Perthshire,

2.800 3.180

Perthshire.

3,000? 3,720?

Ross and Cromarty shires,

3,500?

1.800 2.800 2.170

Ben Voirlich, Ben Vrackie, Ben Wyvis, BENA, or BENE, a town of Italy, in Piedmont, 28 m. S of Turin, on the road to Oneglia. It stands on a rising ground between the rivers Casea and Mondullavia, on the site of the ancient Augusta Bagiennorum.

BENABARRE, a town of Spain, in Aragon, in the prov. and 50 m. ESE of Huesca. Pop. 2,200. BENABHRAGIDH, a mountain in the p. of Golspie, in Sutherlandshire. Alt. 1,300 ft. It is composed of red transition sandstone and breccia. BENACHALLY, a mountain in the p. of Clunie, in Perthshire, 5 m. NE of Birnam, overlooking the fine valley of Stormont. Alt. 1,800 ft.

BENADKY. See BENATSK, BENAGGA SOREIAH, a village in Sudan, between Shendy and Kartum. The environs are fertile, but poorly cultivated.

BENAGUÉS, a commune of France, in the dep. of Ariège, cant. of Pamiers. Pop. 244.

BENAGUACIL, a village of Spain, in the prov. of Valencia, NW of the city of Valencia, near the 1. bank of the Guadalaviar.

BENAHABIS, a village of Spain, in the prov. and 23 m. SW of Malaga, near the Guadaira.

BENAHIN, a commune and v. of Belgium, in the prov. of Liege, 2 m. W of Huy. Pop. 1,200. Lead, zinc, manganese, and iron, are mined in the vicinity. BENAIS, a commune of France, in the dep. of Indre-et-Loire, cant. and 10 m. N of Bourgueil. Pop. 1,626.

BENALHASSAL, or BENHA-EL-ÁSSAL, a town in the delta of Egypt, on the W bank of the Nile, near the entrance of the canal of Moëz. The ruins of the ancient Athribis are a little to the NE of this town; and the name is still preserved in that of the v. of Atrib. There is a large government factory here for the weaving of cotton-yarn.

BENALMAINA, or BENALMEDINA, a village of Spain, in Andalusia, in the prov. of Cordova. It is surrounded with vineyards, and groves of orange and fig-trees; and is within an hour of the sea-coast.

5,020 sq. m., yielding a revenue in 1829-30 of 41,02,739 rupees, of which 16,96,899 rupees were contributed by B. Proper. The entire district is rich and well-cultivated, yielding large crops of wheat and barley, besides indigo, sugar, and opium. The principal rivers are the Ganges, the Gumti, the Caramnassa, and the Sonne. The pop. of the collectorate was returned in 1801 at 3,000,000; the proportion of Hindus to Mahommedans being as 5 to 1.This district was ceded to the East India company, by the nabob of Oude, in 1775; in 1781, after the deposition of Rajah Cheit Singh, it was placed directly under the company's officers; and in 1795 the company took entire possession of the revenues, but agreed to give an annual allowance of £12,000 to the rajah.

BENARES, the capital of the above district, the holy city of the Hindus, and the grand seat of their science and mythology, is situated on the N or 1. bank of the Ganges, in 25° 30′ N lat., E long. 83° 1', about 460 m. NW of Calcutta, and 1,100 m. NNE of Madras. The Ganges here forms a fine sweep; and B. stands on the external side of the curve, which is the more elevated shore, the river being about 30 ft. below the level of the houses. Though strictly Oriental in character. B. differs widely from all the other cities of Hindostan; and it is only from pictorial representations-such as the faithful delineations of Daniellthat any adequate notion can be formed of the mixture of the beautiful and the grotesque, which, piled confusedly together, form that stupendous wall which here spreads along the banks of the Ganges. [Asiat. Journ., vol. x.] As seen from the river, this city has a striking appearance, with its large ghats and their long and handsome flights of steps leading down to the river, between fantastic buildings, and literally swarming with life at all hours of the day: its lofty and graceful minarets towering above the closely packed and lofty houses, and its numerous temples sprinkled along the bank; while the luxuriant foliage of trees mingles with the parapets and buttresses of the adjacent buildings. But the irregular and compressed manner which has been invariably adopted in forming the streets of B., has destroyed the effects which symmetry and arrangement would have otherwise bestowed on a city entitled, from its buildings, to the first place among the capitals of India. The streets are so extremely narrow as not to admit of two common carriages abreast; and, in addition to the pernicious effects which proceed from a confined atmosphere, an intolerable stench arises in the hot season from pieces of stagnated water in different quarters of the town; the filth also, which is indiscriminately thrown into the streets, and there left exposed, adds to the compound of ill smells so offensive to the European inhabitants of this city. It is, however, well-drained, and stands dry. [Heber.] The houses are built with stone, and close to each other; some of them are six stories in height, with terraces on the summit. They are often whimsically painted, and their architecture is as extraordinary. Bands of carved work, by no means despicably executed, frequently

used in the walls, together with the neat manner in which they are joined, prove the masons to be very tolerable workmen. The windows are extremely small; probably they are formed in this manner to answer two purposes,—to prevent the opposite neighbours from overlooking the apartments, and to keep the houses more cool during the hot winds. Large windows would here be insufferable, were it not for the tattys, or screens composed of the roots of sweetscented grass, on which water is constantly thrown to cool the air. The more wealthy Hindus live in detached houses, with open courts, and surrounded