B A S 



BASRAH. See Bassora. 



BASROUCHE, a town of Perfia, in the province of 

 Ta'itfHftan, 27 mil?s well of Fa-abat. 



BASS, amoiiT Gartieners, a foft kind of fcdge or rufh, 

 ufed ill binding plants, &c. 



Bass, in Geo^rnphy, an ifland, or infii'ated rock, on the 

 coaft of Scotland, near the mouth of t!ie irit'n of Forth, at 

 a imall diitance from the town of North Berwick in Eati 

 Lothian. On the fontli f:de it lias a conical form, and to- 

 wards the north it tre.r.eiido'.ifly overhancjs the fea. The 

 caftle, or ancient llatc prifon, is 0:1 the ed^e of the preci- 

 pice. It is acctflibl; only on the fouth-well fide, and iiere 

 only by one perfon at a time, with the aliillance of a rope 

 or ladder. On the top of it is a Ipring ; and a cavern paffes 

 through the rock from north-wcll to fo;ith-eaIi. This 

 ifland is about a mile in circuit, and in fummer abounds with 

 birds and their eggs, &c. The fohnd geefe an-ive here in 

 March, and retire in Oclober cr November. It contains a 

 fmall waiTen for rabbits, and afiords pafture for a fcv.' flietp. 

 At tiie revolution it wab fupported b) a party of the adherents 

 of king James, and it was the !a!l place in the three kingdoms 

 that fubmittcd to the new govenim;nt ; upon which its for- 

 tifications were neglected. This illand is the fouth entrance 

 into the frith of Forth ; and the ifland of May, feven miles 

 from it, at N.N.E. ealterly is the north entrance. N. lat. 

 56° 3'. W. long. 2" 35'. 



Bass Hai-boitr, a h.irbourof Mount Defert ifland, in the 

 diftricl of Maine, North America, feven miles from Soil 

 Cove. 



Bass Strait, fo called from its difcoverer Mr. Bafs, a fur- 

 geon, is more than 30 leagues wide, containing a chain of 

 Imall iflands that run north and fouth, and feparates Van 

 Diemcn's land, hitherto confidered as its fouthern extremity, 

 from New Holland. Mr. B.ifs, accompanied by Mr. Flin- 

 ders, a naval gentleman, entered this ilrait between the lati- 

 tudes of 39° and 40^ fouth, and actually circumnavigated 

 Van Diemen's land. This difcovery ferv^-s to expedite the 

 patlage from the cape of Good Hope to port Jackfon : for, 

 although a line drawn from the cape ; ■> 44^ of fouth lati- 

 tude, and to the longitude of the fouth cape of Van Die- 

 men's land, would not fenfibly differ from one drawn 10 the 

 latitude of 40"", to the fame longitude ; yet a iliip will be 

 four decrees nearer to port Jackfon in the latter fitiiatifo, 

 ) than in the former. But befides a faving of four degrees 

 * of latitude along the coafl, the paiTage through this ilrait 

 would avoid the noith-eaft winds, which have retarded and 

 endangered (hips on opening the fea round the fouth 

 cape and cape f iilar. Th'3 ilrait hkewife prefei-ts another 

 advantage. From the prevalence of the nortb-eaft r.id eaft- 

 erly winds off the fouth cape, many fuppoie that a p< :Tage 

 may be made from thence to the we'tward, either to the 

 caoe of Good Hope or to India ; but the fear of the great 

 unknown bight between the fouth cape and the fov.th-weft 

 cape of Le wen's land, lyiug in about 35'' fouth and 1^3° 

 ea!t, has hitherto prevented the trial from being made. The 

 ftrait evades a part of this danger, by piefenting a ccrt?.in 

 place of retreat, iliould the fhip !>; oppoftd by a gale at the 

 firil effay ; and ihouid the wind come at fouth-eatl, ihe need 

 not fear making a good ftretch to the W.N.W., wliich 

 eourfe, if made good, is within a fe.v leagues of going 

 clear of all. There is befid«;s King George the Tl;ird's 

 found, difcovered by Capt. Vancouver, fituate in S. lat. 35° 

 3', and E. long, i iS'^ 12'^; ai;d it is hoped, that a icw 

 years will difclofe many others upon the coaft. as well as 

 confiitn or difprove the conjedlure that a flill larger than 

 Bafs ftrait dilmembers New Holland. Colli;is's Accounl of 

 New South Wales, p. 192, 193, 



B A S 



Bass, in Mufic. See Base. 



