424 BEAUCHESNE about 30 m. It is traversed by the river Chau- diere, and watered by several of its branches. Chief town, St. Joseph. lil tl ( III >M . Aldde Hyaeinthe dn Bois de, a French author, born at Lorient, March 31, 1804. He belongs to an ancient Breton family, became in 1825 prominently connected with the department of fine arts, and in 1827 with the court of Charles X. Since 1853 he has been connected with the archives, which ena- bled him to collect materials for his principal work, Louis XVII., sa vie, son agonie et so, mart (2 vols., 1852 ; 4th ed., 1866), and which ; with the sequel, Vie de Hme. l'isabeth and Le livre des jeunes meres, poems (1858; 2d ed., 1860), received a prize from the academy. He is also the author of Souvenirs poetiques (1830; 3d ed., 1834), &c. i;i: l ( I.KKK. Topham, one of Dr. Johnson's favorite friends, born in 1739, died March 11, 1780. He was the only son of Lord Sidney Beauclerk. third son of the first duke of St. Albans, the son of Charles II. by Eleanor Gwynn. He studied at Oxford, and his con- versational talents so much charmed Johnson that when the " Literary Club " was founded he was one of the nine original members. When he went to Italy in 1762, Johnson wrote to his friend Baretti warmly commending Beauclerk to his kindness. In 1765 he accompanied Johnson on a visit to Cambridge. He seduced Lady Diana Spencer, wife of Viscount Boling- broke and daughter of the duke of Marlborough, in 1768, and married her immediately after she was divorced. BEAUFORT. I. An E. county of North Car- olina, bordering on Pamlico sound and inter- sected by Pamlico river, which is navigable by vessels drawing 8 ft. of water ; area, about 1,000 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 13,011, of whom 4,632 were colored. The surface is level and the soil sandy or marshy. Tar and turpentine are produced in large quantities. The chief productions in 1870 were 179,994 bushels of Indian corn, 102,626 of sweet potatoes, 1,987 bales of cotton, and 59,206 Ibs. of rice. There were 706 horses, 2,469 milch cows, 4,338 other cattle, 2,883 sheep, and 16,730 swine. Capital, Washington. II. A county forming the south- ern extremity of South Carolina, bounded N. E. by the Combahee river, S. E. by the Atlan- tic ocean, and separated on the S. W. from Georgia by the Savannah river; area, 1,540 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 34,359, of whom 29,050 were colored. It is watered by the Broad, Coosawhatchie, and New rivers, which are all navigable by small vessels. On the coast are several islands, the principal of which are Port Royal, St. Helena, and Hilton Head, producing sea island cotton. The Charleston and Savan- nah railroad traverses the county. The sur- face is low, the soil sandy and alluvial. The chief productions in 1870 were 285,532 bushels of Indian corn, 118,036 of sweet potatoes, 7,486 bales of cotton, and 9,069,130 Ibs. of rice. There were 1,721 horses, 1,304 mules and asseg, BEAUFORT 4,219 milch cows, 4,903 other cattle, 1,921 sheep, and 16,583 swine. Capital, Beaufort. BEAUFORT. I. A town and port of entry, cap- ital of Carteret county, North Carolina, at the mouth of Newport river, a few miles from tin- sea, llm. N. W. of Cape Lookout, and 130 m. S. E. of Raleigh; pop. in 1870, 2,430, of whom 1,242 were colored. It is accessible by steam- boat from Albemarle sound, and has a commo- dious and well sheltered harbor, considered the best in the state. On Bogue point, at its entrance, is Fort Macon. There is an exten- sive trade, chiefly in turpentine and rosin. II. A town and port of entry, capital of Beau- fort county, South Carolina, on Port Royal isl- and, and on an arm of Broad river communi- cating with Port Royal entrance on the one hand and St. Helena sound on the other, about 16 m. from the sea, and 48 m. W. S. W. of Charleston; pop. in 1870, 1,739, of whom 1,273 were colored. It has a spacious harbor, with 24 feet of water on the bar, and is a fa- vorite summer resort. It has some foreign trade, and a weekly newspaper. Beaufort was occupied by the United States forces Dec. 6, 1861, having been abandoned by the confede- rates after the naval fight at Hilton Head. BEAUFORT. I. A town of Anjou, France, in the department of Maine-et-Loire, 16 m. E. of Angers ; pop. in 1866, 2,629. Among the various manufactures, those of sail cloth are the most famous. Beaufort became a county in the 13th century, and came into possession of King Ren6 in the 15th. The ancient castle of Beaufort passed into the hands of the Eng- i lish house of Lancaster at the close of the 13th century, and gave the title to the natural and afterward legitimatized children of John of Gaunt, to whom the lineage of the present English dukes of Beaufort is traced. II. The French dukes of Beaufort originated from Ga. brielle d'Estrees, mistress of Henry IV., who became duchess of Beaufort from an estate of that name in Champagne, which belonged to her family. III. The Belgian dukes and counts of Beaufort or Beauffort trace their title to the beginning of the llth century, and to a castle of that name in Namur. BEAUFORT, Sir Franels, an English hydrogra- pher, born at Collon, county Lowth, Ireland, in 1774, died in Brighton, Dec. 17, 1857. He was the son of a clergyman of French extrac- tion; entered the navy in 1787; served as mid- shipman under Admiral Cornwallis ; was under Howe in the naval battle off Brest, June 1, 1794: became lieutenant in 1796, and commodore in 1800, in reward for his services at the battle off Malaga, where he was wounded. He acquired scientific reputation by his hydrographic labors on the coast of Asia Minor in 1811-'! 2, and published " Karamania, or a Brief Description i of the South Coast of Asia Minor and of the Remains of Antiquity" (London, 1817), which
- has proved very useful to later explorers.
Wounded in a conflict with Turkish pirates in 1812, while on his way to Syria, he was
