[1] These betray their Gnostic (Marcianite) spirit by the anti-Jewish
tone of the oldest MSS. extant, though this prejudice tends to
decrease in later MSS.
BOGORODSK, a town of central Russia, in the government of Moscow, and 38
m. by rail E.N.E. of the city of Moscow, on the Klyazma. It has woollen,
cotton and silk mills, chemical factories and dye-works, and is famous
for its gold brocade. Pop. (1897) 11,210.
BOGOS (BILENS), a pastoral race of mixed Hamitic descent, occupying the
highlands immediately north of Abyssinia, now part of the Italian colony
of Eritrea. They were formerly a self-governing community, though
subject to Abyssinia. The community is divided into two classes, the
_Shumaglieh_ or "elders" and _Tigre_ or "clients." The latter are serfs
of the former, who, however, cannot sell them. The Tigre goes with the
land, and his master must protect him. In blood-money he is worth
another Tigre or ninety-three cows, while an elder's life is valued at
one hundred and fifty-eight cattle or one of his own caste. The eldest
son of a Shumaglieh inherits his father's two-edged sword, white cows,
lands and slaves, but the house goes to the youngest son. Female
chastity is much valued, but women have no rights, inherit nothing, and
are classed with the hyaena, the most despised animal throughout
Abyssinia. The Bogo husband never sees the face or pronounces the name
of his mother-in-law, while it is a crime for a wife to utter her
husband's or father-in-law's name.
BOGOTA, or SANTA FE DE BOGOTA, the capital of the republic of Colombia,
and of the interior department of Cundinamarca, in 4 deg. 6' N. lat. and
78 deg. 30' W. long. Pop. about 125,000. The city is on the eastern
margin of a large elevated plateau 8563 ft. above sea-level. The plateau
may be described as a great bench or shelf on the western slope of the
oriental Cordilleras, about 70 m. long and 30 m. wide, with a low rim on
its western margin and backed by a high ridge on the east. The plain
forming the plateau is well watered with numerous small lakes and
streams. These several small streams, one of which, the San Francisco,
passes through the city, unite near the south-western extremity of the
plateau and form the Rio Funza, or Bogota, which finally plunges over
the edge at Tequendama in a beautiful, perpendicular fall of about 475
ft. The city is built upon a sloping plain at the base of two high
mountains La Gaudalupe and Monserrate, upon whose crests stand two
imposing churches. From a broad avenue on the upper side downward to the
west slope the streets, through which run streams of cool, fresh water
from the mountains above. The north and south streets cross these at
right angles, and the blocks thus formed are like great terraces. A
number of handsomely-laid-out plazas, or squares, ornamented with
gardens and statuary, have been preserved; on these face the principal
public buildings and churches. In Plaza Bolivar is a statue of Bolivar
by Pietro Tenerani (1789-1869), a pupil of Canova, and in Plaza
Santander is one of General Francisco de Paula Santander (1792-1840).
Facing on Plaza de la Constitucion are the capitol and cathedral. The
streets are narrow and straight, but as a rule they are clean and well
paved. Owing to the prevalence of earthquakes, private houses are
usually of one storey only, and are built of sun-dried bricks,
white-washed. But few of the public buildings are imposing in
appearance, though good taste in style and decoration are often shown.
The city occupies an area of about 2-1/2 X 1-1/2 m. It has street cars,
electric light and telephones. Short lines of railway connect it with
Facatativa (24 m.) on the road to Honda, and with Zipaquira, where
extensive salt mines are worked. A line of railway was also under
construction in 1906 to Jirardot, at the head of navigation on the upper
Magdalena. Bogota is an archiepiscopal see, founded in 1561, and is one
of the strongholds of medieval clericalism in South America. It has a
cathedral, rebuilt in 1814, and some 30 other churches, together with
many old conventual buildings now used for secular purposes, their
religious communities having been dissolved by Mosquera and their
revenues devoted in great measure to education. The capitol, which is
occupied by the executive and legislative departments, is an elegant and
spacious building, erected since 1875. The interest which Bogota has
always taken in education, and because of which she has been called the
"Athens of South America," is shown in the number and character of her
institutions of learning--a university, three endowed colleges, a school
of chemistry and mineralogy, a national academy, a military school, a
public library with some 50,000 volumes, a national observatory, a
natural history museum and a botanic garden. The city also possesses a
well-equipped mint, little used in recent years. The plain surrounding
the city is very fertile, and pastures cattle and produces cereals,
vegetables and fruit in abundance. It was the centre of Chibcha
civilization before the Spanish conquest and sustained a large
population. The climate is mild and temperate, the average annual
temperature being about 58 deg. and the rainfall about 43-1/2 in. The
geographical location of the city is unfavourable to any great
development in commerce and manufactures beyond local needs.
