cluster of islands in the Caribbean sea; lon. 66° 50′ W.; lat. 12° N.-The name Bird island is as common, and as vague, as that of Blue mountains, &c. BIRDS. (See Ornithology.)

BIRDS' NEST. The hirundo esculenta, or salangane, a species of swallow, the nests of which are used as an article of luxury among the Chinese, is found in the Indian seas. They are particularly abundant in Sumatra, especially about Cröe, near the south end of the island. The nest has the shape of a common swallow's nest, is about the size of a goose's egg, is found in caves, particularly on the sea-shore, and has the appearance of fibrous, imperfectly concocted isinglass. More or less of this substance is contained in the nests of all swallows of that region. The manner in which this substance is procured is not ascertained. The most probable suppositions are, that it is the spawn of fish gathered by the bird, or a secretion elaborated in the body of the animal. The Chinese collect the nests, and sell them to all parts of the world. Dissolved in broths, &c., they make a delicious jelly. The finest are those obtained before the nest has been contaminated by the young birds: they are pure white, and are scarce and valuable. The inferior ones are dark, streaked with blood, or mixed with feathers: they are chiefly converted into glue. Some of the caverns, in which they are built, are difficult of access, and dangerous to climb, so that none can collect the nests but persons accustomed to the trade from their youth.

BIREN, Ernst John von, duke of Courland, born in 1687, was, as is asserted, the grandson of a groom of James, duke of Courland, and the son of a Courlandish peasant, by the name of Bühren. He studied at Königsberg, and endeavored to conceal the meanness of his origin by raising himself in the favor of the great. His agreeable person and cultivated mind, procured him the highest favor of Anna, duchess of Courland, and niece of the emperor of Russia; but he was unsuccessful in his attempt to obtain admission among the Courlandish nobility. When Anna (q. v.) ascended the Russian throne (1730), B., in spite of the conditions to which the empress had consented (one of which was not to bring him with her to Russia), was loaded by her with honors, and introduced at the Russian court. Here he assumed the name and coat of arms of the dukes of Biron in France, and governed under the name of his

mistress. Fierce and haughty by nature, he indulged his hatred against the rivals of his ambition. The princes Dolgorucky were his first victims. He caused 11,000 persons to be put to death, and double that number to be exiled. It is said, that the empress often threw herself at his feet, to induce him to lay aside his severity, but that neither her entreaties nor her tears were able to move him. The firmness of his character, however, introduced vigor and activity into all branches of the administration throughout the great empire. In 1737, Anna forced the Courlanders to choose her favorite (who had, in 1722, married a Courlandish lady of the family of Trotta, by the name of Treyden) for their duke. After having declared prince Ivan her successor, she appointed B., according to his wish, regent. Anna died Oct. 28, 1740. The new regent acted with prudence and moderation. But a secret conspiracy was soon formed against him. Fieldmarshal Münich, with the consent of the young emperor's mother, caused him to be arrested in his bed, during the night of Nov. 19, 1740, by Manstein, and to be confined in the castle of Schlüsselburg. He was subjected to a trial; but, no proofs of the projects, which he was accused of having formed for the advantage of his family, being discovered, the sentence of death was changed into that of imprisonment for life, and his fortune was declared confiscated. Together with his family, he was transported to Pelim, in Siberia, and thrown into a prison, of which Münich himself had furnished the plan. In the following year, Elisabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, being raised to the Russian throne by a new revolution, B. was recalled, Dec. 20, 1741, and Münich was obliged to occupy his prison. At Kasan, the sledges met; the travellers recognised each other, and proceeded on their way without interchanging a word. The family of B. afterwards lived in a very respectable condition at Jaroslaw.-After a subsequent exile of 22 years, the duke, as well as Munich, was recalled, in 1762, by Peter III. When Catharine II ascended the throne, the duchy of Courland was restored to B., in 1763. He governed with wisdom and lenity, transferred the government to his eldest son, Peter, 1769, and closed his restless life, Dec. 28, 1772.

