FOOTNOTE:

[1] Mahommedan itinerant chapmen, from the Volga.

BELA, LAS BELA, or LUS BEYLA, situated in 26 deg. 27' 30" N. lat. and 66

deg. 45' 0" E. long., 350 ft. above sea level, capital of the small

independent state of Las Bela to the south of Kalat (Baluchistan), ruled

by the Jam (or Cham), who occupies the position of a protected chief

under the British Raj. To the east lies Sind, and to the west Makran,

and from time immemorial the great trading route between Sind and Persia

has passed through Las Bela. The area of Las Bela is 6357 sq. m., and

its population in 1901 was 56,109, of which 54,040 were Mussulmans. The

low-lying, alluvial, hot and malarial plains of Las Bela, occupying

about 6000 sq. m. on the north-east corner of the Arabian Sea, are

highly irrigated and fertile--two rivers from the north, the Purali and

the Kud, uniting to provide a plentiful water supply. The bay of

Sonmiani once extended over most of these plains, where the Purali delta

is now growing with measurable strides. The hill ranges to the east,

parting the plains from Sind (generally known locally as the Mor and the

Kirthar), between which lies the long narrow line of the Hab valley,

strike nearly north and south, diminishing in height as they approach

the sea and allowing of a route skirting the coast between Karachi and

Bela. To the west they are broken into an infinity of minor ridges

massing themselves in parallel formation with a strike which curves from

south to west till they form the coast barrier of Makran. The Persian

route from India, curving somewhat to the north, traverses this waste of

barren ridges almost at right angles, but on dropping into the Kolwah

valley its difficulty ceases. It then becomes an open road to Kej and

Persia, with an easy gradient. This was undoubtedly one of the greatest

trade routes of the medieval days of Arab ascendancy in Sind, and it is

to this route that Bela owes a place in history which its modern

appearance and dimensions hardly seem to justify. Bela is itself rather

prettily situated on a rocky site above the banks of the Purali. About

four miles to the south are the well-kept gardens which surround the

tomb of Sir Robert Sandeman; which is probably destined to become a

"ziarat," or place of pilgrimage, of even greater sanctity than that of

General Jacob at Jacobabad. The population of the town numbers about

5000. The Jam's retinue consists of about 300 infantry, 50 cavalry, and

4 guns. Liability to assist on active service is the only acknowledgment

of the suzerainty which is paid by the Jam to the Khan of Kalat. The

Jam, Mir Kamal Khan, succeeded his father, Sir Mir Khan, in 1895, and

was formally invested with powers in 1902.

From very early times this remote corner of Baluchistan has held a

distinct place in history. There are traces of ancient Arab (possibly

Himyaritic) occupation to be found in certain stone ruins at Gondakeha

on the Kud river, 10 m. to the north-west of Bela, whilst the Greek name

"Arabis" for the Purali is itself indicative of an early prehistoric

connexion with races of Asiatic Ethiopians referred to by Herodotus. On

the coast, near the village of Sonmiani (a station of the Indo-Persian

telegraph line) may be traced the indentation which once formed the bay

of Morontobara, noted in the voyage of Nearchus; and it was on the

borders of Makran that the Turanian town of Rhambakia was situated,

which was once the centre of the trade in "bdellium." In the 7th century

A.D. Las Bela was governed by a Buddhist priest, at which time all the

province of Gandava was Buddhist, and Sind was ruled by the Brahman,

Chach. Buddhist caves are to be found excavated in the conglomerate

cliffs near Gondakeha, at a place called Gondrani, or Shahr-i-Rogan.

With the influx of Arabs into Makran, Bela, under the name of Armel (or

Armabel), rose to importance as a link in the great chain of trading

towns between Persia and Sind; and then there existed in the delta such

places as Yusli (near the modern Uthal) and Kambali (which may possibly

be recognized in the ruins at Khairokot), and many smaller towns, each

of which possessed its citadel, its caravanserai and bazaar, which are

not only recorded but actually mapped by one of the medieval Arab

geographers, Ibn Haukal. It is probable that Karia Pir, 1-1/2 m. to the

east of the modern city, represents the site of the Armabel which was

destroyed by Mahommed Kasim in his victorious march to Sind in 710.

There is another old site 5 m. to the west of the modern town. The ruins

at Karia Pir, like those of Tijarra Pir and Khairokot, contain Arab

pottery, seals, and other medieval relics. The Lumris, or Lasis, who

originate the name Las as a prefix to that of Bela, are the dominant

tribe in the province. They are comparatively recent arrivals who

displaced the earlier Tajik and Brahui occupants. It is probable that

this influx of Rajput population was coincident with the displacement of

the Arab dynasties in Sind by the Mahommedan Rajputs in the 11th century

A.D. Some authorities connect the Lumris with the Sumras.

There are no published accounts of Bela, excepting those of the Indian

government reports and gazetteers. This article is compiled from

unpublished notes by the author and by Mr Wainwright, of the Indian

Survey department. (T. H. H.*)

BELA, a town of British India, administrative headquarters of the

Partabgarh district of the United Provinces, with a railway station 80

m. from Benares. Pop. (1901) 8041. It adjoins the village of Partabgarh

proper, and the civil station sometimes known as Andrewganj. Bela, which

was founded in 1802 as a cantonment, became a district headquarters

after the mutiny. It has trade in agricultural produce. There is a

well-known hospital for women here.

BELAY (from the same O. Eng. origin as "lay"; cf. Dutch _beleggen_), a

nautical term for making ropes fast round a pin. In earlier days the

word was synonymous with "waylay" or "surround."

BELCHER, SIR EDWARD (1799-1877), British naval officer, entered the navy

in 1812. In 1825 he accompanied Frederick William Beechey's expedition

to the Pacific and Bering Strait, as a surveyor. He subsequently

commanded a surveying ship on the north and west coasts of Africa and in

the British seas, and in 1836 took up the work which Beechey left

unfinished on the Pacific coast of South America. This was on board the

"Sulphur," which was ordered to return to England in 1839 by the

Trans-Pacific route. Belcher made various observations at a number of

islands which he visited, was delayed by being despatched to take part

in the war in China in 1840-1841, and reached home only in 1842. In 1843

he was knighted, and was now engaged in the "Samarang," in surveying

work in the East Indies, the Philippines, &c., until 1847. In 1852 he

was given command of the government Arctic expedition in search of Sir

John Franklin. This was unsuccessful; Belcher's inability to render

himself popular with his subordinates was peculiarly unfortunate in an

Arctic voyage, and he was not wholly suited to command vessels among

ice. This was his last active service, but he became K.C.B. in 1867 and

an admiral in 1872. He published a _Treatise on Nautical Surveying_

(1835), _Narrative of a Voyage round the World performed in H.M.S.

"Sulphur," 1836-1842_ (1843), _Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S.

"Samarang" during 1843-1846_ (1848; the _Zoology of the Voyage_ was

separately dealt with by some of his colleagues, 1850), and _The Last of

the Arctic Voyages_ (1855); besides minor works, including a novel,

_Horatio Howard Brenton_ (1856), a story of the navy. He died in London

on the 18th of March 1877.

BELDAM (like "belsire," grandfather, from the Fr. _bel_, good,

expressing relationship; cf. the Fr. _belle-mere_, mother-in-law, and

_dame_, in Eng. form "dam," mother), strictly a grandmother or remote

ancestress, and so an old woman; generally used contemptuously as

meaning an old hag.

BELESME, ROBERT OF (fl. 1100), earl of Shrewsbury. From his mother Mabel

Talvas he inherited the fief of Belesme, and from his father, the

Conqueror's companion, that of Shrewsbury. Both were march-fiefs, the

one guarding Normandy from Maine, and the other England from the Welsh;

consequently their lord was peculiarly powerful and independent. Robert

is the typical feudal noble of the time, circumspect and politic,

persuasive and eloquent, impetuous and daring in battle, and an able

military engineer; in person, tall and strong; greedy for land, an

oppressor of the weak, a systematic rebel and traitor, and savagely

cruel. He first appears as a supporter of Robert's rebellion against the

Conqueror (1077); then as an accomplice in the English conspiracy of

1088 against Rufus. Later he served Rufus in Normandy, and was allowed

to succeed his brother Hugh in the earldom of Shrewsbury (1098). But at

the height of his power, he revolted against Henry I (1102). He was

banished and deprived of his English estate; for sometime after he

remained at large in Normandy, defying the authority of Robert and Henry

alike. He betrayed Robert's cause at Tinchebrai; but in 1112 was

imprisoned for life by Henry I.

See E.A. Freeman's _William Rufus_ and his _Norman Conquest_, vol.

iv.; and J.M. Lappenberg's _History of England under the Norman

Kings_, trans. B. Thorpe (1857).

BELFAST, a city, county and parliamentary borough, the capital of the

province of Ulster, and county town of county Antrim, Ireland. Pop.

(1901) 349,180. It is a seaport of the first rank, situated at the

entrance of the river Lagan into Belfast Lough, 112-3/4 m. north of

Dublin by rail, on the north-east coast of the island. It is an

important railway centre, with terminal stations of the Great Northern,

Northern Counties (Midland of England), and Belfast & County Down

railways, and has regular passenger communication by sea with Liverpool,

Fleetwood, Heysham, Glasgow, and other ports of Great Britain. It is

built on alluvial deposit and reclaimed land, mostly not exceeding 6 ft.

above high water mark, and was thus for a long period subject to

inundation and epidemics, and only careful drainage rendered the site

healthy. The appearance of the city plainly demonstrates the modern

growth of its importance, and evidence is not wanting that for a

considerable period architectural improvement was unable to keep pace

with commercial development. Many squalid districts, however, have been

improved away to make room for new thoroughfares and handsome buildings.

