References to Plan.-A, outer light-house, 65 feet high, having a revolving light, alternately brilliant 40 and obscured 20 seconds. B, buoy on the outward edge of the shoal, off Alderton Point. C, D, E, Great, Middle, and Outward Brewster's Islands. F, George's Island. The passage for ships, lying between this island and the rocks on the opposite side of Lovell's Island (G), being very narrow, it is, in effect, the key of the harbour; and large sums have recently been expended on its fortification. To the south of George's Island, and Rainsford's Island (H), is Nantasket road, where there is good anchorage. The outer harbour lies to the west of Lovell's (G) and George's (F) Islands, being separated from the inner harbour by Castle Island (M), and Governor's Island (N.) On the north end of Long Island (1) is a harbour fixed light, 27 feet high. K, Deer Island. L, Spectacle Island. O, Middle Ground, dry at 4 ebb. P, Upper and Middle Ground, having, at ebb, only 5 feet water. Q, Thomson's Island. R, Dorchester Point. S, East Boston. T, Charlestown. M, N, and S, are all fortified. The course that a ship ought to steer is marked by the dotted line, leading between the light-house and Alderton Point, and between George's Island (F) and Lovell's Island (G). The soundings are laid down in fathoms at low water.

VOL. I.-U

How to enter the Port.-In coming from the Atlantic, a ship should bring the light-house to bear W. by N. to W. N. W., and run direct for it. The largest ships may pass it at within less than a cable's length. If there be no pilot on board, or the master be unacquainted with the harbour, or the wind be north-westerly, which is the most unfavourable for entering, she had better steer W. by S. for Nantasket roads, where she may anchor, and get a pilot.

Mooring, &c.-Generally speaking, there is sufficient depth of water to enable the largest ships to come up to town at all times of the tide. They usually moor alongside quays or wharfs, where they lie in perfect safety. There are in all about 60 wharfs; which, for the most part, are built on piles, with a superstructure of stone and earth. The two principal are "Long Wharf," 550 yards in length; and "Central Wharf," 413 yards long by 50 in breadth, having a range of lofty brick stores and warehouses along its whole length.

Pilotage. No particular place is specified at which vessels must heave to for a pilot. But all vessels, with the exception of coasters under 200 tons, and American vessels laden with plaster of Paris from British America, if hailed by a pilot within about 1 mile of the outer light, must take him on board, under a penalty of 50 dollars. If they have got within this distance before being hailed, the obligation to take a pilot on board ceases. This regulation has obviously been dictated by a wish to have the pilots constantly on the alert; it being supposed that masters not well acquainted with the bay will heave to to take one on board, though they have got within the free limits.

Table of the Rates of Pilotage on Outward and Inward bound Vessels in the Port of Boston.

Careening, Stores, &c.-Boston is a very favourable place for careening and repairing ships. All kinds of supplies may be had of the best quality and at moderate prices.

Customs Revenue. The amount collected at Boston in 1831 was 5,227,592 dollars= 1,176,2081. 4s.— (For an Account of the American warehousing system, see NEW YORK.)

Immigration. The number of immigrants arriving at Boston is not great, seldom exceeding 1,600 in a year. A city ordinance directs that the masters of vessels bringing immigrants shall enter into a bond with sureties to the amount of 200 dollars for each immigrant, that he shall not become a charge upon the state for 3 years, or pay a commutation of five dollars on account of each individual. But this regulation does not apply to immigrants having a reasonable amount of property; the declaration of the foreign consuls as to this point is commonly acted upon.

