BASQUE PROVI 



BASUAH. 



well paved, and several fountains. It has a handsome parochial 

 church. There are iron forges in the town and neighbourhood : 

 population, 2600. Inm, 2 mile* from the bridge which crown the 

 Bioaeoa to ooonect the road from Bayonne with Spain, is built on the 

 side of a amall hilL It is a poor little town, but hag a large plaza in 

 front of the pariah church, and the houses are highly picturesque. 

 The roofs project far, and rest on carved beams of wood or on stone 

 aopporta. The fronts are balconied, and the entrance is often beneath 

 a round solid arch : population, 3300. Mondragon, a walled town, 

 is situated on the Deba, near its source, and contains a population of 

 8500, many of whom are employed in iron-work. An isolated hill, 

 El Campanzar, contains an iron-mine, which hag been wrought for 

 gee. The ore is a reddish clay, and yields 40 per cent, of the finest 

 metal ilotrico, 24 miles W. fron San Sebastian, is a small town and 

 harbour in a bay near the mouth of the Deba. The harbour has a 

 mole, but only admits fishing vessels. There is a large plaza, in 

 which stands the town-halt There are three churches, and remains 

 of the ancient walls and gates. Paiayu, 6 miles E. from San 

 Sebastian, is situated on the margin of a land-locked bay, at the foot 

 of the mountain Jaizquibel. The harbour was formerly of great 

 importance, and admitted first-class ships, but is now so much sanded 

 up as only to admit moderate-sued vessels. The town contains many 

 houses once of high pretension, and still distinguished by escut- 

 cheons of stone handsomely carved over the doorways. The whole 

 town however is confined to a narrow strip of land between the bay 

 and the base of the mountain, which risen precipitously behind it. 

 The streets are consequently very narrow and inaccessible to carriages : 

 population, 1500. Son Sebattian is the largest town. [SEBASTIAN, SAN.] 

 Tcjota, 15 miles S. from San Sebastian, is situated in a deep valley on 

 the banks of two small rivers, and backed by a mountain to the east and 

 another to the west. It consists of six streets crossed by three others, 

 and has three plazas, one of which is Urge and handsome. It contains 

 many of the old family mansions. The church of Santa Maria has a 

 good portico between its two western towers : population, 5000. \'er- 

 gnra or Brryara, 28 miles S.W. from San Sebastian, is situated on the 

 eastern bank of the Deba in a hollow girdled by mountains. It consists 

 of good houses ; and the streets are straight and well paved. The 

 principal plaza contains a casa consistorial of handsome architecture. 

 There are three churches. There are two or three forges, and some 

 common iron-ware is manufactured : population, 4000. 



Towiu in Alara. Vitoria is the capital [VITORIA.] The other 

 towns are all small La. Guardia, near the southern boundary, is a 

 walled town situated on an elevation, and has a fortified castle which 

 commands the surrounding country. Salratierra, 18 miles K. from 

 Vitoria, is situated on elevated ground near the east bank of the 

 Zadorra. It is surrounded by walls, with towers and gates, in good 

 condition. The streets are wide and well paved. There are two 

 churches : population, 1600. The neighbouring mountains have 

 quarries of fine white and coloured marbles. 



Government, Mcameri, and Language. The Basques, though incor- 

 porated with the kingdom of Castilla, retained their national fueros, 

 or municipal privileges, with stubborn perseverance ; and many of 

 the most important they retain to the present time. The Basque 

 fueros were regularly digested for the first time in 1526, by a native 

 commission appointed by Charles V., and were printed in 1527. The 

 religious independence secured by these fueros is anomalous in Spain. 

 Episcopal control is not submitted to, and the euro, or parish priest, 

 is the pope of his town or village. The amount of taxes is determined 

 by representatives popularly elected; and the Basques are exempt 

 from excise duties and customs duties, so that they obtain such articles 

 as salt and tobacco at a price much leas than is paid in other parts 

 of Spain. 



The Basques claim the privilege of universal nobility, which is 

 secured by being merely born in these provinces. They are all 

 Hidalgos ('hijos d'algo,' sons of somebody). They are very brave 

 and active, and make excellent guerrilleros, or irregular troops, but 

 not good disciplined soldiers. They are poor, but there is little men- 

 dicancy *"""g them. Their occupations are chiefly agricultural, but 

 groat numbers are employed in fishing and in the iron-mines and 

 iron-works. Both taxes are much attached to dancing ; their music 

 consist* of the pipe, Ubor, and bagpipe. The men are very fond <>l 

 the gam* of 'fives, 1 and there is a Fives-court in every town and 

 almost .very village. 



The Basque language is quite distinct from the Spanish, ami from 

 every other language of Europe. It seems to haw no con: 

 with the Irish, the Gaelic, or even the Welsh, of which however it 

 ha* been said to be a cognate language. Mr. Borrow says it is oi 

 Tartar origin, in structure resembling the Mantchou and Mongolian 

 but with a decided element of Sanscrit root*. The Basques call 

 i Eusoaldunac, their country Euacaleria, and their language 



/ftrfory. The origin of the Basque nation is unknown. Humboldt 

 considers the Basques to be the descendants of the great nation of the 

 Iberi, who were spread over tile whole peninsula, and spoke one lau 

 gaage modified into different dialect* In the time of the Romans 

 *j"T *** celled Vaacones ; and in the 6th century of our era they 

 were known by the name of Varduli (' Diccionario de la Acn<l 

 art. ' Alav f ). The territory which they occupied in ancient times 



extended on both sides of the Pyrenees, and comprised the three 

 Usque Provinces, and both Spanish and French Navarre. (Strata, 

 book iii. ; Pliny, book iii. chap. 20.) They were the- only natives 

 who preserved their independence, not having been subdued by 

 any of the nations who invadeil the peninsula. Pompoius was the 

 first who, in the year B.C. 60, led the Roman legions into that country. 

