The edges of these are now found encircling the mountains and forming a series of fairly continuous rims of hog-backs. The carboniferous and older stratified beds still cover the west half of the hills, while from the east half they have been removed, exposing the granite. Scientific exploration began in 1849, and systematic geological investigation about 1875. Rich gold placers had already been discovered, and in 1875 the Sioux Indians within whose territory the hills had until then been included, were removed, and the lands were open to white settlers.

Subsequently low-grade quartz mines were found and developed, and have furnished a notable part of the gold supply of the country (about $100,000,000 from 1875 to 1901). The output is to-day relatively small in comparison with that of many other fields, but there are one or two permanent gold mines of great value working low-grade ore. The silver product from 1879 to 1901 was about $4,154,000. Deposits of copper, tin, iron and tungsten have been discovered, and a variety of other mineral products (graphite, mica, spodumene, coal, petroleum, &c.). In sharp contrast to the surrounding plains the climate is subhumid, especially in the higher Harney region. There is an abundance of fertile soil and magnificent grazing land. A third of the total area is covered with forests of pine and other trees, which have for the most part been made a forest-reserve by the national government. Jagged crags, sudden abysses, magnificent canyons, forests with open parks, undulating hills, mountain prairies, freaks of weathering and erosion, and the enclosing lines of the successive hog-backs afford scenery of remarkable variety and wild beauty. There are several interesting limestone caverns, and Sylvan Lake, in the high mountain district, is an important resort.

See the publications of the United States Geological Survey (especially Professional Paper No. 26, _Economic Resources of the Northern Black Hills_, 1904), and of the South Dakota School of Mines (Bulletin No. 4, containing a history and bibliography of Black Hills investigations); also R.L. Dodge, _The Black Hills: A Minute Description_ ... (New York, 1876).

BLACKIE, JOHN STUART (1809-1895), Scottish scholar and man of letters, was born in Glasgow on the 28th of July 1809. He was educated at the New Academy and afterwards at the Marischal College, in Aberdeen, where his father was manager of the Commerical Bank. After attending cla.s.ses at Edinburgh University (1825-1826), Blackie spent three years at Aberdeen as a student of theology. In 1829 he went to Germany, and after studying at Gottingen and Berlin (where he came under the influence of Heeren, Ottfried Muller, Schleiermacher, Neander and Bockh) he accompanied Bunsen to Italy and Rome. The years spent abroad extinguished his former wish to enter the Church, and at his father's desire he gave himself up to the study of law. He had already, in 1824, been placed in a lawyer's office, but only remained there six months. By the time he was admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates (1834) he had acquired a strong love of the cla.s.sics and a taste for letters in general. A translation of _Faust_, which he published in 1834, met with considerable success.

After a year or two of desultory literary work he was (May 1839) appointed to the newly-inst.i.tuted chair of Humanity (Latin) in the Marischal College.

Difficulties arose in the way of his installation, owing to the action of the Presbytery on his refusing to sign unreservedly the Confession of Faith; but these were eventually overcome, and he took up his duties as professor in November 1841. In the following year he married. From the first his professorial lectures were conspicuous for the unconventional enthusiasm with which he endeavoured to revivify the study of the cla.s.sics; and his growing reputation, added to the attention excited by a translation of Aeschylus which he published in 1850, led to his appointment in 1852 to the professorship of Greek at Edinburgh University, in succession to George Dunbar, a post which he continued to hold for thirty years. He was somewhat erratic in his methods, but his lectures were a triumph of influential personality. A journey to Greece in 1853 prompted his essay _On the Living Language of the Greeks_, a favourite theme of his, especially in his later years; he adopted for himself a modern Greek p.r.o.nunciation, and before his death he endowed a travelling scholarship to enable students to learn Greek at Athens.

Scottish nationality was another source of enthusiasm with him; and in this connexion he displayed real sympathy with Highland home life and the grievances of the crofters. The foundation of the Celtic chair at Edinburgh University was mainly due to his efforts. In spite of the many calls upon his time he produced a considerable amount of literary work, usually on cla.s.sical or Scottish subjects, including some poems and songs of no mean order. He died in Edinburgh on the 2nd of March 1895.

