* AUBE. 



as many as a dozen horses yoked to one plough. Com of all kinds, 

 fruits, pulse, hemp, rape, and hay are produced here in great abundance ; 

 a considerable breadth of land is laid out in vineyards, which produce 

 excellent wine. The west of the department is marshy. Peat is 

 found in some districts, but the fuel of the department is supplied 

 chiefly by its forests, the principal of which are those of Clairvaux, 

 Chaource, Montmorency, Orient, and Soulaines. 



The department contains 1,488,041 acres. There are 972,570 acres 

 of arable land, 82,495 acres of pasture and meadow land, and 56,609 

 acres of vineyards. The bread corns chiefly cultivated are wheat, rye, 

 buckwheat, mixed grain, and barley ; of these the annual produce is 

 stated at 519,290 quarters ; of oats 250,360 quarters are grown, and 

 of potatoes 419,869 quarters. Potherbs and leguminous plants are 

 extensively cultivated : the department is particularly famous for its 

 turnips, and the neighbourhood of Troyes for its extensive cultivation 

 of garlic and the small onions called eschalots. The annual produce 

 of wine is about 15,000,000 gallons, one half of which is exported; 

 the best growths are those of Les-Riccys, Bar-sur-Aube, Laines-aux- 

 Bois, and Javernant Horses, horned cattle, and sheep are numerous, 

 as are also geese, ducks, and turkeys. A few years ago the number of 

 horse* was estimated at 40,000 ; horned cattle at 46,000 ; and sheep 

 000. The horses are small and of no great strength ; they are 

 generally used in the plough, but horned cattle are not unfrequentlv 

 used for the same purpose. The herbage of the department is said to 

 produce excellent milk, and some strong cheese is made. The breed 

 of sheep and thj quality of wool have been greatly improved of late 

 years. The number of swine is far below the demand; the pork- 

 butchers of Troyes who have been long famous for their manufacture 

 of sausages import a large number of pigs from the department of 

 Harne. Prom the north-east of the department, and more especially 

 from the neighbourhood of Chavange, turkeys are exported in thou- 

 sands. Deer and wild boars are met with in the forests ; hares, rabbits, 

 partridges, wild ducks, woodcocks, and lapwings are among the smaller 

 game ; fish is plentiful in the ponds and rivers ; and bees are carefully 

 tended all through the department. 



The principal manufactures are broadcloth, cotton stuffs, and 

 hosiery, of which Troyes is the centre. Hosiery is also manufactured 

 at Arcis and a few other places. Woollen yarn, blankets, and leather 

 also are among the industrial products of Troyes, where moreover a 

 great number of books is printed. At the central prison established 

 in the buildings once belonging to the famous abbey of Clairvaux 

 several articles are manufactured, including coarse woollen cloth, 

 blankets, counterpanes, long cloths, straw-hats, gloves, 4c. The 

 department has besides, potteries ; tile, porcelain, and glass works ; 

 paper-mills, distilleries, vinegar yards, beet-root sugar factories, rope- 

 walks, starch factories, dyeing and bleaching establishments. Large 

 corn markets are held weekly at Troyes and Bar-sur-Aube, and about 

 60 fairs are held in the department annually. Fire-wood and charcoal 

 from the forests in the east and south-east of the department are sent 

 down the rivers to the various towns on their banks and to Paris. 

 The most important articles of commerce besides the tissues of Troyes 

 are corn, wine from the vineyards of Les-Riceys which is exported to 

 the northern departments of France and to Belgium, brandy distilled 

 from grape-pressings and refuse grapes, hemp, wool, sausages, ic. 



Riven. The department ia crossed from south-east to north-west 

 by the Seine, which passes the town of Bar-sur-Seine, where it receives 

 the Ource, Troyes, near which the Barse falls into it, and Nogent. 

 [SF.INE.] The Aabf rises in the south of the department of Haute- 

 Marne, and flowing north enters that of Aube a little south of Clair- 

 vaux, passes the towns of Bar-sur-Aube and Arcis-sur-Aube, whence 

 it turns westward and falls into the Seine at Marcilly on the borders 

 of Harne, after a course of about 124 miles. The Aube is navigable 

 from Arcis-sur-Aube ; its principal feeders are the Aujon, the Voire, 

 on the right bank ; the Landion, the Alliance, and the Auzon on the 

 left. The other rivers are the Laignes, which drains the district of 

 Les-Riceys, and flows north into the Seine ; the Armance, which rises 

 near Chaource, at a little distance from which it turns westward, and 

 passing Ervy falls into the Arman9on, a feeder of the Yonne ; and the 

 Vannes, which rises a little north of Estissac, below which it flows 

 westward, and falls into the Yonne near Sens, in the department of 

 Yonne. 



The climate is mild, rather variable in spring. A good 

 deal of rain falls in the beginning of winter. The air is healthy except 

 near the marshy districts in the west of the department. The plains 

 to the north of Troycg enjoy a dry bracing atmosphere. The prevail- 

 ing winds are the west and south. 



Communication*. A canal is in course of construction to facilitate 

 the navigation of the Seine above Troyes as far as Chatillon. There 

 are 8 state and departmental roads, the whole length of which is 232 

 miles. Troyes, the capital of the department, is connected with Paris 

 by a branch railway through Nogcnt-sur-Seiue to Montereau, where 

 it joins the Paris- Lyon line, the whole distance to Paris being 112 

 miles. The department lie* between the railroads from Paris to 

 Strasbourg and Lyon, which run at no great distance from the 

 northern and southern boundaries respectively. 