 A body of Vascones is mentioned (Tacit, ' Hist' iv. 33) as serving 

 against CivilU and the Batavi. 



No less obstinate was their resistance against the Goths. Leovigild 

 lowever effected their final conquest A.I>. 580. The Moors were never 

 able to penetrate into their mountain-fastnesses, and the Christ inn* 

 ihere found a shelter and a home. At the period of the Moorish 

 nvasion it is stated by the Basque historians that their nation obeyed 

 a Se&or, or Lord, called Andeca, who hod the title of Duk 

 Dria, and perished with King Don Rodrigo at the battle of the Una 

 in 711. The different chiefs of those provinces were always connected 

 with some of the moat powerful Christian kings of the surrounding 

 states, and accordingly we find them sometimes attached to Navarra, 

 at other times to Aragon, to Leon, or Castillo, accord ing as it best 

 suited their interests. In the year 1200 Alonso VIII. of Castilla, in 

 bis wars against the king of Xavarra. invaded Alava and (luipuzcoa, 

 and these provinces were united to C-istilla, the king taking the cus- 

 tomary oath to maintain their fueros, or privileges. The lord f 

 Vizcaya was already an ally of the Castilian king. In the 14th century 

 Nuno de Lara, the nineteenth and lost lord of Vizcaya, died, h 

 two daughters, _ one of whom married Juan of Aragon. Pedro the 

 Cruel, who was guardian to the daughters, put Juan to death, and 

 annexed the lordship to the crown of Castillo. 



(Diccionario de Eipana, by the Royal Academy of History ; Ford's 

 Handbook of Spain ; Madoz , JHccionariu de Etjiafin.) 



BASQUES, PAYS DES (country of the Basques), a district in the 

 south-west extremity of France on the Spanish frontier, now in< I 

 in the department of Basses-Pyrenees, comprehended the three 

 districts of Labour, Basse Navarre, and La-Soulu. 



Pays-des-Basques was bounded N. by the Adour in the lower part 

 of its course, and by a line drawn eastward from that river; S. l.v 

 the Pyrenees; W. by the ocean and the river Bidasoa ; and K. by 

 the country of Beam. The whole district is mountainous, and the 

 soil in general sterile; but there is good timber in the mountain ->. 

 The principal rivers are the Seison which falls into the Gave d'O 

 and the Bidouze and the Nive which fall into the Adour. Two prin- 

 cipal roads from France into Spain cross this territory ; the r 

 Madrid through Burgos passes through Bayonne and St.-jean-de-l.iiz ; 

 that to Madrid through Pain pel una passes through St.-Jean-Pied-de- 

 Port. [PYRfeufeEs, BASSES.] 



The district of Labour formed with some of the adjacent valleys 

 tlio bishopric of Bayonne. It was governed by its own viscounts in 

 the lltli ami I -jili centuries; subsequently it was united to Gascogne 

 and included in the domains of the house of Beam, and with tlm! 

 territory was added to the possessions of the crown upon the acces- 

 sion of Henri IV. 



Baiat Navarre, or Lower Navarre, the capital of which was St.- 

 Jean-Pied-de-Port, was originally a small district of the king' i 

 Navarre, which was held by the descendants of the Navarrese kings 

 of the house of d'Albret, and from which the kings of France took 

 the title of kings of Navarre after this little sovereignty was united 

 to the French crown by the accession ,,f Henri IV. The district in 

 now divided between the arrondisnements of Bayonne and Mauleon. 



The district of 7ya-.Son/c of which Maulcon was the capital, gave 

 title from early times to viscounts, who governed it down to the 

 end of the 131.U century. It was united to the crown in 100", and 

 is now comprised in the arrondissement of Mauleon. 



The manners, the costume, the language of the inhabitants of this 

 district show that they have a different origin from the other inhabit- 

 ant* of Europe. They are a lively, industrious people, mir 

 and well mode, active in body, frank in manii'-r.-, and j 

 character. Their language is a relic of the I 'i.-m, which 



prevailed over the southern and eastern parts of Spain, and over the 

 south-west part of France. 



In the middle ages the Basques . m Tor their propi nsity 



to brigandage, and for tin- rapidity with whieh they retired to 

 mountains, out li-i]>|iinir all p... 



iMalte-Brun ; Humboldt's (William) RrrhertKn r la //' 

 primilifi <lt f Eipagne ; <l< In /'i-'inri.) 



I'.ASRAH, also calk.-. I Ml and I'.l'sl: A If, a town i,, the 



pashalio of Baghdad, in situ J.V \. hit., 47 35' E. long., 



on both sides of a creek or canal lying on the right bank of the 

 el-Arab, the river formed by the junction of the Tigris and t.he 

 Euphrates. Basrah is about seven miles in circumfereii' 

 area includes extensive corn-fields and plantations of date-trees, and 

 is intersected by canals, on which numerous boats are employed. 

 Tor building cannot be procured except at a great distance, 

 ami wood likewise is expensive. Only a few houses are built of burnt 

 bricks and mortar ; the greater number of them, as well as the city 

 wall, are made of nun-fined clay, which IK sometimes faced with 

 burnt bricks. The town is extremely lilthy. It. In* live gates: 

 the Bab-el-Robat, Bab-Bagluhtd , Mb-Zobeir, I'.ab.l S.iaji, and Bib-el- 

 Mnjmuah. The Dumber of its inhabitants is estimated to a. 