Blackie was a Radical and Scottish nationalist in politics, but of a fearlessly independent type; he was one of the "characters" of the Edinburgh of the day, and was a well-known figure as he went about in his plaid, worn shepherd-wise, wearing a broad-brimmed hat, and carrying a big stick. His published works include (besides several volumes of verse) _Homer and the Iliad_ (1866), maintaining the unity of the poems; _Four Phases of Morals: Socrates, Aristotle, Christianity, Utilitarianism_ (1871); _Essay on Self-Culture_ (1874); _Horae h.e.l.lenicae_ (1874); _The Language and Literature of the Scottish Highlands_ (1876); _The Natural History of Atheism_ (1877); _The Wise Men of Greece_ (1877); _Lay Sermons_ (1881); _Altavona_ (1882); _The Wisdom of Goethe_ (1883); _The Scottish Highlanders and the Land Laws_ (1885); _Life of Burns_ (1888); _Scottish Song_ (1889); _Essays on Subjects of Moral and Social Interest_ (1890); _Christianity and the Ideal of Humanity_ (1893). Amongst his political writings may be mentioned a pamphlet _On Democracy_ (1867), _On Forms of Government_ (1867), and _Political Tracts_ (1868).

See Anna M. Stoddart, _John Stuart Blackie_ (1895); A. Stodart-Walker, _Selected Poems of J.S. Blackie_, with an appreciation (1896); Howard Angus Kennedy, _Professor Blackie_ (1895).

BLACK ISLE, THE, a district in the east of the county of Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, bounded N. by Cromarty Firth, E. by Moray Firth, S.

by Inner Moray Firth (or Firth of Inverness) and Beauly Firth, and W. by the river Conon and the parish of Urray. It is a diamond-shaped peninsula jutting out from the mainland in a north-easterly direction, the longer axis, from Muir of Ord station to the South Sutor at the entrance to Cromarty Firth, measuring 20 m., and the shorter, from Ferryton Point to Craigton-Point, due north and south, 12 m., and it has a coastline of 52 m. Originally called Ardmeanach (Gaelic _ard_, height; _manaich_, monk, "the monk's height," from an old religious house on the finely-wooded ridge of Mulbuie), it derived its customary name from the fact that, since snow does not lie in winter, the promontory looks black while the surrounding country is white. Within its limits are comprised the parishes of Urquhart and Logie Wester, Killearnan, Knockbain (Gaelic _cnoc_, hill; _ban_, white), Avoch (p.r.o.n. Auch), Rosemarkie, Resolis (Gaelic _rudha_ or _ros soluis_, "cape of the light") or Kirkmichael and Cromarty. The Black Isle branch of the Highland railway runs from Muir of Ord to Fortrose; steamers connect Cromarty with Invergordon and Inverness, and Fortrose with Inverness; and there are ferries, on the southern coast, at North Kessock (for Inverness) and Chanonry (for Fort George), and, on the northern coast, at Alcaig (for Dingwall), Newhallpoint (for Invergordon), and Cromarty (for Nigg). The princ.i.p.al towns are Cromarty and Fortrose. Rosehaugh, near Avoch, belonged to Sir George Mackenzie, founder of the Advocates' library in Edinburgh, who earned the sobriquet of "b.l.o.o.d.y" from his persecution of the Covenanters. Redcastle, on the sh.o.r.e, near Killearnan church, dates from 1179 and is said to have been the earliest inhabited house in the north of Scotland. On the forfeiture of the earldom of Ross it became a royal castle (being visited by Queen Mary), and afterwards pa.s.sed for a period into the hands of the Mackenzies of Gairloch. The chief industries are agriculture--high farming flourishes owing to the great fertility of the peninsula--sandstone-quarrying and fisheries (mainly from Avoch). The whole district, though lacking water, is picturesque and was once forested. The Mulbuie ridge, the highest point of which is 838 ft. above the sea, occupies the centre and is the only elevated ground.

Antiquarian remains are somewhat numerous, such as forts and cairns in Cromarty parish, and stone circles in Urquhart and Logie Wester and Knockbain parishes, the latter also containing a hut circle and rock fortress.

BLACKLOCK, THOMAS (1721-1791), Scottish poet, the son of a bricklayer, was born at Annan, in Dumfriesshire, in 1721. When not quite six months old he lost his sight by smallpox, and his career is largely interesting as that of one who achieved what he did in spite of blindness. Shortly after his father's death in 1740, some of Blacklock's poems began to be handed about among his acquaintances and friends, who arranged for his education at the grammar-school, and subsequently at the university of Edinburgh, where he was a student of divinity. His first volume of Poems was published in 1746. In 1754 he became deputy librarian for the Faculty of Advocates, by the kindness of Hume. He was eventually estranged from Hume, and defended James Beattie's attack on that philosopher. Blacklock was among the first friends of Burns in Edinburgh, being one of the earliest to recognize his genius. He was in 1762 ordained minister of the church of Kirkcudbright, a position which he soon resigned; in 1767 the degree of doctor in divinity was conferred on him by Marischal College, Aberdeen. He died on the 7th of July 1791.

