BASQUES

or BiscAYANa; in their own language, by Evacaldumic; a remarkable race of people dwelling in. the south-west comer of France, and in the norUi of Spain, on both sides of the Pyrenees. They are probably descendents of the ancient Iberi, who occupied Spain before the Celts. The French Basques (Gascons) as settled, at the end of the sixth century, on the north side of the Pyrenees, between those mountains and the Garonne. After long stru^les they submitted and to the kings of the Franks. Under the Car loving i an race they elected their own dukes, but, after the extinction of that family, they fell under the dominion of A quit an i a in the eleventh century, and w^ith it under rethat of France in 1453. The Basques preserve their ancient language, former ncianners, and their national dances, and make admirable soldiers, especially in guerilla warfare, to which their native temperament inclines, and their frequent expeditions in carrying on the smuggling, to which they are much addicted, inure them. They are very good seamen, and were the first Europe ans who engaged in the whale-fishery, which they have, however, long since relinqvdshed. They occupy, in Spain, the provinces of Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and Alava; in FraJice, the departments of the Upper and Lower Pyrenees, Ari^ge, and Upper Garonne. See Biscay.