One thoroughfare thus constructed at the close of the 19th century is

the finest in Belfast--Royal Avenue. It contains, among several notable

buildings, the post office, and the free public library, opened in 1888

and comprising a collection of over 40,000 volumes, as well as an art

gallery and a museum of antiquities especially rich in remains of the

Neolithic period. The architect was Mr W.H. Lynn. The magnificent city

hall, from designs of Mr (afterwards Sir) Brumwell Thomas, was opened in

1906. The principal streets, such as York Street, Donegall Street, North

Street, High Street, are traversed by tramways. Four bridges cross the

Lagan; the Queen's Bridge (1844, widened in 1886) is the finest, while

the Albert Bridge (1889) replaces a former one which collapsed. Other

principal public buildings, nearly all to be included in modern schemes

of development, are the city hall, occupying the site of the old Linen

Hall, in Donegall Square, estimated to cost L300,000; the commercial

buildings (1820) in Waring Street, the customhouse and inland revenue

office on Donegall Quay, the architect of which, as of the court house,

was Sir Charles Lanyon, and some of the numerous banks, especially the

Ulster Bank. The Campbell College in the suburb of Belmont was founded

in 1892 in accordance with the will of Mr W.J. Campbell, a Belfast

merchant, who left L200,000 for the building and endowment of a public

school. Other educational establishments are Queen's University,

replacing the old Queen's College (1849) under the Irish Universities

Act 1908; the Presbyterian and the Methodist Colleges, occupying

neighbouring sites close to the extensive botanical gardens, the Royal

Academical Institution, and the Municipal Technical Institute. In 1897

the sum of L100,000 was subscribed by citizens to found a hospital

(1903) to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, and named

after her. It took the place of an institution which, under various

names, had existed since 1797. Public monuments are few, but include a

statue of Queen Victoria (1903) and a South African War memorial (1905)

in front of the city hall; the Albert Memorial (1870), in the form of a

clock-tower, in Queen Street; a monument to the same prince in High

Street; and a statue in Wellington Place to Dr Henry Cooke, a prominent

Presbyterian minister who died in 1868. The corporation controls the gas

and electric and similar undertakings. The water supply, under the

control of the City and District Water Commissioners (incorporated

1840), has its sources in the Mourne Mountains, Co. Down, 40 m. distant,

with a service reservoir at Knockbreckan; also in the hilly district

near Carrickfergus. There are several public parks, of which the

principal are the Ormeau Park (1870), the Victoria, Alexandra, and Falls

Road parks. There is a Theatre Royal in Arthur Square. There are also

several excellent clubs and societies, social, political, scientific,

and sporting; including among the last the famous Royal Ulster Yacht

Club.

In 1899 was laid the foundation stone of the Protestant cathedral in

Donegall Street, designed by Sir Thomas Drew and Mr W.H. Lynn to seat

3000 worshippers, occupying the site of the old St Anne's parish church,

part of the fabric of which the new building incorporates. The diocese

is that of Down, Connor, and Dromore. The first portion (the nave) was

consecrated on the 2nd of June 1904. The plan is a Latin cross, the west

front rising to a height of 105 ft., while the central tower is 175 ft.

The pulpit was formerly used in the nave of Westminster Abbey, being

presented to Belfast cathedral by the dean and chapter of that

foundation.

Most of the older churches are classical in design, and the most notable

are St George's, in High Street, and the Memorial church of Dr Cooke in

May Street. For the more modern churches the Gothic style has frequently

been used. Amongst these are St James, Antrim Road; St Peter's Roman

Catholic chapel, with its Florentine spire; Presbyterian churches in

Fitzroy Avenue, and Elmwood Avenue, and the Methodist chapel, Carlisle

Circus. The Presbyterians and Protestant Episcopalians each outnumber

the Roman Catholics in Belfast, and these three are the chief religious

divisions.

_Environs._--The country surrounding Belfast is agreeable and

picturesque, whether along the shores of the Lough or towards the girdle

of hills to the west; and is well wooded and studded with country seats

and villas. In the immediate vicinity of the city are several points of

historic interest and natural beauty. The Cave Hill, though exceeded in

height by Mount Divis, Squire's Hill, and other summits, is of greatest

interest for its caves, in the chalk, from which early weapons and other

objects have been recovered. The battle in 1408, which was fought along

the base of the cliffs here between the Savages of the Ards and the

Irish, is described in Sir Samuel Ferguson's "Hibernian Nights

Entertainment." Here also are McArt's Fort and other earthworks, and

from here the importance of the physical position of Belfast may be

appreciated to the full. At Newtonbreda, overlooking the Lagan, was the

palace of Con O'Neill, whose sept was exterminated by Deputy Mountjoy in

the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Belfast Lough is of great though quiet

beauty; and the city itself is seen at its best from its seaward

approach, with its girdle of hills in the background. On the shores of

the lough several villages have grown into residential towns for the

wealthier classes, whose work lies in the city. Of these Whitehouse and

White Abbey are the principal on the western shore, and on the eastern,

Holywood, which ranks practically as a suburb of Belfast, and, at the

entrance to the lough, Bangor.

_Harbour and Trade._--The harbour and docks of Belfast are managed by a

board of harbour commissioners, elected by the ratepayers and the

shipowners. The outer harbour is one of the safest in the kingdom. By

the Belfast Harbour Acts the commissioners were empowered to borrow more

than L2,500,000 in order to carry out several new works and improvements

in the port. Under the powers of these acts a new channel, called the

Victoria Channel, several miles in length, was cut about 1840 leading in

a direct line from the quays to the sea. This channel affords 20 ft. of

water at low tide, and 28 ft. at full tide, the width of the channel

being 300 ft. The Alexandra Dock, which is 852 ft. long and 31 ft. deep,

was opened in 1889, and the extensive improvements (including the York

Dock, where vessels carrying 10,000 tons can discharge in four to six

days) have been effected from time to time, making the harbour one of

the most commodious in the United Kingdom. The provision of a new

graving dock adjoining the Alexandra was delayed in October 1905 by a

subsidence of the ground during its construction. Parliamentary powers

were obtained to construct a graving dock capable of accommodating the

largest class of warships. The growth and development of the

shipbuilding industry has been immense, the firm of Harland & Wolff

being amongst the first in the trade, and some of the largest vessels in

the world come from their yards. The vast increase of the foreign trade

of Belfast marks its development, like Liverpool, as a great

distributing port. The chief exports are linen, whisky, aerated waters,

iron ore and cattle.

Belfast is the centre of the Irish linen industry, machinery for which

was introduced by T. & A. Mulholland in 1830, a rapid extension of the

industry at once resulting. It is also the headquarters and business

centre for the entire flax-spinning and weaving industry of the country.

Distilling is extensively carried on. Several firms are engaged in the

manufacture of mineral waters, for which the water of the Cromac Springs

is peculiarly adapted. Belfast also has some of the largest tobacco

works and rope works in the world.

_Administration._--In conformity with the passing of the Municipal

Corporations Act of 1840 the constitution of the corporation was made to

consist of ten aldermen and thirty councillors, under the style and

title of "The Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the Borough of Belfast."

In 1888 the rank of a city was conferred by royal charter upon Belfast,

with the incidental rank, liberties, privileges, and immunities. In 1892

Queen Victoria conferred upon the mayor of the city the title of lord

mayor, and upon the corporation the name and description of "The Lord

Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of the city of Belfast." By the passing of

the Belfast Corporation Act of 1896, the boundary of the city was

extended, and the corporation made to consist of fifteen aldermen and

forty-five councillors, and the number of wards was increased from five

to fifteen. By virtue of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898,

Belfast became a county borough on the 1st of April 1899. By the Local

Government (Ireland) Act 1898, Belfast became for assize purposes "the

county of the city of Belfast," with a high sheriff. It is divided into

four parliamentary divisions north, south, east and west, each returning

one member. The total area is 16,594 acres.

_History._--The etymology of the name (for which several derivations

have been proposed) and the origin of the town are equally uncertain,

and there is not a single monument of antiquarian interest upon which to

found a conjecture. About 1177 a castle is said to have been built by

John de Courcy, to be destroyed by Edward Bruce in 1316. It may be noted

here that Belfast Castle was finally burnt in 1708; but a modern

mansion, on Cave Hill, outside the city, bears that name. About the

beginning of the 16th century, Belfast is described as a town and

fortress, but it was in reality a mere fishing village in the hands of

the house of O'Neill. In the course of the wars of Gerald Fitzgerald,

8th earl of Kildare, Belfast was twice attacked by him, in 1503 and

1512. The O'Neills, always opposed to the English, had forfeited every

baronial right; but in 1552 Hugh O'Neill of Clandeboye promised

allegiance to the reigning monarch, and obtained the castle of

Carrickfergus, the town and fortress of Belfast, and all the surrounding

lands. Belfast was then restored from the half ruined state into which

it had fallen, and the castle was garrisoned. The turbulent successors

of O'Neill having been routed by the English, the town and fortress were

obtained by grant dated the 16th of November 1571 by Sir Thomas Smith, a

favourite of Queen Elizabeth, but were afterwards forfeited by him to

the lord deputy Sir Arthur Chichester, who, in 1612, was created Baron

Chichester of Belfast. At this time the town consisted of about 120

houses, mostly built of mud and covered with thatch, while the castle, a

two-storeyed building, was roofed with shingles. A charter was now

granted to the town by James I. (April 27, 1613) constituting it a

corporation with a chief magistrate and 12 burgesses and commonalty,

with the right of sending two members to parliament. In 1632 Thomas

Wentworth, Earl Strafford, was appointed first lord deputy of Ireland,

and Belfast soon shared largely in the benefits of his enlightened

policy, receiving, among other favours, certain fiscal rights which his

lordship had purchased from the corporation of Carrickfergus. Two years

after the rebellion of 1641 a rampart was raised round the town, pierced

by four gates on the land side. In 1662, as appears by a map still

extant, there were 150 houses within the wall, forming five streets and

as many lanes; and the upland districts around were one dense forest of

giant oaks and sycamores, yielding an unfailing supply of timber to the

woodmen of Carrickfergus.