An edition of his poems in 1793 contains a life by Henry Mackenzie.

BLACKMAIL, a term, in English law, used in three special meanings, at different times. The usual derivation of the second half of the word is from Norman Fr. _maille (medalia_; cf. "medal"), small copper coin; the _New English Dictionary_ derives from "mail" (q.v.), meaning rent or tribute. (1) The primary meaning of "blackmail" was rent paid in labour, grain or baser metal (i.e. money other than sterling money), called _reditus nigri_, in contradistinction to rent paid in silver or white money (_mailles blanches_). (2) In the northern counties of England (Northumberland, Westmorland and the bishopric of Durham) it signified a tribute in money, corn, cattle or other consideration exacted from farmers and small owners by freebooters in return for immunity from robbers or moss-troopers. By a statute of 1601 it was made a felony without benefit of clergy to receive or pay such tribute, but the practice lingered until the union of England and Scotland in 1707. (3) The word now signifies extortion of money or property by threats of libel, presecution, exposure, &c. See such headings as COERCION, CONSPIRACY, EXTORTION, and authorities quoted under CRIMINAL LAW.

BLACKMORE, SIR RICHARD (c. 1650-1729), English physician and writer, was born at Corsham, in Wiltshire, about 1650. He was educated at Westminster school and St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He was for some time a schoolmaster, but finally, after graduating in medicine at Padua, he settled in practice as a physician in London. He supported the principles of the Revolution, and was accordingly knighted in 1697. He held the office of physician in ordinary both to William III. and Anne, and died on the 9th of October 1729. Blackmore had a pa.s.sion for writing epics. _Prince Arthur, an Heroick Poem in X Books_ appeared in 1695, and was followed by six other long poems before 1723. Of these _Creation_ ... (1712), a philosophic poem intended to refute the atheism of Vanini, Hobbes and Spinoza, and to unfold the intellectual philosophy of Locke, was the most favourably received. Dr Johnson antic.i.p.ated that this poem would transmit the author to posterity "among the first favourites of the English muse," while John Dennis went so far as to describe it as "a philosophical poem, which has equalled that of Lucretius in the beauty of its versification, and infinitely surpa.s.sed it in the solidity and strength of its reasoning." These opinions have not been justified, for the poem, like everything else that Blackmore wrote, is dull and tedious. His _Creation_ appears in Johnson's and Anderson's collections of the British poets. He left also works on medicine and on theological subjects.

BLACKMORE, RICHARD DODDRIDGE (1825-1900), English novelist, was born on the 7th of June 1825 at Longworth, Berkshire, of which village his father was curate in charge. He was educated at Blundell's school, Tiverton, and Exeter College, Oxford, where he obtained a scholarship.

In 1847 he took a second cla.s.s in cla.s.sics. Two years later he entered as a student at the Middle Temple, and was called to the bar in 1852.

His first publication was a volume of _Poems by Melanter_ (1854), which showed no particular promise, nor did the succeeding volume, _Epullia_ (1855), suggest that Blackmore had the makings of a poet. He was nevertheless enthusiastic in his pursuit of literature; and when, a few years later, the complete breakdown of his health rendered it clear that he must remove from London, he determined to combine a literary life in the country with a business career as a market-gardener. He acquired land at Teddington, and set earnestly to work, the literary fruits of his new surroundings being a translation of the _Georgics_, published in 1862. In 1864 he published his first novel, _Clara Vaughan_, the merits of which were promptly recognized. _Cradock Nowell_ (1866) followed, but it was in 1869 that he suddenly sprang into fame with _Lorna Doone_.

This fine story was a pioneer in the romantic revival; and appearing at a jaded hour, it was presently recognized as a work of singular charm, vigour and imagination. Its success could scarcely be repeated, and though Blackmore wrote many other capital stories, of which the best known are _The Maid of Sker_ (1872), _Christowell_ (1880), _Perlycross_ (1894), _Tales from the Telling House_ (1896) and _Dariel_ (1897), he will always be remembered almost exclusively as the author of _Lorna Doone_. He continued his quiet country life to the last, and died at Teddington on the 20th of January 1900, in his seventy-fifth year.