Trade of Boston, &c.—Boston has a very extensive trade with the southern states and with foreign countries, and is also one of the principal seats of the American fisheries. She is wholly indebted to her southern neighbours, and principally to New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, for supplies of flour and wheat, and for large quantities of barley, maize, oatmeal, oats, &c., as well as for cotton, tobacco, staves, rice, &c. Of these, the imports of flour may amount, at an average, to about 400,000 barrels a year; all sorts of grain to about 2,000,000 bushels; cotton, 160,000 bales; staves, 3,000,000, &c. Her returns are made, › partly in native raw produce, as beef, pork, lard, &c.; partly and principally in the produce of her manufacturing industry, in which Massachusetts is decidedly superior to every other state in the Union; and partly in the produce of her fisheries and foreign trade. At an average, Boston annually sends to the southern ports of the Union about 45,000 barrels of beef and pork; 165,000 barrels of mackerel, herrings, alewives, &c.; 20,000 quintals of dried and smoked fish; 3,500,000 pairs of boots and shoes; 600,000 bundles of paper; besides a very large amount of cotton and woollen manufactured goods, nails, furniture, cordage, &c.; so as to leave a large balance in her favour. Her exports of native produce to foreign countries consist principally of the same articles she sends to the southern states; but she also exports a large amount of the foreign produce she had previously imported. The imports from abroad consist principally of cotton and woollen goods; linens, canvas, &c. ; hardware, silks, sugar, tea, coffee, wines and brandy, spices, hides, indigo, dye woods, &c. The total imports from foreign countries into the state of Massachusetts in the year ending 30th of September, 1832, amounted to 18,118,900 dollars; while the exports of native produce, during the same year, amounted to only 4,656,635 dollars, and of native and foreign produce together, to 11,993,763 dollars; the balance against Massachusetts being paid off by bills upon the southern states, to which she exports much more than she imports. New York alone is, in fact, supposed to be at all times indebted to Boston about 5,000,000 dollars. We subjoin a summary

Account of the Trade of Boston and Massachusetts with Foreign Countries in 1831.

Banks. In January, 1833, there were 84 Banks in the state of Massachusetts, of which 24 were in Boston. Of the latter, 4 or 5 were only recently established. We subjoin a detailed statement of the principal circumstances in the condition of the Boston banks in 1830; and for further particulars the reader is referred to the article BANKS (FOREIGN).

So that there were in 1830, in Boston, 18 banks with a capital of 13,900,000 dollars. The dividends on this sum for the same year amounted to 703,500 dollars, being at the rate of 5:06 per cent. The paper under discount is estimated to have exceeded 70,000,000 dollars.-(Statement by J. H. Goddard, New York Advertiser, 29th of January, 1831.)

Insurance Companies.-Insurance, both fire and marine, is carried on to a great extent by joint stock companies, and to some extent also by individuals. The stocks of the different insurance companies amounted in January, 1833, to 6,675,000 dollars. Only one company is established for insurance upon lives. The stocks of the different insurance companies produced, in 1830, an average dividend of 5-113 per cent.

Credit.-Foreign goods are frequently sold for ready money, but more usually at a credit of from 3 to 12 months: average length of credit, 6 months; but on iron and some other articles, 12 months' credit is given. Discount for ready money at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum.

Commission. The rates of commission are arbitrary, varying from 2 to 5, and sometimes (del credere included). to 74 per cent. On small accounts, and West India goods, 5 per cent. is usually charged. The ordinary rate may be taken at 24 per cent. ; but competition is so great, that commission merchants may be found who will transact business on almost any terms. Sometimes whole cargoes are sold by brokers on an agreement to receive a specific sum in lieu of commission and brokerage.

Bankruptcy. The law as to bankruptcy in Massachusetts seems to be in a most disgraceful state. Preferences are very frequently given; and property is in many instances conveyed, for behoof of the bankrupt's family, to persons said to be creditors to a corresponding amount, without their having any real claim to such character. It is true that these conveyances may be cancelled; but the difficulties in the way are so great, that they are seldom set aside. The safest course that a foreigner, or one not thoroughly acquainted with the city, can pursue, is to deal only for ready money; and to employ none but the most respectable agents.

Money. In Massachusetts, and throughout New England, the dollar passes at 6s.; so that the pound sterling = 11. 68. 8d. Boston currency.-(For further particulars as to Money, Weights, Measures, &c. see NEW YORK.)

We have derived these details partly from the authorities referred to, partly from private information, and partly from the elaborate Answers of the Consul to the Circular Queries.

[According to a census taken in May, 1837, the population of Boston was 80,325.

