Celestial

empire, and now the Buddhic literature in China forms libraries of countle volumes. We have, besides, the testimony of the pilgrims who went from China to India to visit the places sanctified by Buddha, and especially those of Fo -hien and Hiover - Thsang , published by MM. Abel Remusat and Stanislaus Julien. Finally, we may consult the inscriptions engraved on the stones, rocks, and columns in India. Mr. James Prinsep, one of the secretaries of the Bengal Society, deciphered these hieroglyphics with a sagacious accuracy that made him celebrated. These inscriptions were in the Magadha dialect, and contained the edicts of a king named Piyadasi , recommending to his people morality, advising tolerance, and favoring new religious creeds. A short time after Mr. Prinsep's elucidations, Mr. Turn our, well acquainted with the monumental antiquities of Ceylen, showed that the Piyadasi of these Magadha inscriptions was the same as Acoka, the king of Magadha, one of the pillars of B. during its first period. Another Cingalese work, Le Diparansa , quoted by Mr. Turn our, states that Acoka reigned 218 years after Cakyamouni, that is, 325 before our era, or in that of Alexander the Great; and although Mr. Wilson di ents, we think it probable that he is the identical Acoka, or at least a Buddhist promulgating the doctrines of Cākyamouni at the end of the 4th century. Among the Greek writers we find something in relation to the Buddhists. Nearchus and Aristobulus, who followed Alexander, mention only the Brahmans; but Megosthenes, who, 30 years after, penetrated to Patalipootra (the Palibothra of the Greeks), at the court of king Tchandragoopta, represents the Buddhists in naming the Sarmanai and German a , who, he says, are philosophers living in celibacy, begging their daily bread, and are accompanied by women following the same tenor of life. The name of Buddha is found in the writings of St. Clement of Alexandria. All these authorities peremptorily prove that B. was established in India before the reign of Alexander. Of the sacred books which contain the Buddhic predictions, two have been translated into French, the first under the title of "The Lotus of the Good Law" ( Saddharmapourdarika ), by M. Eugene Burnouf, who extracted from this mine his golden book " Introduction à l'I His to ire du Bud dhisme;" the other, "Soutra," is a book called the Lalita vistara, translated from the Thibet i an by M. Philippe de Fourcaux. Following in the footsteps of the above authorities, our venerated master, M. Barthelemy de St. Hilaire, one of the most profound Orientalists of the day, has published his two admirable works, Du Buddhisme (1855), and Le Bouddha et sa Religion (1866), from which is taken the following resumé of the life and tenets of the founder of this Oriental creed. - Buddha was born about the end of the 7th century, B. c., in the city of Kapilavastou, the capital of a realm bearing the same name, in Central India, at the foot of the mountains of Nepaul. His father, Couddhodama, belonging to the Çakyas family, and descended from the great Solar race the Got amides, was the king of that country. His mother, Maya Devi, was the daughter of king Sonprabuddha, and of such beauty that she was called Maya , or the "Illusion," because her body, according to the " Lali tavistara ," was a bewitching illusion. But her virtue and piety even excelled her beauty. Couddhodama was worthy of such a wife, and "King of the law, he ruled according to the law." Such was the family from which the liberator sprang. He belonged to the caste of the Kahattriyas, or "warriors," and when he gave himself up to religion, he was called Cakyamouni , that is, the "monk of the Cakyas," or Cramana Gaoutama , " the ascetic of the Got amides." His personal name at his father's court was Siddharta , or Sarvarthasiddha , which he held until he acquired that of "Buddha." His mother, who retired to a garden, awaiting her hour, was surprised under a tree by the pains of labor, and gave birth to Siddharta on the 3d of the month of Outaracadha, but debilitated by fasting, she died seven days after his birth. The orphan was entrusted to his maternal aunt Pradyapati - gaoutami , who was also one of his father's wives. The child was as handsome as his mother, and when still a boy showed extraordinary talents. When admitted to the schools of writing, he soon excelled his own master, and avoiding the amusements incidental to his age, he seemed absorbed in his own meditations. When he arrived at a marrying age, his elders, fearing that he, according to the prediction of the Brahmans, had abandoned his right to the crown by giving himself up to religion, asked the king's consent to cause him to marry forthwith; the king ref us to interfere, but granted the elders the privilege of bringing a bride for