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CHAPTER V.

THE COUNTRIES OF WESTERN EUROPE.

(196.) THE natural features of the European mainland have been described in Chapter II. A brief account of the inhabitants, their industrial pursuits, the natural divisions, and principal towns, of each of the countries of this quarter of the globe, is given in the present and succeeding chapters.

SECTION 1.-FRANCE.

and on the east by

(197.) Extent and Boundaries.-France is bounded on the north by Germany, Belgium, and the English Channel,on the west by the Bay of Biscay,· on the south by the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean Sea, the Alps, the chain of Mount Jura, and the Rhine. The Pyrenees divide France from Spain, the Alps from Italy, Mount Jura from Switzerland, and the Rhine from Germany.

The total area of France (including, with the island of Corsica, the recently-acquired territories of Savoy and Nice) is 211,000 square miles, or above four times the size of England; its length of coast is about 1500 miles, of which about 380 miles are on the Mediterranean, the other and larger portion on the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel.

(198.) Natural features. France is for the most part a level country. The Alps and the Pyrenees, which impart variety to the south-eastern and southern departments, are border chains, and belong rather to the Italian and Spanish systems of mountains than to the country now under notice. Within the proper limits of France are the ranges of the Cevennes and the Vosges, with the volcanic group of Auvergne, described in a previous page (Art. 26). These, however, are confined to the eastern and central portions of the country; the northern and western portions consist of undulating or nearly level plains, and the ground which separates the different river-basins is only of trifling elevation.

A chain of rocky heights divides the tributaries of the Loire from the streams that flow into the English Channel, and extends through the

peninsula of Brittany, in the north-west of France. But their altitude is inconsiderable, in few cases reaching more than a thousand feet above the sea level, and generally falling short of that measure.

The sandy tract of the Landes (referred to in Art 31.), in the southwestern portion of the country, extends along the shores of the Bay of Biscay, from the mouth of the Garonne to the foot of the Pyrenees, and forms a region of peculiar aspect. Except along the immediate shores of the ocean, where the loose sand is raised in a chain of hillocks, or downs, it consists of alternate plains of white sand, and black forests of pine. At its greatest breadth, this region stretches as far as sixty miles inland, but its limits are more contracted towards the neighbourhood of the Garonne. With the exception of a few localities where patches of ill-cultivated land occur, the whole region of the Landes is a perfect wilderness, tenanted only by the shepherd, who finds there a scanty and stunted pasturage for his flocks.

(199.) Rivers. The principal rivers of France are the Seine, Loire, Garonne, and Rhone. The Seine flows into the English Channel; the Loire and Garonne into the Bay of Biscay; the Rhone into the Mediterranean Sea (Arts. 37, 40). The Rhine flows along part of the eastern border of France; the upper portions of the Moselle and the Meuse are within that country.

Of smaller French rivers, the most important are the Somme, the Charente, and the Adour. The Somme flows into the English Channel, to the north of the Seine valley. The Charente and the Adour both flow into the Bay of Biscay the Charente is between the valleys of the Loire and Garonne; the Adour is to the south-west of the last-named river, and immediately northward of the Pyrenees.

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The Seine is joined, above Paris, by the streams of the Marne, the Yonne, and the Aube; and, below the capital, by the Oise, with its tributary stream, the Aisne. From Havre, where it enters the channel, the Seine is navigable up to Troyes, a distance of 340 miles.

The Loire is joined in the upper part of its course by the Allier, and receives lower down the streams of the Cher, Indre, Vienne, and Sevre, all upon its left bank; on the opposite bank it is joined by the river Sarthe, which brings with it the waters of the Loir. The Loire is navigable to the town of Roanne, 450 miles above its mouth.

The Garonne receives the streams of the Arriége, the Tarn, the Lot, and the Dordogne, upon its right bank. On the left bank the chief tributary is the Gers. Below the junction of the Dordogne, the Garonne forms a broad estuary, and is called the Gironde. The navigation of the Garonne commences at Cazères (above Toulouse), 270 miles above its mouth.