Throughout the succeeding fifty years the progress of Belfast surpassed

that of most other towns in Ireland. Its merchants in 1686 owned forty

ships, of a total carrying power of 3300 tons, and the customs collected

were close upon L20,000. The old charter was annulled by James II. and a

new one issued in 1688, but the old was restored in 1690 by William III.

When the king arrived at Belfast in that year there were only two places

of worship in the town, the old corporation church in the High Street,

and the Presbyterian meeting-house in Rosemary Lane, the Roman Catholics

not being permitted to build their chapels within the walls of corporate

towns.

At the beginning of the 18th century Belfast had become known as a place

of considerable trade, and was then thought a handsome, thriving and

well-peopled town, with many new houses and good shops. During the civil

commotions which so long afflicted the country, it suffered less than

most other places; and it soon afterwards attained the rank of the

richest commercial town in the north of Ireland. James Blow and Co.

introduced letterpress printing in 1696, and in 1704 issued the first

copy of the Bible produced in the island. In September 1737, Henry and

Robert Joy started the _Belfast News Letter_. Twenty years afterwards

the town contained 1800 houses and 8549 inhabitants, 556 of whom were

members of the Church of Rome. It was not, however, till 1789 that

Belfast obtained the regular communication, which towns of less

importance already enjoyed, with Dublin by stage coach, a fact which is

to be explained by the badness of the roads and the steepness of the

hills between Newry and Belfast.

The increased freedom of trade with which Ireland was favoured, the

introduction of the cotton manufacture by Robert Joy and Thomas M'Cabe

in 1777, the establishment in 1791 of shipbuilding on an extensive scale

by William Ritchie, an energetic Scotsman, combined with the rope and

canvas manufacture already existing, supplied the inhabitants with

employments and increased the demand for skilled labour. The population

now made rapid strides as well by ordinary extension as by immigration

from the rural districts. Owing to the close proximity of powerful

opposed religious sects, the modern history of the city is not without

its record of riot and bloodshed, as in 1880 and 1886, and in August

1907 serious rioting followed upon a strike of carters; but the

prosperity of the city has been happily unaffected.

See George Benn, _History of Belfast_ (Belfast, 1877); Robert M.

Young, _Historical Notices of Old Belfast_ (Belfast, 1896).

BELFAST, a city, port of entry, and the county-seat of Waldo county,

Maine, U.S.A., on Belfast Bay (an arm of the Penobscot), and about 32 m.

south-south-west of Bangor. Pop. (1890) 5294; (1910) 4618. It is served

by the Belfast branch of the Maine Central railway (connecting with the

main line at Burnham Junction, 33 m. distant), and by the coasting

steamers (from Boston) of the Eastern Steamship Co. The city, a summer

resort, lies on an undulating hillside, which rises from the water's

edge to a height of more than 150 ft., and commands extensive views of

the picturesque islands, headlands, and mountains of the Maine coast. It

has a public library. Among the industries of Belfast are trade with the

surrounding country, the manufacture of shoes, leather boards, axes, and

sashes, doors and blinds, and the building and repairing of boats. Its

exports in 1908 were valued at $285,913 and its imports at $10,313.

Belfast was first settled (by Scottish-Irish) in 1769, and in 1773 was

incorporated as a town under its present name (from Belfast, Ireland).

The town was almost completely destroyed by the British in 1779, but its

rebuilding was begun in the next year. It was held by a British force

for five days in September 1814. Belfast was chartered as a city in

1850.

BELFORT, TERRITORY OF, administrative division of eastern France, formed

from the southern portion of the department of Haut-Rhin, the rest of

which was ceded to Germany by the treaty of Frankfort (1871). It is

bounded on the N.E. and E. by German Alsace, on the S.E. and S. by

Switzerland, on the S.W. by the department of Doubs, on the W. by that

of Haute-Saone, on the N. by that of Vosges. Pop. (1906), 95,421.

With an area of only 235 sq. m., it is, next to that of Seine, the

smallest department of France. The northern part is occupied by the

southern offshoots of the Vosges, the southern part by the northern

outposts of the Jura. Between these two highlands stretches the Trouee

(depression) de Belfort, 18-1/2 m. broad, joining the basins of the

Rhine and the Rhone, traversed by the canal from the Rhone to the Rhine

and by several railways. A part of the natural highway open from

Frankfort to the Mediterranean, the Trouee has from earliest times

provided the route for the migration from north to south, and is still

of great commercial and strategical value. The northern part, occupied

by the Vosges, rises to 4126 ft. in the Ballon d'Alsace, the northern

termination and the culminating point of the department; to 3773 ft. in

the Planche des Belles-Filles; to 3579 ft. in the Signal des Plaines; to

3534 ft. in the Barenkopf; and to numerous other lesser heights. South

of the Trouee de Belfort, there rise near Delle limestone hills, in part

wooded, on the frontiers of France, Alsace, and Switzerland, attaining

1680 ft. in the Foret de Florimont. The territory between

Lachapelle-sous-Rougemont (in the north-east), Belfort and Delle does

not rise above 1300 ft. The line of lowest altitude follows the river St

Nicolas and the Rhone-Rhine canal. The chief rivers are the Savoureuse,

24 m. long, running straight south from the Ballon d'Alsace, and

emptying into the Allaine; the Allaine, from Switzerland, entering the

territory a little to the south of Delle, and leaving it a little to the

west of Morvillars; the St Nicolas, 24 m. long, from the Barenkopf,

running southwards and then south-west into the Allaine. The climate to

the north of the town of Belfort is marked by long and rigorous winters,

sudden changes of temperature, and an annual rainfall of 31 in. to 39

in. retained by an impervious subsoil; farther south it is milder and

more equable with a rainfall of 23 in. to 31 in., quickly absorbed by

the soil or evaporated by the sun. About one-third of the total area is

arable land; wheat, oats and rye are the chief cereals; potatoes come

next in importance. Forest covers another third of the surface; the

chief trees are firs, pines, oak and beech; cherries are largely grown

for the distillation of kirsch. Pasture and forage crops cover the

remaining third of the Territory; only horned cattle are raised to any

extent. There is an unworked concession of copper, silver and lead at

Giromagny; and there are also quarries of stone. The Territory is an

active industrial region. The two main branches of manufacture are the

spinning and weaving of cotton and wool, and the production of iron and

iron-goods (wire, railings, nails, files, &c.) and machinery. Belfort

has important locomotive and engineering works. Hoisery is manufactured

at Delle, watches, clocks, agricultural machinery, petrol motors,

ironware and electrical apparatus at the flourishing centre of

Beaucourt, and there are numerous saw-mills, tile and brick works and

breweries. Imports consist of raw materials for the industries,

dyestuffs, coal, wine, &c., and the exports of manufactured goods.

Belfort is the capital of the Territory, which comprises one

arrondissement, 6 cantons and 106 communes, and falls within the

circumscriptions of the archbishopric, the court of appeal and the

academie (educational division) of Besancon. It forms the 7th

subdivision of the VII. army corps. Both the Eastern and the

Paris-Lyon-Mediterranee railways traverse the Territory, and the canal

from the Rhone to the Rhine accompanies the river St Nicolas for about 6

m.

BELFORT, a town of eastern France, capital of the Territory of Belfort,

275 m. E.S.E. of Paris, on the main line of the Eastern railway. Pop.

(1906), town, 27,805; commune, 34,649. It is situated among wooded hills

on the Savoureuse at the intersection of the roads and railway lines

from Paris to Basel and from Lyons to Mulhausen and Strassburg, by which

it maintains considerable trade with Germany and Switzerland. The town

is divided by the Savoureuse into a new quarter, in which is the railway

station on the right bank, and the old fortified quarter, with the

castle, the public buildings and monuments, on the left bank. The church

of St Denis, a building in the classical style, erected from 1727 to

1750, and the hotel de ville (1721-1724) both stand in the Place d'Armes

opposite the castle. The two chief monuments commemorate the defence of

Belfort in the war of 1870-1871. "The Lion of Belfort," a colossal

figure 78 ft. long and 52 ft. high, the work of F.A. Bartholdi, stands

in front of the castle; and in the Place d'Armes is the bronze group

"Quand Meme" by Antonin Mercie, in memory of Thiers and of Colonel

Pierre Marie Aristide Denfert-Rochereau (1823-1878), commandant of the

place during the siege. Other objects of interest are the Tour de la

Miotte, of unknown origin and date, which stands on the hill of La

Miotte to the N.E. of Belfort, and the Port de Brisach, a gateway built

by Vauban in 1687. Belfort is the seat of a prefect; its public

institutions include tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a

chamber of commerce, a lycee, a training-college and a branch of the

Bank of France. The construction of locomotives and machinery, carried

on by the Societe Alsacienne, wire-drawing, and the spinning and weaving

of cotton are included among its industries, which together with the

population increased greatly owing to the Alsacian immigration after

1871. Its trade is in the wines of Alsace, brandy and cereals. The town

derives its chief importance from its value as a military position.

After the war of 1870-1871, Belfort, which after a diplomatic struggle

remained in French hands, became a frontier fortress of the greatest

value, and the old works which underwent the siege of 1870-1871 (see

below) were promptly increased and re-modelled. In front of the Perches

redoubts, the Bosmont, whence the Prussian engineers began their attack,

is now heavily fortified with continuous lines called the _Organisation

defensive de Bosmont_. The old Bellevue redoubt (now Fort

Denfert-Rochereau) is covered by a new work situated likewise on the

ground occupied by the siege trenches in the war. Perouse, hastily

entrenched in 1870, now possesses a permanent fort. The old entrenched

camp enclosed by the castle, Fort La Miotte, and Fort Justice, is still

maintained, and part even of the enceinte built by Vauban is used for

defensive purposes. Outside this improved inner line, which includes the

whole area of the attack and defence of 1870, lies a complete circle of

detached forts and batteries of modern construction. To the north, Forts

Salbert and Roppe form the salients of a long defensive line on high

ground, at the centre of which, where the Savoureuse river divides it, a

new work was added later. Two works near Giromagny, about 8 m. from

Belfort itself, connect the fortress with the right of the defensive

line of the Moselle (Fort Ballon d'Alsace). In the eastern sector of the

defences (from Roppe to the Savoureuse below Belfort) the forts are

about 3 m. from the centre, the works near the Belfort-Mulhausen railway

being somewhat more advanced, and in the western (from Salbert to Fort

Bois d'Oye on the lower Savoureuse) they are advanced to about the same

distance. The fort of Mont Vaudois, the westernmost, overlooks Hericourt

and the battlefield of the Lisaine: farther to the south Montbeliard is

also fortified. The perimeter of the Belfort defences is nearly 25 m.