From an abstract of the returns made by the banks of Massachusetts, showing their condition on the 10th of February, 1838, and published under the direction of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, it appears that at that date there were no less than 128 banks in the State. No returns were received from five of these. The aggregate of the amounts returned by the remaining 123, together with those returned by them on the preceding 1st day of October, were as follows:

For a later account of the trade of Boston with foreign countries than is given above, the reader is referred to the article Imports and Exports.-Am. Ed.]

BOTARGO, called in Provence Bouargues, a sausage made on the shores of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, of the roe of the mullet. The best comes from Tunis and Alexandria.

BOTTLES (Fr. Bouteilles; Ger. Bouteillen; It. Bottiglie; Fiaschi; Rus. Bulülki ; Sp. Botellas), glass vessels for holding liquids, too well known to require any description. They are exported in considerable quantities. The duty of 8s. a cwt. on bottle glass, like the duties on other descriptions of glass, is both oppressive in amount, and is imposed and collected in the most vexatious manner. The manufacture has declined considerably since 1826. (For further details, see GLASS.)

(BOTTLES (STONE).—In 1812, a duty of 2s. 6d. a cwt., increased in 1817 to 5s., was imposed upon stone bottles. The average nett produce of this duty has not recently exceeded 3,500l. a year. But, to collect this insignificant sum, the manufacture had to be placed under the surveillance of the excise, and those engaged in it subjected to various troublesome and vexatious regulations. The duty did not extend to Ireland, so that a drawback had to be granted on bottles exported to that country, and a countervailing duty charged on those imported from it. This unproductive and troublesome duty was imposed at the instance of the glass bottle manufacturers, who contended, that if stone bottles were exempted from duties, they would be used instead of glass bottles, to the injury of those engaged in manufacturing the latter. But the purposes to which stone bottles and glass bottles ara applied are so very different, that it would require a much greater reduction of the price of the former than could possibly be occasioned by the abolition of the duty, to make them be substituted, to any extent worth mentioning, in the place of the latter. These views were ably enforced by the Commissioners of Excise Inquiry; and having been adopted by government, the duty has been abolished.-(4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 77.; see also Fifth Report by Commissioners of Excise Inquiry.)

It is to be hoped that the duty on glass bottles may, also, be speedily put an end to. It produces about 110,000l. a year. We noticed (see art. WINE) the propriety of enacting and enforcing some regulations as to the size of bottles. The bottle is, in fact, a very important measure; a great deal of wine and other liquors being sold by the dozen. But there is, at this moment, the greatest discrepancy in the size of bottles; and it appears to us that it would be highly expedient, in order to obviate the numerous frauds arising from this source, to enact that all bottles be made to contain not less than a certain specified quantity, and to place them under the acts relating to weights and measures. -Sup.)

BOTTOMRY AND RESPONDENTIA.-Bottomry, in commercial navigation, is a mortgage of the ship. The owner or captain of a ship is, under certain circumstances, authorised to borrow money, either to fit her out so as to enable her to proceed on her voyage, or to purchase a cargo for the voyage, pledging the keel, or bottom of the ship (a part for the whole), in security for payment. In bottomry contracts it is stipulated, that if the ship be lost in the course of the voyage, the lender shall lose his whole money; but if the ship arrive in safety at her destination, the lender is then entitled to get back his principal, and the interest agreed upon, however much that interest may exceed the legal rate.-(Black. Com. book ii. c. 30.) The extraordinary hazard run by the lenders of money on bottomry, who, in fact, become adventurers in the voyage, has been held, in all countries, as justifying them in stipulating for the highest rate of interest.

When the loan is not on the ship, but on the goods laden on board, which, from their nature, must be sold or exchanged in the course of the voyage, the borrower's personal responsibility is then the principal security for the performance of the contract, which is therefore called respondentia. In this consists the principal difference between bottomry and respondentia The one is a loan upon the ship, the other upon the goods. The money

is to be repaid to the lender, with the marine interest, upon the safe arrival of the ship, the one case; and of the goods, in the other. In all other respects, these contracts a nearly the same, and are governed by the same principles. In the former, the ship an tackle, being hypothecated, are liable, as well as the person of the borrower; in the latte the lender has, in general, only the personal security of the borrower.

