Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 51.djvu/636

620 Spain where both languages are understood and spoken by the peasants. This zone varies considerably in width. By the city of PlamplonaPamplona [sic] there is a deep recess cut in the Basque. Castilian



being the official language, and PlamplonaPamplona [sic] the capital of the province, the people in its vicinity have been compelled to adopt this language. They have forgotten their native Basque tongue entirely. At Bilbao, also an official city, the Spanish is actively forcing its way in; although the Basque language has more persistently held its own along this side. All along the frontier in Spain the Basque is on the retreat, much of the movement having taken place since the sixteenth century. In France, on the other hand, the Basque tongue holds its own. The line of demarcation between the Basque and the Bearnais-French patois is clean and clear cut. There is no evidence of an invasion of territory by the