PUY.L'EVP.QUK. 



PYRENEES. 



entire, tod contains magnificent windows of ti beet period of gUs- 

 painting Tbe othr structures wurtlir of note mn the cathedral, the 

 oora-nwrkrt, tod the rewrvoir, whioh u fed by n aqueduct. ! 

 brthir, and brandy are DM obicf manufacture*; these article*, together 

 with wine, corn, lump, fruit*, nut-oil, and preserves, form the iteinn of 

 ooiiudt-nble commerce. A *jmt-Pmt, the birthplace of the chancellor 

 De 1'Hopital and the |ioot Uelille, u a well-built little town, situated 

 in a fertile wheat district, U miles N.K. from Kioto, and liu 3063 

 inhabitant*. Near it there u a mineral-epring gushing out from tho 

 foot of a hill called I!utte-de-Montpenaier, the summit of whioh com- 

 mands a magnificent viow, and is covered with the ruins of an ancient 

 cantle, demolished in 1637, by order of Cardinal IlichnliiMi. The other 

 towns are small : among them i KanHam, 15 miles N.K. from lliom, 

 population 3149. Madame Adelaide, sister of King Lunis Philippe, 

 whu ws owner of the fine estate and splendid mansion that formerly 

 belonged to the Polignacs near Randan*, wai a great benefactress to 

 thin town. The mansion commands fine views over a level country, 

 with the mountains of Fore/, tho Fuy-de-Ddino, and the Mont-Uorea 

 in Uie distance. 



6. The fifth arrondmemcnt takes its name from Thiers, which stands 

 on tho crown and slope of a high hill, above the Durolle (a feeder of 

 the Dore), 24 miles K.X.E. from Clermont, in 45 51' 15" N. lat., 

 S* 88' 6* K. long., 1313 feet above the level of the sea; and has 

 tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a consultative chamber of 

 manufactures, a council of prud'homines, a college, and 99S4 inhabit- 

 ants. The town is very irregularly built, though some of the houses 

 are good ; and the streets are narrow, steep, and crooked. The sum- 

 mit of tho hill presents a splendid view of the whole of the fertile 

 district of Limagne and of the majestic mountains of Auvergnc. The 

 vicinity abounds in wild and picturesque sites, in juxtaposition with 

 vine-clad hills and rich meadows. On the hill slopes, and among the 

 rocks along the left bank of the Durolle, are numerous small habita- 

 tions, all resounding with the noise of the hammer or the file. The 

 Durolle, which runs through a narrow gorge called Trou-d'Enfer, close 

 to the town, forms several small cascades, and drives the machinery of 

 numerous iron-forges and paper-mills. The church of St-Jean is the 

 most remarkable building in this town. The leading manufactures 

 are cutlery, hardware, and paper ; broadcloth, sewing thread, ribands, 

 playing-cards, chessmen, and leather are also made. Courpiire, 8 miles 

 8. from Thiers, on the left bank of the Doi-c, has a population of 3592, 

 and manufactures of woollens, small wares, and pottery. Lezoux, 

 situated in a fertile plain, 8 miles W. by 8. from Thiers, is a pretty 

 well-built town, with 3601 inhabitants, who manufacture pottery and 

 leather. Managua, situated 12 miles W. by N. from Thiers, near the 

 confluence of the Morge with the Allier, is a well-built town, with 

 numerous tan-yards for the manufacture of shoe- and glove-leather : 

 population, 4109. St.-Rcmy, 3 miles N.E. from Thiers, has 4081 

 inhabitants, who manufacture superior cutlery. 



The department forms the see of the bishop of Clermont; is 

 included in the jurisdiction of the High Court of Riom, and within 

 the limits of the University-Academy of Clermont-Ferrand : and belongs 

 to the 20th Military Division, of which Clermont-Ferrand is head- 

 quarters. It returns five members to the Legislative Chamber of the 

 French empire. [AuTHMHl; CLERMONT-FERRAND.] 



(Dietionnaire de la Prance; Annuairc pour I' An 1853; Annuaire 

 du Commerce; OjXciai Paper*.) 



