oe eee 
a 
-Etangs. 
FRANCE 
rings have 
vineyards ; chateaux om comman eminen- 
ces ; cottages embosomed in trees, from the 
view ; the busy traffic of the river, and vil- 
lages on 
it 
a 
F 
Fi 
: 
? 
i 
iE 
ha 
Fie F 
i 
i 
streams of the Rhone, 
we shal} notice ‘ the Isere, and the Durance. The 
tions, and can only be crossed near Valence 
boat of a peculiar construction. The Durance also ri< 
ses in the mountain Genevre, on the borders of Savoy, 
to all proved abortive. 
France is almost entirely destitute of lakes. There 
are indeed a few in Provence and Upper Languedoc, 
but they are of little depth, and over a consi- 
derable surface of ground, and by no means either plea~ 
ing or picturesque in their . Some of them 
in Upper Languedoc have i and ne 
pe ur Pt to the purposes of agriculture, the 
coast of these two inces, there are, however, a great 
number of inlets of the sea, which the French call etangs. 
They have a communication with the sea a 
narrow channel, by which they are supplied with thei 
waters, which are consequently salt. From the size of 
some of them, it might be supposed, that they were'ca~ 
pared Another pipe 
679 
pable of being converted into harbours; but though the Statistics. 
d; they are of ne “"Y—" 
waters cover a great extent of 
depth; and incapable of being navigated, except by fish« 
ing boats. » The principal etang on the coast of Lan« 
guedoc, is the. de Thou; on the coast of Pro« 
vence, the Etang de: Berre. »:The latter is about twen< 
ty miles long and’sixteen broad, and communicates 
with the Mediterraneam Sea by a narrow channel, in 
which are three islands, 
The Artesian wells 
the mode: appears to have been originally followed; _ 
they are now by: no means*uncommon in the north of 
France. The mode consists in boring, and then dri« 
ving a wooden pipe into the cavity. ' Through this 
pipe the borer is: made'to: act, and increase the depth: 
is then driven in, so’as’to sink the first 
still lower. By a continuation of this ss, the 
length of pipe is carried to a very great depthif necessa« 
eh and water is conducted from: the lower springs to 
ie surface, ; 
ing the sea coast of France, we must content Sea coast. 
ourselves with a few arid unconnected noti- 
ces. In thirty leagues of coast, Languedoc has not one 
harbour, whereas Provence abounds in them. 
his seems to arise from the'sand, and other accretions, 
which = aw i down, being ae to the 
westward on side of Languedoc; and this country 
being every where flat towards the sea, these accumu< 
lations elevate the’shore, and render the coast'extreme- 
ly shelving, and full of shoals. The coast of Proverice; 
on the contrary, is for the most part oe are rocky, 
and besides, inclines ually to the southward, from: 
the mouths of the to near Toulon. The flat 
cow on the coast’ of the rtments of La 
Chalchtwaad Tus Vendée, appears evidently to have 
been once by the sea. This is cularly 
iking in one where a vast mi plain is 
bounded to the east*by a , cliffs, which 
exactly like cliffs on the sea j and to the west by 
the sea itself, with the islands of Rhe, renee wy oh 
constantly in sight. In the department of Finisterre, 
chai adah 1S "ron dsigeaben especially during the 
prevalence of north north-west winds. Cultivated fields, 
and whole villages with their inhabitants, have been 
overwhelmed by it in one night: The states of Brit- 
tany maintained, at a considerable expence, a high 
dyke, planted with broom, and 600 toises in length, at 
the foot of which the sand accumulates ; but this dyke 
is frequently broken down. From the side of Lesne- 
ven in i , a dreadful sandhill threatens destruc- 
tion to the commune of St Pol. 
The principal canals in France, are that of Langue- Canals. 
doc, which unites the Mediterranean and the Atlantic ; 
that of Burgundy, which joins the Loire to the Saone ; 
those of Briare and Orleans,'which unite the Loire to 
the: Seine ; and that of Calais, which communicates 
with the canals of the Netherlands. ing to the 
article InLanp Navigation for a more particular de- 
scription of these canals, we’shall here confine ourselves 
toa cu notice of the most celebrated. Ubit 
I. It is supposed, that the Romans had a design to Canal of 
join the Mediterranean and the Atlantic nearly at the Languedoc. 
same where the canal of Languedoc is formed. It 
was several times thought of during the reigns of 
Charl e and Francis I. In the year 1598, under 
Henry IV. this plan was again examined, and found to 
be practicable. Cardinal Richeliew was determined to 
have it‘executedy but was prevented by more important 
may be noticed in this place: Artesian 
The name is derived from the:province of Artois; where wells. 
