or Biscuit, a kind of bread prepared by the confectioners, of fine flour, eggs, and sugar, and rose or orange water; or of flower, eggs, and sugar, with aniseeds, and citron peel, baked again and again in the oven, in tin or paper moulds. There are divers sorts of biskuit; as seed-biskuit, fruit-biskuit, long-biskuit, round-biskuit, Naples-biskuit, sponge-biskuit, &c.

Sea-Biskuit is a sort of bread much dried by passing the oven twice, to make it keep for sea-service. For long voyages they bake it four times, and prepare it six months before the embarkation. It will keep good a whole year.

To preserve sea-biskuit from insects, Mr Hales advises to make the fumes of burning brimstone pass through the casks full of bread. Biskuit may be likewise preserved a long time, by keeping it in casks well calked, and lined with tin.

The ancients had their biskuit prepared after the like manner, and for the like use, as the moderns. The Greeks called it ἀπὸ δύο τριῶν, q.d. bread put twice to the fire. The Romans give it the name of panis nauticus, or capta. Pliny denominates it vetus aut nauticus panis tusus atque iterum coctus. By which it appears, that after the first baking, they ground or pounded it down again for a second. In some middle-age writers, it is called pasimas, panimus, and panis pasimatus. Among the Romans we also meet with

a kind of land-biskuit for the camp service, called *bucellatum*, sometimes *expeditionalis annona*, which was baked much; but to make it lighter for carriage, and less liable to corrupt, the cotion was continued till the bread was reduced one-fourth of its former weight.

**BISKOP.** See BISCHOR.

**BISMILLAH,** a solemn form used by the Mahometans at the beginning of all their books and other writings, signifying, *In the name of the most merciful God.*

Bismillah is also used among the Arabs as a word of invitation to eat. An Arab prince will frequently sit down to eat in the street before his own door, and call to all that pass, even beggars, in this word, who do not fail to come and sit down to eat with him; for the Arabs are great levelisers, and set every body upon a footing with them.

**BISMUTH,** or **TIN-GLASS,** a metal of a reddish or yellowish-white colour and a lamellated texture. See Chemistry and Mineralogy Index.

**BISNAGAR,** formerly a very large and powerful kingdom of Asia, comprehending the kingdoms of Kanara, Messowr, Travancor, Madura, Marava, and Tanjour. It was called Bisnagar from its capital city, and took the name of Narisinga from one of its rajahs or kings. We know nothing certain concerning this kingdom before the year 1520, when Khrisha Rajah, king of Bisnagar, made war with Adel Khan king of Visiapur, from whom he resolved to take the city of Rachol, situated in the island of Salsette near Goa, which he said had belonged to his ancestors. The king of Bisnagar's army consisted of 733,000 foot, 35,000 horse, 586 elephants with towers on their backs, each of which had four men in it; besides these were 12,000 water-carriers, and the army was followed by 20,000 common women. The city, however, resisted this formidable army for three months; at the end of which, Adel Khan came to its relief with an army of 120,000 foot, 18,000 horse, 150 elephants, and many heavy cannon. In the engagement the king of Bisnagar proved victorious, and almost entirely destroyed the army of Adel Khan, taking from him 4000 horses, 100 elephants, 400 cannon, &c. Soon after he took the city by assault; but consented to restore the booty taken in the former battle, provided Adel Khan consented to come and kiss his foot as the sovereign lord of Kanara. This base condition was accepted, but accidentally prevented from being put in execution. From this time we hear of nothing remarkable till the year 1558, when a Portuguere of the city of Meliapur or St Thomas, on the coast of Coromandel, persuaded Ramah Rajah, then king of Bisnagar, to march against that place, telling him the plunder would be worth 2,000,000, and that the destruction of Meliapur would be of great service to the images in the pagods which were thrown down by the Christians. The king set out accordingly with an army of 500,000 men; but the inhabitants, instead of preparing for their defence, sent him a present of 4000 ducats. This somewhat appeased him; however, he would not enter the city, but ordered the inhabitants of both sexes, with all their valuable effects, to be brought into his presence; which being done, he found that the value of their whole substance did not exceed 80,000 ducats. On this he ordered the informer to be thrown to the elephants, who tore him in pieces; after which he dismissed the citizens, and restored all their goods so punctually, that only a silver spoon happening to be missing, it was sought for, and returned to the owner. In 1565, the happy state of this kingdom excited the envy of the kings of Dekan; who, having raised an army of 500,000 foot and 50,000 horse, defeated and killed the king of Bisnagar, though at the head of an army almost twice as numerous, and took the royal city itself. They are said to have spent five months in plundering it, although the inhabitants had before carried off 150 elephants loaded with money and jewels to the amount of upwards of 100,000,000 of gold; besides the royal chair for state days, whose price could not be estimated. The victors, however, found a diamond of the size of an ordinary egg, besides another of a size somewhat inferior, and several other jewels of immense value. Afterwards, however, they were forced to abandon the kingdom, as being too large for them to keep in their hands. From this time the kingdom of Bisnagar remained pretty much unmolested till about the year 1627, when it was subdued by Aurengzebe, second son to Shah Jehan, and hath ever since remained subject to the Great Mogul. In some places of this kingdom, it is said, the roads have great forests of bamboos on each side, which are so thick that it is impossible for a man to pass. These forests are full of monkeys; and what is singular, those on the one side seem to be enemies to those on the other; for if a basket of rice is set down on the road with a parcel of small sticks about it, the monkeys on each side will come out and fall a-fighting with the sticks till one of the parties retreats. This, it is said, is often done by travellers for diversion. They catch the wild elephants here in pitsfalls, and then tame them by means of others already tamed. The town of Bisnagar is now in ruins. It is situated in E. Long. 78. o. N. Lat. 15. 14.

