SEINE-MARITIME. 



SEISTAN. 



438 



architecture varies with the date of erection ; the interior is o: 

 Normiin architecture, but in the west front the pointed arch is used. 

 The heart of Blanche of Castille, St. Louis's mother, was depositor 

 in this church. St.-Saau, on the Arque, 9 miles N.W. from Neuf 

 ehatel, population 2500, has manufactures of linen, glass, leather o: 

 various kinds, and glue ; there are twelve yearly fain ; trade is carried 

 on in corn, wood, cattle, and hides. 



5. In the fifth arrondissement the chief town, Yretot, is situated in a 

 fertile plain, 23 miles by railway N.W. from Rouen, and has tribunals 

 of first instance and of commerce, and about 10,000 inhabitants. The 

 town is old ; the principal street b nearly 2 $ miles long, and lined with 

 timber-framed houses roofed with slates. It was formerly a place oi 

 great trade. The sires of Yvetot are styled kings in old chronicles, 

 and an edict of the exchequer of Normandie qualifies them with this 

 title. Yvetot has linen and cotton factories, and a considerable trade 

 in cattle, sheep, and agricultural produce. Allomiile, about 4 miles 

 from Yvetot on the road to Havre, though only a village of 1300 

 inhabitants deserves mention on account of its oak, which b about 

 900 yean old, 1 5 yards 3 feet in girth near the ground, and nearly 9 

 yards at the height of a man's head. Branches from two to three 

 yards in circumference spring out from the trunk, and cover a vast 

 space. The trunk of this enormous tree b hollow ; the interior 

 wainaootted and painted in marble colours, was fitted up as a chapel, 

 and dedicated to Notre-Dame de-la-Paix in 1690. The top of the oik b 

 formed into a bell tower, and b surmounted by an iron cross. Cimdebec, 

 miles 8. from Yvetot, on the right bank of the Seine, has a population 

 of 2700. It was formerly the capital of Caux, and was often taken by 

 the Engnsh in the wan of the 15th century. The old fortifications 

 that baffled tor six months the skill of the great Talbot, have entirely 

 disappeared. Caudebec has a harbour lined with quays, but it b little 

 frequented by shipping. DoudrriUe, 8 miles N.W. from Yvetot : popu- 

 lation, 8700. St.- ralery**-Co*z, a small sea-port with a tribunal of 

 commerce, and about 0000 inhabitants, b pleasantly situated 18 

 miles N. from Yvetot. The mackerel, herring, and cod fisheries are 

 carried on with great activity. There b a good deal of business 

 done in linens and cotton goods : and Baltic and Norway timber for 

 shipping, wine, brandy, ftc., are imported. 



The department constitutes the diocese of Rouen : it fa under the 

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

 University-Academy of Caen. It b included in the 2nd Military 

 Division, of which the head quarters ar at Rouen. It sends member* 

 to the Legislative Chamber of the French empire. There are several 

 fine ruins in thb department, among which we can only mention 

 the abbey of Jnmiegm on the bank* of the Seine below Rouen, and 

 the remain* of the castle* of Rouen, Dieppe, and Arques. 



SKIVE- MARITIME, a department in France, recently constituted 

 with HATBZ tor its chief town, extends along the coast of the Knglbh 

 channel from the Seine to the Bresle. It b formed out of the coast 

 portion of Seme-Inferieore, which bounds it on the south. The Bresle 

 separates it from the department of Somme. It b divided into five 

 ammdbsemenU, Havre. Fecamp, Yvetot, Dieppe, and Treport. 

 Etretat and Criel, a small coast village, west of Tripoli, are made 

 chief towns of cantons. The tribunal of commerce of St-Talery b 

 suppisssud, and that of Yvetot transferred to the more important 

 town of Bolbeo. 



A change has also bean made hi the limits of Seine-Infe'rieure, to 

 which that portion of the territory of the department of Enre that 

 lies east of the Seine to the Ej.te is added. Seine-Infeneun, by thb 

 arrangement, has Seine-et-Oue to the south-east ; and out of the new 

 territory two new arrondbsemente, Eltxcuf and Oonrnay, are chiefly 

 formed. At Oonrnay, the railways authorised to be made from 

 Amien* to Rouen, and from Beauvab to Troport through Anmale, 

 are to meet In the absence of any official return, it b useless to 

 offer any conjecture as to the area or the population of the new 

 department ; though these may be very nearly ascertained by consulting 

 the articles Er*B and 811*1 Ixrtnin. RE, which have been described 

 as they stood previous to the recent alterations. 



SEISDON, a hundred in Staffordshire, which has given name to a 

 Poor- Law Union composed of several pariahs* in the south division 

 of the hundred. Seisdon Poor-Law Union contains 12 parishes and 

 townships, with an area of 43,574 acres, and a population in 1861 of 

 The Union workhouse b at Tettenhull, about two mile* 

 north-west from Wolvernampton, and about eight miles north-east 

 from the village of Seisdon. 



SEISTAN', eallsd also Segaia*, b a province, or rather a country, 

 situated in the eastern part of the Ublc-land of Iran, and inclosed 

 within the boundaries of the kingdom of Afghanistan. Taken in the 

 larger signification which b sometime* given to it, Sebtan oompre- 

 hrads the countries between 30* and 32* 30' N. lat, 01* and 05* E. 

 r , a space the area of which considerably exceeds 30,000 square 



On the north of Seistan is the extensive mountain-region known to 

 the ancients under the name of Paropamisus, and called by modern 

 geographers the Mountains of Haxaureh and Kimack, from the name 

 of two tribes which occupy the most elevated part of it On the east 

 b the Plain of Kandahar, which maybe considered as the eastern pro- 

 longation of that of Seistan, though it constitutes a different political 

 division, sod b excluded from this notice. On the south b the Desert 



of Beloochistan. [BELOOCHISTAS.] The western boundary is formed 

 by a chain of lofty hills, which appears to extend across the table- 

 land of Iran nearly south and north. 



