The Basques are famous for their good health, their fine forms, and their quick and graceful movements. They are industrious, hard workers. In the uplands the men are shepherds, in the lowlands farmers and herders, and on the coast fishermen and sailors. In the cities they work at the docks, loading and unloading vessels. Women work at this hard work just the same as men. Formerly the men engaged much in piracy. Basque women are much employed as nurses in Spanish families. They are a gay and happy people. Men play tennis, and women play skittles. Formerly they had many dances; one only of these is still kept. It is danced by men only, and though the steps are difficult, the dance is slow and grave. They delight in poetry and are able to compose rapidly. Verneau says: “One may say that in the land of the Basques every mountaineer is born a poet, but the poetry is made up on the spur of the moment. In the midst of the delights of a feast, some one at the table rises. All noise ceases. Complete silence is made about him. He sings; the stanzas follow one another without effort and without fatigue. His song is grave and measured; both the air and words are made at the moment.” The Basques, especially those living in the mountains, are proud, happy, and independent. They are easily angered and quick to fight. They love their old life and customs and dislike changes. They still use many old-fashioned things such as the clumsy ox-cart, with great, solid wooden wheels and heavy wooden axle. The old dress has disappeared in many places, but is picturesque. Men wear rather loose and baggy trousers, a close-fitting vest, a sort of blouse or jacket that reaches only to the waist, a wide, white collar turned down over the neck of the blouse, and a loose necktie with streaming ends. They wear a loose cap jauntily on the head. Men and women both delight in bright colors. Their food is simple, but they are always ready to share it with guests. Strangers are welcome to the best the family has, which is generally corn bread and cider, with bean soup and boiled cabbage. They celebrate Christmas by killing a pig, the flesh of which gives the family a feast for a long time. [Illustration: BASQUE CART (VERNEAU).] They are proud of their strange and difficult language, which _they_ call _Euskaric_. They call themselves _Euskaldanac_, which means “the speakers,” just as if other people using a different speech did not know how to speak at all. The Basques have produced some famous men. The great sailor Magellan, who circumnavigated the globe and discovered the Philippines in 1535, was a Basque. So were Ignacio de Loyola and Francis Xavier, who founded the _Society of Jesus_ or the _Jesuits_. Within recent years many of the Basques have left their old home and gone to seek fortunes in new lands. In all more than two hundred thousand have migrated, some to Havana and Mexico, but many more to Montevideo and Buenos Ayres.