BAHIA BAHREIN 219 150,000, composed about equally of whites, blacks, and mixed races. Among the whites are many foreign merchants, especially from Hamburg and Bremen. The bay from which the city and province derive their name is one of the finest in the world, being 37 m. long from N. to 8., and 27 m. wide from E. to W., with two entrances from the south, on either side of the island of Itaparica, and a depth of water varying from 8 to 40 fathoms. The bay contains several small islands, and is defended j by a few forts. The city is situated on the E. shore, near the entrance and just inside Cape Sao Antonio. It is built partly on the shore, but chiefly on high ground. The lower town j is dirty and has very narrow streets. The houses are chiefly of stone, and some of them five stories high. In the Praya, the great business street, which runs 4 m. along the wharves, are the church of the Conception, built of stone imported from Europe, the ex- change, the warehouses, the arsenal, and ship yards. The number of churches and religious houses exceeds 60. The archbishop of Bahia is primate of Brazil. In the upper town, which is well paved and has pleasant streets and a number of handsome residences, con- structed with balconies and blinds in place of windows, is the most renowned Brazilian ca- thedral (formerly the Jesuit church), built of European marble and containing pictures of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier. The ancient Jesuit college has become a military and medical school. There is a large ecclesiastical seminary, an extensive library, and a theatre. Among other public buildings of the upper town are several hospitals (partly supported by lotteries), and the palaces of the governor and the arch- bishop. In the wooded promenade, laid out on an abrupt promontory, is an obelisk in honor of John VI. The exports include sugar, cotton, coffee, tobacco, nuts, cacao,, hides, horns, rum, piassara, tapioca, dyewoods, and rosewood. The value of diamonds exported is estimated at $3,000,000 annually. The imports are cot- ton goods, woollen and linen cloths, fish, flour, provisions, hardware, wine, copper and iron, soap, coals, and other articles. Estimated value of exports, $8,000,000; value of imports, nearly $10,000,000. The importations from England, which formerly constituted the great- est part of the import trade, have lately declin- ed, and the trade with the German ports is also less active than formerly. About 400 British vessels enter and leave the port annually, and the shipping of all nations includes nearly 800 vessels. The commerce with the United States in the nine months ending June 30, 1870, in- cluded 61 inward and outward vessels, with cargoes of an aggregate value of about $400,- 000. The coasting trade is exclusively carried on by Brazilian vessels. The bay was discov- ered in 1503 by Americus Vespucius, and the city was founded in 1510 by the Portuguese navigator Correa, who called it San Salvador. In 1549 the present name was adopted on its becoming the capital of the Portuguese pos- sessions, which distinction was transferred to Rio de Janeiro in 1763. The city sutfered greatly during the commotions which led to the separation of Brazil from Portugal. The Portuguese evacuated it on July 1, 1823, since which it has acquired vast commercial impor- tance as the foremost Brazilian city next to Rio. Since 1858 there has been railway com- munication between Bahia and Joazeiro. Cap- tain Collins of the United States steamer Wa- chusett captured here on Oct. 7, 1864, the confederate cruiser Florida. BAHR, Johann Christian Felix, a German phi- lologist, born in Darmstadt, June 13, 1798. He was educated at Heidelberg, and became pro- fessor there in 1826, and subsequently chief director of the university library, and of the lyceum and the philological seminary. His principal works are : Geschichte der romischen Literatur (3 vols., Carlsruhe, 1828; 4th ed., 1868), and Herodot (1832-'5 ; new ed., 4 vols., Leipsic, 1855-'61). BAHRDT, Karl Friedrich, a German theolo- gian, born at Bischofswerda, Aug. 25, 1741, died in Halle, April 23, 1792. He was a pro- fessor of theology, but his violent attacks upon the clergy and orthodoxy, and his adventurous and not very reputable life, involved him in perpetual difficulties; and for a year. he was a prisoner of state in the Prussian fortress of Magdeburg, where he wrote his autobiography (4 vols., Berlin, 1790). His writings enjoyed a transient popularity, especially Briefe uber die Bibel im Volkston. He denied the authen- ticity of miracles, and was a severe critic of the Scriptures. Kotzebue published Dr. Bahrdi mil der eisernen Stirn. BAHREIN (or AVAL) ISLANDS, a group consist- ing of one large island and several smaller ones in the Persian gulf, in a bay on the E. coast of Arabia, between lat. 25 30' and 26 30' N., and Ion. 50 and 50 30' E. ; pop. about 60,000. ,The most important of them is Bah- rein, about 27 m. long and 10 broad. The interior is hilly; the soil is fertile, and pro- duces wheat, barley, dates, figs, and other tropical fruits. Springs are plentiful in the interior, but on the coast fresh water is pro- cured in skins from springs beneath the sur- face of the sea, by divers. Manamah, the largest town, has a good harbor and is the centre of commerce. The island next in size is Moharrek, so named from the capital, situ- ated on its southern side. It contains two or three forts close to the seashore, and the sheikh's palace. The Bahrein islands arc noted for their extensive pearl fisheries, which were known to the ancients, and employ a large number of boats, each manned with from 8 to 20 men. The annual value of the pearls is estimated at from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. Tortoise shell, shark fins, and dates are also exported. The inhabitants are Arabs, gov- erned by a sheikh tributary to the sultan of Oman.