The Rhone issues from the lake of Geneva. Its course, at first westerly, becomes southward at Lyons, where it is joined on the right bank by the river Saône, its most considerable tributary. Lower down, it receives on the right bank the stream of the Ardèche, and on the left

the Isère, the Drôme, and the Durance. The Saône is increased by the waters of the Doubs, which comes from the western slopes of the Jura.

France has no lakes of any magnitude, but extensive lagoons and swamps occur, both on its southern and south-western coasts. There are many small lakes in the high valleys of the Pyrenees.

(200.) Climate and natural productions. In the north and north-west of France,- that is, in the country lying to the north of a line drawn diagonally from the mouth of the Loire to the banks of the Rhine, in the parallel of 49°,-the climate and vegetable productions differ little from those of England. The principal objects of culture are wheat, barley, oats, rye, and such fruits as the apple, pear, and cherry; also hemp, flax, and rape-seed. The vine is here only grown to a limited extent, and confined to the eastern part of the region described. Rain is frequent, and the pastures are rich and extensive.

In a central belt of country, comprised between the line just mentioned and a similar diagonal drawn from the mouth of the Garonne to the frontier of Switzerland, the climate is sensibly warmer, and the winter of shorter duration. Wheat, oats, rye, and barley, are still raised; maize begins to appear, and the vine here forms a general crop. The weather is generally more settled, and the atmosphere less humid than in the north, though violent storms of rain and hail sometimes do much mischief to the corn.

In the southern part of France, the heat is much greater: wheat is comparatively scarce; barley, rye, and oats, are only grown on the higher grounds. Maize is everywhere general, and the vine is extensively cultivated. The common fruits here are the olive, the mulberry, and (on the shores of the Mediterranean) the orange, the lemon, and the pistachio

nut.

The difference of climate between the north and the south of France is, on the whole, greater than that experienced at the opposite extremities of Britain. In the middle division the harvest is eight or ten days, and in the south about three weeks, earlier than in the north.

France still contains extensive forests, chiefly in its inland districts, in the centre of the country, and in the eastern departments, bordering on Germany and Switzerland. The total surface covered with wood is estimated to be about 17,000,000 acres, nearly one-eighth part of the entire area of the country. The most common forest-trees are the oak, birch, ash, elm, beech, and (in the mountainous districts) the varieties of the pine and fir tribe. The cork-tree is cultivated in a small district in the south, adjacent to the banks of the Garonne (department of Lot-etGaronne).

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Of wild animals, both the black and the brown bear are found in the Pyrenees; the lynx is seen in the high Alps, but is now rare; the chamois and wild goat are confined to the mountainous districts of the south and east. Wolves are numerous in all the large forests, and are frequently destructive to the flocks: in many of the provinces the pole-cat, the fox, and the weasel, prey upon the poultry-yards.

The productions of the mineral kingdom have been referred to in Art. 57. The most important of the coal-fields are those within the basin of the upper Loire: that in the neighbourhood of the town of St. Etienne (to the s. w. of Lyons) is the largest, and comprises about fifty thousand acres. Other valuable localities of coal occur in Alsace, Burgundy, and Auvergne; and also in various parts of Languedoc, Provence, the Limousin, and Normandy. The total area of the coal-fields is probably not less than two thousand square miles, and the annual produce is at least equal to four millions of tons.

France possesses a great number of mineral springs, chiefly situated along the chains of the Pyrenees and Vosges, and among the mountains of Auvergne. Their water is mostly medicinal, and some of them are much resorted to by visitors. At Aix (in the department of Bouches du Rhone) are thermal springs, of great celebrity; some of those among the mountains of Auvergne are also thermal.

