VAELS. 



VALENCIA. 



970 



alout a mile along the Oxford road. There are two bridges over the ' bank. The market on Thursday is important for corn. A market 

 arms of the river Colne, and one OTer the Grand Junction Canal. ! for provisions is held on Saturday; fiirs are held on March 25th an d 



. . L i_ it i: i :_i_ . .1 a _.. ' Q~~*t ..... V. ... Ou.l, A ...... ..t .- . ,. ,.* ; 1, ] i 



id" market-house is a commodious brick structure supported on 

 wooden columns. The Independents, Baptists, and other Dissenters 

 have places of worship. There are a British school, a School of 

 Industry, a literary and mutual improvement society, and a savings 



September 29th. A county court is held. 

 UZEL. [CdiES-DU-NoRD.] 

 UZERCHE. [CORREZE.] 

 UZE3. [GARD.] 



VAELS. [LIMBURO.] 

 VAILLY. JAiSNE.] 



VAL DE PENAS. [CAMILLA LA NUEVA.] 



VALA'IS, a canton of Switzerland, consists mainly of a great 

 longitudinal valley traversed by the Rhone, and screened by two lofty 

 and massive chains of Alps, one of which, on the south side, divides 

 it from Italy, and the other from the canton of Bern on the north. 

 Both chains are connected at the eastern end of the Valais with the 

 central group of the St.-Gothard by means of the Gnllenstock, the 

 Furka, and the Hutthorn. The Rhone has its sources in a glacier 

 which lies on the west side of the Gallenstock and the Furka, whence 

 it Bows westward through the whole length of the Valais, receiving 

 dimerous affluents on both banks of the mountains. The offsets 

 form sixteen transverse valleys, some of them more than 20 miles in 

 length, which slope down into the great valley of the Rhone. Near 

 St-Maurice the valley of the Rhone becomes contracted between two. 

 lofty masses the Dent-de-Morcles on the north, and the Dent-da- 

 Midi, a projection of the southern chain which leave between them 

 at the bridge of St.-Maurice merely space enough for the river. This 

 is the geographical termination of the Valais, but the canton continues 

 to stretch over a narrow and partly mountainous tract along the lefc 

 bank of the Rhone for about 16 miles farther down, to the entrance of 

 the river into the Lake of Geneva : the opposite or right bank below 

 the bridge of St.-Maurice belongs to the Cantou de-Vaud. 



The area of the Valais is 1658 square miles, of which more than 

 one-half consists of high alps and glaciers, and the remainder of lower 

 offnets and intermediate valleys. The breadth of level ground iu the 

 valley of the Rhone varies from a quarter of a mile to three miles. 

 The heat in the summer is very great in the valley, especially in the 

 neighbourhood of Sion and Siders (Sierre in French), where the fig, 

 mulberry, almond, and pomegranate thrive in the open air. [Ril6.XE ; 

 LEMAIT, Lake.] The vine and Indian corn are cultivated up to the 

 height of 1000 feet above the level of the lake, barley to 2500, and 

 potatoes to 3000 feet Walnut, chestnut, cherry, apple, and pear 

 trees are abundant. In several localities excellent wine, both white 

 and red, is made. Cider it made in other district*. In common years 

 the crop of corn U sufficient for the consumption. The forests are 

 extensive ; great quantities of timber are cut down and sent by the 

 Khone into France. The horned cattle, sheep, and goats, are very 

 numerous; horses and mulrs are few in number. Minei of iron, 

 copper, lead, silver, cobalt, and zinc have been found. 



The population of the Valau amounted in March 1850 to 81,559, 

 81,096 of whom were Catholics and 463 Protestants. In the Lower 

 Valais cretinism is a common infirmity. A French patois is spoken in 

 the western part of the canton ; Gorman in the upper or eastern 

 part. The canton returns four members to the National Council of 

 Switzerland. 



The canton U divided into 13 communities or little republics, called 

 'dizains;' every dizain has its council, the members of which 

 are appointed by the respective communes, and which regulates all 

 local affairs. Each dizain sends four deputies to the diet, or legis- 

 lature of the whole canton, which meets every year at Sion. The 

 diet appoints the members of the council of state, or cantonal execu- 

 tive. The blthop of Sion is president of the Diet of the Valais, and 

 has four votes. 



The Valais was, in Roman times, occupied by the Mantoate*, 



Veragri, and Seduni. On the decline of the empire it fell successively 

 under the Bnrgumlians and the Franks. The Upper Valais maintained 

 Its independence during the middle ages, and conquered the Lower 

 Valais in 1475, which it held by right of conquest till 1798, when the 

 whole territory became a canton of the Helvetic republic. Previously 

 the Valais had been only the ally of the Swiss Confederation. In 

 1 802 Bonaparte formed it into a separate republic, which he united to 

 the French empire in 1810. In this interval the Simplon road, through 

 the Valais and over the Alps to Italy, was made, and the newly 

 annexed territory was in consequence called the department of the 

 Simplon. In 1814 the country was restored to its independence, and 

 made a canton of the Swiss Confederation. A constitution was formed, 

 in which the political distinction between the Upper and the Lower 

 Valau was obliterated, but the aristocratic principle was maintained 

 in the elections till 1830, since which date more democratic forms 

 have been introduced. 