_Lorna Doone_ has the true out-of-door atmosphere, is shot through and through with adventurous spirit, and in its dramatic moments shows both vigour and intensity. The heroine, though she is invested with qualities of faery which are scarcely human, is an idyllic and haunting figure; and John Ridd, the bluff hero, is, both in purpose and achievement, a veritable giant of romance. The story is a cla.s.sic of the West country, and the many pilgrimages that are made annually to the Doone Valley (the actual characteristics of which differ materially from the descriptions given in the novel) are entirely inspired by the buoyant imagination of Richard Blackmore. A memorial window and tablet to his memory were erected in Exeter cathedral in 1904.

BLACK MOUNTAIN, a mountain range and district on the Hazara border of the North-West Frontier Province of India. It is inhabited by Yusafzai Pathans. The Black Mountain itself has a total length of 25 to 30 m., and an average height of 8000 ft. above the sea. It rises from the Indus basin near the village of Kiara, up to its watershed by Bruddur; thence it runs north-west by north to the point on the crest known as Chittabut. From Chittabut the range runs due north, finally descending by two large spurs to the Indus again. The tribes which inhabit the western face of the Black Mountain are the Ha.s.sanzais (2300 fighting men), the Akazais (1165 fighting men) and the Chagarzais (4890 fighting men), all sub-sections of the Yusafzai Pathans. It was in this district that the Hindostani Fanatics had their stronghold, and they were responsible for much of the unrest on this part of the border.

The Black Mountain is chiefly notable for four British expeditions:--

1. Under Lieut.-Colonel F. Mackeson, in 1852-53, against the Ha.s.sanzais.

The occasion was the murder of two British customs officers. A force of 3800 British troops traversed their country, destroying their villages and grain, &c.

2. Under Major-General A.T. Wilde, in 1868. The occasion was an attack on a British police post at Oghi in the Agror Valley by all three tribes. A force of 12,500 British troops entered the country and the tribes made submission.

3. The First Hazara Expedition in 1888. The cause was the constant raids made by the tribes on villages in British territory, culminating in an attack on a small British detachment, in which two English officers were killed. A force of 12,500 British troops traversed the country of the tribes, and severely punished them. Punishment was also inflicted on the Hindostani Fanatics of Palosi.

4. The Second Hazara Expedition of 1891. The Black Mountain tribes fired on a force within British limits. A force of 7300 British troops traversed the country. The tribesmen made their submission and entered into an agreement with government to preserve the peace of the border.

The Black Mountain tribes took no part in the general frontier rising of 1897, and after the disappearance of the Hindostani Fanatics they sank into comparative unimportance.

BLACKPOOL, a munic.i.p.al and county borough and seaside resort in the Blackpool parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, 46 m. N. of Liverpool, served by the Lancashire & Yorkshire, and London & North Western railways. Pop. (1891) 23,846; (1901) 47,346. The town, which is quite modern, contains many churches and chapels of all denominations, a town hall, public libraries, the Victoria hospital, three piers, theatres, ball-rooms, and other places of public amus.e.m.e.nt, including a lofty tower, resembling the Eiffel Tower of Paris. The munic.i.p.ality maintains an electric tram service. There are handsome promenades along the sea front, which command fine views. Extensive works upon these, affording a sea front unsurpa.s.sed by that of any English watering-place, were completed in 1905. The beach is sandy and the bathing good. The borough was created in 1876 (county borough, 1904), and is governed by a mayor, 12 aldermen and 36 councillors. Area, exclusive of foresh.o.r.e, 3496 acres; including foresh.o.r.e, 4244 acres.

BLACK ROD (more fully, "Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod "), an official of the House of Lords, inst.i.tuted in 1350. His appointment is by royal letters patent, and his t.i.tle is due to his staff of office, an ebony stick surmounted with a gold lion. He is a personal attendant of the sovereign in the Upper House, and is also usher of the order of the Garter, being doorkeeper at the meetings of the knights' chapter. He is responsible for the maintenance of order in the House of Lords, and on him falls the duty of arresting any peer guilty of breach of privilege or other offence of which the House takes cognizance. But the duty which brings him most into prominence is that of summoning the Commons and their speaker to the Upper House to hear a speech from the throne or the royal a.s.sent given to bills. If the sovereign is present in parliament, Black Rod _commands_ the attendance of the gentlemen of the Commons, but when lords commissioners represent the king, he only _desires_ such attendance. Black Rod is on such occasions the central figure of a curious ceremony of much historic significance. As soon as the attendants of the House of Commons are aware of his approach, they close the doors in his face. Black Rod then strikes three times with his staff, and on being asked "Who is there?" replies "Black Rod." Being then admitted he advances to the bar of the House, makes three obeisances and says, "Mr Speaker, the king commands this honourable House to attend his majesty immediately in the House of Lords." This formality originated in the famous attempt of Charles I. to arrest the five members, Hampden, Pym, Holies, Hesilrige and Strode, in 1642.

