Bangue, or Bang

A narcotic and intoxicating opiate. See HASHISH. Ban'ian, n . [Sansk. pan , to sell, panya , salable, banik , merchant.] A general name given in India to a mer chant, more particularly to the great merchants of the W. provinces at Bombay, Surat, Cambay, ., who carry on an extensive caravan trade with the interior of Asia, even to the borders of Asiatic Ru ia and China. Mercantile establishments of Indian Banians are to be found in almost every important commercial city in Asia. The Banians form a particular caste in India, and are distinct from the Brahmins, Cuttery, and Wyse, the three other castes. The name B. was at first given by Europe ans to all the Hindoos, they being the cla with which they had the most frequent intercourse; and hence the term was used in contradistinction to Mohammedan. The Banians are very strict in the observance of the fasts prescribed by their religion, and in refusing to eat flesh. -A morning-gown or wrapper, resembling that worn by the Banians. -The Indian fig-tree. See BANYAN. Ban'ian Days, n . pl . ( Naut .) A cant term used by sailors to denote those days on which they have no meat served out to them; derived from the practice of the Banians, who never eat flesh. Ba'nias, a town of Palestine, situated at the foot of a branch of Anti-Libanus, now called Jebel Heish, the Mount Hermon of Scripture, which was the northern boundary of the children of Israel, and the Pancium of the Romans. Banias is supposed to be on or near the site of the Dan of the Jews. Its name was changed to Cæsarea Philippi, by Philip the Tetrarch, son of Herod; the former part of the name was in honor of the Emperor Tiberius, to which Philip added his own by way of distinguishing it from the Cæsarea on the sea-coast. The modern village contains only about 150 houses, mostly inhabited by Turks; it is a dependency on the town of Hasbeya, about twenty miles to the north, whose Emir nominates the Sheikh. It stands on a triangular shaped piece of ground enclosed by the river of Banias and the Jordan, and is backed by the mountains, at the foot of which, to the N.E. of the village, the river of Banias takes its rise, in a spacious cavern beneath a precipitous Fig . 285. SOURCE OF BANIAS RIVER. (Palestine.) rock. This spring was formerly considered as the source of the Jordan. At some distance farther up the mountain, however, in a green and secluded dell, there is a very remarkable pond, circular in its form, and filled with clear and pellucid water. It has been known from the earliest times by the name of Phiala, or "The Bowl," and there is an immemorial tradition, that the fountain at Banias is supplied from this little lake, a Ban'im, JOHN, a popular Irish novelist, B. at Kilkenny, April 3, 1798. His principal works are, the Tales by the O'Hara Family; the Croppy ; the Mayor of Windgap , . As a man of genius, B. holds a high place in Eng- lish literature. He was the founder of that school of Irish novelists, which much resembles the modern ro- mantic French school of Eugene Sue and Dumas. D. 1842. Ban'ish, v . a. [Fr. bannir , from L. Lat. bannire . - See BAN.] To declare to be banned, expelled, or exiled; to condemn or compel one to leave one's country; to exile. " Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world." - Shaks. -To drive away; to expel; to compel to depart. "Banish busine , banish sorrow, To the gods belongs to-morrow."- Cowley . Ban'isher, n. One who banishes; he that forces another from his country. the name of HOUSTON. Banjerma in, ( ban'jer - mas - sin ,) an extensive territory lying on the S.E. part of the island of Borneo. Ext . 350 m. long, and about 270 broad.- Desc . Generally flat, though intersected by a range of mountains running from N. to S. Where cultivation exists, the soil is extremely fertile, throwing up a luxuriant vegetation of great beauty and variety. - Rivers . The Banjer and its tributary, the Nagara, which water the western portion; and several large streams, plentifully irrigating the eastern.- Prod . Cotton, rice, wax, benzoin, pepper, dragon's blood, and rattans. - Min . Gold, iron, coal; and some large and fine diamonds are found. -Manf . Swords, guns, pistols, and other arms. These are finished in the most elaborate style of workmanship, the decorations consisting of gold, silver, and copper. - Pop . estimated at 120,000, mostly Mohammedans. B. is governed by a Sultan, who is absolute so far as his people are concerned, but is to a certain extent subject to the Dutch, who for upwards of a century have had a factory in the capital. BANJERMASSIN, the capital of the above territory, Lat. 3° 23' S., Lon. 114° 37′ E., about 15 m. from the mouth of the Banjer, where it debouches into the Sea of Java. On account of the inundations of the river, the houses are built on piles of wood, at an elevation of three feet. above the ground, and communicate with each other by means of planks. Many of the houses are built upon rafts, with their fronts turned towards the river, and exposing goods for sale; while on market-days the water forms the "great highway," on which all the nece aries of life are purchased at these floating marts. The town is in every respect a floating aggregate of houses, where there are no streets, nor carriages or horses, its whole busine being entirely carried on by water communication.