481 



SEINE-ET-OISE. 



SEINE-INFERIEURE. 



482 



Among the other towns are Argenttuil, on a hill above the Seine, 

 li miles X.N.K. from Versailles : population, 4377. St,~Germain-en- 

 Layt. [GERMAIK-EN-LAYE.] Jfculan, a station on the Paris-Rouen 

 railway, 19 miles N. by W. from Versailles : population, 2000. 

 Poimy, a station on the Paris-Rouen railway, 10 miles N. from 

 Versailles, on the left bank of the Seine, with a large cattle and sheep 

 market and 4000 inhabitants. Jtutl, or Rueil, a pretty town, 5 miles 

 N.N.E. from Versailles, with a population of 7284 in the commune, 

 and a handsome church, which contains the tomb of the empress 

 Josephine, whose residence, Malmaison, stands between the town and the 

 Seine. St.-Cyr, a small place of 1800 inhabitants, 3 miles W. from Ver- 

 sailles, and on the railway to Chartree, is famous for its special military 

 school. [Cm, ST.] 'Sivrei, built at the foot of a hill, above the left 

 bank of the Seine, 5 miles E. from Versailles by railway, is celebrated 

 for its porcelain manufactures : population about 5000. St.-Cloud. 

 [CLOUD, ST.] Aleutian, on the high ground above Sevres, and a 

 station on the Paris-Versailles railway ; population of the commune, 

 31 74. Besides the imperial palaces of St.-Cloud and Versailles, there 

 are many chateaux, parks and beautiful country residences in this 

 arrondissement. At Marly, near Rueil, are the aqueduct and 

 immense forcing machinery for raising the water that supplies the 

 magnificent water-works of the park of Versailles. 



2. In the second arrondissement the chief town is Mantel, which 

 stands on the left bank of the Seine, 34 mile* by railway W.N.W. 

 from Paris, and has an ecclesiastical school, three hospitals, several 

 tan-yards, breweries, and flour-mills, and a population of about 60CO, 

 including the suburb of Limay, on the right bank of the river. 

 Among the other towns are Houdan, 16 miles S. from Mantes, on the 

 road from Versailles to Dreux, population 2000 : and Kosny, a village 

 on the left bank of the Seine, 4 miles N.W. from Mantes, on the 

 Paris-Rouen railway, population about 700. The Seine opposite 

 Kosny contains several islands, in one of which is the. chateau in 

 which Sully was born, and to which he and Henri IV. retired after 

 the battle of Ivry. At Rosny is the junction of the Cherbourg rail- 

 way with the Paris-Rouen line. On the right bank of the Seine, below 

 Rosny, are the ruins of the castle of Roche-Quyon, from which there 

 are beautiful views of the valley of the Seine. 



3. In the third arrondissement the chief town, RambouUltt, is 

 situated on the railway to Chartret, 30 miles W. from Paris, 18 miles 

 S.W. from Versailles, and has a tribunal of first instance and 3257 

 inhabitant*. It is a clean well-built town. In the palace of Ram- 

 bouillet, which stands in a fine park and gardens laid out by Le Ndtre, 

 Francis I. died in 1547. The Forest of Rnmbouillet is traversed in 

 all directions by fine roads. Charles X., in his flight from Paris in 

 1830, took refuge for a short space at Rambouillet. Among the other 

 towns are Dourdan, 12 miles 8. by E. from Rambouillet, in the valley 

 of the Orge, and near the forest of Dourdan, population 2400 : and 

 Monlfort-fAmawy, an ancient place with only 1800 inhabitants, 

 9 miles N. from Rambouillet, remarkable for the ruins of its ancient 

 castle, the seat of the ancestors and descendants of Simon de Mont- 

 fort. The ruins have been cleared of rubbish and planted with trees, 

 so a* to form shady promenades. Of the castle of Dourdan, which, 

 with its domain, formerly belonged to the Bourbons, there remain the 

 keep and eight other towers, united by a curtain flanked with bastions 

 and girt by wide deep ditches. 