his son. This was done, and the virgin selected was the virtuous and beautiful Gopa, but in order to obtain her, he was obliged by her father, Dandapâni, to show talents of the first order. He had, accordingly, to engage in a contest against 500 young men in all the games and exercises esteemed in India. Siddharta came off victorious not only in scholastic exercises, knowledge of the Vedas, morals, and philosophy, but also in calisthenics and games of bodily skill. Among his competitors were his cousin An and a, who afterwards became one of his most faithful disciples, and Devadatta, who, ashamed of his defeat, became thenceforward his implacable enemy. The beautiful Gopa then became his prize, and once his wife, she refused to veil her face, saying that "the supreme and magnanimous Richi, and the other gods, knew her thoughts, qualities, and actions, and that she had nothing to conceal. Siddharta, though happy, aspired to some life better and more perfect, and, after long meditation, he left his father's palace, gave his rich dre to a hunter, whose mean garments he took in return, and sought some eminent Brahmans; but, di enting from their views, he retired IMG:content-0797.jpg:[graphic] to the wilderne of Ourovilva, where he spent his time in the practices of austerity, fasting, meditation, and prayer. He would remain for weeks plunged in deep abstraction, attempting to solve the mysteries of life, death, sin, goodne , wisdom, and the like. At length, after six years of meditation, being then 36 years old, he was enlightened, he felt that he was the BUDDHA, i. e. the perfect sage. The place where he had this revelation is most celebrated, and called Bod him and a , i. e. the "seat of intellect." The tree under which he was seated when he received that gift was a fig-tree. which was visited in 632, A. D., by the famous Chinese pilgrim Hiover-Thsang, who saw many monuments erected around it, and spent seven days in worshipping them. From Bod him and a Buddha started to preach his doctrine in small places, and then in the great capital, Benares, the "holy city." For upwards of 40 years he continued to preach his system, traversing a great part of Northern India, combating the Brahmans, and making numerous converts. He died in the 80th year of his age, B. c. 543, after having lived to see his doctrine spread all over India. For several centuries B. seems to have been tolerated by the Brahmins. At length, it seems to have endured a long-continued persecution, which ultimately had the effect of entirely expelling it from the country where it had originated. What was the cause or the nature of these persecutions is unknown, but the last traces of the system disappeared about the 11th or 12th century. By this time it had taken firm root in other parts, where it still continues to flourish. Numerous remains of Buddhist temples are scattered over India; and, during the period of persecution, when they were driven from the cities, they retired among the hills of the west, and there constructed those cave-temples, which, from their number, vastne , and elaborate structure, stíll excite the wonder of all who see them. - B. differs from Brahmanasm in the extreme simplicity of its religious doctrine, and the almost complete absence of dogmas or ritual. It is, or rather was - for it has been much corrupted by other creeds - an e entially moral system. Its object was to teach man how to attain to a pure and holy life. Hence, it did not so much destroy other religions with which it came in contact, as engraft itself upon them. It did not abolish castes where they already existed, but it did not introduce them where they were unknown. The Buddha is not a god, he is the ideal of what any man may become; and the great object of Buddhist worship is to keep this ideal vividly in the minds of the believers. This veneration of the memory of Buddha is, perhaps, hardly distinguishable, among the ignorant, from worship of him as a god; but in theory, the ritual is strictly commemorative, and does not nece arily involve idolatry, any more than the garlands laid on the tomb of a parent by a pious child. The ritual or worship is extremely simple, consisting in offering flowers and perfume, the repeating of sacred formulas, and the singing hymns. The temples contain only an image of Buddha and a Dago ba , or shrine containing his relics. There are no priests or clergy, properly so called, but only an order of monks, of Fig . 440.