Volume 4, Slice 1 Part 4 (2/2)
BITZIUS, ALBRECHT (1797-1854), Swiss novelist, best known by his pet name of ”Jeremias Gotthelf,” was born on the 4th of October 1797 at Morat, where his father was pastor. In 1804 the home was moved to Utzenstorf, a village in the Bernese Emmenthal. Here young Bitzius grew up, receiving his early education and consorting with the boys of the village, as well as helping his father to cultivate his glebe. In 1812 he went to complete his education at Bern, and in 1820 was received as a pastor. In 1821 he visited the university of Gottingen, but returned home in 1822 to act as his father's a.s.sistant. On his father's death (1824) he went in the same capacity to Herzogenbuchsee, and later to Bern (1829). Early in 1831 he went as a.s.sistant to the aged pastor of the village of Lutzelfluh, in the Upper Emmenthal (between Langnau and Burgdorf), being soon elected his successor (1832) and marrying one of his granddaughters (1833). He spent the rest of his life there, dying on the 22nd of October 1854, and leaving three children (the son was a pastor, the two daughters married pastors). His first work, the _Bauernspiegel_, appeared in 1837. It purported to be the life of Jeremias Gotthelf, narrated by himself, and this name was later adopted by the author as his pen name. It is a living picture of Bernese (or, strictly speaking, Emmenthal) village life, true to nature, and not attempting to gloss over its defects and failings. It is written (like the rest of his works) in the Bernese dialect of the Emmenthal, though it must be remembered that Bitzius was not (like Auerbach) a peasant by birth, but belonged to the educated cla.s.ses, so that he reproduces what he had seen and learnt, and not what he had himself personally experienced. The book was a great success, as it was a picture of real life, and not of fancifully beribboned 18th-century villagers. Among his later tales are the _Leiden und Freuden eines Schulmeisters_ (1838-1839), _Uli der Knecht_ (1841), with its continuation, _Uli der Pachter_ (1849), _Anne Babi Jowager_ (1843-1844), _Kathi die Gross.m.u.tter_ (1847), _Die Kaserei in der Vehfreude_ (1850), and the _Erlebnisse eines Schuldenbauers_ (1854). He published also several volumes of shorter tales. One slight drawback to some of his writings is the echo of local political controversies, for Bitzius was a Whig and strongly opposed to the Radical party in the canton, which carried the day in 1846.
Lives by C. Manuel, in the Berlin edition of Bitzius's works (Berlin, 1861), and by J. Ammann in vol. i. (Bern, 1884) of the _Sammlung Bernischer Biographien_. His works were issued in 24 vols. at Berlin, 1856-1861, while 10 vols., giving the original text of each story, were issued at Bern, 1898-1900 (edition not to be completed).
(W. A. B. C.)
BIVOUAC (a French word generally said to have been introduced during the Thirty Years' War, perhaps derived from _Beiwacht_, extra guard), originally, a night-watch by a whole army under arms to prevent surprise. In modern military parlance the word is used to mean a temporary encampment in the open field without tents, as opposed to ”billets” or ”cantonment” on the one hand and ”camp” on the other. The use of bivouacs permits an army to remain closely concentrated for all emergencies, and avoids the necessity for numerous wagons carrying tents. Constant bivouacs, however, are trying to the health of men and horses, and this method of quartering is never employed except when the military situation demands concentration and readiness. Thus the outposts would often have to bivouac while the main body of the army lay in billets.
BIWA, a lake in the province of Omi, j.a.pan. It measures 36 m. in length by 12 m. in extreme breadth, has an area of 180 sq. m., is about 330 ft.
above sea-level, and has an extreme depth of some 300 ft. There are a few small islands in the lake, the princ.i.p.al being Chikubu-s.h.i.+ma at the northern end.
