680 
Statistics, affairs. Atlength Louis XIV. inted commissioners 
—Y~" in 1664, to examine more narrowly the icability of 
this undertaking ; and in their the director of 
the king’s revenue in edoc, M, Riequet, under- 
took the cxecution ; but it is said, according to some 
ore teenage acy ing to Andreossi, an able 
mathematician, work was begun in 1666; 
and completed in 1680. Narouse is the highest place 
between the two seas. Here a basin 1200 feet long 
and 900 broad was made, which has at all times seven 
feet water, which is conveyed by means of a sluice to- 
wards the ocean, and by means of another towards the 
Mediterranean Sea. In order that this basin may ne- 
ver be dry, another is made 7200 feet long, 3000 broad, 
and 60 deep, two sides of which are by two 
mountains, and the third by a —_ and strong mole, 
through which there runs an aqueduct, that carries the 
water to the other basin. Great difficulties arose in the 
execution of this work, in consequence of the uneven- 
ness of the ground, and the mountains, rivers, and 
brooks. The unevenness was remedied by means of 
sluices, of which there are 15 towards the ocean, and 
45 towards the Mediterranean... The mountains were 
dug through. The most considerable of them was 
Mount Malpas, which was dug through the space of 
720 feet. The difficulties arising from rivers and s, 
were obviated by means of bri and aqueduets. . It 
is 150 miles in length, and has 26 falls. The most 
considerable is that near Bezieres. This is at the end 
of a reach 30 miles in length, and the fall is so great as 
to require eight gates. It is 60 feet wide, and 6 deep: 
12,000 men worked at it. Theexpence was L.1,600,000, 
and it costs above L. 12,000 a year to keep it in order. 
The canal fallsinto the Garonne, about half a mile be- 
low Toulouse ; but the pace ae of the river isso in- 
different till its junction with the Tarn, being full of 
shoals and sand banks, that the boats upon it cannot carry 
any depth of lading, and it often requires many of them 
to take the lading of one boat: from the canal. It is 
therefore projected to carry the canal on.to the Tarn, 
by which means the navigation between Bourdeaux and 
oulouse would: be ly facilitated. The canal of 
Brien, so called from the Archbishop of Toulouse, after- 
wards prime minister and cardinal, was planned and 
executed, in order to join the Garonne at Toulouse with 
the canal of Languedoc. The necessity of sucha junc- 
tion arises from the presen ion of the river in the Tarn, 
being absolutely impeded by the weirs, which are made 
across it for the of corn mills. It passes arch« 
ed under the quay to the river, and one sluice levels 
the water with that of the Languedoc canal. It is broad 
enough for several —— to abreast ; but this ca- 
nal is seldom used, Mr oung remarks, that while 
the canal of Languedoc is alive with commerce, that of 
Brien is.a desert. 
II. The canal of Briare takes it name from a. small 
city situated onthe river Loire. It was made in order 
to have a communication between this river and the 
Seine, by means of the river Loing ; for which p 
they have been obliged to make the water go.over hi 
by means of dams and sluices. This canal was begun 
in the time of Henry IV. and: finished under his son 
Louis XIIL. It begins from the. Loire-at Briare, and 
passing by Montargis and Chatillon, falls intothe Loin 
at Cepoi. Formerly the duties paid by boats amoun 
to very great sums annually ; but they have decreased 
considerably since the et of Orleans was made, By 
means ofthe canal of Briare, a communication has been 
opened between Paris and the sea, and even between 
FRANCE. 
‘Caius Marius, to ore a want of a safe and com- 
that metropolis all the inland provinces that are 
situated on the Saiiientinenecond akeareines 
that fall into this. : ‘ ’ 
iis Duke 
1682, and finished in 1692, by the care of Philip 
of Orleans, pecenent father. During the 
; halal yee 
Calonne, was 
i Soa the Seine a theta Meleenions In 
feast St Quintin to Carabeay,:in the lineiak the-cansly the 
country rises so much, that it was necessary to carry it 
in a tunnel under ground for a considerable 
under many vales as well as hills. Near Belle i 
it is 10 French feet wide, and 12 high, hewn entirely 
there are ma- 
livres. 
Other canals were projected and during the 
Revolution ; the aonnneirceee bee was, a se- 
former were to be united by a canal from the Rhine at 
Basle to the lake of Geneva, ing through the lake 
of Neufchatel. . Another pil 
ronne ; and, lastly, by the restoration of a canal for~ 
merly made from the Rhone near Lyons, to the Loire 
at Roanne, all these rivers were tobe united ; the Seine 
already communicating with the.Loire by means of 
the canals of Briare and Orleans, It was also 
posed to restore a canal which was made in the time of 
——— 
mouths of the Rhone. 
modious navigation at h 
existence, 
remains of this canal are still in 
ly they served to fill up the annual exposé i 
panna daca were either not begun, or not carried on 
Pahoa t. png 
The soil of France varies much in different parts of Soil. 
the kingdom ; but it may be remarked, that there is 
scarcely any kind of soil in it, which in England could 
be called a clay soil. The soils may be classed as fol~ 
lows: : 
I. Fat loam, of different degrees of tenacity. The Loame. 
northern district of this soil extends over Bie prowess 
of Flanders, Artois, Picardy, Normandy, and the Isle 
of France, On the coast, it may be said to extend from 
Dunkirk to Carentum in Normandy. From thence to 
Coutances, the land is chiefly poor and stony, and con- 
tinues so, h with some variations, to Ina 
line a little to south of the coast before Caen, the 
first considerable change of soil from Calais is seen, In 
Normandy, on the side of Alengon, rich loams on a eal~ 
careous bottom are met with. Dunkirk to Ne- 
mours is not less than 180 miles in a right line; fron» 4 
a eo odule 
