B A 5 



fand of this kind are dcftroveH every year, including the 

 youiicr ones. We fli.ill fuppole, at the (jme time, th?t the 

 fohiid gcefe foj ->ur;i in thel'e :eas for about feven rrnnths in 

 the year ; that c^ch of them deilro s five herrings in a dnv, 

 a fubfilltncc intitiitely poor for fo grecdv a creaf.irc, unlefs 

 it were iiioie th.in h:Uf fiipported at the expence of other 

 fiHies. Here we have 100,000,000 of the fined fifli in the 

 world devoured annually by a fingle fpecies of the St. Kilda 

 fca-fowls," &c. 



In concluding this account of t^e gannet, it h proper to 

 obfcrve that /c grand feu of BiiiTon and Buifon, and ^r.vrf 

 looby of Cattfby, an i;i!iabitant of the fea-fhores of FKirida, 

 is fiippofed to be the yo'ing or at ieaft a variety of pelecuv.us 

 .Ba/fnius ; and that obferved by navigators fo common on 

 Afcenfiin \!]:vi<i pikainus pi/cifir, a different fpecies. - 



BASSAWS, or BoN-A, SioaL; in Geography, lie on the 

 AU'eft coaft "(f Africa, beginning about welt, or to the fouth 

 >of wcil from Sierra Leone, and running out far to fea in 

 rounds and hollows, fo that (hips cannot clear them without 

 Handing off out of fight of land. 



BASSE, Bass, or La Bassee, a town of France, in 

 the department of the north, and chief place of a canton in 

 the dillrift of Lille ; ceded by the Spaniards to France by 

 the treaty of Aix-la-C!iaptllc, in if>0?< ; formerly a place of 

 confiderable, ftreugth, but difmantled by Louis XIV. It 

 is fitualed on the Dole, 1 Itaofues eail of Bethiine, and 

 3 1 fouth-well: of I.itle. N. Int. 50° 53'. E. long. 3° o'. 



Basse, in Ichthyology, the Englifh name of a hih found on 

 feme of the Britifh coafts, and named /frctj labrax. Linn. 

 Syll. 482. ed. 12. 



BAssE-tTwfr, in Biii/Jln^, a court feparated from the prin- 

 cipal one, and deftined for the ilabics, coach-honfes, and 

 livery-fervants. 



BAssE-Cour of a co'jntiy-feat, is the yard or place where 

 the cattle, fowls, &c. arc kept. 



That where llrange creatures of divers forts are kept for 

 curiofity, is called by the French menagerie. The Romans 

 gave the name of vivariinn to that place, where beafts were 

 kept for the public fhews. 



Basse, in Middle Age Writers, denotes a collar for cart- 

 horfes, made of flags. Hence alfo the round matted 

 cufhions of flags, ufed for kneeling in churches, are called 

 baffc ; in Kent, a trujli. 



Basse de Flute traverfcre, Fr. in Mufic, z fide-flute, a 

 ■fifth below the ufual compafs of the German flute, now out of 

 tife in France ; and we never remember its ufe in Eng- 

 land. 



Basse-F/i//,?. When, at the beginning of the laft century, 

 the flute-a-bec, or common flute, was in general ufe and 

 favour, there were flutes of every fize and pitch. F natural 

 being the heft in tune, and the eaficft key on the common flute, 

 all fongs and other favourite airs were tranfpofed for the 

 flute into that key, or into C natural, at the bottom of the 

 plate, when printed. The bafc flute was an oftave below 

 this F, and the oftave flute an oftave higher. See 

 Flute. 



Basse Toniq-je, the bafe of the key-note, or Tartini's third 

 found, produced by the concurrence of two treble notes per- 

 feftly in tune, and ileadily fuftained with two voices, violins, 

 flutes, hautbois, or by two ftriiigs in double Hops on one 

 •violin, or two keys on the organ. See Terza Suona. 



BASSEEN, or Ba^aim, in Geography, a fortified city, 

 fituate on the point of the continent on the weflern coaft of 

 the peninfula of India, oppofitcto the north end of Salfetta. 