_History._--Gallo-Roman remains have been discovered in the vicinity of

Belfort, but the place is first heard of in the early part of the 13th

century, when it was in the possession of the counts of Montbeliard.

From them it passed by marriage to the counts of Ferrette and afterwards

to the archdukes of Austria. By the treaty of Westphalia (1648) the town

was ceded to Louis XIV. who gave it to Cardinal Mazarin.

In the Thirty Years' War Belfort was twice besieged, 1633 and 1634, and

in 1635 there was a battle here between the duke of Lorraine and the

allied French and Swedes under Marshal de la Force. The fortifications

of Vauban were begun in 1686. Belfort was besieged in 1814 by the troops

of the allies and in 1815 by the Austrians.

The most famous episode of the town's history is its gallant and

successful defence in the war of 1870-1871.

The events which led up to the siege are described under FRANCO-GERMAN

WAR. Even before the investment Belfort was cut off from the interior of

France, and the German corps of von Werder was, throughout the siege,

between the fortress and the forces which might attempt its relief. The

siege corps was commanded by General von Tresckow and numbered at first

10,000 men with twenty-four field guns--a force which appeared adequate

for the reduction of the antiquated works of Vaubau. Colonel

Denfert-Rochereau was, however, a scientific engineer of advanced ideas

as well as a veteran soldier of the Crimea and Algeria, and he had been

stationed at Belfort for six years. He was therefore eminently fitted

for the command of the fortress. He had as a nucleus but few regular

troops, but the energy of the military and civil authorities enabled his

force to be augmented by national guards, &c., to 17,600 men. The

artillery was very numerous, but skilled gunners were not available in

any great strength and ammunition was scarce. Perhaps the most

favourable circumstance from a technical point of view was the

bomb-proof accommodation of the enceinte.

[Illustration: Siege of BELFORT 1870-71.]

The old fortress consisted of the town enceinte, the castle (situated on

high ground and fortified by several concentric envelopes), and the

entrenched camp, a hollow enclosed by continuous lines, the salients of

which were the castle, Fort La Justice and Fort La Miotte. These were

planned in the days of short-range guns, and were therefore in 1870 open

to an overwhelming bombardment by the rifled cannon of the attack.

Denfert-Rochereau, however, understood better than other engineers of

the day the power of modern artillery, and his plan was to utilize the

old works as a keep and an artillery position. The Perches ridge, whence

the town and suburbs could be bombarded, he fortified with all possible

speed. On the right bank of the Savoureuse he constructed two new forts,

Bellevue in the south-west and Des Barres to the west, and, further, he

prepared the suburb on this side for a hand-to-hand defence. His general

plan was to maintain as advanced a line as possible, to manoeuvre

against the investing troops, and to support his own by the long range

fire of his rifled guns. With this object he fortified the outlying

villages, and when the Germans (chiefly Landwehr) began the investment

on the 3rd of November 1870, they encountered everywhere a most

strenuous resistance. Throughout the month the garrison made repeated

sorties, and the Germans were on several occasions forced by the long

range fire of the fortress to evacuate villages which they had taken.

Under these circumstances, and also because of their numerical weakness

and the rigour of the weather, the Germans advanced but slowly. On the

2nd of December, when at last von Tresckow broke ground for the

construction of his batteries, the French still held Danjoutin, Bosmont,

Perouse and the adjacent woods, and, to the northward (on this side the

siege was not pressed) La Forge. Thus the first attack of the siege

artillery was confined to the western side of the river between Essert

and Bavillers. From this position the bombardment opened on the 3rd of

December. Some damage was done to the houses of Belfort, but the

garrison was not intimidated, and their artillery replied with such

spirit that after some days the German commander gave up the

bombardment. On this occasion the distant forts La Miotte and La Justice

fired with effect at a range of 4700 yds., affording a conspicuous

illustration of the changed conditions of siege-craft. The German

batteries, as more guns arrived, were extended from left to right, and

on the 13th of December the Bosmont was captured, ground being also

gained in front of Bellevue. The difficulties under which the siege

corps laboured were very great, and it was not until the 7th of January

1871 that the rightmost battery opened fire. The formal siege of the

Perches redoubts had now been decided upon, and as an essential

preliminary to further operations, Danjoutin, now isolated, was stormed

by the Landwehr on the night of the 7th-8th January. In the meanwhile

typhus and smallpox had broken out amongst the French, many of the

national guards were impatient of control, and the German trenches, in

spite of difficulties of ground and weather, made steady progress

towards the Perches. A week after the fall of Danjoutin the victory of

von Werder and the XIV. army corps at the Lisaine, in which a part of

the siege corps bore a share, put an end to the attempt to relieve

Belfort, and the siege corps was promptly increased to a strength of

17,600 infantry, 4700 artillery and 1100 engineers, with thirty-four

field-guns besides the guns and howitzers of the siege train. The

investment was now more strictly maintained even on the north side. On

the night of the 20th of January the French lines about Perouse were

carried by assault, and, both flanks being now cleared, the formal siege

of the Perches forts was opened, the first parallel extending from

Danjoutin to Haut Taillis. In the early morning of the 27th a determined

but premature attempt was made to storm the Perches redoubts, which cost

the besiegers nearly 500 men. After this failure Tresckow once more

resorted to the regular method of siege approaches, and on the 2nd of

February the second parallel was thrown up. La Justice was now bombarded

by two new batteries near Perouse, the Perches were of course subjected

to an "artillery attack," and henceforward the besiegers fired 1500

shells a day into the works of the French. But the besiegers were still

weak in numbers and their labours were very exhausting. Bellevue and Des

Barres became very active in hindering the advance of the siege works,

and the German battalions were so far depleted by losses and sickness

that they could often muster but 300 men for duty. Still, the guns of

the attack were now steadily gaining the upper hand, and at last on the

8th of February the Germans entered the two Perches redoubts. This

success, and the arrival of German reinforcements, decided the siege.

The Perches ridge was crowned with a parallel and numerous batteries,

which in the end mounted ninety-seven guns. The attack on the castle now

opened, but operations were soon afterwards suspended by the news that

Belfort was now included in the general armistice (February 15th). A

little later Denfert-Rochereau received a direct order from his own

government to surrender the fortress, and the garrison, being granted

free withdrawal, marched out with its arms and trains. "The town had

suffered terribly ... nearly all the buildings were damaged ... the guns

in the upper batteries could only be reached by ladders. The garrison,

of its original strength of 17,700 officers and men, had lost 4750,

besides 336 citizens. The place was no longer tenable" (Moltke,

_Franco-German War_). Nevertheless, "the defence was by no means at its

last stage" at the time of the formal surrender (British _Text-Book of

Fortification_, 1893). The total loss of the besiegers was about 2000

men.

See J. Liblin, _Belfort et son territoire_ (Mulhausen, 1887).

BELFRY (Mid. Eng. _berfrey_, through Med. Lat. _berefredus_, from Teut.

_bergfrid_ or _bercvrit_, which, according to the _New Eng. Dict._, is a

combination of _bergen_, to protect, and _frida_, safety or peace; the

word thus meaning a shelter; the change from r to l,--cf. _almery_ for

_armarium_,--wrongly associated the origin of the word with "bell," and

aided the restriction in meaning), a word in medieval siege-craft for a

movable wooden tower of several stages, protected with raw hides, used

for purposes of attack; also a watch-tower, particularly one with an

alarm bell; hence any detached tower or campanile containing bells, as

at Evesham, but more generally the ringing room or loft of the tower of

a church (see TOWER).

BELGAE, a Celtic people first mentioned by Caesar, who states that they

formed the third part of Gaul, and were separated from the Celtae by the

Sequana (Seine) and Matrona (Marne). On the east and north their

boundary was the lower Rhine, on the west the ocean. Whether Caesar

means to include the Leuci, Treviri and Mediomatrici among the Belgian

tribes is uncertain. According to the statement of the deputation from

the Remi to Caesar (_Bell. Gall._ ii. 4), the Belgae were a people of

German origin, who had crossed the Rhine in early times and driven out

the Galli. But Caesar's own statement (_B.G._ i. 1) that the Belgae

differed from the Celtae in language, institutions and laws, is too

sweeping (see Strabo iv. p. 176), at least as regards language, for many

words and names are common to both. In any case, only the eastern

districts would have been affected by invaders from over the Rhine, the

chief seat of the Belgae proper being in the west, the country occupied

by the Bellovaci, Ambiani and Atrebates, to which it is probable

(although the reading is uncertain) that Caesar gives the distinctive

name Belgium (corresponding to the old provinces of Picardy and Artois).

The question is fully discussed by T.R. Holmes (_Caesar's Conquest of

Gaul_, 1899), who comes to the conclusion that "when the Reman delegates

told Caesar that the Belgae were descended from the Germans, they

probably only meant that the ancestors of the Belgic conquerors had

formerly dwelt in Germany, and this is equally true of the ancestors of

the Gauls who gave their name to the Celtae; but, on the other hand, it

is quite possible that in the veins of some of the Belgae flowed the

blood of genuine German forefathers." W. Ridgeway (_Early Age of Greece,

1901_) considers that the Belgic tribes were Cimbri, "who had moved

directly across the Rhine into north-eastern Gaul." No definite number

of Belgian tribes is given by Caesar; according to Strabo (iv. p. 196)

they were fifteen in all. The Belgae had also made their way over to

Britain in Caesar's time (_B.G._ ii. 4, v. 12), and settled in some of

the southern counties (Wilts, Hants and Somerset). Among their towns

were _Magnus Portus_ (Portsmouth) and _Venta Belgarum_ (Winchester).

