BASS BOCK, an islet of greenstone and trap tuff, about a mile in circumference, on the coast of East Lothian near the entrance of the Firth of Forth, in 56° 4' N. lat., and 2° 37' W. long. Purchased from the Lauder family by Charles II. in 1671, it was afterwards converted into a place of confinement for state prisoners, and during the religious troubles of Scotland numbered among its captives Peden, Blackadder, and other Covenanting leaders. At the Revolution a party of King James’s adherents got possession of the island, and held out after the whole of Great Britain had submitted. Dismantled of its fortifications in 1701, the Bass Rock again became private property, and is now farmed for the sake of the sea-fowls that resort thither during the breeding season. See The Bass Rock, its Civic and Ecclesiastical History, <kc. (Edin. 1848), by M i Crie, Hugh Miller, Anderson, Fleming, and Balfour.

BASSANO, a city of Italy in the province of Vicenza. It stands on the river Brenta, over which there is a bridge 180 feet in length, built by Palladio. It is surrounded with walls, and has six gates, one of which, also by Palladio, is very much admired. In the centre of the town is the tower of Ezzelino, which now contains a library and armoury. The town contains thirty-five churches (some of them with fine paintings), several religious houses, and other public edifices. It has extensive silk-mills, besides manufactures of cloth, paper, straw hats, copper wares, &c.; and the printing establishment of S. Remondini is one of the most extensive in Italy. In 1796 Bonaparte defeated the Austrian general Wurmser in the neighbourhood, and various skirmishes took place between the two forces in 1801, 1805, 1813. Maret derived from the town his title of duke of Bassauo. Population, 13,254....

BASSE-TERRE, the capital of St Christopher’s, one of the British West India Islands. Population, 8500. See Saint Christopher’s.

BASSE-TERRE, formerly the capital of Guadeloupe, one of the French West India Islands. Population, 9480. See Guadeloupe.

BASSEIN, a British district on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal, under the jurisdiction of the Chief Commissioner of Burmah, lies between 15° and 18° N. lat., and 94° and 96° E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the districts of Kyouk Phoo and Myanoung, on the E. by the district of Rangoon, and on the S. and W. by the Bay of Bengal. A mountain range called the Anouk-phet Toung-myeng stretches through the district from north to south along the coast. The principal river of the district is the Ira wadi, which debouches on the sea at its eastern extremity through a delta intersected with salt water creeks, among which the Pymalaw, Deay Pyoo, Thekadoung, and Nga Woon or Bassein River rank as important arms of the sea. Shagay-gyee and Engyay-gyee are the only two lakes in the district. The delta of the Irawadi forms, wherever cultivable, a vast sheet of rice, with cotton, sesamum, and tobacco as subsidiary crops. Bassein district has an area of 8954 square miles, of which only 351 are cultivated. In 1871-72 the population amounted to 316,883, residing in 65,722 houses, and inhabiting 1554 villages, of whom 213,816, or 67 per cent, were Buddhists, 78,684 aborigines, 20,810 Christians, 2119 Mahometans, 723 Hindus, and 12 Pârsis. Density of population, 34 - 03 per square mile. The population consisted of 31,369 agriculturists, and 285,464 non-agriculturists. Total revenue in 1870- 71, £118,672, of which £36,676, or 30 per cent., was derived from land. Principal towns and villages in Bassein—(1), Bassein, population 19,577; (2), Lay-myethna, 5325; (3), Pantanaw, 5876; (4), Yaygyee, 4893; (5), Nga-thainkhyoung, 3178; (6), Kang-yeedaing, 1500, (7), Shweloung, 1317; (8), Myoung-mya, 1477; (9), Nga-poo-tau, 981; and (10), Kyoon-pyaw, 1655....

BASSELIN, Olivier, an old French poet or writer of verses, was born in the Val-de-Vire in Normandy about the middle of the 14th century, and died about 1418 or 1419. He was by occupation a fuller and had a mill on the small river Vire. His songs were sprightly and joyous, and became famous. The modern Vaudevilles take their origin and name from them, and were originally called Vaux-de-Vire, vaux being the plural of vat; though, according to Ménage, the word is derived from a small town Vaux near the Vire. Basselin’s poems were collected and published in the 16th. century by Jean le Houx, and have since been re-edited by Μ. Asselin in 1811, and by Μ. Travers in 1833. The latest edition, that by P. L. Jacob, 1858, contains some other poems in addition to those of Basselin.

BASSI, Laura Maria Caterina, an Italian lady, eminently distinguished for her learning, was born at Bologna in 1711. On account of her extraordinary attainments she received a doctor’s degree, and was appointed professor in the philosophical college, where she delivered public lectures on experimental philosophy till the time of her death. She was elected member of many literary societies, and carried on an extensive correspondence with the most eminent European men of letters. She was well acquainted with classical literature, as well as with that of France and Italy. In 1738 she married Giuseppe Verrati, a physician, and left several children. She died in 1778.