s and interpretation faulty). Other works of
interest on various subjects are:--Wentworth Webster, _Basque Legends_
(London, 1877 and 1879); Puyol y Camps, "La Epigraphia Numismatica
Iberica," in tomo xvi. of _Boletin de la Real Academia de la Historia_
(Madrid, 1890), (for geographical distribution of the alphabets); T. de
Aranzadi, _El Pueblo Euskalduna. Estudio de Antropologia_ (San Sebastian,
1889); and the same author's _Existe una raza Euskara? Sus caracteres
antropologicos_ (1905); _La Tradition au pays basque_ (Paris, 1899), (a
collection of papers by local authorities); Julien Vinson, _Les Basques et
le pays basque_ (Paris, 1882), a sufficient survey for the general reader;
the same author's _Le Folk-Lore du pays basque_ (Paris, 1883), treats of
the Pastorales and embraces the whole Folk-Lore; _Le Codex de Saint-Jacques
de Compostella_, lib. iv. (Paris, 1882), by R. P. F. Fita and J. Vinson,
gives the first Basque vocabulary; _Les Coutumes generales gardees et
observees au pais & baillage de Labourt_ (Bordeaux, 1700); G.
Olphe-Galliard, _Le Paysan basque a travers les ages_ (Paris, 1905); Pierre
Yturbide, _Le Pays de Labourd avant 1789_ (Bayonne, 1905), (for the time of
the English domination); Henry O'Shea, _La Tombe basque_ (Pau, 1889),
(valuable for the comparison of Basque and Celtic sepulchral ornament). See
also the bibliography to BASQUE PROVINCES.

(W. WE.; J. VN.)

BASRA (written also BUSRA, BASSORA and BUSSORA), the name of a vilayet of
Asiatic Turkey, and of its capital. The vilayet has an area of 16,470 sq.
m., formed in 1884 by detaching the southern districts of the Bagdad
vilayet. It includes the great marshy districts of the lower Euphrates and
Tigris, and of their joint stream, the Shatt el-Arab, and a sanjak on the
western shore of the Persian Gulf. A settled population is found only along
the river banks. Except the capital, Basra, there are no towns of
importance. Korna, at the junction of the two great rivers; Amara on the
Tigris; Shatra on the Shatt el-Hai canal, connecting the Tigris and
Euphrates; Nasrieh, at the junction of that canal with the Euphrates and
Suk esh-Sheiukh, on the lower reaches of the Euphrates, are the principal
settlements, with a population varying from 3000 to 10,000 or somewhat
less. Along the Shatt el-Arab and the lower reaches of the Tigris and
Euphrates there are vast plantations of date-palms, which produce the
finest dates known. Here and there are found exten