-BUDDHA. the Sramanas or Bikshus (mendicants), who have given themselves up to a life of sanctity, and who are generally very numerous. They are obliged to live in celibacy; but they may retire from their order if they desire it, and are permitted to marry. The four sublime verities, or axioms, upon which the system of B. is built, are:-1. That there exists pain; 2. that the cause of pain is desire, or the attachment of the soul towards certain objects; 3. that pain can be ended by Nirvana ; and 4. that, by the practice of six transcendent perfections - alms, morals, science, energy, patience, charity - a man might hope to arrive at the state of Nirvana - repose or annihilation. Existence is viewed as a curse rather than a ble ing; and the endle transmigrations through other beings that have to be endured, are causes of suffering; and hence the highest object of desire is to be delivered from the nece ity of being born again. There are five moral precepts of universal obligations, viz., not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie, and not to be drunken; but there are others more strict for those entering upon a religious life. - There is not in the whole doctrine of B. the least appearance of a belief in God, and when it is supposed that it admits the absorption of the human soul into the divine e ence, it is a gratuitous admi ion, entirely contrary to the ideas of Buddha. He ignores God so utterly that he not once thinks of de nying him; he does not destroy him, he is silent regarding him; neither explaining the origin and previous existence of man, nor his present state, nor offering conjecture as to his future fate and final liberation. The Buddhist knows not God in any way, and wholly occupied with his own heroic aspirations and self-sympathies, he has never looked up so high nor so far. Again, and on the authority of the Sutras (or doctrinal discourses and apophthegms of Buddha), it must be maintained that Buddhism does not admit the immortality of the soul any more than it admits God. No Buddhic text can be produced in which the simplest distinctivene of the human soul and body is stated, or, indeed, would seem to be even suspected. Death is but a modification as fallacious as the rest of these matters. It is held that man, unle he follow the creed of B. , is revivified in one species of being or another, according to his merits, but that no special destiny is provided here for his body or there for his soul. The soul may be transmigrated into another body, it is true, but it is not more divided from the latter than it was from the former one; it never exists without corporeal entity, (not even in that famous heaven of To us hit a , where the gods of the Brahmanic Pantheon sit on their thrones, promiscuously with the innumerable Bodhisattvas of the Buddhist superstition.) It must be remembered, however, that this teaching, absurd and to be deplored as it is, was nothing new in itself when first proclaimed and publicly preached as B .; it is known to have been started by the school of Sankhya , from Kalpa, or Kapila , who is identical with Sankhya the godle , or, as he is called by the Brahmans, Nerievara ; the Sankhya, long before the rise of B. , taught the liberation of man by means of science and of virtue, but the absorption of the human soul into God, who was excluded from his system, could not be po ible; then what did he do with the soul, and what does it become when redeemed? On this point, the only one of importance, the philosopher was silent, and his reticence darkened his solution with doubt and uncertainty that B. cleared away. The soul, or rather that compound of soul and body called man, is not really liberated unle annihilated; for, if the least atom of it should remain, the soul might still be revived into one of the numberle appearances pertaining to existence, and its pretended liberation would be but an illusion like so many others of the same kind. The only abode and the only reality is annihilation : from that state nothing returns; and once resting in the Nirvana , the soul has no longer anything to fear or to hope. From this point of view, B. is no longer that monstrous doctrine the existence of which we would willingly doubt. No, it is not a spontaneously formed doctrine; step by step India reached the attainment of it. The Sankhya approaching to the rejection of the authority of the Vedas and the denying of God was not self-constituted in one day. Ages of examination and controversy had to elapse to produce it, hideous as it is. The Buddha was at once the most logical and the boldest of Kapila's disciples. He perfected the teaching of the school, and published it for the salvation of mankind for whom his big heart overflowed with pity; but he did not discover the whole of it, he must share the responsibility, if not the glory, of it, with his predece or Kapila. Buddha has but reproduced those sad principles, urging them to the utmost, with a severity that plunged him headlong into the aby , not unseen nor perhaps unfeared by the philosopher; such is the true meaning of all the Buddhic Sutras. The Nirvana is always introduced and presented as the sternal