tion
between 1880 and 1900. During this period many immigrant labourers settled
here; for the ironworks and dynamite factory of Baracaldo prospered
greatly, owing to the increased output of the Biscayan mines, the extension
of railways in the neighbourhood, and the growth of shipping at Bilbao. The
low flat country round Baracaldo is covered with maize, pod fruit and
vines.

BARACOA, a seaport city of N.E. Cuba, in Santiago province. Pop. (1907)
5633. The town lies under high hills on a small circular harbour accessible
to small craft. The country round about is extremely rugged. The hill
called the "Anvil of Baracoa" (about 3000 ft.) is remarkable for its
extremely regular formation. It completely dominates the city's background,
and is a well-known sailors' landmark. The town is the trading centre of a
large plantation region behind it and is the centre of the banana and
cocoanut export trade. There is a fort dating from the middle of the 18th
century. Baracoa is the oldest town in Cuba, having been settled by Diego
Velazquez in 1512. It held from its foundation the honours of a city. From
1512 to 1514 it was the capital of the island, and from 1518 to 1522 its
church was the cathedral of the island's first diocese. Both honours were
taken from it to be given to Santiago de Cuba; and for two centuries after
this Baracoa remained an obscure village, with little commerce. In the 16th
century it was repeatedly plundered by pirates until it came to terms with
them, gave them welcome harbourage, and based a less precarious existence
upon continuous illicit trade. Until the middle of the 18th century Baracoa
was almost without connexion with Havana and Santiago. In the wars of the
end of the century it was a place of deposit for French and Spanish
corsairs. At this time, too, about 100 fugitive immigrant families from
Santo Domingo greatly augmented its industrial importance. In 1807 an
unsuccessful attack was made upon the city by an English force. In 1826 the
port was opened to foreign commerce.

BARAHONA DE SOTO, LUIS (1535?-1595), Spanish poet, was born about 1535 at
Lucena (Cordova), was educated at Granada, and practised as a physician at
Cordova. His principal poem is the _Primera parte de la Angelica_ (1586), a
continuation of the _Orlando furioso_; the second part was long believed to
be lost, but fragments of it have been identified in the anonymous
_Dialogos de la monteria_, first printed in 1890; the _Dialogos_