Indignant at this breach of privilege, the House of Commons has ever since maintained its right of freedom of speech and uninterrupted debate by the closing of the doors on the king's representative.

BLACK SEA (or EUXINE; anc. _Pontus Euxinus_),[1] a body of water lying almost entirely between the lat.i.tudes 41 and 45 N., but extending to about 47 N. near Odessa. It is bounded N. by the southern coast of Russia; W. by Rumania, Turkey and Bulgaria; S. and E. by Asia Minor. The northern boundary is broken at Kertch by a strait entering into the Sea of Azov, and at the junction of the western and southern boundary is the Bosporus, which unites the Black Sea with the Mediterranean through the Sea of Marmora and the Dardanelles. The 100-fathom line is about 10 to 20 m. from the sh.o.r.e except in the north-west corner between Varna and Sevastopol, where it extends 140 m. seawards. The greatest depth is 1030 fathoms (1227 Russian fathoms) near the centre, there being only one basin. The steepest incline outside 100 fathoms is to the south-east of the Crimea and at Amastra; the incline to the greater depths is also steep off the Caucasus and between Trebizond and Batum. The conditions that prevail in the Black Sea are very different from those of the Mediterranean or any other sea. The existence of sulphuretted hydrogen in great quant.i.ties below 100 fathoms, the extensive chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate, the stagnant nature of its deep waters, and the absence of deep-sea life are conditions which make it impossible to discuss it along with the physical and biological conditions of the Mediterranean proper.

The depths of the Black Sea are lifeless, higher organic life not being known to exist below 100 fathoms. Fossiliferous remains of _Dreissena_, _Cardium_ and other molluscs have, however, been dredged up, which help to show that conditions formerly existed in the Black Sea similar to those that exist at the present day in the Caspian Sea. According to N.

Andrusov, when the union of the Black Sea with the Mediterranean through the Bosporus took place, salt water rushed into it along the bottom of the Bosporus and killed the fauna of the less saline waters. This gave rise to a production of sulphuretted hydrogen which is found in the deposits, as well as in the deeper waters.

Observations in temperature and salinity have only been taken during summer. During summer the surface salinity of the Black Sea is from 1.70 to 2.00% down to 50 fathoms, whereas in the greater depths it attains a salinity of 2.25%. The temperature is rather remarkable, there being an intermediate cold layer between 25 and 50 fathoms. This is due to the sinking of the cold surface water (which in winter reaches freezing-point) on to the top of the denser more saline water of the greater depths. There is thus a minimum circulation in the greater depths causing there uniformity of temperature, an absence of the circulation of oxygen by other means than diffusion, and a protection of the sulphuretted hydrogen from the oxidation which takes place in h.o.m.ologous situations in the open ocean. The temperature down to 25 fathoms is from 78.3 to 46.2 F., and in the cold layer, between 25 and 50 fathoms, is from 46.2 to 43.5 F., rising again in greater depths to 48.2 F.

The _Sea of Marmora_ may be looked upon as an arm of the Aegean Sea and thus part of the Mediterranean proper. Its salinity is comparable to that of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, which is greater than that of the Black Sea, viz. 4%. Similar currents exist in the Bosporus to those of the Strait of Gibraltar. Water of less salinity flows outwards from the Black Sea as an upper current, and water of greater salinity from the Sea of Marmora flows into the Black Sea as an under-current. This under-current flows towards Cape Tarhangut, where it divides into a left and right branch. The left branch is appreciably noticed near Odessa and the north-west corner; the right branch sweeps past the Crimea, strikes the Caucasian sh.o.r.e (where it comes to the surface running across, but not into, the south-east corner of the Black Sea), and finally disperses flowing westwards along the northern coast of Asia Minor between Cape Jason and Sinope. This current causes a warmer climate where it strikes. So marked is this current that it has to be taken into account in the navigation of the Black Sea.

The _Sea of Azov_ is exceedingly shallow, being only about 6 fathoms in its deepest part, and it is largely influenced by the river Don. Its water is considerably fresher than the Black Sea, varying from 1.55 to 0.68%. It freezes more readily and is not affected by the Mediterranean current.

See N. Andrusov, "Physical Exploration of the Black Sea," in _Geographical Journal_, vol. i. p. 49.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The early Greek navigators gave it the epithet of _axenus_, i.e.

unfriendly to strangers, but as Greek colonies sprang up on the sh.o.r.es this was changed to _euxinus_, friendly to strangers.