In 57 B.C., after the defeat of Ariovistus, the Belgae formed a

coalition against Caesar, and in 52 took part in the general rising

under Vercingetorix. After their final subjugation, Caesar combined the

territory of the Belgae, Celtae and Aquitani into a single province

(Gallia Comata). Augustus, however, finding it too unwieldy, again

divided it into three provinces, one of which was Belgica, bounded on

the west by the Seine and the Arar (Saone); on the north by the North

Sea; on the east by the Rhine from its mouth to the Lacus Brigantinus

(Lake Constance). Its southernmost district embraced the west of

Switzerland. The capital and residence of the governor of the province

was Durocortorum Remorum (Reims). Under Diocletian, Belgica Prima

(capital, Augusta Trevirorum, Trier) and Secunda (capital, Reims) formed

part of the "diocese" of Gaul.

See A.G.B. Schayes, _La Belgique et les Pays-Bas avant et pendant la

domination romaine_ (2nd ed., Brussels, 1877); H.G. Moke, _La Belgique

ancienne_ (Ghent, 1855); A. Desjardins, _Geographie historique de la

Gaule_, ii. (1878); T.R. Holmes, _Caesar's Conquest of Gaul_ (1899);

M. Ihm in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopadie_, iii. pt. 1 (1897); J.

Jung, "Geographie von Italien und dem Orbis romanus" (2nd ed., 1897)

in I. Muller's _Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft_.

BELGARD, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Pomerania, at

the junction of the rivers Leitznitz and Persante, 22 m. S.E. of Kolberg

by rail. Pop. (1900) 8047. Its industries consist of iron founding and

cloth weaving, and there are considerable horse and cattle markets.

BELGAUM, a town and district of British India, in the southern division

of Bombay. The town is situated nearly 2500 ft. above sea-level; it has

a station on the Southern Mahratta railway, 245 m. S. of Poona. It has

an ancient fortress, dating apparently from 1519, covering about 100

acres, and surrounded by a ditch; within it are two interesting Jain

temples. Belgaum contains a cantonment which is the headquarters of a

brigade in the 6th division of the western army corps. It is also a

considerable centre of trade and of cotton weaving. There are cotton

mills. Pop. (1901) 36,878.

The district of Belgaum has an area of 4649 sq. m. To the north and east

the country is open and well cultivated, but to the south it is

intersected by spurs of the Sahyadri range, thickly covered in some

places with forest. In 1901 the population was 993,976, showing a

decrease of 2% compared with an increase of 17% in the preceding decade.

The principal crops are millet, rice, wheat, other food-grains, pulse,

oil-seeds, cotton, sugar-cane, spices and tobacco. There are

considerable manufactures of cotton-cloth. The town of Gokak is known

for its dyes, its paper and its wooden and earthenware toys. The West

Deccan line of the Southern Mahratta railway runs through the district

from north to south. Two high schools at Belgaum town are maintained by

government and by the London Mission. The Kurirs, a wandering and

thieving tribe, the Kamais, professional burglars, and the Baruds,

cattle-stealers and highwaymen, are notorious among the criminal

classes.

_History._--The ancient name of the town of Belgaum was Venugrama, which

is said to be derived from the bamboos that are characteristic of its

neighbourhood. The most ancient place in the district is Halsi; and

this, according to inscriptions on copper plates discovered in its

neighbourhood, was once the capital of a dynasty of nine Kadamba kings.

It appears that from the middle of the 6th century A.D. to about 760 the

country was held by the Chalukyas, who were succeeded by the

Rashtrakutas. After the break-up of the Rashtrakuta power a portion of

it survived in the Rattas (875-1250), who from 1210 onward made

Venugrama their capital. Inscriptions give evidence of a long struggle

between the Rattas and the Kadambas of Goa, who succeeded in the latter

years of the 12th century in acquiring and holding part of the district.

By 1208, however, the Kadambas had been overthrown by the Rattas, who in

their turn succumbed to the Yadavas of Devagiri in 1250. After the

overthrow of the Yadavas by the Delhi emperor (1320), Belgaum was for a

short time under the rule of the latter; but only a few years later the

part south of the Ghatprabha was subject to the Hindu rajas of

Vijayanagar. In 1347 the northern part was conquered by the Bahmani

dynasty, which in 1473 took the town of Belgaum and conquered the

southern part also. When Aurungzeb overthrew the Bijapur sultans in

1686, Belgaum passed to the Moguls. In 1776 the country was overrun by

Hyder Ali, but was retaken by the Peshwa with British assistance. In

1818 it was handed over to the East India Company and was made part of

the district of Dharwar. In 1836 this was divided into two parts, the

southern district continuing to be known as Dharwar, the northern as

Belgaum.

See _Imp. Gazetteer of India_ (Oxford, ed. 1908), s.v.

BELGIAN CONGO, a Belgian colony in Equatorial Africa occupying the

greater part of the basin of the Congo river. Formerly the Independent

State of the Congo, it was annexed to Belgium in 1908. (See CONGO FREE

STATE.)

BELGIUM (Fr. _Belgique_; Flem. _Belgie_), an independent, constitutional

and neutral state occupying an important position in north-west Europe.

It was formerly part of the Low Countries or Netherlands (q.v.).

Although the name Belgium only came into general use with the foundation

of the modern kingdom in 1830, its derivation from ancient times is

clear and incontrovertible. Beginning with the Belgae and the Gallia

Belgica of the Romans, the use of the adjective to distinguish the

inhabitants of the south Netherlands can be traced through all stages of

subsequent history. During the Crusades, and in the middle ages, the

term _Belgicae principes_ is of frequent occurrence, and when in 1790

the Walloons rose against Austria during what was called the Brabant

revolution, their leaders proposed to give the country the name of

Belgique. Again in 1814, on the expulsion of the French, when there was

much talk of founding an independent state, the same name was suggested

for it. It was not till sixteen years later, on the collapse of the

united kingdom of the Netherlands, that the occasion presented itself

for giving effect to this proposal. For the explanation of the English

form of the name it may be mentioned that Belgium was a canton of what

had been the Nervian country in the time of the Roman occupation.

[Illustration: Map of Belgium and Luxemburg.]

_Topography, &c._--Belgium lies between 49 deg. 30' and 51 deg. 30' N.,

and 2 deg. 32' and 6 deg. 7' E., and on the land side is bounded by

Holland on the N. and N.E., by Prussia and the grand duchy of Luxemburg

on the E. and S.E., and by France on the S. Its land frontiers measure

793 m., divided as follows:--with Holland 269 m., with Prussia 60 m.,

with the grand duchy 80 m. and with France 384 m. In addition it has a

sea-coast of 42 m. The western portion of Belgium, consisting of the two

Flanders, Antwerp and parts of Brabant and Hainaut, is flat, being

little above the level of the sea; and indeed at one point near Furnes

it is 7 ft. below it. The same description applies more or less to the

north-east, but in the south of Hainaut and the greater part of Brabant

the general level of the country is about 300 ft. above the sea, with

altitudes rising to more than 600 ft. South of the Meuse, and in the

district distinguished by the appellation "Between Sambre and Meuse,"

the level is still greater, and the whole of the province of Luxemburg

is above 500 ft., with altitudes up to 1650 ft. In the south-eastern

part of the province of Liege there are several points exceeding 2000

ft. The highest of these is the Baraque de Michel close to the Prussian

frontier, with an altitude of 2190 ft. The Baraque de Fraiture,

north-east of La Roche, is over 2000 ft. While the greater part of

western and northern Belgium is devoid of the picturesque, the Ardennes

and the Fagnes districts of "Between Sambre and Meuse" and Liege contain

much pleasant and some romantic scenery. The principal charm of this

region is derived from its fine and extensive woods, of which that

called St Hubert is the best known. There are no lakes in Belgium, but

otherwise it is exceedingly well watered, being traversed by the Meuse

for the greater part of its course, as well as by the Scheldt and the

Sambre. The numerous affluents of these rivers, such as the Lys, Dyle,

Dender, Ourthe, Ambleve, Vesdre, Lesse and Semois, provide a system of

waterways almost unique in Europe. The canals of Belgium are scarcely

less numerous or important than those of Holland, especially in

Flanders, where they give a distinctive character to the country. But

the most striking feature in Belgium, where so much is modern,

utilitarian and ugly, is found in the older cities with their relics of

medieval greatness, and their record of ancient fame. These, in their

order of interest, are Bruges, Antwerp, Louvain, Brussels, Ghent, Ypres,

Courtrai, Tournai, Furnes, Oudenarde and Liege. It is to them rather

than to the sylvan scenes of the Ardennes that travellers and tourists

flock.

The climate may be described as temperate and approximating to that of

southern England, but it is somewhat hotter in summer and a little

colder in winter. In the Ardennes, owing to the greater elevation, the

winters are more severe.

_Geology._--Belgium lies upon the northern side of an ancient mountain

chain which has long been worn down to a low level and the remnants of

which rise to the surface in the Ardennes, and extend eastward into

Germany, forming the Eifel and Westerwald, the Hunsruck and the Taunus.