PUY-L'EVEQUE. [Lot.] 

 'UY-LAUKENS. [TARN.] 



PW LLHELI, Caernarvonshire, a market-town, sea-port, municipal 

 and parliamentary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in the 

 parishes of Dcnio and Llannor, is situated on the shore of Cardigan 

 Bay, in 62" 64' N. lat, 4 24' W. long., distant 21 miles S. by W. 

 from Caernarvon, and 234 miles N.W. by W. from London. The 

 population of the borough of Pwllheli in 1851 was 2709. The borough 

 U governed by four aldermen and 12 councillors, of whom one is 

 mayor, and is con tributary to Caernarvon in returning one member to 

 the Imperial Parliament. Pwllheli Poor-Law Union contains 32 

 parishes and townships, with an area of 92,889 acres, and a population 

 in 1851 of 21,6!<6. 



Pwllheli consists of one long well-built street. In the town are a 

 parochial chapel, chapels for Independents and Baptists, National 

 and Infant schools, and a savings bank. A county court is held. The 

 harbour has at its entrance a round rock, called Careg yr Imbill, about 

 a mile from the town, to which it is joined by a range of sand-hills; 

 vessels of about CO tons find accommodation in the harbour. Ship- 

 building employs some of the population. Wednesday and Saturday 

 are the tnarket^lays. Six fairs are held in the yer. Lobster?, oysters, 

 crab*, and mussels are abundant, and salmon of good quality are taken. 

 The -and* on the beach are well adapted for bathing. 



1'YDNA. [MACEDONIA.] 



PVHAMIJS, KIVEK. [AKATOLU.] 



PYRKN JOB (the Pyreneji Montcs of Julias Cemr and the Pyr<5n<5 

 Strata and Lucan), a range of mountains extending from the 

 Mediterranean S*a to the liay of Biscay, and constituting a natural 

 bamer between France and Spain. The etymology of the name is 

 uncertain. An offset which runs in a northerly direction between 

 the Aude and the Lers, and forms in this part the watershed between 

 the Bar of Biscay and the Mediterranean, is usually said to connect 



the Pyrenees with the C<Srennes Mountains; on the west, the prolonga- 

 tion of the Pyrenees forms the mountains of Quipuzcoa, Biscay, 

 Asturias, and Uallicia, which terminate in the capes Ortegal and 

 "inisterre, and the other headlands of tho northwest of Spain. The 

 >re*ent article however U a notice of that part only of the system to 

 he name of Pyrenees is usually ap 



Tho area occupied by these mountains is comprehended between 

 42" 10' and 48 20' N. hvt, 8 20" E. and 2* 0' W. long. The length 

 of the chain from Cape Creux, near the town of Hosas, in Catalonia, on 

 ihe coast of the Mediterranean, to the' port'of Paasages in Quipuzcoa, 

 s about 270 miles in a straight line from east-by-south to wt-st-by- 

 north. Tho breadth varies from about 20 miles near the eastern 

 extremity, to about 60 miles near the centre, and to 40 miles near tin- 

 western extremity of the chain. The Pyrenees pass along the border 

 of the following departments of France, enumerated in order from 

 east to west : Pyrenees-Orientales ; Aricga ; Haute-Garonne ; Hautas- 

 Pyrlnoes; and Bosses Pyre'ne'es. In Spain the Pyrenees pass through 

 Catalonia, the valleys of Andorre and Arrau, Aragon, and Navarre. 



The range of the Pyrenees may be regarded as consisting of two 

 parts, both having the same general direction, but not forming one 

 ;ontinuous line : the point of dislocation is near the head of the 

 Garonne ; thence to the Mediterranean the principal ridge is more 

 advanced toward the north than between the head of the Garonne and 

 the Bay of Biscay. The point at which the two parts of the rli:n:i 

 approach each other is occupied by a group of mountains win h 

 unite them to one another. The southern slope of tho Pyrenees is 

 steeper than the northern : the ascents on the Spanish side are invari- 

 ably more rugged and difficult Tho French valleys generally ascend 

 toward the main ridge by a succession of steps and terraces. As in 

 moat other great mountain systems the loftiest summits are not 

 Found in the line of direction of the main ridge, but at short distances 

 from it, in some of the numerous spurs thrown out on both sides of it. 

