Basques (ba˙sks), or Biscayans (in their own language, Euscaldunac), a remarkable race of people dwelling partly in the south-west corner of France (Basses-Pyrénées), but mostly in the north of Spain adjacent to the Pyrenees. They are probably descendants of the ancient Iberi, who occupied Spain before the Celts. They preserve their ancient language, former manners, and national dances, and make admirable soldiers, especially in guerrilla warfare. Their language is highly polysynthetic, and stands isolated from other tongues of Europe. There are eight principal dialects, which are not only distinguished by their pronunciation and grammatical structure, but differ even in their vocabularies. The Basques, who number about 600,000 (450,000 in Spain, and 150,000 in France), occupy in Spain the provinces of Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and Alăva; in France parts of the departments of the Upper and Lower Pyrenees, Ariége, and Upper Garonne. The Basques are very religious and conservative in their religious practices. Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier de Navarre were Basques.—Bibliography: Julien Vinson, Les Basques et le pays Basque; Le Folk-lore du pays Basque; Michel, Le pays Basque, sa population, sa langue, ses mœurs, sa littérature, et sa musique; Van Eys, Outlines of a Basque Grammar.
Basra, Bassora, or Basrah, a city in Lower Mesopotamia, on the west bank of the Shat-el-Arab (the united stream of the Tigris and Euphrates), about 50 miles from its mouth, and nearly 300 miles south-east of Bagdad. It is surrounded by a wall about 10 miles in circuit, from 20 to 25 feet thick; but much of the area enclosed is occupied by gardens, &c. The houses are generally mean. A considerable transit trade is carried on here between the Turkish and Persian dominions and India, and since
communication by steamer has been established with Bagdad and Bombay the prosperity of the town has greatly increased. The chief exports are: dates, camels and horses, wool and wheat; imports: coffee, indigo, rice, tissues, &c. The inhabitants are estimated at 80,000; but in the eighteenth century they were said to number 150,000. The substitution of date and wheat cultivation for that of rice has rendered the place much more healthy. The ruins of the ancient and more famous Bassora—founded by Caliph Omar in 636, at one time a centre of Arabic literature and learning and regarded as 'the Athens of the East'—lie about 9 miles south-west of the modern town. The town was occupied by the British on 22nd Nov., 1914. The first through-train from Basra to Bagdad was run in Jan., 1920.
Bas-relief (bä´rē-lēf or bas´rē-lēf) or Basso-Rilievo, low-relief, a mode of sculpturing figures on a flat surface, the figures having a very slight relief or projection from the surface. It is distinguished from haut-relief (alto-rilievo), or high-relief, in which the figures stand sometimes almost entirely free from the ground. Bas-relief work has been described as 'sculptured painting', from the capability of disposing of groups of figures and exhibiting minor adjuncts, as in a painting. The finest specimen of bas-relief is the frieze around the cella of the Parthenon; large portions of it are to be seen in the British Museum.
Bass (bās; from the It. basso, deep, low), in music, the lowest part in the harmony of a musical composition, whether vocal or instrumental. According to some it is the fundamental or most important part, while others regard the melody or highest part in that light. Next to the melody, the bass part is the most striking, the freest and boldest in its movements, and richest in effect.—Figured bass, a bass part having the accompanying chords suggested by certain figures written above or below the notes—the most successful system of shorthand scoring at present in use among organists and pianists.—Fundamental bass, the lowest note or root of a chord; a bass consisting of a succession of fundamental notes.—Thorough bass, the mode or art of expressing chords by means of figures placed over or under a given bass. Figures written over each other indicate that the notes they represent are to be sounded simultaneously, those standing close after each other that they are to be sounded successively. The common chord in its fundamental form is generally left unfigured, and accidentals are indicated by using sharps, naturals, or flats along with the figures.
Bass (ba˙s), the name of a number of fishes of several genera, but originally belonging to a genus of sea-fishes (Labrax) of the perch family, distinguished from the true perches by having the tongue covered by small teeth and the preoperculum smooth. L. lupus, the only British species, called also sea-dace, and from its voracity sea-wolf, resembles somewhat the salmon in shape, and is much esteemed for the table, weighing about 15 lb. L. lineātus (Roccus lineātus), or striped bass, an American species, weighing from 25 to 30 lb., is much used for food, and is also known as rock-fish. Both species occasionally ascend rivers, and attempts have been made to cultivate British bass in freshwater ponds with success. Two species of black bass (Microptĕrus salmoides and M. dolomieu), American freshwater fishes, are excellent as food and give fine sport to the angler. The former is often called the large-mouthed black bass, from the size of its mouth. Both make nests and take great care of their eggs and young. The Centropristis nigricans, an American sea-fish of the perch family, and weighing 2 to 3 lb., is known as the sea-bass.
Bass (ba˙s), The, a remarkable insular trap-rock, at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, 3 miles from North Berwick, of a circular form, about 1 mile in circumference, rising majestically out of the sea to a height of 313 feet. It pastures a few sheep, and is a great breeding-place of solan geese. During the persecution of the Covenanters its castle, long since demolished, was used as a State prison, in which several eminent Covenanters were confined. It was held from 1691 to 1694 with great courage and pertinacity by twenty Jacobites, who in the end capitulated on highly honourable terms.
Bass. See Basswood.
Bassa´no, a commercial city of North Italy, province of Vicenza, on the Brenta, over which is a covered wooden bridge. It has lofty old walls and an old castle, and has various industries and an active trade. Near Bassano, 8th Sept.,