Bogota was founded in 1538 by Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada and was named
Santa Fe de Bogota after his birthplace Santa Fe, and after the southern
capital of the Chibchas, Bacata (or Funza). It was made the capital of
the viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, and soon became one of the centres of
Spanish colonial power and civilization on the South American continent.
In 1811 its citizens revolted against Spanish rule and set up a
government of their own, but in 1816 the city was occupied by Pablo
Morillo (1777-1838), the Spanish general, who subjected it to a ruthless
military government until 1819, when Bolivar's victory at Boyaca
compelled its evacuation. On the creation of the republic of Colombia,
Bogota became its capital, and when that republic was dissolved into its
three constituent parts it remained the capital of Nueva Granada. It has
been the scene of many important events in the chequered history of
Colombia. (A. J. L.)
BOGRA, or BAGURA, a town and district of British India, in the Rajshahi
division of eastern Bengal and Assam. The town is situated on the right
bank of the river Karatoya. Pop. (1901) 7094. The DISTRICT OF BOGRA,
which was first formed in 1821, lies west of the main channel of the
Brahmaputra. It contains an area of 1359 sq. m. In 1901 the population
(on a reduced area) was 854,533, showing an increase of 11% in the
decade. The district stretches out in a level plain, intersected by
numerous streams and dotted with patches of jungle. The Karatoya river
flows from north to south, dividing it into two portions, possessing
very distinct characteristics. The eastern tract consists of rich
alluvial soil, well watered, and subject to fertilizing inundations,
yielding heavy crops of coarse rice, oil-seeds and jute. The western
portion of the district is high-lying and produces the finer qualities
of rice. The principal rivers are formed by the different channels of
the Brahmaputra, which river here bears the local names of the Konai,
the Daokoba and the Jamuna, the last forming a portion of the eastern
boundary of the district. Its bed is studded with alluvial islands. The
Brahmaputra and its channels, together with three minor streams, the
Bangali, Karatoya and Atrai, afford admirable facilities for commerce,
and render every part of the district accessible to native cargo boats
of large burden. The rivers swarm with fish. The former production of
indigo is extinct, and the industry of silk-spinning is decaying. There
is no town with as many as 10,000 inhabitants, trade being conducted at
riverside marts. Nor are there any metalled roads. Several lines of
railway (the Eastern Bengal, &c.), however, serve the district.
BOGUE, DAVID (1750-1825), British nonconformist divine, was born in the
parish of Coldingham, Berwickshire. After a course of study in
Edinburgh, he was licensed to preach by the Church of Scotland, but made
his way to London (1721), where he taught in schools at Edmonton,
Hampstead and Camberwell. He then settled as minister of the
Congregational church at Gosport in Hampshire (1777), and to his
pastoral duties added the charge of an institution for preparing men for
the ministry. It was the age of the new-born missionary enterprise, and
Bogue's academy was in a very large measure the seed from which the
London Missionary Society took its growth. Bogue himself would have gone
to India in 1796 but for the opposition of the East India Company. He
also had much to do with founding the British and Foreign Bible Society
and the Religious Tract Society, and in conjunction with James Bennet,
minister at Romsey, wrote a well-known _History of Dissenters_ (3 vols.,
1809). Another of his writings was an _Essay on the Divine Authority of
the New Testament_. He died at Brighton on the 25th of October 1825.
BOGUS (of uncertain origin, possibly connected with the Fr. _bagasse_,
sugar-cane refuse), a slang word, originally used in America of the
apparatus employed in counterfeiting coins, and now generally of any
sham or spurious transaction.
BOHEA (a word derived from the Wu-i hills in the Fuhkien province of
China, b being substituted for W or V), a kind of black tea (q.v.), or,
in the 18th and early 19th centuries, tea generally, as in Pope's line,
"So past her time 'twixt reading and bohea." Later the name "bohea" has
been applied to an inferior quality of tea grown late in the season.