is an inhabitant of the rivers of central Europe, and is very locally distributed in England. It has four barbels (Lat. _barba_, beard; fleshy appendages hanging from the mouth), and the first ray of the short dorsal fin is strong, spine-like and serrated behind. It attains a weight of 50 lb on the continent of Europe. The genus of which it is the type is a very large one, comprising about 300 species from Europe, Asia and Africa, among which is the mahseer or mahaseer, the great sporting fish of India.