BAS 



322 



BAS 



I5ai Straits, from Van Dieman's Land. We do not know that 



flMMiin 



the precise extent to be included in this channel is 

 definitively fixed : the navigators of the French expe- 

 dition who explored it in 1801, say it is about 50 

 leagues in length from east to west, and the same in 

 breadth from north to south. All the earlier navi- 

 gators supposed New Holland a vast continent in- 

 cluding Van Dieman's Land, the southernmost point 

 of which was considered the extremity of New Hol- 

 land ; but circumstances induced several of those 

 who more lately traversed the Australasian seas, to 

 conjecture that there might be some strait or channel 

 dividing them. No one, however, could penetrate 

 further than into what they called deep bays and in- 

 lets. At length, ten years after the establishment of 

 the English colony of Botany Bay, Mr Bass, the 

 surgeon of a man of war, disliking the idleness which 

 particular occurrences exposed him to, made an ex- 

 cursion iu an open boat, which fortified him in the 

 belief of an open passage, separating New Holland 

 and Van Dieman's Land into two great islands. A 

 subsequent voyage proved the fact, and the strait re- 

 ceived his name. 



Bass Straits have been surveyed by Captain Flin- 

 ders along with Mr Bass, by the officers of the French 

 expedition, and by Captain Grant of the British 

 Navy. The discovery of them has been judged of 

 material consequence in shortening the voyage from 

 Europe to India. Many vessels have now passed 

 through them, but from the rocks and islands with 

 which they abound, experienced seamen affirm that 

 it is a voyage of danger. 



Commercial enterprise has given birth to active 

 operations in fisheries established in different parts of 

 the straits. Parties are carried thither in small co- 

 lonial vessels from Port Jackson, and established in 

 gangs of ten or twelve, to collect seal skins and the 

 oil of the sea elephant, for animals of the Phocce 

 tribe are extremely plentiful in this channel. These 

 speculations were for some time confined to the set- 

 tlers exclusively ; but the Americans began to avail 

 themselves of the same advantages, and the number 

 of adventurers inc^ased so rapidly, that in a few 

 years after its commencement the fishery was rather 

 on the decline. The British government, however, 

 resolving to encourage the enterprise of its own sub- 

 jects, attempted to establish a colony at Port Philip, 

 on the north shore of the straits. The different gangs 

 engaged in the fishery previously shifted their abode 

 from place to place as the objects of pursuit became 

 scarce, and the collections they made were sent to 

 Port Jackson. Port Philip, it was thought, would 

 he a secure place of rendezvous, where the produce of 

 the fishery might be deposited until ready for expor- 

 tation ; and it would besides prevent any rival nation 

 from establishing a settlement on the coast, and 

 proving troublesome neighbours to Port Jackson. 

 Nevertheless this attempt proved abortive, and the 

 settlement was removed. See Collins' Account of 

 fkAani) Bay. Flinder's Voyage. Tuckey's Voyage. 

 Grant's Voyage in the. Lady Nelton. Peron Voyage 

 aux Terres Auslrales. Also Australasia, and Pre- 

 servation Island, (c) 



BASSANO, a town of Italy in the Trevisano, si- 

 tuated on the river Brents. It is nearly 5 miles in 



circumference, and contains 30 churches, 2 monas- 

 teries, and .3 hospitals. One of its gates was built 

 by Palladio. A large printing establishment, and 

 some silk and woollen manufactures, are the only ob- 

 jects deserving of notice. Population 11,300. East 

 Long. 11 43', North Lat. 4-5 46'. (j ) 



BASSE des Fkecatks Francoise, a dangerou* 

 rock in the North Pacific Ocean, about 100 yards 

 long, and 50 high, situated ou the north-west extre- 

 mity of a reef of rocks, stretching about 12 miles to 

 the south-east. West Long. 166 50', North Lat. 

 23 45'. A more full account of this rock, with its 

 surrounding shoals, will be found in La Peyrou6e's 

 Voyage x. ( j ) 



BASSEEN, a fortified town of Hindostan, on the 

 western coast of the peninsula, situated about 20 

 miles north of Bombay, in an island separated from 

 the continent by a small rivulet. In the year 1C70, 

 it was a considerable city, with two colleges, six. 

 churches, and four convents. East Long. 72 40', 

 North Lat. 19 20'. (j ) 



BASSET, the name of a game at cards. See 

 De Moivre's Doctrine of' Chances, p. 69. 



BASSIA, a genus of plants of the class Dodecan- 

 dria, and order Monogynia. See Botany, (to) 



BASSO Relievo, that branch of sculpture which 

 represents figures in such a manner that no part of 

 them is detached from the back ground; distin- 

 guished from alto relievo, which has the grosser 

 parts of the figure attached to the back ground, 

 while the minuter parts rise completely free from its 

 surface. The term is of modern date, but the art it- 

 self is of nearly as remote antiquity as the hierogly- 

 phic mode of writing, from which indeed it derives 

 its origin. In Greece, where sculpture, in all its 

 branches, reached the highest perfection, basso relievo 

 was called ctyscyXvirlvi, carved xvork ; and the alto re- 

 lievo was distinguished by the name of ts^edIhmj, 

 rounded; appellations which contain in themselves 

 an accurate definition of these different species of the 

 art. For a more detailed description of basso re- 

 lievo, see Sculpture, (ft) 



BASSO R A, Buss-'ora, or Basrah, a city of Ara- 

 bian Irak, in the Pachalik of Bagdad, is situated upon 

 an arm of the Schatt el Arab, or river of the Arabs, 

 about mid-way between the gulf of Persia and the 

 junction of the Euphrates and Tigris. It was built 

 by the Caliph Omar, in the 16th year of the Hegira, 

 to command :he trade between India and the eastern 

 empire, and to restore the communication by the Per- 

 sian gulf, which had been cut off by the conquests of 

 his predecessor. Planted in the midst of a delightful 

 country, and surrounded by fertile pastures, and lux- 

 uriant orchards, a little colony of 800 Moslems rapid- 

 ly increased in numbers and in opulence. Under the 

 first caliphs its jurisdiction extended over the south- 

 ern provinces of Persia ; and, from the influence of 

 its situation as a port of trade, Bassora soon rose one 

 of the first commercial cities of Asia. Its harbours, 

 which afforded a commodious station for ships of the 

 greatest burden, was filled with vessels from every 

 nation. The riches of Europe and India were accu- 

 mulated at Bassora, and its merchants were consider- 

 ed as the most opulent and industrious in the East. 

 Its importance, however, as an emporium of trade, 



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