,864. The vessels of the Irrawaddy
Flotilla Company ply between Rangoon and Bassein, &c., by inland waters,
and a railway opened in 1903 runs northeastward through the centre of the
district, to Henzada and Letpadan.

BASSELIN, OLIVIER (_c._ 1400-_c._ 1450), French poet, was born in the
Val-de-Vire in Normandy about the end of the 14th century. He was by
occupation a fuller, and tradition still points out the site of his mill.
His drinking songs became famous under the name of Vaux-de-Vire, corrupted
in modern times into "vaudeville." From various traditions it may be
gathered that Basselin was killed in the English wars about the middle of
the century, possibly at the battle of Formigny (1450). At the beginning of
the 17th century a collection of songs was published by a Norman lawyer,
Jean Le Houx, purporting to be the work of Olivier Basselin. There seems to
be very little doubt that Le Houx was himself the author of the songs
attributed to Basselin, as well as of those he acknowledged as his own.

It has been suggested that Basselin's name may be safely connected with
some songs preserved in the _Bibliotheque Nationale_ at Paris, and
published at Caen in 1866 by M. Armand Gaste. The question is discussed in
M. V. Patard's _La Verite dans la question Olivier Basselin et Jean le Houx
a propos du Vau-de-Vire_ (1897). A. Gaste's edition (1875) of the
_Vaux-de-Vire_ was translated (1885) by J. P. Muirhead.

BASSES-ALPES, a department of south-eastern France, formed in 1790 out of
the northern portion of Provence. It is bounded N. by the department of the
Hautes Alpes, E. by Italy and the department of the Alpes Maritimes, S. by
that of the Var, and W. by those of Vaucluse and the Drome. Its area is
about 2698 sq. m., while its greatest length is 89-1/2 m. and its greatest
breadth 56 m. Pop. (1906) 113,126. The river Durance passes through the
western part of this department, receiving (left), as affluents, the Ubaye,
the Bleone and the Asse (the entire course of each of these rivers is
included within the department) as well as the Verdon, the upper course of
which is within the department, while the lower course forms its southern
limit. It is a poor and hilly district, the highest summits (the loftiest
is the Aiguille de Chambeyron, 11,155 ft.) rising round the head waters of
the Ubaye. The department is divided into five arrondissements (Digne,
Barcelonnette, Castellane, Forcalquier, and Sisteron), 30 cantons and 250