(201.) Inhabitants. France contained, in 1856, a population of 36,000,000, an average of 176 to the square mile. The northern half of the country is generally more populous than the southern, and contains (especially in the departments adjacent to Belgium and the shores of the English Channel) a greater number of large towns.

The most densely populated portion of France, the department of the Seine (in which Paris is situated), has upwards of 6000 inhabitants to the square mile, the department du Nord (the most northern), 468, — the department of the Rhone (which contains Lyons), 447,- and that of Seine Inférieure (at the mouth of the Seine), 309. The least populous, that of Basses Alpes, at the south-east extremity of the country, has only 60 inhabitants to the square mile.

The people of France are a mixed race, in which the Celtic predominates. The language spoken by nine-tenths of the inhabitants belongs to the Greco-Latin stock (Art. 81.), divided, however, into two different dialects, the French (properly so called), to the north of the river Loire, and the Romance or Provençal, to the south of that river; or, as they were formerly distinguished, the Langue d'Oui, in the north, and the Langue d'Oc, in the south.

In the departments bordering on the Rhine, the people are chiefly of the Germanic race; in the extreme north, the inhabitants are mostly of Flemish extraction. The people of Bretagne are of the pure Celtic stock, and in the south-west, bordering on the Pyrenees, are a people called the Basques, who speak a peculiar dialect.

(202.) Industrial pursuits: Agriculture. -About threefifths of the population of France are engaged directly in

agricultural occupations, and a larger proportion of the land is under cultivation than in any other European country excepting England and Belgium. Of the entire surface of France about one-half is stated to consist of arable land, one-eleventh part is in pasture, and one twenty-fifth part is occupied by vineyards.

Wheat is the principal object of cultivation in France, and next to it the vine; after which are rye, oats, barley, maize, buckwheat, peas, beans, potatoes, flax, hemp, madder, and tobacco.

Wheat is grown chiefly in the departments of the north and centre, though that of the best quality is raised in the south and south-east departments. Rye is grown in almost every part of the country, but principally in the centre and south. Maize prevails in the south and southwest, and barley and oats are raised chiefly in the north; buckwheat on the inferior lands of the centre and south.

The quantity of corn annually raised in France is usually sufficient to supply the wants of the population, and in the northern part of the country leaves a surplus for exportation. But in the south, owing to the larger space allotted to the growth of the vine and olive, some import of grain is generally required.

Hemp and flax are chiefly confined to the northern departments, as is also the growth of hops. The cultivation of tobacco is restricted to eight departments, situated in opposite portions of the country. The growth of the beet-root (for the manufacture of sugar) has been extensively introduced of late years, chiefly in the neighbourhood of the capital, and in the departments of the north. Madder is grown to a trifling extent in the departments bordering on the Rhine, and saffron in a small district of the south.

The cultivation of the vine forms, throughout almost the whole country, an important and distinctive feature in French agriculture. The departments in which the greatest quantity of land is occupied by vineyards are those adjacent to the course of the Garonne, and extending thence across the country in a south-east direction to the shores of the Mediterranean, embracing the Gironde, Charente Inférieure, Herault, Charente, Dordogne, Gers, Gard, Lot-et-Garonne, and Var. But the eastern departments of Marne, Aube, &c. (which formed the ancient province of Champagne), and those of Côte d'Or, Saône-et-Loire, &c. (formerly comprised in Burgundy), though yielding a smaller quantity of fruit, are distinguished for a wine of generally higher quality. The department of Gironde furnishes the wine called claret. Cognac, in the department of Charente, is the principal seat of the manufacture of brandy, which is carried on to an immense extent.

Owing to differences of soil and climate, the quality of the grape naturally varies considerably in different parts of France. The months of September and October are the usual season of vintage.

The domestic animals are not numerous in France (compared with the size of the country), but sheep are now extensively reared, and the supply of wool is considerable. In the central and southern departments, oxen are largely used in the performance of agricultural labour.

The supply of oxen for consumption as food is chiefly from the depart