BALIY, or LITTLE JAVA, one of the Sunda islands, in the Eastern Seas, separated from Java by the straits of the same name, which are five miles wide. It is a large island, being seventy-five miles in length by forty in breadth.

A chain of mountains crosses the island in a direction east and west, and terminates on the east in the peak of Bali, which is volcanic. The climate and soil are the same as in Java; it has mountains of proportionate height, and streams well fitted for the purposes of irrigation, and it is equally fertile. But from the mountainous nature of the country, advantage cannot so easily be taken of the periodical rains; and hence the lands are chiefly irrigated from the rivers and streams. Rice is produced in great quantities, and two crops are raised in the year; while in the dry season the lands yield a crop of maize. The other productions are tobacco, oil, and salt, also cotton of an excellent quality; but there are no forests, and the island is supplied with wood from Java. The inhabitants, though originally sprung from the same stock as those of Java, exceed them in stature and muscular power, as well as in activity and enterprising habits. "They have," says Sir Stamford Raffles, "a higher cast of spirit, independence, and manliness, than belongs to any of their neighbours." They are also more moral, not being addicted to drunkenness or licentiousness, though they indulge in the practice of eating opium. Their favourite amusements are gaming and cock-fighting, to which they devote themselves with all the vehemence and energy of their character. They are inferior to their neighbours the Javanese in mechanical art and industry. Cotton is spun into yarn, and made into cloth by the women. Knives, and warlike instruments, such as matchlocks, are also manufactured. The principal exports are rice, birds' nests, coarse cloths, cotton yarn, salted eggs, &c. The imports are opium, betel nut, ivory, gold, and silver. The traffic in slaves was formerly great, and still exists to a certain extent; all prisoners of war, insolvent debtors, and those who attempt to evade the laws against emigration, being reduced to the condition of slaves. The Hindoo superstition is prevalent here, not more than 100 or 200 of the natives being Mahommedans. The island is divided into seven different states, each independent of the other, and subject to its own chief. The total population is estimated at 800,000. (Thorn's Memoir of Java, Raffles' History of Java, &c.)