BASSAD, or 3esd, an Arabian name for the purple 

 fucus of tiie Greeks, ufrd by the women to paint tlRit 

 checks, and by the dyers of cloths. It has been fo far mif- 

 underftood by late authors as to be interpreted by the word 

 coral ; but the error of this is evident, fince coral has none 

 of thefe properties. See Margian. 



BASS AIM, in Geography. See Basse £N. 



BASSAMUER Rock hcs on the coaft of France, in 

 the Enghfh channel, and is a flioal that bears about a league 

 N. by W. from La Clarte church, near the point fo called, 

 to the fo-ith from the feven iflands. 



BASSAN, Giacomo, m Biography a ctlcbrated pain- 

 ter, whofe real name was Giacomo de Poate, was called 

 Calfaa from the town of Baffano on the river Brcnta, where 

 his father lived and followed the fame profcflion. He was 

 born in 1510, and became a difciple of IJonifacio ; and after 

 having improved himfelf in his art by ftudying and copying 

 the works of Titian and Parmcjjgiano at Venice, he returned 

 to his native town. Here he formed a ftyle different from 

 that of liis mailers, and guided by his own genius, he af- 

 funied a manner of colouring and dcfigning ptcuhar to him- 

 felf, and copied ail his objcdts from nature. His fubjects 

 were generally taken from iuch parts of fcr^pture as afford 

 the rural fcencry of animals and landfcape conne£ted with 

 fome ftor)' ; fuch as the journeyings of the patriarchs, the 

 IlVaelites in the deftrt, the flight of Jc-feph and Maiy into 

 Egypt, &c. In all thefe fubjefts his figures were well de- 

 figncd; nioft of them were formed from his wife, children, and 

 fcrva:;ts, ar:d the animals in his court-yard; and they had of 

 ccurfe a pleafing refemblance of nature. Although his com- 

 pofitior;s cannot boaft of any great degree of elegance or 

 dignity, they are difti:^guifhed by force and truth ; his co- 

 louring Wab admirably lively and natural ; and his chiarc- 

 fcuro and perfpedive were correftly difplayed. Hii touch 

 was free and fpirited ; and in his landfcapes his diftances 

 were alway- true. Althovgh he had many excellencies, 

 hi? ilrawing was incorrect, and his draperies were dcilitute 

 of variety. Kis works are eafily difcriminared from thofe 

 of other painters, by the fimihtude of charadters and counte- 

 nances in the figures and animals ; by his tafte in the build- 

 ings, utcnlils, and draperias , and by a viokt or purple tint 

 that predominates in every one of his- pictures. BafTan 

 painted much, and with eafe ; fo that his pictures were fent 

 by "'holelale to merchants, who difperfcd them over Europe. 

 His real p;Ctures, however, are not common ; as manv of 

 thole that are called originals are copies by his fons, who 

 were inferior to himfelf, or by fome painter of meaner abi- 

 !i:ies. Bafiano praCtifcd alfo in portrait, and painted feve- 

 ral excellent likeneiles of the doges of Venice, of Ariofto, 

 TafTo, and other perfons of t-ninence. His houfe at BaCano, 

 to which he was attached, and which the felicitations of 

 th<? emperor Randolph couid not induce him to leave, was 

 the place of refort to many perfons of diftinftion, ai:d tlie 

 receptacle of the arts, particularly of mufic, of which he 

 w?.s a mifttr. In his private conduit Baflan was regular ; 

 and his chai-ity \was fo profufe, tliat his wife was under a. 

 necenlty ot retraining his liberality. He lived to the at;e 

 of 82, and died in 1592. Several of his capital pieces are 

 in the chuivhes of Ba/Tano, Venice, Viccnza, and other 

 towns of Italy. Some of his fmaller works n»y be found 

 in moft of the principal collections of Europe ; but thofe 

 that are really originals fetch a high price. Many of them-, 

 have been cnirraved. 



Giacomo Ba'fan had four fons, who were painters. Fran— 

 cefco, the eldcft, was the moft eminent. He was born in 

 1550. He painted in tbe ftyle and manner of his father, 



and 



