BAMBA, a province of Congo, on the western coast of Africa, lying to the S. of the River Ambriz. This district is fertile, abounds in gold, silver, copper, salt, Ac., and is said to be thickly populated. Its chief town, which bears the same name, was formerly of considerable importance, the climate being remarkably healthy for that region of Africa.

BAMBARRA, a country of inner Africa, on the Joliba or Upper Niger. The principal towns are Segu, Sansading, Jamima, Mursha, Jabbi, Sai, Kullikoro, Maraca-Duba, and Damba, in many of which the Mahometans have mosques. For further particulars see Africa, voL i. p. 271.

BAMBARRA, a town of western Africa on a backwater of the Niger, of considerable commercial importance, and situated in a fertile plain, 115 miles S.S.W. of Timbuctoo. (See Barth’s Travels in Central Africa, vol. iv. p. 354.)

BAMBERG, a town of Bavaria, in the circle of Upper Franconia, on the River Regnitz, 3 miles above its junction with the Maine, and 33 miles N. of Nuremberg, with which it is connected by railway. It is partially surrounded by walls and ditches, and is divided by the river and Ludwig’s canal into three districts, which are connected by handsome bridges. The town is well built, and the streets are well paved and lighted. The cathedral, a noble structure in the Byzantine style of architecture, is surpassed by few of the kind in Germany. It was founded in 1004 by the Emperor Henry IL, and finished in 1012, but was afterwards partially burnt, and rebuilt in 1110. It contains the tombs of the founder and his empress Cunigunde, Conrad III., Pope Clement IL, Ac., and numerous monuments and paintings by eminent masters. Among the other public buildings are St Martin’s church, the palace (formerly the residence of the prince-bishops), town-house, and theatre. The Benedictine convent of St Michael was turned, in 1803, into a charitable institution for poor citizens known as Ludwig’s hospital. Bamberg has numerous literary and charitable institutions, as the lyceum, gymnasium, polytechnic, normal, and medical schools, a library, museum, picture-gallery, hospital, and workhouse. The trade is considerable; cloths, sealing-wax, leather, tobacco, musical instruments, carriages, Ac., are manufactured, and there are numerous breweries. The whole of the neighbouring district is like a vast garden, and furnishes large supplies of liquorice, carrots, aniseed, coriander, and other seeds. Bamberg was formerly the capital of an independent bishopric, which was secularized in 1801, and assigned to Bavaria in 1803. Population, 25,738.

BAMBOCCIO. See Laer, Peter Van.

BAMBOO, a genus {Bambusa') of arborescent grasses very generally distributed throughout the tropical lands of the globe, but found and cultivated especially in India, China, and the East Indian Archipelago. There is a large number of species enumerated; but, as is the case with most plants under cultivation, much difficulty is found in distinguishing species from varieties produced by artificial selection. Bambusa arundinacea is the species most commonly referred to. It is a tree-like plant, rising to a height of 40, 60, or even 80 feet, with a hollow stem, shining as if varnished. The stem is extremely slender, not exceeding the thickness of 5 inches in some which are 50 feet high, and in others reaching 15 or 18 inches in diameter. The whole is divided into joints or septa called knots or internodes, the intervals between which in the case of some of the larger stems is several feet. These joints or divisions are formed by the crossing of the vascular bundles of fibres. They produce alternate lateral buds, which form small alternate branchlets springing from the base to the top, and, together with the narrow-pointed leaves issuing from them, give the plant an elegant feathered appearance as it waves in the wind. The rapidity of its growth is surprising. It attains its full height in a few months, and Mr Fortune records the observation of a growth of from 2 to 21 feet in a single day. In Malabar it is said to bear fruit when fifteen years old, and then to die....

BAMBOROUGH, a village in Northumberland, on the sea-coast, 14 miles N. of Alnwick. It was a royal borough previous to the Norman Conquest, and returned two members to parliament in the 23d year of Edward I. Its ancient castle stands close to the sea on an almost perpendicular rock, 150 feet in height, and is accessible only on the south-east side. The first erection is ascribed by the Saxon chronicles to King Ida of Northumberland, who is said to have named it Bebbanburh after his queen Bebbe (547 A.D.) The principal events in its early history are the siege by Penda in 642, the ravages of the Danes in 993, the unsuccessful defence by De Mowbray against William Rufus, and numerous sieges during the Wars of the Roses. In the reign of Henry VII. it fell into decay. At length, in the 18th century, it became the property of Lord Crewe, bishop of Durham, who, in 1720, vested the castle and manor in trustees for charitable purposes. In virtue of this bequest a patrol is kept on the coast, apartments are provided for shipwrecked seamen, and a storehouse for salvage-goods, and granaries are maintained in order to supply corn to the poor at a cheap rate in times of scarcity. An infirmary, a dispensary, and a large library bequeathed by Dr Sharp, are also maintained, while poor children receive gratuitous education at two “national” schools. Population in 1871,320 in the village, and 3751 in the parish.

