In my early youth I had obtained a slight acquaintance with the Euscarra, as it exists in books.  This acquaintance I considerably increased during my stay in Spain; and by occasionally mingling with Basques, was enabled to understand the spoken language to a certain extent, and even to speak it, but always with considerable hesitation; for to speak Basque, even tolerably, it is necessary to have lived in the country from a very early period.  So great are the difficulties attending it, and so strange are its peculiarities, that it is very rare to find a foreigner possessed of any considerable skill in the oral language, and the Spaniards consider the obstacles so formidable that they have a proverb to the effect that Satan once lived seven years in Biscay, and then departed, finding himself unable either to understand or to make himself understood.

There are few inducements to the study of this language.  In the first place, the acquisition of it is by no means necessary even to those who reside in the countries where it is spoken; the Spanish being generally understood throughout the Basque provinces pertaining to Spain, and the French in those pertaining to France.

In the second place, neither dialect is in possession of any peculiar literature capable of repaying the toil of the student.  There are various books extant both in French and Spanish Basque, but these consist entirely of Popish devotion, and are for the most part translations.

It will, perhaps, here be asked whether the Basques do not possess popular poetry, like most other nations, however small and inconsiderable.  They have certainly no lack of songs, ballads, and stanzas, but of a character by no means entitled to the appellation of poetry.  I have noted down from recitation a considerable portion of what they call their poetry, but the only tolerable specimen of verse which I ever discovered amongst them was the following stanza, which, after all, is not entitled to very high praise:-

“Ichasoa urac aundi,
Estu ondoric agueri —
Pasaco ninsaqueni andic
Maitea icustea gatic.”

i.e.  “The waters of the sea are vast, and their bottom cannot be seen:  but over them I will pass, that I may behold my love.”

The Basques are a singing rather than a poetical people.  Notwithstanding the facility with which their tongue lends itself to the composition of verse, they have never produced among them a poet with the slightest pretensions to reputation; but their voices are singularly sweet, and they are known to excel in musical composition.  It is the opinion of a certain author, the Abbe D’Ilharce, who has written about them, that they derived the name Cantabri, by which they were known to the Romans, from Khantor-ber, signifying sweet singers.  They possess much music of their own, some of which is said to be exceedingly ancient.  Of this music specimens were published at Donostian (San Sebastian)