The principal towns of the Valais are Sion (Sillen), an old-looking 

 town, surrounded with walls and towers and a ditch, in a picturesque 

 situation at the foot of two insulated rocks, ou the right bank of the 

 Rhone. It has a large cathedral, several other churches, a fine old 



town-house, a college, a curious old tower said to have been raised by 

 Charlemagne, two ruinous old castles on the summit of the two hills, 

 an hospital, an arsenal, and 3516 inhabitants. Sion is the ancient 

 Sedunum, a Roman military station ; it is called Ciritas Sedunorum iu 

 an inscription in honour of Augustus, which is preserved in the cathe- 

 dral. Martigny (Martinach), near the junction of the Drause with 

 the Rhone, is the chief town of the Lower Valais. It is built on the 

 site of the ancient Octodurum, a Roman military station, has several 

 good buildings, inns, and shops, and above 3000 inhabitants in the 

 commune. The high-road of the Simplon, and that leading over the 

 St-Bernard into Italy, pass through Martigny. St.-Maurice, on the 

 left bank of the Rhone, 10 miles below Martigny, a small town of 

 1327 inhabitants, is remarkable for its ancient Angus tiniau abbey, 

 now suppressed. There is (or was before the recent suppression of 

 the monasteries in Switzerland) a college annexed to the abbey, in 

 which the classical languages, mathematics, physics, history, and 

 geography were taught. There are, or were, colleges also at Sion and 

 Brieg. The celebrated convent and hospice of St, -Bernard was in the 

 territory of the Valais. [BERNARD, ST.] 



VALDIVIA. [CHILI.] 



VALEXCA DO MINHO. [ENTRE DOURO E Misuo.] 



VALENCAY. [INDRE.] 



VALENCE, a city in France, capital of the department of Drdrne, 

 is situated in a fertile plain on the left bank of the Rhone a few miles 

 below the junction of the Iscre, on the Paris- Lyon-Marseille railway, 

 381 miles S.S.E. from Paris, 65 miles S. from Lyon, and 143 mileg 

 N. by W. from Marseille, in 44 56' N. lat, 4 53' 40' E. long., at an 

 elevation of 421 feet above the level of the sea; and had 13,829 inhabit- 

 ants in the commune at the census of 1851. 



Valence occupies the site of the Roman Valentin. It was a plac of 

 considerable strength, and afforded a refuge to Constantino, who was 

 fruitlessly besieged here by Sams the Goth. Jovinus sought refuge 

 hare, but the town was taken by the Visigoths, under their king 

 Ataulfus. It was afterwards subject to the Burgundians, and passed 

 from them to the Franks. In the middle ages it formed part of the 

 kingdom of Aries, and was the capital of the Valentinois, a district of 

 DauphiniS. The territory of Valentinois was made a duchy and con- 

 ferred by Louis XII. on Caosar Borgia, 



The town is united by an iron suspension-bridge with the famous 

 wine district of 3t-P<5ray on the right bank of the Rhone. It is ill 

 laid out, with winding and narrow streets, and ill built; it is sur- 

 rounded by old walls, flanked with towers, and entered by several 

 arched gateways. The high road from Paris and Lyon to Marseille 

 skirts the wall on the outside and passes through the southern suburb 

 of Sauniera. On the north side of the town is a citadel, fronting a 

 parade or exercise-ground planted with tree.". The principal buildings 

 are the cathedral of St-Apollinaire, which contains a monument by 

 Canova of Pope Pius VI. (who died here August 29th, 1799) ; the 

 former residence of the bishop ; the prefect's residence, formerly an 

 abbey, with extensive gardens ; the house in which Pius VI. resided ; 

 a house in the Grande Rue, the front of which is a rich specimen of 

 gothic architecture ; the court-house ; the barracks ; and the theatre. 

 There are two public walks. There are scarcely any Roman remains 

 existing at Valence. 



The manufactures of Valence comprise cotton-yarn, printed cottons, 

 silks, gloves, hosiery, and cutlery; there are dye-houses, tan-yards, 

 rope-walks, saw-yards for marble, tile-yards, potteries, lime-kilns, and 

 a great number of cartwrights* shops. Trade is carried on in the 

 wines, fruits, and silks of the south of France ; in brandy, liqueurs, 

 corn, and manufactured goods : there are six fairs in the year. 

 Steamers ply daily to Avignon and Lyon. The well-known Hermitage 

 and St-P<5ray wines are grown in the neighbourhood of Valence. 

 [AiiDkciiK ; DROME.] 



Valence gives title to a bishop whose diocese consists of the depart- 

 ment of Drome. It has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, 

 a college, an ecclesiastical school, a school of artillery (in which Napo- 

 leon I. was a pupil from 1785 to 1791), and a public library of 15,000 

 volumes. 



VALENCE. [TARN.] 



VALENCIA, an ancient province of Spain, formerly a kingdom, is 

 bounded E. and S.E. by the Mediterranean Sea, W. and S.W. by the 

 provinces of Castilla la Nueva and Murcia, N. by Cataluna and Aragon ; 

 on the south it terminates by a point. It is situated between 37 50' 

 and 40 45' N. lat, 32' E. long, and 1 25' W. long. The greatest 

 length north to south is about 220 miles; the greatest width east to 

 west is little more than 50 miles. The area is 7683 square miles. The 



