Rivers. 
Seine, 
Leire. 
678 FRANCE. 
Statistics. mity till it disappears in the Ocean and the Mediter- 
ranean. To the south and west they only 
dreadfal sterility, while on the north east the de- 
scent is more gradual, and affords frequent woods and 
pasture: near the summit of Mount is a consi- 
derable lake, more than 9000 feet above the level of 
the sea, which throws its waters into Spain. 
Numerous rivers spread like veins through the whole 
of France, diffusing beauty and fertility as they pass. 
Of those the greatest number take their rise in the 
central ridge, and discharge their waters'into the Bay 
of Biscay. 
1. The Seine’ rises in Burgundy, not far from Dijon; 
it afterwards runs through Champagne; and waters 
Troyes, where it formerly m to be navigable; but 
now it does not carry boats till it comes to Merz: at 
Montereau it is joined by the river Yonne ; afterwards 
it crosses the isle of France, where it waters Melun, . 
Corbeil, and Paris; before, however, it reaches the ca- 
pital, it is considerably augmented by the Marne, and 
six leagues beyond Parisit receives the Oise. The prin- 
ci + place by which it flows, after it leaves Paris, is 
Rouen : it empties itself, by a large mouth, into the 
sea at Havre de Grace. This river carries, near Paris, 
heavier vessels than any other river in Europe, in 
portion to the length of its course and the breadth of 
its channel. The whole length of its course is about 
250 miles. The valley of the Seine, above Rouen, is 
PP ow in point of breadth, beauty, and fertility, to most 
the river valleys in Europe. In some places it has 
worn its channel h about 50 strata of chalk. 
II. The Loire rises in Languedoc : its course is first 
to the south, then to the west, and then to the north: 
it afterwards turns to the north-west, near Semur, where 
it receives some small streams from Burgundy, which 
province it divides from the Bourbonnois: it next en- 
ters Nivernois, where it washes Nevers, and receives 
the Allier ; thence running along the province of Ber- 
ry, which it divides from Ditesiuicis; it waters the city 
of Orleans ; here it turns to the south-west, and passing 
Blois, Amboise and Tours, receives the Cher, the In- 
dre, and afterwards the Vienne. It next runs by Sau- 
mur, and shortly afterwards is augmented by the ‘wa- 
ters of the Sarthe, which comes from Angers: leaving 
Anjou, it enters capers washes Nantes, and widen- 
ing its channel, in which are several islands, it falls in- 
to the sea between Croisic and Bourgneuf. Its course 
is estimated at 430 miles ; and it is navigable to the dis- 
tance of 80 or 90 miles from its source, From Angers 
to Nantes it is generally considered as one of the finest 
rivers in the world; the breadth of the stream; the 
islands of woods ; the boldness, culture, and richness 
of its banks, all conspire, (in the opinion of Mr Young, ) 
to render that part of its course eminently beautiful ; 
but, during the rest of its course, its character changes, 
and it loses all its beauty. The benefits which it ren- 
ders to commerce and industry are incaleulable ; hence 
it is bordered by rich and populous cities, and its banks 
announce fertility and abundance ; ‘but the quantity of 
loose sand which it carries down, renders its course un- 
certain and deceptive, especially from Orleans to the 
sea. To prevent the dangers aria from shoals, which 
shift with the frequent variations of the current, water- 
men are constantly employed in placing little branches 
of willows on these shoals, and in preceding large bar- 
, which are commonly united to each other in num- 
more or less considerable ; a little boat always at- 
tends them, with a pilot to lay down the buoys. To 
confine this river to its bed, a lnge dots has been con- 
and from that period care has been taken to keep it in 
repair. ' sis 25 feet, and 
their breadth 40 ; the aniddle is pavelor i, and 
III. The Garonne rises in the valley of Adan, in Ca- Geronne. 
talonia, between Valentine and St dens; where its 
course changes from the north-west to the north-east, it 
receives the Ger ; it receives several other small Pro Fed 
before it comes to Toulouse, ‘at which place it ag: 
turns to the north-west ; it afterwards forms an island, 
and receives the Sarebel Grenada. On its junction 
with the Tarn, it ——— its course to the west. Se- 
veral other streams fall into it, but none of ‘any consi- 
derable note, before it arrives at Bourdeaux.” Below 
this city it forms several islands, and receives the Dor- 
dogne, which rises in the mountuins of Auvergne ; after 
their junction, both lose their names, and are called to- 
gether the Gironde. The Gironde enters the sea near 
the town of Cordovan, by two channels; thé whole 
course of this river is about 250 miles. The shoals in 
it, between its mouth and Bourdeaux, are innumerable, 
and of so dangerous a nature, that few ships that get 
on them are ever able to get off; the bottom being a soft 
mud, and sandy, they make a bed for themselves, and 
in a tide’s time are swallowed up. The Garonne 
gins to be navigable about?Toulouse ; from whence to 
Bourdeaux it carries the ppt ne . ‘The tide flows 
up nearly 30 leagues from the mouth of the river, and 
it is said that when it is flowing in, there two 
different levels on the surface ; that which is towards 
the sea being considerably higher than that which is 
towards the source of the river. : 
IV. The great river of the south of France is the Rhone. 
Rhone. It springs from the glacier of Furca, near the 
mountains of Grimsel in Switzerland. After issuin 
from the lake of Geneva, it takes a western course ti 
it reaches Lyons, where itis joined by the Saone, which 
forces the Rhone into its own direction. Below Lyons 
it is joined by several rivers, the principal of which are 
the Isere and the Durance. Pursuing its course to the 
south, according to the direction which it received from 
the fost with the Saone, it disembogues itself into 
the Mediterranean by two principal channels, the one on 
the west, the other on the east, which form a small 
island called Banduff. Only very small vessels can en- 
ter this river by the west channel; the other entrance 
is the deepest, and by this the tartans, and other ves- 
sels which go to Arles, enter the Rhone. In several 
laces this river seems to have-changed its course. It 
Jivides itself into two branches just above Avignon, 
which unite again ‘a little below it, forming a pi 
considerable island, | It appears from many old ised 
and charters, that the branch which at present runs 
without the walls of iat Soe once had its channel 
where is now the centre of the town; and, by the same 
evidence, it is proved, that several centuries there 
was no water at the foot of the heights on which the 
town of Villeneuve stands, where now runs the princi-_ 
pal branch of the Rhone ; and, by examining the coun- 
try on the right bank of this branch of the river, where 
there is a valley, it was found that'the soil of this val- 
ley is very similar to that which now forms the bed of 
the Rhone, and that it has the same level. It is also a 
well-known fuct, that the river had only been kept 
from making its way into its former channel by means 
of very strong dykes ; and on a ridge of rocks that bor« 
—— oe 
