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BUNCOMBE BUNKER HILL 435 minister at Washington. He subsequently held similar posts at Florence and Paris; in 185G was made paid attach6 at the Hague, 'and was transferred to Vienna in 1860. While first paid attache here, several important missions in connection with Servian affairs were intrusted to him. He was afterward secretary of legation at Copenhagen, Athens (1864), Lisbon (1865), and Madrid (1868). At Copenhagen and Lisbon he acted as charge^ d'affaires. Toward the end of 1868 he was made secretary of embassy at Vienna, and in 1872 at Paris. His first poems were pub- lished in London in 1856, under the title of " Clytemnestra, and other Minor Poems," and at once attracted attention to his pseudonyme of " Owen Meredith," under which nearly all his subsequent works appeared. .In 1859 he published " The Wanderer, a Collection of Poems in Many Lands ; " in 1860, "Lucile," a romance in verse; and in 1861, "Serbske Pesme," a collection of Servian songs. A prose romance, "The King of Amasis," fol- lowed in 1863 ; " Chronicles and Characters," a volume of poems, in 1868 ; and in 1869 "Orval, or the Fool of Time," a dramatic poem, based on a Polish work. His wife is a daughter of the late Hon. Edward Ernest Villiers. BUNCOMBE, a S. W. county of North Caroli- na, near the Tennessee border ; area, 450 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 15,412, of whom 2,303 were col- ored. It is occupied in great part by moun- tains and valleys of the Appalachian system. The Blue Ridge is on or near the S. E. boun- dary. The French Broad river is the principal stream. The soil is fertile, and affords excel- lent pasturage. In the N. W. part are cele- brated warm springs. The Western North Carolina railroad is to pass through it. The chief productions in 1870 were 66,656 bushels of wheat, 14,704 of rye, 324,566 of Indian corn, 43,799 of oats, 24,347 Ibs. of wool, and 30,689 of tobacco. There were 1,966 horses, 4,151 milch cows, 6,433 other cattle, 12,355 sheep, and 16,135 swine. Capital, Asheville. The phrase "talking for Buncombe" originated with a member of congress from this county. (See AMERICANISMS.) Ill M)i:i.( I Mi. or the Bnndela Country, one of the Central Provinces of India, between lat. 23 52' and 26 26' N., Ion. 77 53' and 81 39' E. ; area, 18,099 sq. m. ; pop. about 2,500,000. It comprises the British districts of Bandah, Hum- merpoor, and Calpee, Jaloon, Jeitpoor, Chur- gaon, and Gurota, and a number of petty native states and jaghires, all under British protection. It is a hilly country, traversed by the three ranges of the Bindyachal, Bandair, and Panna, the last of which is rich in dia- monds and coal. From these mountains flow numerous rivers, including the Betwah, Tama- sa, and Cane, all affluents of the Jumna, which flows along the N. E. boundary. The soil pro- duces almost every kind of grain and fruit known in India. The climate is healthy in some places, but in others, chiefly in the west, is fatal to Europeans. The chief towns are Calpee, Bandah, Jhansi, Chatturpoor, Jaloon, and Callinger. BUNGE. I. Alexander, a Russian botanist and traveller, born in Kiev, Sept. 24, 1803. He was educated at Dorpat, and, after taking the degree of M. D. in 1825, travelled in Siberia and the eastern part of the Altai mountains, and then joined the mission of the academy of St. Petersburg to Peking, where he acquired an extensive herbarium. In 1833 he made a second Asiatic journey, and in 1834 became professor of botany at Kazan, and in 1836 at Dorpat. In 1857-'9 he made new exploring expeditions. He has published works on the plants of Russia, northern China, Mongolia, and the Altai mountains, Lehmanni Beliquim Bo- tanica, and other works. II. Fridrikh Egor, a Russian jurist, brother of the preceding, born in Kiev, March 13, 1802. He was educated at Dorpat, and since 1831 has been professor of law there. In 1856 he became connected with the imperial chancery at St. Petersburg, in the department for the codification of the private law of Esthonia, Livonia, and Corn-land. His law writings are numerous and valuable. BUNKER HILL, a round, smooth elevation in Charlestown, Mass., 110 ft. high, commanding the peninsula of Boston. It is connected by a ridge on its southern slope with Breed's hill, about 75 ft. high, the crests of the two hills being about 700 yards apart. These heights are famous for the battle fonght on them be- tween the British and American forces, June 17, 1775. The city of Boston was at that time occupied by the British under Gen. Gage, who had recently received large reenforcements under Gens. Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton. Around Boston, having their headquarters at Cambridge, were the minute men of Massa- chusetts and various bodies of militia and parties of volunteers, as yet independent of each other, obeying their several commanders, knowing little of military discipline, united only by their devotion to the common cause, but of whom Washington in person was soon to take command. Gen. Artemas Ward, the military head of Massachusetts, was however in general regarded as commander-in-chief, while Prescott, Putnam, Gridley, Stark, and Pomeroy, who had learned the art of war in the old contests between England and France, served under him. The beleaguered and now reenforeed British had determined to begin offensive operations against the rebels. This design became known in the American camp, where the daring counsels of the officers and the inexperienced eagerness of the soldiers at once suggested the project of anticipating any movement of Gen. Gage. It was determined to seize and fortify the heights of Charlestown on the night of the 16th of June, and Col. Wil- liam Prescott, of Pepperell, received command of a force of 1,000 men to execute this perilous enterprise. The detachments paraded soon