liberation, the infallible ending of all miseries and revivify ings, through the annihilation of all the principles which compose man. The Sūtras must be believed; their language may be hard to understand, but clearne in this matter would be surprising. The idea of absolute extinction is full of mystery, and consequently the terms intended to depict it shed but a dubious and sinister light. But the Sūtras are the best, we should say, the only authority, and they are not more objec tion able than the Gospel would be when the Christian faith is to be expounded. It sometimes happens that, in new legends, the production of imaginative chroniclers, Buddhic personages are represented as escaping, replete with life, from the Nirvana, in which cases the Nirvana would appear to be other than nothingne ; but when grave doctors learnedly treat these matters, they speak always of the Nirvana as we have done, viz., as the land of oblivion and annihilation. It is true, however, that they take more care to speak of what is not , than of what really is ; the idea of nothingne finding a very imperfect expre ion in the disordered and excited imagination of the Buddhist monks: truer to nature than their own narrations, they forget, that, having confined them in an everlasting prison, they reclaim from their retreat of oblivion those holy men whose existence they had previously annihilated. It appears that Buddha himself never understood the Nirvana in any other light; if even the explanations of it have been since altered, the original character of the doctrine remains unchanged. The schools still in existence at Nepaul are to be considered as truthful witne es, when we have before us the primitive monuments. No doubt, B. has been, and is even now actually modifying its own dogmas. By B. , it must be understood, we mean that doctrine founded by Buddha himself which is adopted in the canonical works. This, as we understand it, is the B. of the Theory of Annihilation. In the progre of time, the Buddhists conceived an Adhibuddha , resembling our own Supreme Being; but it does not follow from this that the Buddha of Ourovilva and Bod him and a, . has ever thought of God. To the preceding we may add the testimony of that of the stock, the operation is almost sure to be suc- ce ful. This is by far the most common method of B. It is generally distinguished as shield -B. Another method. called scallop - B ., consists in removing entirely a thin slip of bark from the stock, and fitting into the wound a similar slip bearing the bud. The proper time for B. is a little after midsummer, when the bud is per- fectly formed. The proce is particularly well adapted for trees which are apt to exude gum when wounded, as the plum, cherry, peach, and stone-fruits in general; also for roses and many other flowering shrubs. The B. -knife has a point like a lancet, and the handle gen- erally terminates in a thin ivory blade, to be used for raising the bark of the stock. The effects of B. are pre- cisely similar to those of GRAFTING, q. v. the Brahmans, who call their opponents, the Buddhists, "Men of Nothingne " ( Nastikas ), which reproach they accept as a title of honor; and the testimony of their best philosophical work, known as the Pradynapa- ramita , in which we are taught that the supreme degree of human knowledge is the negation of the known ob- ject and knowing subject, a perfect vacuity of all exist- ence and all knowledge. So we have manifold proofs that the Nirvana is but another name for Annihilation ; and in this the mi ionaries, both Catholic and Protes- tant, as Mr. Spence Hardy, Father Brigandet, Father Jos. Mullens, and M. Wa ilieff, who resided many years in India, agree with M. Barthelemy St. Hilaire. In China, the same opinion prevails, and in the works of Confu- cius, or Lao-Tsen, we do not discover even a faint idea of God; and if the Chinese are absolutely atheists, we must confe that they are very reticent on this subject. The modern Tai-pings, who endeavor to plant the Chris- tian Trinity in their country, are considered as religious innovators, not le than rebels. B. has been a succe in the Celestial empire, and produced remarkable men. Some may object that the idea of God and the Immortal- ity of the Soul being, so to speak, co-natural to man, the explanation given here of the Buddhic belief can not be true. But this theory, noble and rational as it is, should not prevail against matters of fact. We have among us men of intellect who do not hesitate to profe infidelity both as regards the Deity and our own immortality. Buddha was one of these earnest but, we hope, deluded thinkers. B. is not only an opinion, but also a religion; and the admi ion by it of such singular opinions can be explained by the influence of the religious leaders, and Budd's Lake, in New Jersey , a