Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/234

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

214 BAEZ BAGAUD.E giving private instruction, till 1631, when he was elected professor of philosophy and rhet- oric in the newly founded athenaeum at Am- sterdam. He was one of the best Latin poets of that period, and has left records of the government of Count Maurice of Nassau in Brazil, and of the reception given to Maria de' Medici at Amsterdam in 1638. BAEZ, Buenaventura, president of the Domin- ican republic, born at Azua, Santo Domingo, early in this century. He inherited a large fortune from his father, a mulatto, who was prominent in the revolution of 1808; cooper- ated with Santana in the establishment of Dominican independence; and was president from 1849 till 1853, when he was supplant- ed by Santana, who expelled him from the country. After the deposition of Santana in May, 1856, Baez, who had spent the interval in New York, resumed the presidency, Oct. 6, 1856 ; but he was once more ousted by Santana June 11, 1858, and obliged to remain abroad till after the evacuation of Dominica by the Spaniards in 1865, and in December of that year he was elected for a third presidential term. This was interrupted in March, 1866, by an insurrection led by Gen. Pimentel in favor of Oabral, in consequence of which Baez was banished to St. Thoinas. A new revolu- tion in December, 1867, drove Oabral from power and restored Baez. After various di- rect and indirect negotiations, he signed on Nov. 29, 1869, two treaties with President Grant, one for the cession of the bay of Sa- mana and the other for the annexation of the Dominican republic to the United States, sub- ject to the approval of the people of the re- public, which was ostensibly obtained in an election (decreed by Baez Feb. 16, 1870) held under the protection of American men-of-war. The United States senate, however, refused to ratify the treaty. A commission was appoint- ed by President Grant, under authority of con- gress, to visit and examine the island, and re- ported in April, 1871, in favor of annexation ; but the measure was pressed no further. Its failure encouraged Oabral and Pimentel to re- new the civil war. BAEZA (anc. Beatia), a city of Spain, in the province and 23 m. N. E. of the city of Jaen, 3 m. N. of the Guadalquivir ; pop. 13,400. It has a cathedral and several fine public edifices, of which the most noteworthy are the uni- versity, the oratory of St. Philip Neri, the marble fountain with caryatides in the plaza, and the arch of Baeza. In the days when it was held by the Moors, it had a popu- lation of 50,000, was surrounded by a strong double wall, and contained the residence of several Moorish kings. The sculptor Gaspar Becerra was born here in 1520. The trade and manufactures are inconsiderable. BAFFIN, William, an English navigator, born in 1584, died in 1622. In 1612 he accompanied James Hall on his fourth arctic expedition, and on his return wrote an account of it, in which a method is laid down for the first time of de- termining the longitude at sea by an observa- tion of the celestial bodies. In 1613 he ex- plored the coast of Greenland, and wrote a narrative of his voyage. In 1615 Baffin accom- panied Robert Bylot as mate on a voyage to the northwest in the Discovery. In the fol- lowing year he again sailed with Bylot, and on this occasion discovered the bay which has since borne his name. Baffin published an account of both voyages, and gave a very ac- curate description of the bay. He afterward made voyages to the East, and in 1621 joined an English expedition to the Persian gulf, which united with the Persians to expel the Portuguese, and was killed at Ormuz. BAFFIN (or BYLOT) BAY, an extensive gulf or inland sea on the N. E. coast of North Amer- ica, communicating with the Atlantic by Davis strait, and with the Arctic ocean by Smith sound to the north, and Lancaster sound to the west. It extends about 800 m. from S. E. to N. W., has an average width of 280 m., and is included between the parallels of 68 and 78 N., and the meridians of 50 and 80 W. It was named in honor of William Baffin. It was visited by Oapt. Ross in 1818, by Capt. Parry in 1819, by Inglefield in 1852, who established the existence of a channel connecting it with the great polar sea, and by McClure in 1850-'53, who was the first to sail from Behring strait to Baffin bay. The coasts are rocky and precipi- tous, rising in many places to the height of 1,000 feet, and presenting a vast number of lofty peaks of very singular shape. Innumera- ble sounds and creeks open on each side of the bay. Black whales of large size, seals, and walrus are captured here, and bears and black foxes and various sea fowl are found on the shores. The depth of water, as far as ascer- tained, varies from 200 to 1,050 fathoms. BAFFO, called the Pure, a Venetian woman of remarkable talent and beauty, who was captured in 1580 by corsairs while on the way with her father from Venice to Corfu, and carried to Constantinople, where she became the slave and afterward the sultana of Amu- rath III., over whom she exercised extraordi- nary influence. Amurath subjected the female attendants of Baffo to the torture in order to extract from them the secret of her fascina- tion; but as they could confess nothing, the legitimacy of the sultana's influence was no longer questioned. After the death of the sul- tan she became adviser of her son Moham- med III., and her influence did not wane till 1603, when her grandson Ahmed consigned her to the old seraglio, where she died. BAGAUDS, or Bagandl, a body of Gallic peas- ants who revolted against the oppression of the Romans about A. D. 270, headed by one Victo- ria, called by the soldiers Mother of Legions. They besieged and took Augustodunum (Au- tun), and utterly destroyed what was previously a flourishing metropolis. Claudius temporari- ly quelled them, and Aurelian remitted their