917 



BASLE. 



BASQUE PROVINCES. 



913 



When woollen manufactures were first established in this country, 

 Baeingstoke obtained a considerable share in the business, and was 

 particularly noted for its druggets and shalloons. These manufactures 

 have long ceased here ; and at present malting and the corn, coal, 

 and timber-trade form the principal business, for which its position 

 in the centre of an extensive agricultural district, and its facilities for 

 the conveyance of produce by canal and railway, afford many advan- 

 tages. The principal market, which is chiefly for corn, is held on 

 Wednesday ; there is a market for provisions on Saturday. There 

 are fairs on Easter Tuesday, Wednesday in Whitsun-week, Septem- 

 ber 23rd, and October 10th ; all, except the second, are chiefly fairs for 

 cattle. In 1829 an Act was obtained for constituting the market a 

 pitched-market. Under the powers granted by this Act the old town- 

 hall was pulled down and a new and very spacious one erected in 

 1833 from the designs of Louis Wyatt, at a cost of upwards of 

 10,OOOZ. It contains the corn-market, the usual corporation rooms, 

 and a spacious room for meetings, assemblies, &c. ; behind the building 

 is the provision market. 



At a short distance west from Basingstoke is an ancient encamp- 

 ment : the embankment is about 1100 yards in circumference, but no 

 traces < ( a ditch are visible : it has two entrances, respectively east and 

 west ; Ha form is an irregular oval, approaching to an oblong square. 



John de Basingstoke, a distinguished scholar of the 13th century, 

 Sir James Lancaster, the navigator, and the brothers Joseph and 

 Thomas Warton, were born at Basingstoke. 



(Cough's Camden's Britannia ; Warner's Collections for the History 

 of Hampshire ; Descriptions appended to Cottle's Picturesque Views in 

 and near Basingstoke ; Communication from Basingstoke.) 



BASLE. [BASEL.] 



BASQUE PROVINCES (in Spanish Lai Provincial Vascongadaa 

 or Baicongadas, many words being written by the Spaniards indif- 

 ferently with a 6 or a v), occupy a portion of the north of Spain, and 

 consist of the three provinces of Vizcaya or Bizcaya, Guipuzcoa, and 

 Alava Vizcaya having the designation of sefiorio (lordship). They 

 are situated between 42 25' and 43 28' N. lat., 1 44' and 3 25' 

 W. long., and are bounded N. by the Bay of Biscay, S.W. and W. by 

 Castilla la Vieja, S.E. and E. by Navarra and France. The greatest 

 length east to west is about 85 miles ; the greatest width north to 

 south is about 75 miles : the area and population are as follows : 

 Old Trov. Modern Frov. Sq. Miles. Pop. in 1849 



Vizcaya Bilbao .... 1267 180,000 



Guipuzcoa San Sebastian . . .622 141,752 



Alava Vitoria .... 1082 81,397 



2971 373,149 



Surface. The surface of the three provinces forms nearly an 

 equilateral triangle with the apex to the south, and the base fronting 

 the Bay of Biscay. Guipuzcoa occupies the coast to the east, and 

 Vizcaya to the west, Alava being inland. The coast is generally 

 rocky, and is indented by numerous bays. The Sierra Cantabrica, 

 which is the continuation of the great mountain range of the Pyrenees, 

 extends from east to west through the provinces, and separates Alava 

 from the other two. Where it enters from Navarra it is called the 

 Sierra de Aralar, but various other names are given to different portions 

 of it as it extends westward, as well as to the ramifications from 

 it which occupy to a considerable extent all the three provinces. 

 The surface indeed is generally mountainous ; but Alava is higher than 

 the other two provinces, and is traversed in almost all directions by 

 offsets from the main range, which nearly surround it with a mountain 

 chain, and fill the interior with rocky hills divided from each other 

 by valleys of various forms, but generally deep and narrow. 



The Sierra Cantabrica has an axis of Devonian rocks with fossils. 

 In Vizcaya the cretaceous system occupies the greater part of the 

 surface, consisting of the hippurite limestone, or equivalent of the 

 lower chalk, except in the vicinity of Bilbao and Bermeo, where the 

 lias has superseded it ; and both are crossed by a dyke or upthrow 

 of green porphyry. In Guipuzcoa the mountain Jaitzquibel, the 

 offsets of which extend from Cape Higuer to Pasages, abounds in 

 quarries of sandstone fit for building and for millstones, and contains 

 also some lithographic stone. The Sierra de Mirall consists mostly of 

 similar strata. There are also quarries of marble. In Alava the 

 mountains are generally calcareous. There are marbles, some white, 

 some veined with red, and some black. In some districts there are 

 hard sandstones and slaty rocks. There are many mines of iron. 



Riven. The rivers of Vizcaya and Guipuzcoa have generally a 

 short course to the sea from the northern slopes of the central 

 mountain range ; those of Alava, flowing from the southern slopes, 

 fall into the Ebro. There are numerous small streams in Alava, which 

 form the Zadorra, the Ayuda, and other smaller rivers. In Vizcaya 

 the longest and largest river is the Nervion, which rises near the 

 confine of (iiiipuzcoa, and flowing obliquely across the province 

 receives the Durango on the right bank ; it then becomes the Ansa, 

 passes by Bilbao, receives the Salcedon on the left bank, and enters 

 the sea by a wide sestuary below Portugalete. The Nervion however 

 is ita general name throughout the whole of its course. The 

 Mundaca, the Benneo, the Lequeitio, and the Ondarroa have each a 

 short course to the sea. In Guipuzcoa the largest rivers are the 

 Deba or Deva, the Urola, the Oria, the Oyarzun, and the Bidasoa, 

 which in its lower course divides Guipuzcoa from France. 