BIRMAN EMPIRE. The great peninsula east of the bay of Bengal includes Aschem, or Assam, and the Birman empire. The latter extends from 9° to 26° N. lat., is about 1000 miles long and 700 broad; pop

ulation, according to Symes, in 1795, about 17,000,000. The natives of the peninsula, a handsomer and more athletic race of men than the Hindoos, though not so neat, are warlike and hospitable, have no. mendicants among them, and reverence the aged. The Birman empire, according to the reports of missionaries, comprehends the kingdoms of Ava, Pegu, Arracan, and the adjacent states on the north. It is bounded on the north by Thibet, Assam and China; on the west, it is separated from the British possessions by a chain of high mountains and the river Naaf. In the 16th century, the Birmans in Ava made themselves independent of Pegu; but, in 1740, they were subjugated anew by this state. Alompra, one of their leaders, however, with about 100 faithful adherents, almost immediately summoned the people again to arms, and, in 1753, conquered the city of Ava. Defeat and victory succeeded alternately, till Aloinpra, in 1757, conquered the city of Pegu. This celebrated monarch died in 1760, at the age of 50 years. He labored to make his subjects happy by promoting agriculture, by restricting the arbitrary exercise of power on the part of his officers, and improving the public morals. Every act of the magistrates, in the Birman empire, was required to be public, and every decree to be made known: even commercial treaties, and all relations established with foreign countries, were registered among the laws of the state, and open to the inspection of every one. Namdogee, his eldest son and successor, who died in 1764, inheriting his father's spirit, adopted from other nations whatever was of general utility to his own, and was anxious to do away abuses. Both father and son attended particularly to the administration of the East India company. Shambuan, the emperor's brother, became regent, as guardian for his nephew Mornien; but he usurped the throne himself, and conquered Siam. In 1771, however, this province recovered its independence, while the principal part of the Birman forces were engaged in a war with China. In this war they were victorious, and compelled the Chinese, whom they took prisoners, to intermarry with the Birman females, and to remain in their territory. Fortune continued to attend this prince; and, in 1776, he left his empire, much enlarged, to his son Chengenza. This prince lived in the unrestrained indulgence of every appetite, till, in 1782, he was dethroned and put to death. In consequence of the revolution, Sherbuan Menderagan, the

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fourth son of Alompra, ascended the throne. He ordered his nephew Mornien, who was a state prisoner, to be drowned, and, in 1783, subdued the kingdom of Arracan. He then engaged in a war with Siam, which continued till 1793, and finally compelled it to submission on certain conditions. About this period, some highway robbers fled from the Birman empire, and took refuge in the territory of the East India company. Shembuan demanded that they should be delivered up. His demands were not immediately complied with, and he marched, with a strong force, into the offending country. At the same time, he carried on a friendly negotiation with the government in Calcutta, which resulted in the surrender of the criminals, and the conclusion of a treaty of amity and commerce between the two governments, which agreed to afford each other mutual aid, in case of an invasion from China. It was negotiated by captain Symes. Shembuan was succeeded, in 1819, by his grandson. The last victory of the Birmans was, in 1822, over the northern mountainous province of Assam, at the source of the Burrampooter. The party driven from Assam, together with the Birman rebels, fled to the British territories, whence they intended to invade Birmah. The British government forthwith disarmed the insurgents, but refused to deliver them up or to drive them from the island of Shapuri, which they had occupied. The court at Ummerapoora, therefore, attempted to set the Mahrattas and all Hindostan in arms against the English. At length, the monarch with the golden feet (one of the titles of the sovereign of Birmah) demanded of the government at Calcutta the cession of Northern Bengal, as being a part of Ava; and, in January, 1824, the Birman forces marched into Kadschar, which had depos ed its rulers, and put itself under British protection. Lord Amherst, as governorgeneral of the British East Indies, now declared war against Birmah, and general Archibald Campbell prosecuted it so successfully, that, after the victory at Prome (Dec. 1-3, 1825), he obliged the monarch to conclude a very unequal peace at Palanagh, Dec. 31, 1825. As the treaty was not ratified, on the part of Boa, the Birman emperor, by the time specified (Jan. 18, 1826), Campbell renewed the war, on the 19th, and stormed the fortress of Munnun. Feb. 24, the peace was ratified, and the war concluded. The king of the white elephants ceded to the company the provinces of Arracan, Merguy, Tavoy and