This contract, which must always be in writing, is sometimes made in the form of deed poll, called a bill of bottomry, executed by the borrower; sometimes in the form of bond or obligation, with a penalty. But whatever may be its form, it must contain the names of the lender and the borrower, those of the ship and the master; the sum lent, with the stipulated marine interest; the voyage proposed, with the commencement and duration of the risk which the lender is to run. It must show whether the money is lent upon the ship, or upon goods on board, or on both; and every other stipulation and agreement which the parties may think proper to introduce into the contract. (See the Forms at the end of this article.)

"It is obvious," says Lord Tenterden, "that a loan of money upon bottomry, while it relieves the owner from many of the perils of a maritime adventure, deprives him also of a great part of the profits of a successful voyage; and, therefore, in the place of the owners' residence, where they may exercise their own judgment upon the propriety of borrowing money in this manner, the master of the ship is, by the maritime law of all states, precluded from doing it, so as to bind the interest of his owners without their consent. With regard to a foreign country, the rule appears to be, that if the master of a vessel has occasion for money to repair or victual his ship, or for any other purpose necessary to enable him to complete the enterprise in which she is engaged; whether the occasion arises from any extraordinary peril or misfortune, or from the ordinary course of the adventure; he may, if he cannot otherwise obtain it, borrow money on bottomry at marine interest, and pledge the ship, and the freight to be earned in the voyage, for repayment at the termination of the voyage. When this is done, the owners are never personally responsible. The remedy of the lender is against the master of the ship."-(Law of Shipping, part ii. c. 3.)

In bottomry and respondentia bonds, the lender receives the whole of his principal and interest, or nothing; he is not answerable for general or particular average*; nor will any loss by capture, if subsequently recaptured, affect his claim. In this respect our law differs from that of France (Code de Commerce, art. 330.) and most other countries: the lenders on bottomry bonds being there subject to average, as our underwriters upon policies of insurance. No loss can avoid a bottomry contract, unless a total loss, proceeding from a peril of the sea, during the voyage, and within the time specified by the contract. If the loss happen through any default or act of the owners or master, to which the lender was not privy, he may still recover.

There is no restriction by the law of England as to the persons to whom money may be lent on bottomry or at respondentia except in the single case of loans on the ships of foreigners trading to the East Indies, which are forbidden by the 7 Geo. 1. stat. 1. c. 21. § 2. It does not, however, appear to be necessary, in order to enable the master of a ship in a foreign port to obtain money for her repair, outfit, &c., that the contract pledging the vessel in security of the debt should be in the nature of a bottomry bond. Provided the person who advances the money do not choose to take upon himself the risk of the ship's return, and do not stipulate for maritime interest, "there seems," says Lord Tenterden, "to be no reason why the master should not pledge both the ship and the personal credit of the owner." And in the case of money advanced in this way to refit a ship in distress at Jamaica, which was captured on the voyage home, the lender recovered.-(Law of Shipping, part ii. c. 3.)

Bottomry contracts were well known to the ancients. At Athens, the rate of interest was not fixed by law; but the customary rate seems to have been about 12 per cent. But when money was lent for a voyage, upon the security of the ship and cargo, the interest on account of the superior risk encountered by the lender, was in most cases much higher. In voyages to the Taurica Chersonesus and Sicily, it was sometimes as high as 30 per cent.-(Anacharsis's Travels, vol. iv. p. 369. Eng. trans.) By the Rhodian law, the exaction of such high interest as in usual bottomry was declared to be illegal, unless the principal was really exposed to the dangers of the sea.- -(Boeckh's Public Economy of Athens, vol. i. p. 177. Eng. trans.) The principle was adopted by the Romans who gave to bottomry interest the name of nauticum fœnus; and has been transferred from the Roman law into all modern codes.

"Formerly," says Mr. Serjeant Marshall, "the practice of borrowing money on bottomry and respondentia was more general in this country than it is at present. The immense capitals now engaged in every branch of commerce render such loans unnecessary; and money is now seldom borrowed in this manner, but by the masters of foreign ships who put into our ports in need of pecuniary assistance to refit, to pay their men, to purchase provi* Mr. Serjeant Marshall doubts this; but it was so decided by the Court of King's Bench in Joyc' v. Williamson, B. R. Mich. 23 Geo. 3.