Mmeraiayy. Aube is the poorest of the French departments in 

 mineral products. Iron pyrites are found ; an iron mine was worked 

 ner the village of Chennegy as long as it would pay. Building and 



AUBE. 



670 



paving stone, shell-marble, and limestone are quarried. Potters'-clay, 

 marl, and soft chalk from which Spanish white is largely manufac- 

 tured at Troyes, are found at various places. Turf is cut in a few 

 places for fuel. There are a few mineral springs. 



Dirisian and Towns. The department is divided into 5 arrondisse- 

 ments, which, with the number of cantons, communes, and population 

 in each, are as follows : - 



In the first arrondissement the chief town is TROYES, the capital of 

 the department. Ervy, a small town of about 1800 inhabitants, is 

 situated on the right bank of the Armance, 19 miles S.S.W. from 

 Troyes, on the summit of a steep hill which commands fine views 

 towards the south. The town is built on the site of an old moated 

 castle that belonged to the counts of Champagne. It consists of an 

 assemblage of ill-constructed houses separated by means of a nearly 

 circular street from an exterior line of well-built habitations, the front 

 of which looks upon the ditch that surrounded the old castle. This 

 ditch is planted with elms, and forms a pretty walk. Ervy hna an 

 hospital and a gothic church, and numbers among its products linen, 

 canvass, leather, pottery, tiles, and nails. The only remains of the 

 castle of Ervy is an old gate which is reached by a bridge thrown 

 across the moat, and which is now used as a prison. 



The other towns are also small. The following are given as they give 

 names to cantons: Aiz-tn-Otht, 18 miles W.S.W. from Troyes, has 

 manufactures of hosiery, leather, and tiles, and several wool and 

 cattle fairs : population, 1997. ItnuUlij, 9 miles from Troyes on the 

 road from Troyes to Auxerre, is situated in a fertile wine district : 

 population, 800. Etiac, or St.-LiebauU, 18 miles W. from Troyes at 

 the confluence of the Vanne and the Ancre, has a population of 1629. 

 Iron is found near this town. Estissac gave the title of Duke to a 

 member of the house of Rochefoucauld from 1758 : the ducal castle 

 was destroyed in the first French revolution. IsUfigny, 9 miles E. 

 from Troyes in a fertile plain watered by the Barse, and near the 

 forest of Larivour, has a population of 1 1 05. Near it on the right 

 bank of the Barse are the ruins of the Cistercian abbey of Larivour, 

 which was founded by St. Bernard in 1139. Piney, 14 miles E.N.E. 

 from Troyes, has manufactures of ropes and mats from the bark of 

 the lime-tree, and a population of 1506. 



In the second arrondissement the chief town is Arcii-w-Aube, 

 which is situated in 48 32' X. lat., 4 8' E. long., 18 miles N. from 

 Troyee, and has a population of 2792. The town, which is well 

 built with wide, straight, and regular streets, stands well for trade, 

 being situated on the Aube, which here begins to be navigable. Wine, 

 wood, charcoal, corn, and other agricultural produce are the cnief 

 articles of trade. Arcis is the centre of a considerable manufacture 

 of hosiery ; there are also in the town seven cotton factories, an oil-mill, 

 a corn-mill with five pairs of stones, and three dye-houses. The town 

 is an entrepot for the iron and iron-wares of the Vosges. In the 

 castle or chateau, which stands on a hill above the town, queen 

 Brunehaut resided for a time ; it was also the temporary residence of 

 Diam. of Poitiers. In the year 1814 Napoleon, and after him the Czar 

 Alexander, lodged in it. During the severe action fought near Arcis 

 on the 20th of March 1814, between a large Austro-Russian force and 

 the French, commanded by Napoleon in person, about a third of the 

 town was reduced to ashes. The result of this hard fought battle 

 was that Napoleon retreated on the following day upon Vitry. A 

 well attended com market is held in Arcis weekly, on Friday. 



Among the other towns the following give names to cantons : 

 Chavanga, 20 miles E. from Arcis, has manufactures of coarse cottons, 

 and a population of 1098. Mfry-tur-Sdne, 12 miles W. from Arcis, is 

 situated on the Seine, and has a population of 1828. Hosiery and 

 cotton yarn are the chief fabrics of the town, which is the centre of 

 a great honey district containing above 3000 hives ; the town was 

 reduced to ashes at the close of an action fought here, February 22, 

 1814, but has been since neatly rebuilt. Ramerupt, 8 miles E. from 

 Arcis, Is a small but ancient village with about 600 inhabitants. 



In the third arrondissement the chief town is Nogent-sur-Seme, 

 which is situated 35 miles by railway N.W. from Troyes : population 

 3383. The Seine is here divided into two branches by an island on 

 which part of the town is built. The town is well-built and has 

 several fine promenades, from which there is a good prospect of the 

 valley of the Seine. The parish church, a large structure of the 15th 

 century, is dedicated to St. Laurent, a colossal statue of whom is 

 placed on the summit of the tower. There are a tribunal of first 

 instance, an hospital, a theatre, and several corn-mills in the town, 

 which has a good trade in corn, flour, wine, vinegar, timber, charcoal, 

 slates, hemp, &c. ; hosiery and cordage are the chief fabrics. Nogent 

 is a station on the railroad from Montereau to Troyes. An English 