Yea, and paid them a sum amounting to about $4,300,000. Assam was made.once more independent, and rajahs were appointed by the company to govern the northern provinces of Munnipore, Assam, Kadschar and Yeahung. The important city of Rangoon was declared a free port. Thus all the western coast of the Birman empire was ceded to the East India company, and the most powerful of the East Indian states was divided and weakened. -Before the rains commence, the heat in the valleys of this, in most respects, healthy country is excessive. Though B. is in general fertile, it contains several vast deserts. In the northern part, it is mountainous, and abounds in gold, silver, precious stones and marble; also in iron, lead, tin, antimony, arsenic, sulphur and petroleum, which issues from the earth in abundance. In the southern districts, owing to the numerous rivers, the soil is inarshy and extremely productive. Here grow rice, sugar-cane, fine tobacco, cotton, indigo, and all the tropical fruits. Land is cheap. Timber for ship-building, especially teak or Indian oak, which grows most luxuriantly in a wet soil, on the banks of rivers, is abundant. The price of labor is high. All but the lowest lands produce grain, or serve for pasture. Of manufactured goods, B. exports cotton and silk stuffs, glass, saltpetre, powder, porcelain and marble images of Gaudama, to which the workmen in stone give an exquisite smoothness. The East India company builds vessels even of 1000 tons burthen in the Birman docks; and the shipwrights there (giants in comparison with the puny Hindoos) find constant employment. The Pegu ships, however, are not so well made as those built by the company, in their own territory. The trade of the Birmans is very lively, especially with China, by means of the river Irrawaddy, which extends 1240 miles into the interior, and has populous cities all along its banks. From Barnoo, goods are conveyed through the interior to China, to which the Birmans send many commodities from the eastern archipelago of Asia. The government encourages the increase of the population by favoring the settlement of foreigners, tolerates the religion of every nation in the ports of Rangoon, Negrais and Merguy, and encourages the intermarriage of foreigners with Birman females. Instead of coin, silver and lead in bars are used, and their purity is strictly tested in trade. The forging and stamping of these bars forms a particular branch of business.

Menderagee removed the royal residence to the new city of Ummerapoora (190 leagues east of Calcutta), on a tongue of land which runs up into the lake of Tounzemahn. Ava, once so magnificent a city, about four or five miles distant, now lies in ruins. The buildings among the Birmans are very slight, as the government requires them to be chiefly of wood or bamboo. There are well-organized firecompanies, for the protection of these combustible edifices. The Birman nobles are distinguished from the lower classes by their dress, houses and furniture, and are divided into several ranks. The prince is absolute, but custom obliges him to ask the opinion of the nobility in important state matters: he is not bound, however, by their counsel. The Birmans are all fond of painting both their faces and hands. They slaughter no tame animals, and live simply; for the most part, on vegetables. No Birman can have more than one wife; but he may have as many mistresses as he will. The latter live in the same house with the wife, and are her servants. A foreigner and an adult male Birman may, at any time, leave the empire; but females and children are not allowed this privilege. Females cannot appear before a court of justice. The chief amusement of the Birmans is their theatre, where declamation, dancing and music alternate: the higher classes are fond of dramatic spectacles. The new year is celebrated with all sorts of purification. At this time, young women appear in public with water, and sprinkle every one they please. It is considered improper, however, to sprinkle females first, or those in a state of pregnancy at all. Among the Birmans, the distinguished dead are burned; the poor are interred; the richest are embalmed, commonly in the ancient simple mode, in honey. Every Birman learns arithmetic, reading and writing. The common people write on palm-leaves, with an iron style: the rich have libraries, with books the leaves of which are thin pieces of ivory, with gilt edges. The Birmans, in general, are fond of gilding every thing. Their materia medica is confined to herbs, spices and mercury: with vaccination they have long been acquainted. The English missionaries are tolerated, and serve the East India company as the outposts of their diplomatic system. The literary Birmans translate from the English all important works of science, particularly on astronomy and law. The religion of the country is that of Buddha, whom the people

