;m BUSHMEN

Provisions and fruits are cheap and excellent inBushire, but the water, which is not only bad, but per-nicious to the health, must be brought from a distanceof two miles, nor is it to be obtained of a good qualitynearer than sixteen miles. A considerable trade iscarried on here ; the exports are Persian commodities,such as carpets, wine of Schiraz, rose water, drugs ;and the imports are Indian goods of different kinds,and English broad cloth. The English East IndiaCompany have a factory at this place, and the resi-dent possesses considerable influence in the town.Population 5000. Distant 10 miles W. S. W. ofSchiraz, and 20 S. of Bender Rigth. Lon. 50° 43' E.,lat. 56° 17' N.

Bushmen, or Boshmen. The common name ofthat wild race of people, who dwell in the westernpart of South Africa, in the immense plains borderingon the north side of the colony of the Cape of GoodHope, and are lost in the unknown regions of theinterior. Jansens, formerly Dutch governor at theCape, gives the following account of them :—TheBushmen are a wild, rude, cruel, and miserable people.

So far from forming a nation, they do not even formsocieties. They live together in single families, andunite in great numbers only for defence or for pillage.They do not cultivate the land, and have no domesticanimals except the dog. Their usual food is locusts.They endure hunger for a long time, but indemnifythemselves by their voracity if they are so fortunateas to kill any wild game, or steal an ox or a sheep.They are entirely destitute of huts and householdfurniture. The scorching sky is their tent, andthe hot sand their bed. Their w eapons consist of asmall bow and poisoned arrows, which they shoot,with astonishing accuracy, to a great distance. Theirlanguage is exceedingly poor. It consists of a certainrattling with the tongue, and harsh, gurgling tones,for which we have no letters. They are, for the mostpart, of low stature ; their skin is of a dark-yellow ;and their hair, which resembles wool, is tightly twistedtogether, and held by small bodkins. A narrow bandor fillet of hair is sometimes formed round the lowerpart, consisting of small tufts. (See Hottentots).

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BusHWANASi or Boshuanas, or Betjouanas. AnAfrican people, occupying the country lying between20° and 25° S. latitude, divided into several tribes.Though under the government of separate chiefs,

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who are often at war with each other, these tribesare united by language, manners and customs. Lesstall than the Caffres, and as well proportioned, theirform is even more elegant. Their skin is of a browntint, between the shining black of the Negro and theyellow colour of the Hottentots. They surpass theCaffres in civilisation and the arts of life. Some oftheir tow ns are considerable. Kurechanee was visitedby Campbell in 1821, who estimated the populationat 16,000. Inoculation for the smallpox is practisedthere. Old and new Latakoo contain each 4000inhabitants. The Bushwanas are inquisitive and in-telligent, without any settled occupation, yet alwaysactive. Their principal food is curds of milk arid theproduce of the chace; they rarely kill cattle, andhave an invincible aversion to fish. The ashes inwhich their meat is cooked serve them for salt.

Their clothes are made of the skins of animals:the women cover the breast, and leave the lower partof the body exposed. Their ornaments are rings andbracelets of ivory and brass. Their houses are light,clean, airy, and generally of a circular form. Thev'are very skilful in tempering iron, and making theirarms, w'hich consist of a liassaguy (javelin), a shieldand a club. Polygamy is established among them ;a young man buys a wife for ten or twelve oxen : herfirst business is to build a house, for which she fellsthe necessary quantity of wood. The erection of thestable, the cultivation of the fields, and all the house-hold work, falls to her. As soon as he can afford it,the Bushwana buys a second wife, who, in like man-ner, must build a house and stable, and cultivate apiece of ground. Honesty, loyalty and courage arethe highest virtues, in their estimation.

They have an idea of a soul, and believe in an in-visible Lord of nature, the sovereign Dispenser ofgood and evil, whom they call Momma. Theirprincipal ceremonies are circumcision and the bless-ing of cattle. They divide the year into thirteen lunarmonths, and distinguish the planets from the fixedstars. Christianity has been introduced among themby missionaries, and with it some degree of civilisa-tion.

Buskin. A kind of high shoe worn upon the stage,by the ancient actors of tragedy, in order to givethem a more heroic appearance. It was introducedby Sophocles, and from this use the word is figura-tively employed, by the classic authors, for tragedyitself (Juvenal, xv. 29), or for a lofty and elevatedstyle ( grande munus Cecropio cothumo, Hor. Od. ii. 1.12). The buskin was also worn, by both sexes, par-ticularly by the ladies, for ornament (Juv. vi. 505).The Melpomene in the Villa Borghese has the bus-kin. Hunters and soldiers used a different kind, re-sembling the half-boot.

Bute. A county in Scotland. This county isformed of two islands called Bute and Arran, a smallislet called Inchmapnoch, and several others whichare known by the name of the Cumbray Islands.They are situated on the Frith of Clyde. Thenorthern extremity of the island of Bute extends intothe district of Corval in Argyleshire, and the waterdivision between the island and the latter is often soslender, that vessels find a difficulty in navigating thestraits, which are called the Kyles of Bute. Thisisland is about eighteen miles long and five broad.The northern parts are mountainous and bleak, buttowards the south it is very fertile, and when culti-vated produces excellent crops. Bute is celebrated