300 BASHAW we cannot help feeling the strongest convic- tion that we have before us the cities of the Rephaim of which we read in the hook of Deu- teronomy." Porter visited and passed by more than 30 cities and towns, and saw many others dotted over the plain. In his description of one of the houses of the aboriginal inhabitants he says : " The house seems to have undergone little change from the time that its old master left it, and yet the thick nitrous crust on the floor showed that it had not been inhabited for ages. The walls were perfect, built of large blocks of hewn basalt, without cement of any kind. The roof was formed of large slabs of the same black basalt, lying as regularly and joined as closely as if the workmen had just completed them. They measured 12 ft. in length, 18 inches in breadth, and 6 inches in thickness. The end rests on a plain stone cor- nice projecting about a foot from each side wall. The outer door was a slab of stone 4 ft. high, 4 wide, and 8 inches thick. It hung upon pivots formed of projecting parts of the slab working in sockets in the lintel and thresh- hold; and though so massive, it could be opened and shut with ease. At one end of the room was a small window with a stone shut- ter. An inner door, also of stone, but of finer workmanship, and not quite so heavy as the other, admitted to a chamber of the same size and appearance. From it a much larger door communicated with a third chamber, to which there was a descent by a flight of stone steps. This was a spacious hall, equal in width to the two rooms, and about 25 ft. long by 20 high. A semicircular arch was thrown across it, sup- porting the stone roof; and a gate so large that camels could pass in and out opened on the street. The gate was of stone and in its place." Some of these cities were supplied with water from distant springs by means of aqueducts. Desolation reigns everywhere; the cities are deserted, and the limited number of Druses and refugees who have settled there raise no more than is indispensable for sustenance, out of fcar of arousing the rapacity of an arbi- trary government and attracting the Bedouin robbers. (See BOZRAH.) The principal author- ities on Bashan are J. L. Porter ("Damas- cus," "The Giant Cities of Bashan," &c.) and Wetzstein (lieiaebericht uber Hauran mid die Trachonen, Berlin, 1860). BASUAW. See PASHA. BASHKIRS, or Bashknrts, uncivilized tribes of Russia, scattered from the Caspian to the boun- dary of Siberia, chiefly W. of the Ural moun- tains, and inhabiting large tracts of land (to- gether about 50,000 sq. m.) in the governments of Perm, Ufa, Orenburg, Samara, and adjoin- ing parts ; total number about 500,000. They are of remote Finnish origin, but considerably mixed with Tartars, and have their local or- ganizations of cantons, clanships, yurts, and villages, though they have been under Russian authority since their final subjugation about the middle of the 18th century. They are under BASIL the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Mohamme- dan Tartar mufti of Ufa, and are nominally Sunnite Mohammedans, but addicted to pa- ganism. They have many of the Tartar and Kirghiz characteristics, but although semi-sav- ages, they are docile and inoffensive. About 50,000 of them are employed in the Russian cavalry service, and the whole race are relieved from paying taxes. They are excellent horse- men and eat horse flesh, and their horses, fa- mous for endurance, are highly valued. In the war of 1812 the Bashkirs, though inferior to the Cossacks, rendered good service. In the Crimean war they were chiefly employed in rough work connected with the transportation of provisions and material. Some of them re- side in permanent villages, cultivating the soil, and raising cattle and bees ; others are nomads, wandering from place to place with their flocka and herds, which are numerous, a rich man sometimes having 2,000 sheep and 500 head of cattle. About 400 schools have been es- tablished among them, which are attended by about 8,000 children. BASIL, a name applied to various odoriferous labiates, but especially to the genus ocymum. The species of this genus number about 40, and are chiefly indigenous to the East Indies, where some species are regarded with superstitious veneration from their supposed power as dis- infectants. Basil has been cultivated in many parts of Europe and America as a garden herb, useful in cooking for flavoring. In Mada- gascar the roots are eaten. A few species have conspicuous purplish flowers and variega- ted foliage, and find a place in cultivation among ornamental plants ; but these are excep- tions, and although the genus is closely allied to coJeus, well known for its rich foliage, the species are usually recommended by their odor
