Biscay
BAY OF, that portion of the Atlantic Ocean which sweeps in along the N. shores of the Spanish Peninsula in an almost straight line from Cape Ortegal to St. Jean de Luz, at the W. foot of the Pyrenees, and thence curves N. along the W. shores of France to the island of Ushant. Its extreme width is about 400 miles, and its length much about the same. The depth of water varies from 20 to 200 fathoms, being greatest along the N. shores of bay receives numerous unimportant streams from the mountains of Spain, and, through the rivers Loire, Charente, Gironde, and Adour, the waters of half the surface of France. Its chief ports are Santander, Bilbao, and San Sebastian, in Spain; and Bayonne, Bordeaux, Rochefort, La Rochelle, and Nantes, in France.