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BEHRING STRAIT BEJAPOOR 481 BEHRING STRAIT, a channel connecting the North Pacific and Arctic oceans between the continents of Asia and America, discovered by Behring in 1728. Between East cape in Asia and Cape Prince of Wales on the American side, the strait is only 45 m. wide. The depth of water is from 20 to 30 fathoms. It is com- monly reckoned about 400 m. long. Capt. Cook visited and described the strait in 1778, and later Capt. Beechey. About midway across, in the narrowest place, are three islands, called Diomedes. Opposite the southern opening of the strait stands the large island of St. Law- rence. A current sets through the strait from S. to N. The adjacent coasts are uninhabited. The shores are bold and deeply indented. The strait is frozen over every winter, and large quantities of ice are constantly blocked in north of the capes. BEIRA, or Beyra, one of the six former prov- inces of Portugal, bounded N. by Minho and Tras-os-Montes, E. by Spain, S. by Estrema- dura and Alemtejo, and W. by the Atlantic; area, 9,244 sq. m. ; pop. in 1868, 1,288,994. The surface is very mountainous; the soil is not fertile, but produces barley, wine, wheat, maize, olives, and fruits. The mountains, in- cluding the Sierra de Estrella, furnish fine pasturage for sheep, and yield iron, marble, and coal. The principal rivers are the Douro, which forms the northern boundary, the Mon- dego, which flows through the centre, and the Tagus, on the S. E. border. The province was in 1838 divided into Upper Beira, capital Viseu, and Lower Beira, capital Castello Branco. It is now divided into the administrative districts of Coimbra, Castello Branco, Aveiro, Viseu, and Guarda. BEIRUT. See BBTEOITT. BEISAN. See SOYTHOPOLIS. BEISSEL, Jiihanii Conrad, a German religionist, born at Eberbach in the Palatinate in 1690, died at Ephrata, Lancaster co., Penn., in 1768. He studied theology at Halle, but having joined the Bunkers was obliged to leave Germany, and in 1720 went to Pennsylvania, where he eventually established the new sect of the Sev- enth-Day Dunkers, or the German Seventh-Day Baptists, and founded a monastic establishment at Ephrata, over which he presided about 30 years. He published hymn books in German and Latin (1766-'73), besides his 99 mystical oracles. Id 1 1 -i:i.-r A h III (house of the saint), a town of Arabia, 40 m. N. N. E. of Hodeida on the Red sea, and 85 m. N. of Mocha ; pop. about 8,000. It contains a mosque and a strong cit- adel. The houses are built of brick and clay, and roofed with date leaves. Caravans from all parts of Arabia, Syria, Persia, and Egypt resort hither with Indian and British goods, i spices and sugar, receiving in exchange, coffee, wax, and various gums. Much of the com- mercial importance of the place is owing to an annual festival of three days which is held at the tomb of a sheik near by. Another town of the same name, surnamed el-Kebir (the Great), is N. E. of Hodeida. BEJA, a city of Portugal, capital of a dis- trict in the southern part of the province of Alemtejo, 36 m. S. S. W. of Evora; pop. 7,000. It is built on a hill, in the midst of a fertile plain, and is surrounded by a wall, having 40 towers. It has a castle and a cathedral. Earthenware is manufactured, and there are several tanne- ries in the town. BEJAPOOR, or Viziapoor, a ruined city of Hin- dostan, in the province of Sattara, presidency of Bombay, formerly capital of a province of the same name, in lat. 16 48' N., Ion. 75 46' Bqjapoor.