ngeon of this castle, called "Bishop's Hole" or "Bishop's Prison,"
was used as an ecclesiastical prison until the 16th century. The town
now possesses no early incorporation charters, and although both
Chauncy and Salmon in their histories of Hertfordshire state that it
was created a borough by charter of King John in 1206, the charter
cannot now be found. The first mention of Bishop Stortford as a
borough occurs in 1311, in which year the burgesses returned two
members to parliament. The town was represented from that date until
1332, and again in 1335-1336, but the privilege was then allowed to
lapse and has never been revived.

BISKRA, a town of Algeria, in the arrondissement of Batna, department of
Constantine, 150 m. S.W. of the city of Constantine and connected with
it and with Philippeville by rail. It lies in the Sahara 360 ft. above
the sea, on the right bank of the Wad Biskra, a river which, often
nearly dry for many months in the year, becomes a mighty torrent after
one or two days' rain in winter. The name Biskra applies to a union of
five or six villages of the usual Saharan type, scattered through an
oasis 3 m. in length by less than 1 m. broad, and separated by huge
gardens full of palm and olive trees. The houses are built of hardened
mud, with doors and roof of palm wood. The foreign settlement is on the
north of the oasis; it consists of a broad main street, the rue Berthe
(from which a few side streets branch at right angles), lined with
European houses, the whole in the style of a typical French winter
resort, a beautiful public garden, with the church in the centre, an
arcade, a pretentious _mairie_ in pseudo-Moorish style with entrance
guarded by terra-cotta lions, some good shops, a number of excellent
hotels and cafes, a casino, clubs, and, near by, a street of dancing and
singing girls of the tribe of Walad-Nail. East of the public garden is
Fort St Germain, named after an officer killed in the insurrection of
the Zaatcha in 1849; it is capable of resisting any attack of the Arabs,
and extensive enough to shelter the whole of the civil population, who
took refuge therein during the rebellion of 1871. It contains barracks,
hospital and government offices. To the south-east lies the Villa Landon
with magnificent gardens filled with tropical plants. The population
(1906) of the chief settlement was 4218, of the whole oasis 10,413.

From November to April the climate of Biskr