Westward the chain lies buried beneath the Mesozoic and Tertiary beds of

Belgium and the north of France, but it reappears in the west of England

and Ireland. It is the "Hercynian chain" of Marcel Bertrand, and is

composed entirely of Palaeozoic rocks. Upon its northern margin lie the

nearly undisturbed Cretaceous and Tertiary beds which cover the greater

part of Belgium. The latest beds which are involved in the folds of this

mountain range belong to the Coal Measures, and the final elevation must

have taken place towards the close of the Carboniferous period. The fact

that in Belgium Jurassic beds are found upon the southern and not upon

the northern margin indicates that in this region the chain was still a

ridge in Jurassic times. In the Ardennes the rocks which constitute the

ancient mountain chain belong chiefly to the Devonian System, but

Cambrian beds rise through the Devonian strata, forming the masses of

Rocroi, Stavelot, &c., which appear to have been islands in the Devonian

sea. The Ordovician and Silurian are absent here, and the Devonian rests

unconformably upon the Cambrian; but along the northern margin of the

Palaeozoic area, Ordovician and Silurian rocks appear, and beds of

similar age are also exposed farther north where the rivers have cut

through the overlying Tertiary deposits. Carboniferous beds occur in the

north of the Palaeozoic area. Near Dinant they are folded amongst the

Devonian beds, but the most important band runs along the northern

border of the Ardennes. In this band lie the coalfields of Liege, and of

Mons and Charleroi. It is a long and narrow trough, which is separated

from the older rocks of the Ardennes by a great reversed fault, the

_faille du midi_. In the southern half of the trough the folding of the

Coal Measures is intense; in the northern half it is much less violent.

The structure is complicated by a thrust-plane which brings a mass of

older beds upon the Coal Measures in the middle of the trough. Except

along the southern border of the Ardennes, and at one or two points in

the middle of the Palaeozoic massif, Triassic and Jurassic beds are

unknown in Belgium, and the Palaeozoic rocks are directly and

unconformably overlaid by Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits. The

Cretaceous beds are not extensive, but the Wealden deposits of

Bernissart, with their numerous remains of Iguanodon, and the chalk of

the district about the Dutch frontier near Maastricht, with its very

late Cretaceous fauna, are of special interest.

Exclusive of the Ardennes the greater part of Belgium is covered by

Tertiary deposits. The Eocene, consisting chiefly of sands and marls,

occupies the whole of the west of the country. The Oligocene forms a

band stretching from Antwerp to Maastricht, and this is followed towards

the north by a discontinuous strip of Miocene and a fairly extensive

area of Pliocene. The Tertiary deposits are similar in general character

to those of the north of France and the south of England. Coal and iron

are by far the most important mineral productions of Belgium. Zinc, lead

and copper are also extensively worked in the Palaeozoic rocks of the

Ardennes.

_Area and Population._--The area comprises 2,945,503 hectares, or about

11,373 English sq. m., and the total population in December 1904 was

7,074,910, giving an average of 600 per sq. m.

+-------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+

| The Nine | Area in | Population at | Population per |

| Provinces. | English sq. m. | end of 1904. | sq. m. 1904. |

+-------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+

| Antwerp | 1093 | 888,980 | 813.3 |

| Brabant | 1268 | 1,366,389 | 1077.59 |

| Flanders E. | 1158 | 1,078,507 | 931.35 |

| Flanders W. | 1249 | 845,732 | 677.8 |

| Hainaut | 1437 | 1,192,967 | 830.18 |

| Liege | 1117 | 863,254 | 772.8 |

| Limburg | 931 | 255,359 | 274.28 |

| Luxemburg | 1706 | 225,963 | 132.45 |

| Namur | 1414 | 357,759 | 253 |

+-------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+

| Total | 11,373 | 7,074,910 | 622 |

+-------------+----------------+---------------+----------------+

The population was made up of 3,514,491 males and 3,560,419 females. The

rate at which the population has increased is shown as follows:--From

1880 to 1890 the increase was at the rate annually of 54,931, from 1890

to 1900 at the rate of 62,421, and for the five years from 1900 to 1904

at the rate of 66,200. In 1831 the population of Belgium was 3,785,814,

so that in 75 years it had not quite doubled. The following table gives

the total births and deaths in certain years since 1880:--

+-------+---------------+---------------+-------------------+

| Year. | Total births. | Total deaths. | Excess of births. |

+-------+---------------+---------------+-------------------+

| 1880 | 171,864 | 123,323 | 48,541 |

| 1895 | 183,015 | 125,148 | 57,867 |

| 1900 | 193,789 | 129,046 | 64,743 |

| 1904 | 191,721 | 119,506 | 72,215 |

+-------+---------------+---------------+-------------------+

These figures show that the births were 23,674 more in 1904 than in

1880, while the deaths were nearly 4000 fewer, with a population that

had increased from 5-1/2 to 7 millions. Of 191,721 births in 1904,

12,887 or 6.7% were illegitimate. Statistics of recent years show a

slight increase in legitimate and a slight decrease in illegitimate

births.

The emigration of Belgians from their country is small and reveals

little variation. In 1900, 13,492 emigrated, and in 1904 the total rose

only to 14,752. Of Belgians living abroad it is estimated that 400,000

reside in France, 15,000 in Holland, 12,000 in Germany and 4600 in Great

Britain. The number of Belgians in the Congo State in 1904 was 1505. The

number of foreigners resident in Belgium in 1900 with their

nationalities were Germans, 42,079; English, 5096; French, 85,735;

Dutch, 54,491; Luxemburgers, 9762; and all other nationalities, 14,411.

With regard to the languages spoken by the people of Belgium the

following comparative table gives the return for the three censuses of

1880, 1890 and 1900:--

+---------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

| | 1880. | 1890. | 1900. |

+---------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

| French only | 2,230,316 | 2,485,072 | 2,574,805 |

| Flemish only | 2,485,384 | 2,744,271 | 2,822,005 |

| German only | 39,550 | 32,206 | 28,314 |

| French and Flemish | 423,752 | 700,997 | 801,587 |

| French and German | 35,250 | 58,590 | 66,447 |

| Flemish and German | 2,956 | 7,028 | 7,238 |

| The three languages | 13,331 | 13,185 | 42,885 |

+---------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

_Constitution and Government._--The Belgian constitution, drafted by the

national assembly in 1830-1831 after the provisional government had

announced that "the Belgian provinces detached by force from Holland

shall form an independent state," was published on the 7th of February

1831, and the modifications introduced into it subsequently, apart from

the composition of the electorate, have been few and unimportant. The

constitution originally contained one hundred and thirty-nine articles,

and decreed in the first place that the government was to be "a

constitutional, representative and hereditary monarchy." Having decided

in favour of a monarchy, the provisional government first offered the

throne to the due de Nemours, son of Louis-Philippe, but this offer was

promptly withdrawn on the discovery that Europe would not endorse it. It

was then offered to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, widower of the

princess Charlotte of England, and accepted by him. The prince was

proclaimed on the 4th of June 1831 as Leopold I., king of the Belgians,

and on the 21st of July 1831 he was solemnly inaugurated in Brussels.

The succession is vested in the heirs male of Leopold I., and should

they ever make complete default the throne will be declared vacant, and

a national assembly composed of the two chambers elected in double

strength will make a fresh nomination. In 1894 a new article numbered 61

was inserted in the constitution providing that "in default of male

heirs the king can nominate his successor with the assent of the two

chambers, and if no such nomination has been made the throne shall be

vacant," when the original procedure of the constitution would be

followed. The Belgian national assembly assumed that its constitution

would extend over the whole of the Belgic or south Netherlands, but the

powers decreed otherwise. The limits of Belgium are fixed by the London

protocol of the 15th of October 1831--also called the twenty-four

articles--which cut off what is now termed the grand duchy of Luxemburg,

and also a good portion of the duchy of Limburg. These losses of

territory held by a brother people are still felt as a grievance by many

Belgians. The Belgian constitution stipulates for "freedom of

conscience, of education, of the press and also of the right of

meeting," but the sovereign must be a member of the Church of Rome. The

government was to consist of the king, the senate and the chamber of

representatives. The functions of the king are those that appertain

everywhere to the sovereign of a constitutional state. He is the head of

the army and has the exclusive right of dissolving the chambers as

preliminary to an appeal to the country.

The senate is composed of seventy-six elected members and twenty-six

members nominated by the provincial councils. A senator sits for eight

years unless a dissolution is ordered, and no one is eligible until he

is forty years of age. Half the seventy-six elected senators retire for

re-election every four years. There is no payment or other privilege,

except a pass on the state railways, attached to the rank of senator.

The chamber of representatives contained one hundred and fifty-two

members until 1899, when the number was increased to one hundred and

sixty-six. Deputies are elected for four years, but half the house is

re-elected every two years. A deputy must be twenty-five years of age,

and the members of both houses must be of Belgian nationality, born or

naturalized. A deputy receives an annual honorarium of 4000 francs and a

railway pass. Down to 1893 the electorate was exceedingly small.

Property and other qualifications kept the voting power in the hands of

a limited class. This may be judged from the fact that in the year named

there were only 137,772 voters out of a population of 65 millions. In

April 1894 the new electoral law altered the whole system. The property

qualification was removed and every Belgian was given one vote on

attaining twenty-five years of age and after one year's residence in his

commune. At the same time the principle of multiple votes for certain

qualifications was introduced. The Belgian citizen on reaching the age

of thirty-five, providing he is married or is a widower with legitimate

offspring and pays five francs of direct taxes, gets a second vote. Two

extra votes are given for qualifications of property, official status or

university diplomas. The maximum voting power of any individual is three

votes. In 1904 there were 1,581,649 voters, possessing 2,467,966 votes.

This system of plural voting has proved a success. It does not, however,

satisfy the Socialists, whose formula is one man, one vote. The final

change in the system of parliamentary elections was made in 1899-1900,

when proportional representation was introduced. Proportional

representation aims at the protection of minorities, and its working out

is a little intricate, or at all events difficult to describe. The

following has been accepted as a clear definition of what proportional

representation is:--electoral district has the number of its members

apportioned in accordance with the total strength of each party or

political programme in that district. As a rule there are only the three

chief parties, viz. Catholic, Liberal and Socialist, but the presence of

Catholic-Democrats or some other new faction may increase the total to

four or even five. The number of seats to be filled is divided by the

number of parties or candidates, and then they are distributed in the

proportion of the total followers or voters of each. The smallest

minority is thus sure of one seat." An illustration may make this

clearer. In an electoral district with 32,000 votes which returns eight

deputies, four parties send up candidates, let us say, eight Catholics,

eight Liberals, eight Socialists and one Catholic-Democrat. The result

of the voting is, 16,000 Catholic votes, 9000 Liberal, 4500 Socialist,

and 2500 Catholic-Democrat. The seats would, therefore, be apportioned

as follows: four Catholic, two Liberal, one Socialist and one

Catholic-Democrat.