Tradition alleges that Lake Biwa and the mountain of Fuji were produced simultaneously by an earthquake in 286 B.C. On the west of the lake the mountains Hiei-zan and Hira-yama slope down almost to its margin, and on the east a wide plain extends towards the boundaries of the province of Mino. It is drained by a river flowing out of its southern end, and taking its course into the sea at Osaka. This river bears in succession the names of Seta-gawa, Uji-gawa and Yodo-gawa. The lake abounds with fish, and the beauty of its scenery is remarkable. Small steamboats ply constantly to the points of chief interest, and around its sh.o.r.es are to be viewed the _Omi-no-hakkei_, or ”eight landscapes of Omi”; namely, the lake silvering under an autumn moon as one looks down from Is.h.i.+-yama; the snow at eve on Hira-yama; the glow of sunset at Seta; the groves and cla.s.sic temple of Mii-dera as the evening bell sounds; boats sailing home from Yabase; cloudless peaks at Awazu; rain at nightfall over Karasaki; and wild geese sweeping down to Katata. The lake is connected with Kyoto by a ca.n.a.l constructed in 1890, and is thus brought into water communication with Osaka.
BIXIO, NINO (1821-1873), Italian soldier, was born on the 2nd of October 1821. While still a boy he was compelled by his parents to embrace a maritime career. After numerous adventures he returned to Italy in 1846, joined the Giovine Italia, and, on 4th November 1847, made himself conspicuous at Genoa by seizing the bridle of Charles Albert's horse and crying, ”Pa.s.s the Ticino, Sire, and we are all with you.” He fought through the campaign of 1848, became captain under Garibaldi at Rome in 1849, taking prisoners an entire French battalion, and gaining the gold medal for military valour. In 1859 he commanded a Garibaldian battalion, and gained the military cross of Savoy. Joining the Marsala expedition in 1860, he turned the day in favour of Garibaldi at Calatafimi, was wounded at Palermo, but recovered in time to besiege Reggio in Calabria (21st of August 1860), and, though again wounded, took part in the battle of Volturno, where his leg was broken. Elected deputy in 1861, he endeavoured to reconcile Cavour and Garibaldi. In 1866, at the head of the seventh division, he covered the Italian retreat from Custozza, ignoring the Austrian summons to surrender. Created senator in February 1870, he was in the following September given command of a division during the movement against Rome, took Civita Vecchia, and partic.i.p.ated in the general attack upon Rome (20th September 1870). He died of cholera at Achin Bay in Sumatra _en route_ for Batavia, whither he had gone in command of a commercial expedition (16th December 1873).
BIZERTA (properly p.r.o.nounced Ben Zert; Fr. _Bizerte_), a seaport of Tunisia, in 37 17' N., 9 50' E. Pop. about 12,000. Next to Toulon, Bizerta is the most important naval port of France in the Mediterranean.
It occupies a commanding strategical position in the narrowest part of the sea, being 714 m. E. of Gibraltar, 1168 m. W.N.W. of Port Said, 240 m. N.W. of Malta, and 420 m. S. by E. of Toulon. It is 60 m. by rail N.N.W. of Tunis. The town is built on the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean at the point where the Lake of Bizerta enters the sea through a natural channel, the mouth of which has been ca.n.a.lized. The modern town lies almost entirely on the north side of the ca.n.a.l. A little farther north are the ancient citadel, the walled ”Arab” town and the old harbour (disused). The present outer harbour covers about 300 acres and is formed by two converging jetties and a breakwater. The north jetty is 4000 ft. long, the east jetty 3300 ft., and the breakwater--which protects the port from the prevalent north-east winds--2300 ft. long.
The entrance to the ca.n.a.l is in the centre of the outer harbour. The ca.n.a.l is 2600 ft. long and 787 ft. wide on the surface. Its banks are lined with quays, and s.h.i.+ps drawing 26 ft. of water can moor alongside.
At the end of the ca.n.a.l is a large commercial harbour, beyond which the channel opens into the lake--in reality an arm of the sea--roughly circular in form and covering about 50 sq. m., two-thirds of its waters having a depth of 30 to 40 ft. The lake, which merchant vessels are not allowed to enter, contains the naval port and a.r.s.enal. There is a torpedo and submarine boat station on the north side of the channel at the entrance to the lake, but the princ.i.p.al naval works are at Sidi Abdallah at the south-west corner of the lake and 10 m. from the open sea. Here is an enclosed basin covering 123 acres with ample quayage, dry docks and everything necessary to the accommodation, repair, revictualling and coaling of a numerous fleet. Barracks, hospitals and waterworks have been built, the military town, called Ferryville, being self-contained.
