BATSURST, a name applied to various localities in honor of earl Bathurst, colonial secretary at the time.-1. B. in New South Wale.s, the first county that was settled beyond the Blue Mountains (q.v.), long believed to be impassable. It was not before 1813 that a practicable route was formed; and in April, 1815, governor Macquarie crossed the range by the newly made road with his lady and a numerous retinue, in order to mark with becoming " pomp and circumstance" so important an epoch in the growth of the colony. B. has been still further distinguished in the history of New South Wales as the seat of its gold-fields. As early as 1844, the precious metal had, on geological grounds, been supposed to exist in Australia; but it was only on 12th Feb. 1851, that Mr. Hargreaves, a digger of California experience, washed the glittering prize out of a tin dish of gravel on the Bathurst Plains. The county is bounded on the n.e. by the Macquarie, and on the s.w. by the Lachlan. The whole district is admirably adapted to pastoral pursuits. It is well watered, and, being 1970 ft. above the level of the sea, it has a moderate temperature. Its chief town, which is now the third in New South Wales, is a handsome city with numerous elegant public buildings, and was erected into a municipality in 1862. Pop. '71, of city and district, 16,826.-2. Bathurst Island, of North ilustralk, about lat. 12' s., and long. 130° east. It is fully 2° due w.
of Port Essington, with Melville Island between. Its area may be estimated at 1000 sq. miles. Excepting the w. end, which is barren, the island is densely wooded.-3. B.. the principal settlement of the British colony on the Gambia. It is situated on a small island at the mouth of the river, in lat. 13° 28' n., and long. 16° 32' west. Pop., about 8000. chiefly negroes. The principal buildings are the government house, an hospital for liberated Africans, and Wesleyan schools. The exports consist of gain, wax, hides, ivory, gold. tortoise-shell, rice, cotton, teak, palm-oil, and native cloths.-4. B., in Upper Canada, a district on the right hank of the Ottawa, here the boundary between the Canadas. It contains the Rideau river and canal, thus occupying an important position with regard to the interprovincial trade. The removal, in 1858, of the seat of govern ment to Ottawa, tended still further to promote the prosperity of the district.-5. B., an island in the Arctic ocean, intersected by the 100th meridian, and situated immediately beyond the 75th parallel. Sherard Osborn here found the vertebra; of an ichthyosaunis —one of the few instances of organic remains occurring on the American side of the polar basin. See ARCTIC OCEAN.