P. O. of Morris co. the weakne of those numerous populations, who, tired Budds'town, in New Jersey, a village of Burlington of a life of poverty and subjection, and fearing to be co., 8 m. from Mount Holly. Bud'dle, n. ( Mining . ) A pit dug in the earth near the stamping-mill, 7 feet long and 212 feet deep, where the stamped tin is curiously washed from its impurities by water constantly running through the buddle, while a boy, called a buddle-boy, is standing in the body of it, and working both with a shovel and with his feet. -v. a. To wash, as ore. Buddle a, (bud-le'a,) n. ( Bot .) A genus of plants, ord. Scrophulariacea . The species are shrubs, natives of the warmer regions of the world, and are remarkable for their gay and sweet-scented orange-colored flowers. B. neemda is said to be one of the most beautiful plants of India. B. globosa , a native of Chili, is hardy enough to endure a temperate climate, and has become a common ornament of our gardens. transformed by metempsychosis into the several species Budd'ville, in Pennsylvania , a post-office of Centre co. of animals who dwell beneath the sky, have sought re- fuge in the state of utter nonentity. They are terrified by the prospect of pa ing through a series of suffering ex- istences, and their only remedy, as they conceive, is to seek the place, the Nirvana, where transformation shall move.] To move off; to stir; to wag. Bude Light, n. A term applied to various forms of oil and gas-burners contrived by Mr. Gurney, of Bude, in Cornwall. these unbelievers, have we any cause to declare them foreign to humanity? Their books and teaching are er- roneo us and defective, but still merit some respect. The Veda comes immediately after the Bible , and the misfor- tune of B. has been in repudiating the principles of the former. But Brahmanic India did not succeed much better than the Buddhic, and could not raise from their sacred seeds the promised fruits. At first the Aryans were the brethren of our ancestors who sprung like them from the N.W. of the Him a lay as: they were then equal, but the progre of ages worked against them, and while the Western nations had their development into superior civilization recorded by history, the Aryan races proper could not rise above the Vedic faith, and they bore B. in their bosom, a quasi-legitimate son, but despised and banished.- In conclusion, it must be said in favor of B. , that, where it took root, it imparted to the people who received it some ideas of morality, which made them le ignorant and degraded. Christ alone excepted, there is not among the founders of re- ligious creeds a purer and more touching figure than that of Buddha. His life is spotle , his heroic const an- cy equals his convictions, and though the theory he an- nounces be untrue, his personal example is above re- proach. He is the perfect pattern of all the excellences he preaches; his self-abnegation, charity, meekne , do not falter for a moment. Leaving the court of the king. his father, to become a monk and a beggar, he prepares for his career of preaching by six years of seclusion and meditation; he extends his doctrine by his strength of mind and persuasion of speech, and when he dies in the arms of his disciples, he presents the serene counte- nance of a sage who did well throughout, and dies secure in the po e ion of the truth. The nations who adopt- ed his tenets never thought of making a divinity of him, for their ideas were foreign to such a notion, but they made him a prototype whom they strove to imi- tate, and hence B. could produce some few souls worthy of holding companionship with those admired and re- vered by mankind. Buddh'ist, n. A worshipper of Buddha; a believer in Buddhism. Buddh'ist, Buddhisʼtic, a . Relating to Buddha or Buddhism. Bud'ding, n. ( Hort .) A peculiar mode of grafting, in which a leaf-bud is used instead of a young twig or scion. The bud to be employed is cut out of the branch along with a small portion of the bark and young wood, and the woody part is then carefully separated ( Fig . 441, a). Two incisions are made in the bark of the stock, in- tended to receive the bud (b); the bark is raised on both sides of the longitudinal cut, and the bud, with its shield of bark, is inserted in such a way that the upper edge of the shield IMG:content-0798.png:[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small] habit, which was lined with bouge .] Surly; stiff; formal. "O foolishne of men that lend their ears To those budge doctors of the stoic fur." - Milton . Budge-bachelor, n. One of a company of men dre ed in a long gown lined with lambs' fur, who ac- company the Lord Mayor of London at his inauguration. Budge'-barrel, n. A small barrel used in carrying gunpowder. Budg'er, n. One who budges. Budget, ( bud'jet .) [Fr., from bougette .] A bag or satchel, such