Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/111

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BORNHEIM BORNOO 105 treated are docile, industrious, and faithful. They formerly gained great notoriety as daring pirates and head-hunters, seeking to decapitate others under the belief that every person be- headed would become the slave of the hunter in the next world. The greater portion of them have substantial dwellings, and cultivate rice, the banana, sugar cane, and some cotton and tobacco for their own consumption. They are skilled artificers in iron, and understand spin- ning and weaving, but have no written lan- guage. Dogs and fowls are their only domes- ticated animals. The distinction between Land Dyaks and Sea Dyaks is founded not upon the localities which they inhabit, but upon the fa- vorite pursuits of the respective tribes, which lead some to cultivate the soil and others to a life on the water. Chinese settlers are found in all parts of the island, and engage in trade, local manufactures, and mining. The most active traders, howeyer, are the Bughis, who are superior sailors, and visit every section of the coast in their light vessels. Antimony, spices, camphor, gold, and diamonds are the principal articles of export from Borneo to Europe. The British and Dutch carry on a considerable commerce with the island, the former mainly through the free port of Singa- pore. Borneo appears to have been visited by the Portuguese very early in the 16th century. Nearly 200 years later, in 1690, they acquired a temporary foothold in Banjermassin, which they were soon compelled to relinquish. The Dutch subsequently established themselves on the same coasts, and in 1787 gained supremacy over Banjermassin by a treaty with its sultan. The sway thus inaugurated has been maintained almost continually up to the present time. In 1823 they settled Pontianak. Great Britain made unsuccessful attempts to establish com- mercial factories in Borneo in the years 1702 and 1774; but owing to the foundation of the state of Sarawak under an English ruler, and the acquisition of Labuan as a colony, British influence is now paramount in the N. W. part of the island. (See SARAWAK.) BOKMIM.H, a village of Germany, in the province of Hesse-Nassau, close by Frankfort- on-the-Main, for the inhabitants of which it forms a favorite resort for pleasure; pop. in 1871, 6,396. On the Bornheimer ffeide, near the town, on Sept. 18, 1848, Prince Lich- nowski and Von Auerswald, two prominent conservative members of the German parlia- ment, were assassinated by a mob. BORNHOLM, an island in the Baltic, belong- ing to Denmark, 23 m. S. E. of Sandhammar point, Sweden, and 90 m. E. of Seeland ; area, 225 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 31,894. It is about 23 m. long by 18 wide. The coast is high and rocky, skirted in many places by dangerous reefs, and there are no good harbors for large vessels. A range of mountains with dry and sterile slopes runs through the interior ; but the lower land is generally fertile. The island produces coal, marble, building stone, sheep, and cattle ; and earthenware is made. The capital is Ronne, at the S. W. angle of the island. BORNOO, or Bornn (called by the natives Ka- nowra), a country of central Africa, between lat. 9 and 14 N., and Ion. 8 and 15 E., bounded N. by the Great Desert, E. by Lake Tchad and Baghinni, S. by Mandara, and W. by Houssa. The country is level and wholly destitute of minerals. The chief rivers are the Komadugu and the Shary, which with numerous small streams flow into Lake Tchad. During the wet season large tracts are overflowed by the waters of the lake and rivers. The fertility caused by this inundation produces only a rank growth of grass from 10 to 12 ft. in height, and almost impenetrable thickets of underwood. Nearly all the wild animals, reptiles, birds, and in- sects common to central Africa infest this region in great abundance, and are driven to Body Guard of the Sultan of Borneo. the inhabited districts during the inundations. Domestic animals are also plentiful. The cli- mate of Borneo, especially from March to the end of June, is excessively hot. During the rainy season, from May to October, fevers are prevalent. The soil is fertile, and, though but imperfectly cultivated, produces large crops. A species of millet forms the staple food of the people ; rice and grain of an inferior kind are raised in small quantity. There are no fruits. The mass of the inhabitants, called Bornoose or Kanowry, are genuine negroes, peaceable and lazy, and wholly subject to the Arabs, who form the dominant race. The Arabs are de- scribed as arrogant, deceitful, and dishonest, and carry on the trade of the country, dealing chiefly in slaves. They are bigoted Mohamme- dans, but fetishism is still common among the negroes. The government of Borneo is nom- inally vested in a sultan, but all the power