BAMBOUK, a country in the interior of Western Africa, situated between the Senegal and its tributary the Falerne, and extending from lat. 12° 30' to 14° N., and from long. 10° to 12° 30' W. It is traversed from N.W. to S.E. by the steep and wall-like range of the Tamba-Ura Mountains. The soil in a large part of the country is of remarkable fertility; rice, maize, millet, melons, manioc, grapes, bananas, and other fruits, grow almost without cultivation; the forests are rich in a variety of valuable trees; and extensive stretches are covered with abundant pasturage of the long guinea-grass. As a∙ natural consequence there is great profusion of animal life. The inhabitants, a branch of the Mandingo race, have made but little progress in civilization. The one product of their country which really excites them to labour is gold; and even it is so common and accessible that the rudest methods of collection are deemed sufficient. The most remarkable deposit is at Natakoo, where a considerable hill seems to be wholly composed of auriferous strata. There is also a good mine at Kenieba. In exchange for the gold, cloth, ornaments, and salt—the last a most valuable article—are imported. The usual beast of burden is the ass, the horse being only possessed by the very wealthiest in the country. Sheep and cattle are both pretty numerous. Unfortunately, the climate is very unhealthy, especially in the rainy season, which lasts for about four months, from July or August. The chief towns are Bambouk, Salaba, and Konkuba. The Portuguese early penetrated into Bambouk, and were even for some time masters of the country; but the inhabitants made a general rising and completely drove them out. Remains of their buildings, however, are still to be seen. The French, soon after they ...

BAMPTON, Rev. John, founder of the series of divinity lectures at Oxford known as the Bampton Lectures, appears to have been born in 1689 and to have died in 1751. He was a member of Trinity College, Oxford, and for some time canon of Salisbury. His will directs that eight lectures shall be delivered annually on as many Sunday mornings in full term, “between the commencement of the last month in Lent term and the end of the third week in Act term, upon either of the following subjects :—to confirm and establish the Christian faith, and to confute all heretics and schismatics—upon the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures—upon the authority of the writings of the primitive fathers, as to the faith and practice of the primitive Church—upon the divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ—upon the divinity of the Holy Ghost—upon the articles of the Christian faith as comprehended in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds.” The lecturer, who must be at least a Master of Arts of Oxford or Cambridge, is chosen yearly by the heads of colleges, and no one can be chosen a second time. The series of lectures began in 1780, and has continued to the present time unbroken, with the exception of the years 1834 and 1835, when no lecturers were appointed, and 1841, when no lectures were delivered. Several of the lecturers have been men of great eminence and ability; Heber, for instance, was selected in 1815, Whately in 1822, Milman in 1827, Horne in 1828, Hampden in 1832, Goulburn in 1850, Mansel in 1858, Liddon in 1866. The institution has done much to preserve, at least in some quarters, a high standard in English theology; and the lectures as a whole form a very valuable body of apologetic literature.

BÂMIÂN, a once renowned city in the territory now subject to the Afghans, in 34° 50' N. lat., 67° 44' E. long. Its remains lie in a valley of the Hazara country, on the chief road from Kâbul towards Turkestân, and immediately at the northern foot of that prolongation of the Indian Caucasus now called Koh-i-Baba (see vol. i. pp. 227, 241). The passes on the Kâbul side are not less than 11,000 and 12,000 feet in absolute height, and those immediately to the north but little inferior. The river draining the valley is one of the chief sources of the Surkhâb or Aksarai, an important tributary of the Upper Oxus (ibid. p. 241). The prominences of the cliffs which line the valley are crowned by the remains of numerous massive towers, whilst their precipitous faces are for 6 or 7 miles pierced by an infinity of ancient cave-dwellings, some of which are still occupied. The actual site of the old city is marked by mounds and remains of walls, and on an isolated rock in the middle of the valley are considerable ruins of what appears to have been the acropolis, now known to the people as Ghülgûlah. But the most famous remains at Bâmiân are two colossal standing idols, carved in the cliffs on the north side of the valley. Burnes estimates the height of the greater at 120 feet, the other at half as much. These images, which have been much injured, apparently by cannon-shot, are cut in niches in the rock, and both images and niches have been coated with stucco. There is an inscription, not yet interpreted or copied, over the greater idol, and on each side of its niche are staircases leading to a chamber near the head, which shows traces of elaborate ornamentation in azure and gilding. The surface of the niches also has been painted with figures. In one of the branch valleys ...