4. In the fourth arrondiasement the chief town, Corbeil, is situated 

 1 3 miles by railway S. from Paris, on the left bank of the Seine, at 

 the mouth of the Essonne, and has a corn-market, large flour-mills, 

 and manufactures of Cashmere shawls, cotton stuffs, pottery, Ac. : 

 population of the commune, 4645. A bridge across the Seine connects 

 the town with Corbiel- Vinx, on the right bank. Among the other 

 places of note are Arpajon, formerly called CMtrei, a pretty town of 

 2234 inhabitants, surrounded by fine shady walks, 10 miles W. from 

 Corbeil : Bmtmnn, one mile W. from Corbeil, population 3600 : 

 Ltmgjmea, a pretty village on the Orleans road, population 2000 : 

 sod Mont-f Btry, an ancient well-built walled village, between Longju- 

 meau and Chatres, population 1700. There was formerly a very 

 strong castle at Mont-l'Hi-ry, of which the keep, 108 feet high, still 

 remains. Louis XL was defeated by Charles of Burgundy in a bloody 

 battle fought near Mont-VH^ry in 1465. 



6. In the fifth arrondissement the chief town Pontoiu is situated 

 on the right bank of the Oiae, 18 miles from Paris by the railway to 

 Amiens, and has 5370 inhabitants in the commune. It is a well-built 

 old town, with narrow streets, and remains of an old castle, and 

 inclosing walls. The town, which is named from the ' bridge over the 

 Oiee,' has a tribunal of first instance, a college, a public library, an 

 agricultural society, a theatre, a school of mutual instruction, and 

 several private schools. Steel ornaments, clocks and watches, mineral 

 acids and other chemical preparations, starch, cotton-yarn, and leather 

 are manufactured ; and trade is carried on in corn and flour for the 

 supply of Paris, gypsum, and cattle. There is a great number of 

 corn-mills on the Oise, or on the Viosne, a small stream which here 

 joins the Oise. Among the other towns are Beaumont, on a high hill 

 above the Oise, 12 miles N.K. from Poutoise, population 2000 : (Janeac, 

 the birthplace of Philippe Auguste, in a rich wheat district, in thr 

 east of the department, population 2000 : lilt- Adam, a station on the 

 Paris-Ami, on railroad, 7 miles N.K. from Pontoiae, population 1700 : 

 and Monimarrnci, or Kvyhien, 10 miles by railway S.E. from Pontoise, 

 ooa civ. VOL. IT. 



population 2100, is on a hill commanding the picturesque and beauti- 

 ful valley of Montmorenci. The streets are steep, but there are 

 some good houses. The market-place is large but irregular, with a 

 market-house in the middle. The parish church is a gothic building 

 of the 16th century. Near the town is the Hermitage, a small house, 

 celebrated as the retreat of Jean Jacques Rousseau, and of the 

 musical composer Qr(5try, who died here in 1813, and is buried in a 

 tomb in the garden. In the valley near the Lake of Montmorenci, or 

 pond of St.-Qratien, are mineral springs and baths. 



6. In the sixth arrondissement the chief town ia ETAMPES. Mitty, 

 E. of Etampes, on the south-eastern border of the department, has a 

 good corn-market, and above 2000 inhabitants. 



The department constitutes the diocese of Versailles, and is under 

 the jurisdiction of the High Court, and within the limits of the 

 University-Academy of Paris. It is in the 1st Military Division, of 

 which Paris is head-quarters. It sends 4 members to the Legislative 

 Chamber of the French empire. 



(Dictionnaire de la France; Annuaire pour fAn 1853; Annnaire 

 du Commerce; Official Papers.) 