Administration.

The king has one right which other constitutional rulers do not possess.

He can initiate proposals for new laws (_projets de loi_). He is also

charged with the executive power which he delegates to a cabinet

composed of ministers chosen from the party representing the majority in

the chamber. Down to 1884 the Liberal party had held power with very few

intervals since 1840. The Catholic party succeeded to office in 1884.

The ministers represent departments for finance, foreign affairs,

colonies, justice, the interior, science and arts, war, railways, posts

and telegraphs, agriculture, public works, and industry and labour. The

minister for war is generally a soldier, the others are civilians.

Ministers may be members of either chamber and enjoy the privilege of

being allowed to speak in both. Sometimes one minister will hold several

portfolios at the same time, but such cases are rare.

Provinces and communes.

The kingdom is divided into nine provinces which are subdivided into 342

cantons and 2623 communes. The provinces are governed by a governor

nominated by the king, the canton is a judicial division for marking the

limit of the jurisdiction of each _juge de paix_, and the commune is the

administrative unit, possessing self-government in all local matters.

For each commune of 5000 inhabitants or over, a burgomaster is appointed

by the communal council which is chosen by the electors of the commune.

As three years' residence is required these electors are fewer in number

than those for the legislature. In 1902 there were 1,146,482 voters with

2,007,704 votes, the principles of multiple votes, with, however, a

maximum of four votes and proportional representation, being in force

for communal as for legislative elections.

_Religion._--The constitution provides for absolute liberty of

conscience and there is no state religion, but the people are almost to

a man Roman Catholics. It is computed that there are 10,000 Protestants

(half English) and 5000 Jews, and that all the rest are Catholics. The

government in 1904 voted nearly 7,000,000 francs in aid of the religious

establishments of, and the benevolent institutions kept up by, the Roman

Church. The grant to other cults amounted to 118,000 francs, but small

as this sum may appear it is in due proportion to the relative numbers

of each creed. The hierarchy of the Church of Rome in Belgium is

composed of the archbishop of Malines, and the bishops of Liege, Ghent,

Bruges, Tournai and Namur. The archbishop receives L800, and the bishops

L600 apiece from the state yearly. The pay of the village _cure_

averages L80 a year and a house. Besides the regular clergy there are

the members of the numerous monastic and conventual houses established

in Belgium. They are engaged principally in educational and eleemosynary

work, and the development in such institutions is considerable.

_Education._--Education, though not obligatory, is free for those who

cannot pay for it. In the primary schools instruction in reading,

writing, arithmetic, history and geography is obligatory. In 1904 there

were 7092 primary schools with 859,436 pupils of both sexes. Of these

807,383 did not pay. Primary education is supposed to continue till the

age of fourteen, but in practice it stops at twelve for all who do not

intend to pass through the middle schools, which is essential for all

persons seeking state employment of any kind. The middle schools have

one privilege. They can give a certificate qualifying scholars for a

mastership in the primary schools, which are under the full control of

the communes. These appointments are always bestowed on local

favourites. The pay of a schoolmaster in a small commune is only L48,

and in a large town L96, with a maximum ranging from L80 to L152 after

twenty-four years' service. It is therefore clear that no very high

qualifications could be expected from such a staff. The control of the

state comes in to the extent of providing district inspectors who visit

the schools once a year, and hold a meeting of the teachers in their

district once a quarter. In each province there is a chief inspector who

is bound to visit each school once in two years, and reports direct to

the minister of public instruction. With regard to the middle schools,

the government has reserved the right to appoint the teaching staff, and

to prescribe the books that are to be used. The results of the middle

schools are fairly satisfactory. Still better are the Athenees Royaux,

twenty in number, which are quite independent of the commune and subject

to official control under the superior direction of the king.

Mathematics and classics are taught in them and the masters are allowed

to take boarders. The expenditure of the state on education amounts to

about a million sterling. In 1860 the grants were only for little over

one-eighth of the total in 1903. In 1900 31.94% of the toal population

was illiterate. Considerable progress in the education of the people is

made visible by a comparison of the figures of three decennial censuses.

In 1880 the illiterate were 42.25% and in 1890 37.63, so that there was

a further marked improvement by 1900. Among the provinces Walloon

Belgium is better instructed than Flemish, Luxemburg coming first,

followed by Namur, Liege and Brabant in their order.

Higher instruction is given at the universities and in the schools

attached thereto. Those at Ghent and Liege are state universities; the

two others at Brussels and Louvain are free. At Louvain alone is there a

faculty of theology. The number of students inscribed for the academical

year 1904-1905 at each university was Ghent 899, Liege 1983, Brussels

1082, and Louvain 2134, or a grand total of 6098. Liege is specially

famed for the technical schools attached to it. There are also a large

number of state-aided schools for special purposes; (1) for military

instruction, there are the _Ecole Militaire_ at Brussels, the school of

cadets at Namur, and army schools at different stations, e.g. Bouillon,

&c. For officers in the army, there are the _Ecole de Guerre_ or staff

college at Brussels with an average attendance of twenty, a riding

school at Ypres where a course is obligatory for the cavalry and horse

artillery, and for soldiers in the army there are regimental schools and

evening classes for illiterate soldiers. (2) For education in the arts,

there is the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at Antwerp, and besides this

famous school of painting there are eighty-four academies for teaching

drawing throughout the kingdom. In music, there are royal conservatoires

at Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, and Liege. Besides these there are

sixty-nine minor conservatoires. (3) For commercial and professional

education, there are 181 schools. The Commercial Institute of Antwerp

deserves special notice as an excellent school for clerks. (4) Among

special schools may be named the three schools of navigation at Antwerp,

Ostend and Nieuport. Since the wreck of the training-ship "Comte de Smet

de Naeyer" in 1906, it has been decided that a stationary training-ship

shall be placed in the Scheldt like the "Worcester" on the Thames. Among

the numerous learned societies may be mentioned the Belgian Royal

Academy founded in 1769 and revived in 1818. For the encouragement of

research and literary style the government awards periodical prizes

which are very keenly contested.

_Justice._--The administration of justice is very fully organized, and

in the Code Belge, which was carefully compiled between 1831 and 1836

from the old laws of the nine provinces leavened by the Code Napoleon

and modern exigencies, the Belgians claim that they possess an almost

perfect statute-book. The courts of law in their order are _Cour de

Cassation_, _Cour d'Appel_, _Cour de Premiere Instance_, and the _Juge

de Paix_ courts, one for each of the 342 cantons. The _Cour de

Cassation_ has a peculiar judicial sphere. It works automatically,

examining every judgment to see if it is in strict accord with the code,

and where it is not the decision or verdict is simply annulled. There is

only one judge in this court, but he has the assistance of a large staff

of revisers. The _Cour de Cassation_ never tries a case itself except

when a minister of state is the accused. The president of this tribunal

is the highest legal functionary in Belgium. There are three courts of

appeal, viz. at Brussels, Ghent and Liege. At Brussels there are four

separate chambers or tribunals in the appeal court. Judges of appeal are

appointed by the king for life from lists of eligible barristers

prepared by the senate and the courts. Judges can only be removed by the

unanimous vote of their brother judges. There are twenty-six courts of

first instance distributed among the principal towns of the kingdom, and

in Antwerp, Ghent and Liege there are besides special tribunals for the

settlement of commercial cases. Of course there is the right of appeal

from the decisions of these tribunals as well as of the regular courts.

Finally the 342 _Juge de Paix_ courts resemble British county courts.

Criminal cases are tried by (1) the _Tribunaux de Police_, (2)

_Tribunaux Correctionnels_, (3) and the _Cours d'Assises_. The last are

held as the length of the calendar requires. Capital punishment is

retained on the statute, but is never enforced, the prisoner on whom

sentence of death is passed in due form in open court being relegated to

imprisonment for life in solitary confinement and perpetual silence. The

chief prisons are at Louvain, Ghent and St Gilles (Brussels), and the

last named serves as a house of detention. At Merxplas, near the Dutch

frontier, is the agricultural criminal colony at which an average number

of two thousand prisoners are kept employed in comparative liberty

within the radius of the convict settlement.

_Pauperism._--For the relief of pauperism there are a limited number of

houses of mendicity, in which inmates are received, and houses of

refuge for night shelter. At the _beguinages_ of Ghent and Bruges women

and girls able to contribute a specified sum towards their support are

given a home.

_National Finance._--The budget is submitted to the chambers by the

minister of finance and passed by them. The revenue and expenditure were

in the years stated as follows:--

+-------+----------------------+---------------------+

| Year. | Revenue. | Expenditure. |

+-------+----------------------+---------------------+

| 1880 | 394,215,932 francs | 382,908,429 francs |

| 1895 | 395,730,445 " | 410,383,402 " |

| 1903 | 632,416,810 " | 627,975,568 " |

+-------+----------------------+---------------------+

The revenue is made up from taxes, including customs, tolls, including

returns from railway traffic, &c., and the balance comes from various

revenues, return of capital, loans, &c. The following are the principal

items of expenditure (1903):--

Service of debt 143,065,352 francs

Sovereign, senate, chamber, &c. 5,289,087 "

Departments, foreign office 3,751,636 "

" agriculture 12,253,957 "

" railways 165,086,019 "

" finance 34,479,674 "

" industry 19,905,589 "

" war 63,972,473 "

" public instruction 31,799,105 "

" justice 27,168,032 "

Minor items 4,179,046 "

-----------

Total 510,949,970 "

===========

The difference is made up of "special expenditure." The total debt in

English money may be put at 126 millions sterling, which requires for

interest, sinking fund and service about 5-3/4 millions sterling

annually. The rate of interest on all the loans extant is 3%, except on

one loan of 219,959,632 francs, which pays only 2-1/2%.

