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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)",
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    "chunk_id": "1911:ballantyne:87a46c7db9fa",
    "title": "BALLANTYNE",
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    "verified_text": "ballantyne, robert michael (1825-1894), scottish writer of fiction, was born at edinburgh on the 24th of april 1825, and came of the same family as the famous printers and publishers. when sixteen years of age he went to canada and was for six years in the service of the hudson's bay company. he returned to scotland in 1847, and next year published his first book, _hudson's bay: or, life in the wilds of north america_. for some time he was employed by messrs constable, the publishers, but in 1856 he gave up business for the profession of literature, and began the series of excellent stories of adventure for the young with which his name is popularly associated. _the young fur-traders_ (1856), _the coral island_ (1857), _the world of ice_ (1859), _ungava: a tale of eskimo land_ (1857), _the dog crusoe_ (1860), _the lighthouse_ (1865), _deep down_ (1868), _the pirate city_ (1874), _erling the bold_ (1869), _the settler and the savage_ (1877), and other books, to the number of upwards of a hundred, followed in regular succession, his rule being in every case to write as far as possible from personal knowledge of the scenes he described. his stories had the merit of being thoroughly healthy in tone and possessed considerable graphic force. ballantyne was also no mean artist, and exhibited some of his water-colours at the royal scottish academy. he lived in later years at harrow, and died on the 8th of february 1894, at rome, where he had gone to attempt to shake off the results of overwork. he wrote a volume of _personal reminiscences of book-making_ (1893). ballarat [ballaarat] and ballarat east, a city and a town of grenville county, victoria, australia, 74 m. by rail w.n.w. of melbourne. the city and ballarat east, separated only by the yarrowee creek, are distinct municipalities. pop. of ballarat (1901) 25,448, of ballarat east, 18,262. ballarat is the second city and the chief gold-mining centre of the state. the alluvial gold-fields were the richest ever opened up, but as these deposits have become exhausted the quartz reefs at deep levels have been exploited, and several mines are worked at depths exceeding 2000 ft. the city is the seat of anglican and roman catholic bishops. it has a number of admirable public buildings, while, among several parks and recreation grounds, mention must be made of the fine botanical garden, 750 acres in extent, [v.03 p.0269] where, in lake wendouree, pisciculture is carried on with great success. the school of mines is the most important in australia and is affiliated to the university of melbourne. ballarat is an important railway centre and its industries include woollen-milling, brewing, iron-founding, flour-milling and distilling. owing to its elevation of 1438 ft. it has an exceptionally cool and healthy climate. although the district is principally devoted to mining it is well adapted for sheep-farming, and some of the finest wool in the world is produced near ballarat. the existence of the towns is due to the heavy immigration which followed upon the discovery of the gold-fields in 1851. in 1854, in their resistance of an arbitrary tax, the miners came into armed conflict with the authorities; but a commission was appointed to investigate their grievances; and a charter was granted to the town in 1855. in 1870 ballarat was raised to the rank of a city. ballast (o. swed. _barlast_, perhaps from _bar_, bare or mere, and _last_, load), heavy material, such as gravel, stone or metal, placed in the hold of a ship in order to immerse her sufficiently to give adequate stability. in botany \"ballast-plants\" are so-called because they have been introduced into countries in which they are not indigenous through their seeds being carried in such ballast. a ship \"in ballast\" is one which carries no paying cargo. in modern vessels the place of ballast is taken by water-tanks which are filled more or less as required to trim the ship. the term is also applied to materials like gravel, broken slag, burnt clay, &c., used to form the bed in which the sleepers or ties of a railway track are laid, and also to the sand which a balloonist takes up with him, in order that, by throwing portions of it out of the car from time to time, he may lighten his balloon when he desires to rise to a higher level. ballater (gaelic for \"the town on a sloping hill\"), a village in the parish of glenmuick, aberdeenshire, scotland, 670 ft. above the sea, on the left bank of the dee, here crossed by a fine bridge, 43-1/4 m. by rail w. by s. of aberdeen. it is the terminus of the deeside railway and the station for balmoral, 9 m. to the w. founded in 1770 to provide accommodation for the visitors to the mineral wells of pannanich, 1-1/2 m. to the e., it has since become a popular summer resort. it contains the albert memorial hall and the barracks for the sovereign's bodyguard, used when the king is in residence at balmoral. red granite is the chief building material of the houses. ballatrich farm, where byron spent part of his boyhood, lies some 4 m. to the e. ballater has a mean temperature of 44.6deg f., and an average annual rainfall of 33.4 in.",
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