 It lies in N lat. 19° 19', and under the fame merid an as 

 Bombay. This place fell into the hands of the Englifh, 

 after a finart fiege in 1 780, but was reft ored to the Mahrattas, 



B A S 



together with all the other conquefts made on that fide o 

 India, at the peace of 1783 ; Salfetta and the fmall illands 

 excepted. 



EASSENTO, a river of Italy, in the kingdom of 

 Naples, v.hlch runs into the Grati, near Colenza. 



BASSERSTORF, a town of SwilTerland, in the canton 

 of Zurich, 4 miles N.E. of Zurich. 



BASSET, or Basetie, a game with cards, faid to have 

 been invented by a noble Veiict'an ; for winch he was ha- 

 niflied. It was firft ir.trod':ccd into France, by fignior Juf- 

 tiniani, ambaflador of Venice in 1674. Severe lavs wtre 

 made agjinll; it by Louis XIV, to elude which they dil- 

 guiftd ballet undii- the name of pour Isf coniie, that is, for 

 and againlt ; which occalicned new arrets and prohlbi- 

 ticsns of parliament. The parties conceriitd in it are, a 

 dealer or banker, his alfillant, viho fupervifes the lofi;ig 

 cards, and the punter, or any one who plays againlt the 

 banker. 



Befides thcfe, there are other terms ufed iti this game ; 

 as, \.'Y\\i fajje, a\ face, which is the firlt card tunicd up 

 by the laillenr bclongirrg to the pack ; by which he j^ains 

 h.alf the value of the money laid down on every card of tl.at 

 fort by the punters. 2. 'i'hc couch, or firll money which 

 every pur.ter puts on each card ; each perfon that plays 

 having a book of thirteen fevcral cards before Mm, on which 

 he may lay hi.i money, more or lefs, at dilcrclion. 3. The 

 paroli, which is, when a p'lnter having won the fii ll Hake, 

 and having a mind to p'.:rlue his good fortune, crooks ii\e 

 corner of his card, and lets his pnze lie, aiming at f.fipt ct le va. 



5. The m(_;^", when having won the firil Itake, the puuter is 

 willing to venture more money on the fame card. 5. The 

 pay, when the punter having won the firit ilake, be it a [hil- 

 ling, half crown, guinea, or whatever he laid down on his 

 card, and not caring to hazard the paroli, leaves off, or^«« 

 the pay ; in which cafe, if the card turn up wrong, he lolts 

 nothing, having won the couch before ; whereas, if it turn 

 right, he by this adventure wins double the money ftaked. 



6. The alpi^iv, much the fame with paroli, and ultd when a 

 couch is won by turning up, or crooking the corner of the 

 winning card. 7. Sept et le -oa, the firll great chance or 

 pr:ze, when the punter having won the couch, makes a pa- 

 roli, and goes on to a lecond chance ; fo that if his winning 

 card turns up again, it comes to/ept et le i-a. which is feven 

 times as much as he laid down on his card. 8. i^ilnze et le 

 va, is the next higher prize, when the punter, having won 

 the former, is refolved to puOi his fortune, and lay his money 

 a fecond time on the fame card, by crooking another corner ; 

 in which cafe, if it come up, he wins fifteen times the money 

 he laid down. 9. Trent et le va, is the ne.Kt higher prize, 

 when the punter crooking the fourth corner of his winning 

 card, if it turn up, wins thirty-three times the money he llrlt 

 flaked. 10. Soixant et le va, is the highell prize, and entitles 

 the winner to fixty-feven times his firft money ; which, if 

 it were confiderable, Hands a chance to break the hank : but 

 the bank ftands many chances firll of breaking the punter. 

 This cannot be won, but by the taillcur's dealing the cards 

 over again. 



The rules of the game of baffet are as follow : The 

 banker holds a pack of fifty-two cards, and having fhufrled 

 them, he turrit the whole pack at once, fo as to dilcovcr the 

 lafl card ; after which he lays down all the cards by couples. 

 The punter has his book of thirteen cards in his hand, from 

 the king to the ace ; out of thefe he takes one card or more 

 at pleafure, upon which he lays a ftake. The punter may, 

 at his choice, either lay down his ftake before the pack is 

 turned, or immediately after it is turned, orafter any number 

 of couples are down. Suppofing the puuter to lay down his 



ftake 