Surface. The Plain of Seistan, with the adjacent valleys, and the 

 Plain of Kandahar and its dependencies, constitute a closed basin. 

 No water which descends on it ever reaches the sea. The southern 

 part of the plain is a desert, large tracts of which are level and with- 

 out vegetation. In a few places the soil is impregnated with salt. 

 The country b inhabited by some tribes of Beloochees, who wander 

 about with their herds. 



The country on the north of the Helmund elopes to the south, not 

 regularly, but in a series of terraces. The basin of the Lake of 

 Sebtan is the lowest terrace, in which consequently all the waters 

 that descend into the plain and the surrounding mountains are col- 

 lected. The whole of this tract approaches to the nature of a desert 

 The surface generally consists of a hard earth, mixed with rocks and 

 low hills : the soil, except in the bottoms of the rivers, is of a very 

 indifferent quality. These plains supply herbage and water during 

 great part of the year to the numerous herds of camels and sheep of 

 some tribes of the Dooraneea There are permanent villages among 

 the cultivated lands, but by far the greater part of the inhabitants 

 are scattered over the face of the country in tents. As the mountains 

 of Hazaureh are covered with snow for several months, they give 

 origin to many rivers, which in the season when the snow melts 

 become deep and npid streams, and run southward either to the 

 Helmund, or fall into the Lake of Sebtan. The water of theso rivers 

 b used to irrigate the bottoms of the river valleys, and thus a portion 

 of thb region b fitted for cultivation, and produces abundant crops. 



The Lake of Sebtan b called by the natives Uamoon, a name which 

 designate* a plain covered by a sheet of water. It bean also the 

 distinctive name of the Lake of Koh-i-Khwajeh, from a hill which b 

 surrounded by the lake, and which b not far from its eastern banks. 

 It b the Aria Pains of the ancients, to which another name it bean, 

 Zarah, ha* some resemblance. The lake extends (between 61 and 

 02* E.long., and 31* and 32" N. lat) about 70 miles from south-south- 

 west to north-north-east, and has an average breadth of 18 miles, 

 except towards its northern extremity, where it widens to more than 

 30 miles. In these wider parts of the lake there formerly existed a 

 separate lake, called Duk-i-Teer, which was divided from the Hamoon 

 by an isthmus of moderate width, but not many yean ago the Hel- 

 mund changed its course, and instead of carrying its waten to the 

 great lake, it sent them to the Dnk-i-Teer, and the isthmus was carried 

 away by the waters, so that the two lakes are now only one. The 

 I >uk-i-Teer a a large sheet of water thickly studded with reed-topped 

 islsiids, hi depth averaging about 4 feet, and having a very muddy 

 ttom. Along its northern banks the water b not so deep, and the 

 id* are not in patches, but cover the whole surface. Here and there 

 patehe* of blue water appear between the reeds, but it b only towards 

 the south-west that there b a Urge sheet of water clear of rushes and 

 reed*. The water of the Hamoon, although salt, b generally used. 



The level country which surrounds the Hamoon may be called the 

 Plain of Sebtan Proper. On the west it extends to no great distance 

 from the banks of the lake, and seems to be sterile. On the north 

 and east it stretches to the dbtanoe of 20 or 30 miles, and to the 

 south-east and couth 50 mile* and more. It b entirely composed of 

 flat*, with the exception of one hill, and in its whole extent not a 

 stone b found, except a few rounded pebbles in the beds of the riven. 

 The soil b either the light earth of the desert, or the still lighter 

 alluvial deposit of the riven. Ruins of ancient towns are traceable 

 In several parts. 



Riven. All the riven which originate on the southern and western 

 lope of the mountain* that surround the Plain of Sebtan on the north 

 and east, fall into the Hamoon. They partake of the nature of moun- 

 tain torrents, at one time of the year rushing down with great viol- 

 ence, almost black with mud, and at othen being either quite dry, or 

 flowing in a clear, languid, and shallow stream. The largest of these 

 riven are the Helmund, the Khash-rood, the Furrah-rood, . and the 

 Adrascnnd. The ffelmtutd b noticed in the article AFGHANISTAN 

 (voL i. coL 89). When about 15 miles from the lake it divides into 

 several arms near Khwajeh Ahmed. The Helmund, in the dry season, 

 b never without a plentiful supply of water ; during the swell it 

 come* down with astonishing rapidity, and is said to be equal in sue 

 to the Jumna. Its course probably exceeds 400 miles. The A'fauA. 

 rood falls into the Dnk-i-Teer at no great distance from the new mouth 

 of the Helmnnd. Thb river rises in the lower declivity of the moun- 

 aiins of Hazaureh, and flows within their range south-east It enters 

 .he plain near Dilaram, and then run* south-welt to its embouchure. 

 The course of the Khash-rood exceeds 100 miles, but in summer it b 

 nearly dry. The Furrah-rood, which falb into the north-eastern extre- 

 mity of the old Hamoon, rises likewise in the lower declivities of the 

 mountain* of Hazaureh, towards the western extremity of the moun- 

 tain region, and its course b mostly to the south-west and south. It 

 enters the lake about 20 miles south of Laush. Its course exceeds 

 100 miles. Thb river b nearly dry for the greater part of the year; 

 water b however confined in many places by bunds or natural hollows, 

 and b always to be found by digging a few feet into the bed, which 

 is the case with most of the riven of thb part of Asia. During the 

 spring it b a broad and rapid river. Tho Adratcund, or Jlen-rvd, 