as may be easily carried. A pocket used by tilers for holding the nails in lathing before tiling. - A stock or store. -A condensed statement of the income and expenditure of a nation, or of any particular public department. A B. contains two leading elements - a statement how the nation's account of charge and discharge stands in rela- tion to the past, and an explanation of the probable ex- penditure of the ensuing year, with a scheme of the method in which it is to be met, whether by the exist- ing or new taxes, or by a loan. In England, the annual Buena Vista, (bwa'na-vees'ta.) [Span., "fine view."] The name of several places in Mexico, at one of which, 7 m. from Saltillo, and 90 S.W. of Monterey, occurred, Feb. 22-23, 1847, a great battle between the Ameri- cans, numbering about 5,000 men, under Gen. Taylor, and a force of 20,000 Mexicans, under Santa Anna, in which the latter were utterly defeated. The American lo was small. This action has been also called the Battle of La Angostura . Buena Vista, in Alabama , a village of Monroe co. Buena Vista, in Arkansas , a post-office of Quachita co Buena Vista, in California , a post-village of Amador co., 13 m. S.W. of Jackson. Buena Vista, in Georgia , a post-village and township, cap. of Marion co., 101 m. S.W. of Milledgeville, and 33 Buena Vista, in Illinois , a township of Schuyler county. -A post-village of Stephen son co., 10 m. N.N.E. of Free port. Buena Vista, in Indiana , a village of Franklin co., 16 m. W. of Brookville. -A village of Gibson co., on White River, 110 m. S.8. W. of Indianapolis. -A village of Hamilton co., 12 m. N. of Noblesville. -A village of Harrison co., on Mosquito Creek. -A village of Monroe co., 13 m. 8. W. of Blooming ton. -A village of Pulaski co., on Tippecanoe River. -A village of Randolph co., 8 m. S.W. of Winchester. -A village of Washington co., 8 m. N.W. of Salem. Buena Vista, in Iowa , a village of Clayton co., 80 m N.N.E. of Iowa City. Buena Vista, in Mi i ippi , a post-village of Chicka- saw co., 11 m. E. of Houston. Buena Vista, in New York , a P. O. of Steuben co. Buena Vista, in Ohio , a post-office of Tuscarawas co. -A village of Fayette co., on Rattlesnake Creek, 46 m. S.W. of Columbus, -A village of Scioto co., on the Ohio River, 100 m. from Cincinnati. B. is submitted to Parliament by the Chancellor of the Buena Vista, in Oregon , a post-office of Polk co. Exchequer. In France, it is submitted at first at the Buena Vista, in Pennsylvania , a village of Bed- Chambre des Députés by the Ministre des Finances. In ford co. the discu ion of the most important questions of politi--A post-office of Alleghany co. cal finance. Budlet, n . [From BUD.] A small bud springing from a larger one. Budukhistan, ( bud - uk'his - tan ',) a prov. of Central Asia, now a dependency of the Khan of Khoondooz, be- tween Lat. 36 and 385 N., and Lon. 70° 30 and 72° 30′ E.; having N. and N.E a chain of mountains inhabited by tribes claiming a Maced on i an origin; S.E. and S. the Bolor-Tagh mountains and the high country of the Can- firs, and W. the other territories of Khoondooz. The scenery of this country and its natural productions are highly spoken of; it contains ruby mines and cliffs of lapis-lazuli. Its inhabitants are Tadjiks; very social and hospitable, speaking the Persian language, and re- taining the manners and customs prevalent N. of the Hindoo-Coosh before the Tartar invasion. The cap., also called Budukhistan, or Tyzabad , is on the E. bank of the river Koocha, in Lat. 36° 28′ N., Lon. 71° 23′ E., and its inhabitants are of the Shiak sect. This country was almost destroyed and depopulated by an earthquake in 1832. Budweis, ( bua wrse .) a town of Bohemia, cap. of a circle of the same name, on the right bank of the Moldau, 75 m. S. of Prague and 159 N.W. of Vienna. Manf . Wool- lens, damask, saltpetre, and musical instruments. Pop . 25,000. Bu'el, in New York , a P. O. of Montgomery co. Bu'el, in Michigan , a post-township of Sanilac co., 8 m. W. of Lexington. Bu'ell, DON CARLOS, an American military commander, B. in Ohio, in 1819, took his degree at West Point in 1841, and entered the U. States army as 2d lieutenant of infantry. He highly distinguished himself during the Mexican war at the battle of Monterey, where he was dangerously wounded. In 1848 he was appointed a t. adj. general in Texas. During the civil war, B. was made lient.-col. of the adj.