call Gaudama. It enjoins no bloody sacrifices, and is extremely tolerant. The Birmans have no secular clergy, but only a kind of monks dwelling in convents. All the clergy practise celibacy, and eat but once a day. Every carnal indulgence is punished by a disgraceful and public removal from office. The clergy are literary men, and highly esteemed for their piety and knowledge. They are permitted, however, to gild and paint. Former ly, there were priestesses; but this order has been abolished, because it was found injurious to the increase of population. The government has long been struggling to maintain its independence between the British dominions on the Ganges and the Chinese empire. No part of Eastern Asia seems to apprehend an excess of population, and hence no female in China is suffered to emigrate. The Birmans are skilful weavers, smiths, sculptors, workers in gold and silver, joiners, &c. Of this the citizens of London have had ocular evidence, in the great state carriage, devoted to the service of the gods, 19 feet high, 14 long, and 7 wide, which was taken by the British troops, in the war of 1825. In Birmah there are no hereditary offices. Its civil and criminal code is very judicious; general principles are first laid down, and then applied to distinct cases. Robbery is punished with death only when the property stolen is very great, or the offence is aggravated by particular circumstances. Capital punishment is commonly inflicted by decapitation, and extends to those who eat opium freely, and to drunkards in general. The magistrates have a great discretionary power to mitigate the punishments of the law, and few penal laws are executed in all their severity. The standing army is small. Levies are made, in case of war, by way of conscription; and a specified number of houses is required to furnish a soldier completely equipped, or pay a considerable fine. For the crime of insubordination, the conscribed are either punished personally, or their families are made to suffer, however innocent they may be. The principal part of the militia are employed in the war-boats of the crown, which sink about three feet deep, and are provided with ordnance. The revenue is a tenth part of the productions of the soil and of all imported goods. The treasury is rich, and the sovereign regards an active trade among his subjects as the surest basis of national revenue: he calls his great income from customs the tribute of strangers. The empire at present con

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sists of seven provinces. The capital, Ummerapoora, contains 175,000 inhabitants. Rangoon, at the mouth of the Irrawaddy (pop. 30,000), is an important trading city, and many Europeans reside in it. The Voyage du Capit. Hiram Cox, dans l'Empire des Birmans is better in this French edition, by Chalons d'Ange (Paris, 1824, 2 vols.) than in the original English (London, 1821). (See, also, Narrative of the Birmese War, by major Snodgrass London, 1827; and Mrs. Ann H. Judson's Relation of the American Baptist Mission to the Birman Empire, Wash., 1823).

BIRMINGHAM ; a town in Warwickshire, Eng., on a declivity, on the river Rea, which joins the Tame; 62 miles N. W. Oxford, 87 N. Bristol, 109 N. N. W. London; population, in 1821, 85,753; families, 18,165; houses, 16,653. Of the inhabitants, 81,642 consist of families connected with trade and manufactures. B. has long been distinguished for the variety, extent and excellence of its manufactures, particularly in hardware. With perhaps the exception of Manchester, it is the greatest manufacturing town in England. Among the principal manufactures are buttons, in immense variety, buckles and snuff-boxes; toys, trinkets and jewellery; polished steel watch-chains, cork-screws, &c.; plated goods for the dining and tea-table; japanned and enamelled articles; brass work of every description; swords and firearms; medals and coins of various kinds; copying machines and pneumatic apparatuses; the more ponderous productions of the casting-furnace and rolling-mill; and, indeed, every hardware commodity that can be considered as curious, useful or ornamental. The manufactories are established upon the largest scale, and with the most astonishing ingenuity. A coining-mill was erected in 1788, which is now capable of striking between 30 and 40,000 pieces of money in an hour. Before the close of the last war, no less than 14,500 stands of arms were delivered per week to the ordnance office. At the pin-works, it is said, 12,000 pins can be cut and pointed, and 50,000 pin-heads can be made from the wire, in an hour.B. is about two miles in length. The lower part of the town consists chiefly of old buildings, is crowded with workshops and warehouses, and is inhabited principally by manufacturers; but the upper part has a superior appearance, consisting of new and regular streets, and containing a number of elegant buildings. It contains three churches and five chapels of ease, and many places of worship belong