SEINE-INFERIEURE, a department of France, is bounded N. 

 and N.W. by the British Channel ; S.W. by the department of Cal- 

 vados, from which it is separated by the Seine ; S. by the department 

 of Eure, from which also it is in some places separated by the Seine ; 

 S.E. by the department of Oise ; and N.E. by that of Somme. It lies 

 between 49 17' and 50 4' N. lat ; 5'and 1 45' E. long. Its greatest 

 length is 76 miles ; its greatest breadth from north to south is about 

 45 miles. The area is 2332'7 square miles. The population in 1841 

 was 737,206 ; in 1851 it amounted to 762,039, giving 326'676 to the 

 square mile, or 152092 above the average per square mile for the whole 

 of France. The department is formed out of several districts of Nor- 

 mandie, and named from its comprising a portion of the basin of the 

 Lower Seine. 



The department is almost entirely included in the district occupied 

 by the cretaceous formations. The coast has a rounded outline, pre- 

 senting no remarkable headland except Cape la-H6ve; it is lined 

 nearly throughout by chalk cliffs, broken at intervals by the openings 

 through which the rivers fall into the sea : the only harbours along the 

 coast are formed by these openings. The cliffs vary in height from 

 150 to 700 feet, which elevation they attain near Fe'camp. None of the 

 hills are very lofty : the principal are a remote branch from the Arden- 

 nes, which cross the department from the east side to Cape la-Heve, 

 which forma their termination, and separate the waters which flow into 

 the Seine from those which flow into the English Channel ; they consist 

 of chalk. Marl abounds in several places, and sand, which is used 

 in the manufacture of glass. Brick-clay, pipe-clay, and clay suited for 

 sugar-refiners, for making crucibles, earthenware, and fine porcelain, are 

 procured; limestone and sandstone are also obtained, and there is 

 marble of various kinds, but in small quantity. A small quantity of 

 peat is obtained, and iron-stone is said to have been formerly procured 

 near Forges-les-Eaux, on the east side of the department, between 

 Neufchatel and Oournay. There are mineral waters at Forges-les-Eaux, 

 Aumale, Ooumay, and Rouen. 



The department, south of the range of hills mentioned above, belongs 

 to the basin of the Seine, which first touches the department on the 

 south side, and has the remainder of its winding course (97 miles by 

 the river, and only 48 miles in a direct course) navigable throughout, 

 upon or within the boundary of the department The principal 

 feeders of the Seine are the Epte and the Andelle, of which two only 

 the sources and the upper part of their course belong to this depart- 

 ment, the Cailly, the Austreberte, the Bolbec, and the Li!zarde, all 

 small streams which fall in on the right bank. Of the streams which 

 flow into the Channel the principal are, proceeding from east to west, 

 the Bresle, which bounds the department on the east side, the Yeres, 

 the Arquen, which receives the liethune and the Eaulne, the Seye, or 

 Scie, the Saanne, and the Durdan. The length of the Bresle, which is 

 the most considerable of them, may be estimated at 35 miles. 



The department is traversed by the railroad from Paris to Rouen, 

 where there are lines to Havre and Dieppe. A new line has been 

 recently authorised from Rouen to Bernay, where it joins the Paris- 

 Cherbourg line. Common roadway accommodation is afforded by 

 13 state roads, 28 departmental roads, and a great number of com- 

 munal roads. 



The climate is moist, especially along the coast and on the eastern 

 side of the department. The soil is varied, but generally fertile. 

 Two-thirds of the department are under the plough. Agriculture 

 is on the whole flourishing. The mode of cultivation in the penin- 

 sula of Caux, formed by the Seine and the English Channel, which 

 constitutes the arrondissement of Havre, is much like that of French 

 Flanders. The farmer is distinguished by his neatness, by the 

 comfortable furniture of his house, the plantations of oaks, elms, 

 beeches, and pines round his homestead, and the neatness and produc- 

 tiveness of his garden, inclosed by a quickset hedge. The rotation of 

 crops is usually triennial, and the fallow of the third year has been 

 generally superseded by a crop of trefoil, flax, peas, vetches, rape, &c. 

 The manures employed are dung, marl, and gypsum. Thrashing- 

 macbims have been introduced. 



The produce of the department in corn is very considerable. In 

 wheat it considerably exceeds the average produce of the departments 



2 I 



