Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/40

BIG SANDY CBEEK 26 BILBERRY They are highly ornamental plants from the tropics of both hemispheres. BIG SANDY CREEK. (1) A river of Colorado that flows into the Arkansas, 200 miles long. (2) A river of Indiana, that flows into the Ohio. BIG SANDY RIVER, a river forming the boundary between West Virginia and Kentucky, and flowing into the Ohio; having two confluent forks, Tug Fork, that rises in West Virginia, and West Fork, that rises in Kentucky. It is navigable for 100 miles of its lower course; flows through a timber and coal region. BIG SIOUX (su), a river of South Dakota that flows into the Missouri near Sioux City; it is 285 miles long. BIG STONE LAKE, a large lake of Big Stone co., Minn., drained by the Minnesota river; it is about 25 miles long. BIG TREES, the sequoia gigantea, See Sequoia. BIHE (be-ha), a fruitful district of South Africa, E. of Benguela, and under Portuguese influence. Bihe is an impor- tant caravan center, as the only route across the continent passes through it. Area, 2,500 square miles. Pop. 95,000. BIJAPUR (be-ja-p6r'), a decayed city in the Bombay presidency, 160 miles S. E. of Poona. It was for centuries the flourishing capital of a powerful kingdom, but fell therewith under vari- ous dynasties in succession, Hindu and JMussulman, till in 1686 it was captured by Aurungzebe. It passed, during the early part of the 18th century, into the hands of the Mahrattas, and became British in 1848. Now that a gradual decay has done its worst, Bijapur pre- sents a contrast perhaps unequaled in the world. Lofty walls of hewn stone, still entire, inclose the silent and deso- late fragments of a once vast and popu- lous city. BIKANER, a native state of Rajpu- tana, India, under the superintendence of a political agent and the governor- general's agent for Rajputana, lying be- tween 27° 12' and 30° 12' N. lat., and 72° 15' and 73° 50' E. long. Area, 23,173 square miles. Pop. about 710,000. Bik- aner, the capital, is surrounded by a fine wall Z'V2 miles in circuit. It has a fort, containing the rajah's palace, and manufactures blankets, sugar candy, pottery, etc. Pop,, including suburbs, about 55,000. BIKELAS, DIMITRIOS (be-ka'las), a Greek poet and essayist, born at Hemopolis, in the island of Syra, in 1835. After completing his studies, he went to London, and after 1874 lived in Paris. He published a collection of his poems in London in 1862, and made Shakespeare's dramas known in Greece through excellent metrical translations. As a prose writer he won wide reputa- tion with his tale, "Lukis Laras" (1879), which was translated into 13 languages. He died in 1908. BILASPITR, a district in the chief commissionership of the Central prov- inces of India, lying between 21° 22' and 23° 6' N. lat., and between 80° 48' and 83° 10' E. long. Area, 7,798 square miles. Pop. about 1,200,000. The ad- ministrative headquarters of the district are at Bilaspur, which is also the prin- cipal town. It is pleasantly situated on the S. bank of the Arpa, and has a population of about 20,000. BILBAO, a town of northern Spain, the capital of the Basque province of Vizcaya, is situated in a mountain gorge on the Nervion, 8 miles S. E. of its mouth at Portugalete, and 63 miles N. by E. of Miranda by rail. Bilbao is well built. Pop. about 100,000. Bilbao was founded in 1300 by Diego Lopez de Haro under the name of Belvao — i. e., the fine fort — and soon attained great prosperity. In the 15th century it was the seat of the most authoritative com- mercial tribunal in Spain. It suffered severely in the wars with France, first in 1795 and again in 1808, when 1,200 of its inhabitants were slaughtered in cold blood. During the Carlist struggles Bilbao stood two great sieges, Zumala- carreguy here receiving his death wound in 1835, while in 1874 the place was vainly besieged and heavily bombarded by the forces of Don Carlos for four months. BILBERRY, the name given to one or two species of vacciniuon, a genus of plants belonging to the order vacciniaceas (cranberries). It is especially used of the vaccinium myrtillus, called also the whortleberry. It has waxy flowers, greenish with a red tinge, and black berries very pleasant to the taste. It grows in woods and healthy places. The great bilberry or bog whortleberry is an allied species. It grows in mountain bogs. It is also called the bleaberry or blaeberry. The bilberry, properly so called, is eaten in the places where it grows. It is made into jellies and tarts. It is astringent, and may be used in diarrhoea and dysentery. The fruit of