Biscay Bayof

Biscay, Bay of (anc. Sinus Aquitanicus), the name by which English geographers know the indentation on the W. coast of Europe that extends from Finisterre in France to Cape Ortegal in Spain, and is called by the French Golfe de Gascogne. It has a breadth and length of about 400 miles, and its depth varies from 20 fathoms near Ushant to 200 fathoms off the rock-bound coast of Spain. The chief ports are Nantes, La Rochelle, Rochefort, Bordeaux, Bayonne, St. Sebastian, Bilbao and Santander, and the rivers Loire, Charente, Gironde, and Adour drain into it. As a vast mass of water is forced in this funnel-shaped recess by prevailing westerly winds aided by Rennel's current, the waves occasionally run high, and ships are swamped or driven on to a lee shore.