Climate. The climate in the two coast-provinces is mild, but 

 somewhat damp, in consequence of the sea-breezes, which frequently 

 bring rain, but also cool the atmosphere in summer, and diminish the 

 cold in winter. In Alava also the mountains arrest the clouds and 

 produce rain. In summer the heat is concentrated in the narrow 

 valleys, and is sometimes intense ; but the climate in all the three 

 provinces is generally salubrious. 



Soil and Productions. The aspect of the country is very picturesque. 

 The hills are generally wooded to the summits with oaks, beeches, 

 evergreen oaks, chestnuts, and other trees. The pasture-lands, unlike 

 those of central Spain, are of a rich green. The soil, although it is 

 chiefly composed of clay, is rendered very productive by the industry 

 of its inhabitants. From a very early period they have mixed the 

 clay with calcareous earth ; and agriculture is better understood here 

 than in most of the other parts of Spain. Oxen are used in ploughing, 

 but spade-husbandry is very generally adopted. The principal 

 products are wheat, barley, pulse, flax, hemp, and pasture. Alava 

 produces also oil, and a weak sort of wine called chacoli by the 

 inhabitants ; but the principal beverage of the Basques is cider. 



There are numerous iron-mines and small furnaces. The ores arc 

 very rich ; copper and tin are also obtained. Marble of various 

 kinds, jasper, and porphyry are wrought. The preparation of char- 

 coal, and the fisheries along their extensive coast and in the numerous 

 bays afford employment to the greater part of those who are not 

 engaged in agriculture. There are numerous mills for grinding flour, 

 which is one of their exports. 



Towns in Vizcaya. Bilbao is the capital. [BILBAO.] JBermco, a 

 small town and shallow port, is situated in a bay near the gcstuary of 

 the river Benneo, 13 miles N.N.E. from Bilbao. It is defended by 

 three forts. It contains several mills and a forge, and the inhabitants 

 carry on a veiy lucrative fishery : population about 4000. Ercilla, 

 the author of the Spanish poem ' La Araucana,' was born here. 

 />nrnr/o, 18 miles E.S.E. from Bilbao, is situated near the junction 

 of the Durango with the Mafiaria. It is a walled town, and possesses 

 several large buildings of tolerable architecture, particularly a 

 college. It contains three forges, and there are manufactures of iron 

 and steel. Ondarroa, a small town and shallow port, situated between 

 two lofty mountains at the mouth of the river Oudarroa, 22 miles 

 E. by N. from Bilbao. It is a fishing town, with a population of 

 about 1500. Ordnna, 20 miles S. from Bilbao, is a very ancient 

 town, walled, with a large plaza, where there are some handsome 

 houses four stories high, with colonnades in front. Most of the 

 streets are narrow, badly paved, and without footpaths. The town 

 is surrounded by mountains except to the north, where the road from 

 Bilbao forms a broad avenue lined with poplars : population, 3500. 

 Plencia, 12 miles N. from Bilbao, is a small town and port at the 

 mouth of the river Munguia. It is defended by three batteries. The 

 population, about 2000, are chiefly employed in fishing. Portvgalete, 

 10 miles N.N.W. from Bilbao, stands on the west bank of the sestuary 

 of the Ansa, or Nervion. There is a bar which prevents large 

 vessels from getting up to the port. It is defended by batteries. 

 There are rich mines of iron in the neighbourhood, and there are 

 some forges ; but most of the inhabitants are employed in fishing : 

 population, 1500. Somorrostro, 7 miles W. from Portugalete, at the 

 mouth of a small river, stands in the valley of Somorrostro, near the 

 mountain Triano, which contains inexhaustible mines of iron. There 

 are numerous forges in the town and neighbourhood, where about 

 6000 tons of iron are said to be produced annually. 



Towns in Guipuzcoa. The capital is Tolosa. Aspeitia, 17 miles S.W. 

 from San Sebastian, on the west bank of the Urola, is a small town 

 containing several Moorish-looking houses, once highly ornamented, but 

 now in a state of dilapidation. About a mile from Aspeitia, in the vale 

 of Loyola, is the monastery of San Ignacio, with its church, dedicated 

 to the founder of the Jesuits. It forms a vast mass of buildiug, 

 already in some degree ruinous. The walls, which are of marble 

 from the quarries of a neighbouring hill, inclose the old family 

 mansion of the house of Loyola, built of brick, and retained in the 

 condition in which Ignatius left it. The room in which he was born 

 is at the top of the house, and has been converted into a strange but 

 richly-ornamented chapel, with an altar, and an effigy of the saint 

 paintid and gilt. The church is built of marble, and has a Corinthian 

 portico and a grand flight of steps. The interior is handsome : the 

 dome is ornamented with eight carved escutcheons of the paint's 

 arms, the royal arms, and others; and there are several chapels. 

 The whole of the interior is elaborately ornamented with inlaid 

 marbles and carving. Deba or Deva, 22 miles W. from San Sebastian, 

 is a small town prettily situated among wooded hills at the mouth of 

 the Deva, where there is a small fishing harbour. It has a fine church, 

 and the cloister though small is exquisitely elegant. Fuenterrabia 

 (Fontarabia), a very ancient town, celebrated in romance and poetry, 

 stands on the west bank of the scstuary of the Bidasoa, on the slope 

 of a hill which has the form of an amphitheatre. It is still fortified, and 

 has a population of about 2000 ; but the greater part of the town is 

 little else than a collection of ruined mansions with ornamented roofs 

 projecting over dilapidated balconies, ivy-covered battlements, and 

 broken gateways, walls, and towers. Jlcrnani, 7 miles S.S.E. from 

 San Sebastian, stands on the slope of a mountain, near the western 

 bank of the Urumea. It is a well-built town, with straight streets, 