 Lateral branches inclosing valleys are thrown off at points whi : 

 main ridge rises into lofty summits; while the heads of the valleys 

 are marked by depressions, which constitute the natural passes between 

 one side and the other of the mountains. Towards the eastern extre- 

 mity of the Pyrenees these depressions are called 'cols/ as in the 

 Alps : in the central and western parts they are more commonly 

 designated ' ports.' The principal branches thrown off on the northern 

 side ore the Corbierea Mountains, which cover a considerable portion 

 of the department of Aude, on the right bank of the river Aude ; the 

 ridge already alluded to as forming part of the watershed between the 

 Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and by a certain latitude of expres- 

 sion said to connect the C5vennes with the Pyrenees ; and the range 

 that separates the basins of the Adour and the Garonne. 



At their eastern extremity in Cape Cerbbre the Pyrenees are about 

 1470 feet high above the sea; they rise rapidly as they proceed west- 

 ward, reaching 1920 feet near Bellegorde; after a Blight depression 

 here, which forms the Pass of Pertus, they swell to the lofty mass of 

 Coetabono, whence springs to northward the spur crowned by the 

 Cauigou, 9135 feet high. The principal ridge attains the height of 

 several thousand feet not far from Mont-Louis, and instead of the 

 hitherto rounded summit terminating in plateaus covered with forests 

 or pastures, it begins to assume bolder and more imposing forms; a 

 crest bristling with peaked summits and scarped rocks, frowning 

 chasms, and precipices become the leading features. Sinking to 

 5113 feet to form the pass of La-Perche, it soon rises to 0394 feet, and 

 increases to 7673 feet near the valley of Vic-Dessos ; here again th. iv i i 

 a swell to above_8000 feet, which sends out northward the spur that con- 

 tains Montcalm, whose summit is 10,513 feet high. From this part to 

 the source of the Garonne in the Val-d'Arran the height of the chain 

 is almost uniformly about 7673 feet. After bending round the Val- 

 d'Arran, another massive swell takes place in the main ridge, whence 

 projects to tho southward the gigantic spur containing the Maladetta, 

 which reaches the height of 10,863 feet, and is one of several peaks 

 that are gathered nearly in a semicircle round the Peak of Ndthou, 

 or Malahite, the loftiest summit in the Pyrenees, which has an eleva- 

 tion of 11,168 feet above the sea. Between the Maladetta and the 

 Val d'Ossnu, the principal chain reaches its greatest height, the crest 

 maintaining an elevation of 8320 feet, while the spurs thrown out 

 north and south contain several very lofty peaks, among which are 

 the Punta-de-Lardana, 11,000 feet; the Toura-de-Marborc', the highest 

 of which has an elevation of 10,660 feet; Mont-Perdu, 10,991 feet; 

 the Vignemale, 10,817 feet; the Pic-du-Midi, 9436 feet In this part 

 also are numerous lakes, glaciers, cascades, and inclosed between the 

 lateral ranges, transverse valleys of great length abounding in magni- 

 ficent scenery. West of the Val d'Ossau the summit of the main 

 ridge, as well as of the branches, again assumes the generally rounded 

 form, and in many places is covered with pastures ; here and there 

 however are still seen peaks exceeding 7600 feet in height. The 

 range at its western, as at its eastern extremity, is crossed by several 

 practicable passes, called 'ports,' or 'cols,' the most important of 

 whioh are noticed in tho account of tho French departments named 

 above. The Pyrenees, as considered in this article, terminate near 

 Fuenturabia, in the masses which inclose the valli-y of the liidossoa, 

 while the main ridge continues its western course under various names 

 across the north of Spain. 

 All the great valleys of the Pyrenees ore tranverse. The vale- 