-general's dept., and placed by Gen. McClellan at the head of 12,000 men in the dept. of the Ohio, relieving Gen. Sherman. He co-operated with Gen. Grant in the advance on Forts Henry and Do nelson, and, in 1862, was placed in command of five divisions, with which he advanced in time to take part Buena Vista, in Tenne ee, a post-village of Carroll co., 96 m. W. of Nashville. Buena Vista, in Texas , a village of Shelby co., 20 m. W. of Sabine River. Buena Vista, in Wisconsin , a post-village and town- ship of Portage co., 7 m. S.E. of Stanton, on the Cen- tral railroad, 10 m. S. of Steven's Point. -A township of Rich land county, on the Wisconsin River. Buena Vista Bar, in Idaho , an unimportant mining village of Boisé county, situated about 2 miles from Idaho City. Buena Vista Furnace, in Virginia , a post-office of Rock bridge co. Buena Vista Springs, in Kentucky , a post-office of Logan co. Buen Ayré, or BON AIR, one of the Dutch islands, in the W. Indies, about 30 m. E. of Curaçao, Lat. 12° 20′ N., Lon. 68° 27′ W. It has a tolerable harbor on its S.W. side. Pop . abt. 3,000. tribes. The climate is, in general, healthy, though at times rendered almost unbearable by the hot winds, called pamperos , which strongly resemble the sirocco of the eastern hemisphere. As before stated, cattle and horses, and their prepared produce, as hides, tallow, horns, jerked beef, ., form the principal wealth of the prov., and are largely exported to foreign countries. Chief town, Bueños Ayres. This prov., in common with the other Spanish-American states, became independent of Spain in 1816, and formed part of the Argentine Republic until 1854, when it seceded, but in 1860 resumed its allegiance to the Conf. Pop . (1895) abt. 900,000. BUENOS AYRES, a maritime city, cap. of the above prov., and of the Argentine Republic, is situate on the S. W. shore of the great estuary of La Plata, 125 miles W. by N. of Monte Video, and 90 N. W. of Point Piedras; Lat. 34° 36′29′′ S., Lon. 58° 23′ 34′′ W. The city stands on a bank elevated about 20 ft. above the level of the river, having a length of upwards of 2 m., with a central breadth of 12 m. It is built in a rectangular form, and is a tolerably well paved, lighted, and drained city, great improvements having been made in late years. The houses are tolerably well built, after the Spanish fashion, and are surrounded by gardens; though some quarters of the city, inhabited by the lower cla es of inhabitants, present a mean and squalid appearance. Water until lately, was bad; but now the supply is excellent. The principal public buildings are the Cathedral, in the Plaza , University, the Government buildings, new Post Office, . Like every other large Spanish American town. it po e es a multiplicity of churches and convents, many of which have an attractive aspect. Nearly all these buildings are erected of fine white stone. B. A. has hitherto had no harbor, and ve els drawing 16 or 17 ft. anchor in the outer roads, called the Amarradero, 7 or 8 m. from the shore, loading and discharging by means of lighters. One of the chief points of lading and discharge for ships trading with B. is Ensenada, on the estuary of La Plata, distant 35 m. by rail. It is the principal outlet for the produce of the vast countries traversed by the La Plata, and especially for the provinces situated on its right bank, the trade of which is constantly increasing. The markets of this city are well supplied generally, but poultry, vegetables, and fruits are dear. Education obtains to a noticeable extent, and the city supports numerous schools; few children of 10 or 12 years of age being found who are unable to read and write. As might be presumed from its commercial importance, the element of a foreign resident population is here very marked, and no doubt tends chiefly to maintain the growing progre of its civilization. The geographical position of B. A. is such as to enable it completely to control the foreign commercial relations of the entire republic of which it forms a part. The exclusive policy which it has always pursued on this point has often involved it in serious quarrels, not only with many of the South American States and the other provinces of the Argentine Republic, but with England and France. Since the expulsion of Gen. Rosas, the navigation of the Parana and Uruguay has been thrown open, and other measures have been taken to place both the province and city of B. A. on a level with the other provinces of the republic. Population in 1897 is nearly 700,000.B. A. was founded by the Spaniards under Don Pedro de Mendoza, in 1534; but, in consequence of the opposition of the Indians to the settlement, it was not permanently colonized till 1580. In 1620, it was erected into a bishopric, and in 1700 contained 16,000 inhabitants. In 1776, it was made the seat of the vice-royalty of La Plata, and in 1778, upon the trade of the river being thrown open by Spain, it began rapidly to augment in importance. In 1806 it was taken by the British, and retaken by the Spaniards. See ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. Buet, (Le,) ( boo'ai ,) one of the Alps of Savoy, between Chamounix and Sixt, to the N. of Mont Blanc, with an elevation of 10,128 feet above sea.