_Army and National Defence._--The army is divided into the regular army,

the gendarmerie, and the _garde civique_. The Belgian regular army is

thus composed: infantry, one regiment of carabiniers, one of grenadiers,

three of _chasseurs a pied_, and fourteen of the line, all these

regiments having 3 or 4 active and 3 or 4 reserve battalions apiece;

cavalry, two regiments of guides, two of _chasseurs a cheval_, and four

of lancers, all light cavalry; artillery, four horse, thirty field, and

seventy siege batteries on active service; engineers, 140 officers and

2000 men. The train or commissariat has only 30 officers and 600 men on

the permanent establishment. Belgium retains the older form of

conscription, and has not adopted the system of "universal service." The

annual levy is small and substitution is permitted. In 1904 the number

inscribed for service was 64,042. Of these only 12,525 were enrolled in

the army, and of that number 1421 were volunteers, who took an

engagement on receipt of a premium. The effective strength of the army

in 1904 with the colours was 3406 officers and 40,382 men. To this total

has to be added the men on the active list, but either absent on leave

or allowed to return to civil life, numbering 70,043. It is assumed that

on mobilization these men are immediately available. The reserve

consists of 181 officers and 58,014 men, so that the total strength of

the Belgian army is 3587 officers and 168,439 men. The field force in

war is organized in four infantry and two cavalry divisions, the total

strength being about 100,000. The peace effective has not varied much

since 1870, but the total paper strength is 75,000 more than in that

year. In the years 1900-1904 it increased by 8000 men. The gendarmerie

is a mounted force composed of men picked for their physique and divided

into three divisions. It numbers 67 officers and 3079 men, but has no

reserve. It is in every sense a _corps d'elite_, and may be classed as

first-rate heavy cavalry. The total strength of the _garde civique_ in

1905 was 35,102, to which have to be added 8532 volunteers belonging to

the corps of older formation, service in which counts on a par with the

_garde civique_. Some of the latter regiments, especially the artillery,

would rank with British volunteers, but the mass of the _garde civique_

does not pretend to possess military value. It is a defence against

sedition and socialism. The defence of Belgium depends on five fortified

positions. The fortified position and camp of Antwerp represents the

true base of the national defence. Its detached forts shelter the city

from bombardment, and so long as sea communication is open with England,

Antwerp would be practically impregnable. Liege with twelve forts and

Namur with nine forts are the fortified _tetes de pont_ protecting the

two most important passages of the Meuse. The forts are constructed in

concrete with armoured cupolas. Termonde on the Scheldt and Diest on the

Dender are retained as nominally fortified positions, but neither, could

resist a regular bombardment for more than a few hours, as their

casemates are not bomb-proof.

The training camp of the Belgian army is at Beverloo in the province of

Limburg, and at Braschaet not far from Antwerp are ranges for artillery

as well as rifle practice. The Belgian officer is technically as well

trained and educated as any in Europe, but he lacks practical experience

in military service.

_Mines and Industry._--The principal mineral produced in Belgium is

coal. This is found in the Borinage district near Mons and in the

neighbourhood of Liege, but the working of an entirely new coal-field,

which promises to attain vast dimensions, was commenced in 1906 in the

Campine district of the province of Limburg. The coal mines of Belgium

give employment to nearly 150,000 persons, and for some years the

average output has exceeded 22,000,000 tons. Other minerals are iron,

manganese, lead and zinc. The iron mines produce much less than

formerly, and the want of iron is a grave defect in Belgian prosperity,

as about L5,000,000 sterling worth of iron has to be imported annually,

chiefly from French Lorraine. The chief metal industry of the country is

represented by the iron and steel works of Charleroi and Liege. Belgium

is particularly rich in quarries of marble, granite and slate. Ghent is

the capital of the textile industry, and all the towns of Flanders are

actively engaged in producing woollen and cotton materials and in lace

manufacture. The bulk of the population is, however, engaged in

agriculture, and the extent of land under cultivation of all kinds is

about 6-1/2 million acres.

_Commerce._--The trade returns for 1904 were as follows:--

_Imports--_

General Commerce 4,426,400,000 francs

Special Commerce (included in General Commerce) 2,782,200,000 "

_Exports--_

General Commerce 3,849,100,000 "

Special Commerce (included in General Commerce) 2,183,300,000 "

The general commerce includes goods in transit across Belgium, the

special commerce takes into account only the produce and the consumption

of Belgium itself. The trade of Belgium has more than trebled as regards

both imports and exports since 1870. The following table shows the

amount of exports and imports between Belgium and the more important

foreign states:--

+---------------+--------------------+--------------------+

| | Imports. | Exports. |

+---------------+--------------------+--------------------+

| France | 465,684,000 francs | 346,670,000 francs |

| Germany | 351,025,000 " | 505,473,000 " |

| England | 335,404,000 " | 392,324,000 " |

| Holland | 240,873,000 " | 268,781,000 " |

| United States | 222,301,000 " | 86,324,000 " |

| Russia | 212,119,000 " | 26,671,000 " |

| Argentina | 198,913,000 " | 41,508,000 " |

| British India | 141,669,000 " | 25,860,000 " |

| Rumania | 102,174,000 " | 3,949,000 " |

| Australia | 58,190,000 " | 12,087,000 " |

| Congo State | 53,100,000 " | 14,049,000 " |

| China | 8,770,000 " | 25,546,000 " |

+---------------+--------------------+--------------------+

In the relative magnitude of the annual value of its commerce, excluding

that in transit, Belgium stands sixth among the nations of the world,

following Great Britain, the United States, Germany, France and Holland.

The principal imports are food supplies and raw material such as cotton,

wool, silk, flax, hemp and jute. Among minerals, iron ore, sulphur,

copper, coal, tin, lead and diamonds are the most imported. The exports

of greatest value are textiles, lace, coal, coke, briquettes, glass,

machinery, railway material and fire arms.

_Shipping and Navigation._--Belgium has no state navy, although various

proposals have been made from time to time to establish an armed

flotilla in connexion with the defence of Antwerp. The state, however,

possesses a certain number of steamers. In 1904 they numbered sixty-five

of 99,893 tons. These steamers are chiefly employed on the passenger

route between Ostend and Dover. The total number of vessels entering the

only two ports of Belgium which carry on ocean commerce, namely Antwerp

and Ostend, in 1904 was 7650 of a tonnage of 10,330,127. Among inland

ports that of Ghent is the most important, 1127 ships of a tonnage of

786,362 having entered the port in 1904. The corresponding figures for

ships sailing from the two ports first named were in the same year 7642

and tonnage 10,298,405. The figures from Ghent were 1128 and 787,173

tons. Whereas the lines of steamers from Ostend are chiefly with Dover

and London, those from Antwerp proceed to all parts of the world. A

steam service was established in 1906 from Hull to Bruges by Zeebrugge

and the ship canal.

_Internal Communications._--The internal communications of Belgium of

every kind are excellent. The roads outside the province of Luxemburg

and Namur are generally paved. In the provinces named, or in other

words, in the region south of the Meuse, the roads are macadamized. The

total length of roads is about 6000 m. When Belgium became a separate

state in 1830 they were less than one-third of this total. There are

about 2900 m. of railways, of which upwards of 2500 m. are state

railways. It is of interest to note that the state railways derived a

revenue of 249,355 francs (or nearly L10,000) from the penny tickets for

the admission of non-travellers to railway stations. Besides the main

railways there are numerous light railways (_chemins de fer vicinaux_),

of a total length approaching 2500 m. There are also electric and steam

tramways in all the principal cities. The total of navigable waterways

is given as 1360 m. Posts, telegraphs and telephones are exclusively

under state management and form a government department.

_Banks and Money._--The principal banking institution is the Banque

Nationale which issues the bank-notes in current use. In 1904 the

average value of notes in circulation was 645,989,100 francs. The rate

of discount was 3% throughout the whole of the year.

The mintage of Belgian money is carried out by a _directeur de la

fabrication_ who is nominated by and responsible to the government. The

gold coins are for 10 and 20 francs, silver for half francs, francs, 2

francs and 5 francs. Nickel money is for 5, 10 and 20 centimes, and the

copper coinage has been withdrawn from circulation.

AUTHORITIES.--_Annuaire statistique de la Belgique_ (1905); Beltjens

and Godenne, _La Constitution belge_ (Brussels, 1880); _La Belgique

illustree_ (Brussels, 1878-1882); _Les Pandectes belges_ (Brussels,

1898); _Annales du parlement belge_ for each year; _Belgian Life in

Town and Country_, "Our Neighbours" Series (London, 1904). For geology

see C. Dewalque, _Prodrome d'une description geologique de la

Belgique_ (Brussels, 1880); M. Mourlon, _Geologie de la Belgique_

(Brussels, 1880-1881); F.L. Cornet and A. Briart, "Sur le relief du

sol en Belgique apres les temps paleozoques," _Ann. Soc. Geol. Belg._

vol. iv., 1877, pp. 71-115, pls. v.-xi. (see also other papers by the

same authors in the same journal); J. Gosselet, _L'Ardenne_ (Paris,

1888); M. Bertrand, "Etudes sur le bassin houiller du nord et sur le

Boulonnais," _Ann. des mines_, ser. ix. vol. vi. (Mem.), pp. 569-635,

1894; C. Malaise, "Etat actuel de nos connaissances sur le silurien de

la Belgique," _Ann. Soc. Geol. Belg._ vol. xxv, 1900-1901, pp.

179-221; H. Forir, "Bibliographie des etages laekenien, ledien,

wemmelien, asschien, tongrien, rupelien et bolderien et des depets

tertiaires de la haute et moyenne Belgique," _ibid._ pp. 223 seq.

(D. C. B.)