Fortifications have been built for the protection of the port. They comprise (a) the older works surrounding the town; (b) a group of coast batteries on the high ground of Cape Bizerta or Guardia, 4 m.
north-north-west of the town; these are grouped round a powerful fort called Jebel Kebir, and have a command of 300 to 800 ft. above sea-level; (c) another group of batteries on the narrow ground between the sea and the lake to the east of the town; the highest of these is the Jebel Tuila battery 265 ft. above sea-level.
The LAKE OF BIZERTA, called Tinja by the Arabs, abounds in excellent fish, especially mullets, the dried roe of which, called _botargo_, is largely exported, and the fis.h.i.+ng industry employs a large proportion of the inhabitants. The western sh.o.r.e of the lake is low, and in many places is covered with olive trees to the water's edge. The south-eastern sh.o.r.es are hilly and wooded, and behind them rises a range of picturesque hills. A narrow and shallow channel leads from the western side of the lake into another sheet of water, the Lake of Ishkul, so called from Jebel Ishkul, a hill on its southern bank 1740 ft. high. The Lake of Ishkul is nearly as large as the first lake, but is very shallow. Its waters are generally sweet.
Bizerta occupies the site of the ancient Tyrian colony, Hippo Zarytus or Diarrhytus, the harbour of which, by means of a s.p.a.cious pier, protecting it from the north-east wind, was rendered one of the safest and finest on this coast. The town became a Roman colony, and was conquered by the Arabs in the 7th century. The place thereafter was subject either to the rulers of Tunis or of Constantine, but the citizens were noted for their frequent revolts. They threw in their lot (c. 1530) with the pirate Khair-ed-Din, and subsequently received a Turkish garrison. Bizerta was captured by the Spaniards in 1535, but not long afterwards came under the Tunisian government. Centuries of neglect followed, and the ancient port was almost choked up, though the value of the fisheries saved the town from utter decay. Its strategical importance was one of the causes which led to the occupation of Tunisia by the French in 1881. In 1890 a concession for a new ca.n.a.l and harbour was granted to a company, and five years later the new port was formally opened. Since then the ca.n.a.l has been widened and deepened, and the naval port at Sidi Abdallah created.
BIZET [ALEXANDRE CeSAR LeOPOLD] GEORGES (1838-1875), French musical composer, was born at Bougival, near Paris, on the 25th of October 1838, the son of a singing-master. He displayed musical ability at an early age, and was sent to the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied under Halevy and speedily distinguished himself, carrying off prizes for organ and fugue, and finally in 1857, after an ineffectual attempt in the previous year, the Grand Prix de Rome for a cantata called _Cloris et Clotilde_. A success of a different kind also befell him at this time.
Offenbach, then manager of the Theatre des Bouffes-Parisiens, had organized a compet.i.tion for an operetta, in which young Bizet was awarded the first prize in conjunction with Charles Lecocq, each of them writing an operetta called _Docteur Miracle_. After the three years spent in Rome, an obligation imposed by the French government on the winners of the first prize at the Conservatoire, Bizet returned to Paris, where he achieved a reputation as a pianist and accompanist. On the 23rd of September 1863 his first opera, _Les Pecheurs de perles_, was brought out at the Theatre Lyrique, but owing possibly to the somewhat uninteresting nature of the story, the opera did not enjoy a very long run. The qualities displayed by the composer, however, were amply recognized, although the music was stated, by some critics, to exhibit traces of Wagnerian influence. Wagnerism at that period was a sort of spectre that haunted the imagination of many leading members of the musical press. It sufficed for a work to be at all out of the common for the epithet ”Wagnerian” to be applied to it. The term, it may be said, was intended to be condemnatory, and it was applied with little understanding as to its real meaning. The score of the _Pecheurs de perles_ contains several charming numbers; its dreamy melodies are well adapted to fit a story laid in Eastern climes, and the music reveals a decided dramatic temperament. Some of its dances are now usually introduced into the fourth act of _Carmen_.
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