Bermudas

(The), (běr-mu'daz,) or SOMERS' ISLANDS, a group of abt. 300 small and low islands, belonging to Great Britain, in the Atlantic; Lat. 32° 20′ N., Lon. 64° 50' W.; 600 m. E. from S. Carolina; area, 30 sq. m. Climate mild and salubrious. The pp. islands are, St. George (containing Hamilton, the C. of the colony), Ireland (entirely occupied by its fortre , arsenal, and dock-yards); St. David, Somerset, Paget, Long bred, and Smith's. They were discovered by the Spaniard Bermudez,1522; and settled by the English, 1607. Pop. 12,596. Bernadotte, CHARLES JOHN XIV., (bairn'ah-döt,) king of Sweden and Norway, whose original name was JEAN BAPTISTE JULES BERNADOTTE, B. 1764, was the son ofa French lawyer. Entering the army as a private, he served with such distinction in many campaigns, as to receive from Napoleon, in 1806, the baton of marshal of France. His brilliant reputation caused his nomination as succe or to the crown of Sweden after the death of Charles XIII., and in 1813 he took command of the combined armies of Northern Germany against France. Never during half a century before his acce ion had his adopted country known such peace or prosperity as that in which he left her in the hands of his son Oscar. D. 1844. [s. 90]