**BISNOW,** or **BISCHNOU,** a sect of the Banians in the East Indies; they call their god Ram-ram, and give him a wife: They adorn his image with golden chains, necklaces of pearls, and all sorts of precious stones. They sing hymns in honour of their god, mixing their devotion with dances and the sound of drums, flagelets, brazen basons, and other instruments. This sect lives wholly upon herbs and pulse, butter and milk. In this sect, the wives do not burn themselves after their husband's death, as is practised by those of the samarath sect; but content themselves with a perpetual widowhood.

**BISOMUM,** or **DISOMUM,** in Roman antiquity, a tomb for two dead bodies, or the ashes of two. The ancients frequently buried two, three, or four bodies in the same sepulchre, disposed aside of each other; for it was held an impiety to lay one a-top of another. Hence the sepulchres of the primitive Christians had the words *bisomi*, *trisomi*, *quadrisomi*, &c. inscribed on them, to indicate the number of bodies deposited in them.

**BISON,** in Zoology, the trivial name of a species of bos. See Bos, Mammalia Index.

**BISQUIT,** or **BISKUIT.** See BISKUIT.

**BISSAGOS,** a cluster of islands on the coast of Negroland in Africa, situated between the mouth of the rivers Gambia and Rio Grande. Their names are Bulam, Cassuabac, La Gallinici, Corsegut, Colacha, and Oranguanza, with some other small islands; but the only one which merits a particular description is that of Bulam. Each of these islands is governed by a king of its own; and as all those petty monarchs are quite independent, they frequently make war with each other, yet they always unite against the inhabitants of Bifara, who are their common enemies. They have canoes that carry from 25 to 40 men with their provisions and arms, which are sabres and bows and arrows. The inhabitants are negroes; who are tall, strong, and healthy, though they live only on fish, nuts, and palm-oil; choosing rather to sell the rice, millet, and other grain produced in their country, to the Europeans, than not to gratify their passion for trinkets and ornaments. In general they are idolaters; cruel and savage in their disposition, and when they happen to quarrel, and are disappointed of their revenge, they frequently drown or stab themselves. An attempt was made in 1792 to plant a colony on Bulama, one of these islands, but it entirely failed.