Bally, or Little Java, one of the Sunda Islands, in the Eastern Seas, separated from Java by the straits of the same name, which are three 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 E. and W., and terminates on the E. in the volcanic peak of Bali. The climate and soil are the same as in Java; it has mountains of proportionate height, several lakes, and streams well fitted for the purposes of irrigation. 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. 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 gambling 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, edible 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; all prisoners of war, insolvent debtors, and those who attempted to evade the laws against emigration, being reduced to the condition of slaves. The Hindu superstition is prevalent here. The island is divided into eight states, each under its own chief, subject to the Dutch. The total population is estimated at 800,000. (Raffles's History of Java; Temminck's L'Inde Achipelagique.)