CHABEXTF-. 



rllARElTTE INFERIEtTRR. 



m 



The department is tnuraned by 6 national and 9 

 roads, and by on* military road. The Paris-Bordeaux railway, through 

 irleuu tad Tour*. UU,rr 60 mile, of iUUngth in this department, 

 which it rntm between KufiVc and Civrsy on lie north, and running 

 south put AngouUme CTOSMS the extreme southern boundary of 

 Cbarent* a little aouth of Chalai*. 



The d.-partuient contain* 1,468.201 acres, of which 917,108 acne 

 an under tillage and meadow* ; 246.861 under vineyards ; 1 W5.S65 are 

 covered with wood* and forests, and 89,967 acne with heath*, marshes, 

 and waters. The annual quantity of bread-stufl* and potato** pro- 

 dueed amount to 516,000 quartan, of oat* 48,000 quarter*, ana of 

 chestnuts 36,000 quarter*. Of wine 25,344,000 gallon* are produced, 

 none of which is in high repute ; the wine-growers apply themselves 

 more to the distillation of brandy than to the improTement of their 

 wines, each nnananirn a atill, and superintending the process of dis- 

 tillation on hi* own premises. The faniou* Cognao brandies, called 

 'due* Champagne* de Cognac' (of which not more than 6000 butt* are 

 produced annually, but the quantity aold under the name exceed* 

 15,000 butu), are distilled from the juice of a white grape called 

 'folle blanche'; brandie* made from red wine* are considered greatly 

 inferior. T ruffian are very abundant ; it i* calculated that the quantity 

 annually brought to market produce* about 300,000 franc*. Saffron 

 i* cultivated. A great number of pig* are fattened, and cattle for the 

 Pari* market ; poultry i* good and plentiful. The climate ia agreeable 

 and temperate, and the air is pure ; strong winds from the west and 

 oath-west sometime* prevail 



Hiues of iron, lead, and antimony are worked; a good deal of 

 bar-iron aud iteel are manufactured ; building atone, gypeum, and 

 grinding atone are found. Next to brandy, paper i* th most im- 

 portant article of manufacture; broadcloth, linen, sailcloth, cordage, 

 hats, cork*, oak-staves, hoops, and pottery are also made. There are 

 1444 wind- and water-mills, including paper-mill*, 6 smelting furnaces, 

 and 387 factories of various kinds. The commerce of the department 

 consist* of the agricultural and industrial product* named before, and 

 of oil, nuts, casks, rags, large chestnuts called marrons, tc. 



The department is divided into 6 arrondissements, which, with their 

 subdivisions, are as follow* : 



1. In the first arrondissemeut the chief town U ANOODL*MI. Mdnt- 

 Brtm, 16 mile* K. from Angouleme, on the left bank of the Tardotne, 

 ha* 3200 inhabitants, who manufacture iron and paper. La-Rochr- 

 foueauU, 12 miles N.E. from Angouleme, on the right bank of the 

 Tarduire, which is here crossed by a very ancient bridge, has 2800 inhabit- 

 ants ; close to the town is an old castle, flanked by four round towers, 

 in which the author of ' Les Maximes' was born. Ht.-Amand-de-Bvixc, 

 near the left bank of the Charente ; Blamtac, in a fine corn and grape 

 district, 8. of Angouleme ; Rowllac, N.E. of Augoulcme ; and Rtulle 

 OB the Tomrre (which has a large foundry for iron cannon used by 

 the French navy, a powder-mill, and several blast-furnaces and iron 

 foundries), are the most important of the other towns, having each 

 about 2000 inhabitant*. 



S. In the second arrondissement the chief town it Gognat, which has 

 tribunals of fint instance, and of commerce, a college, several brandy dis- 

 tilleries, and a population of 4118. It stand* in a beautiful and fertile 

 district, on the right bank of the Charente, and i* pretty well built. 

 It b the entepot for the excellent brandies of the neighbouring dis- 

 tricts, has some potteries and tan-yard*, and also a considerable trade 

 in wine, spirits, Unseed, and juniper-berries. The remains of the elm 

 under whioh the Duchess of Angouleme gave birth to Francis I., in 

 1494, are still seen in the park that *urround the old castle above 

 the town. Ckitwmimf, on the left bank of the Charente, has 2886 

 inhabitants; near it ia a grotto containing curious stalactites. Jantae, 

 memorable for the defeat and death of the Prince de Conde in 1669, 

 stands B. of Cognao on the Cbarente, which 1* here crossed by a 

 fin. suspension-bridge ; it ha* large brandy distilleries, and a popula- 

 tion of 8610. Hryovtat, 1 mile* 8. from Cognac, haa 2820 inhabitants, 

 who distil brandy of the best quality. 



I. In the third arrondissement the chief town is R*fee, 27 miles by 

 railway K. from AngouUme, near the junction of the Lieu with the 

 Cnareot*. The town i* well built, has a tribunal of first instance, a 

 oDafe, and 8000 inhabitants, who trad* in com, chestnuts, truffle, 

 cheese, Ac. Near it there i* an extensive forest, and the remains ol 

 s floe old oa.Uo called the Chateau de Broglie. Aifrt, H. of Huffcc, 

 in a district fertile In gropes, corn, flax, and hemp ; MaauU, on the 

 Charmt- ; V.riruil, 4 roue* K. from Ruflec. on the left bank of the 

 CbarenU ; and Vtiltfaynm, 6 m ile* W. from Ruftec, are the chief town* 

 of the other cantons, rach with lea* than 2000 inhabitant*. 



< In the fourth iTninHat*niMit the chief town is Barfaiw, 20 

 mile* 8.8. W. from Angouleme, on the road to Bordeaux ; it has 



tribunal! of first instance and of commerce, manufacture* of linen 

 and leather, and a population of 33*5. Avktttrrr. whioh stands on 

 the slop* of a bill near the Dronne, and ha* a church cut in the rock 

 exactly under tae court-yard of a castle that crowns the summit of 

 the hJl ; Baima, 8 mile* from Barbecsrax ; Gkalau, on the right 

 bank of the Tudo ; *e*l*uret, 8. of Bmrbeaieux ; and Broaae, arc 

 small place* that give names to the other cantons. 



6. In the fifth arraodiaMment the chief town is C'on/ofcw, which 

 stands at tae junction of a small stream, called Uoire, with tbe Vienna ; 

 t has a tribunal of first instance, a college, a public library of 12,000 

 volumes, and 2765 inhabitants, who rear gnat numbers of cattle on 

 the pastures in the neighbourhood, and carry on some trade in limber, 

 oak-staves, and leather. Ckabamau, on tie Visnne; Ckampagnt- 

 Motion, on the little river Argent; St. -Cloud, B. of Confolens, near 

 which there are several iron works ; and Homleotlxftif, are chief towns 

 of the other cantons, with populations generally under 2000. 



The department forms the see of the Bishop of AngouUme, is 

 under tbe jurisdiction of the High Court of Bordeaux, and U included 

 in the 14th Military Division, which has its bead-quarters at Bordeaux. 

 (Dictionnaire de la Frame*; Balbi, Geugnpkit; Stalitltijue <U to 

 Frame* ; Auaire pour I' An 1868.) 

 CHARENTE RIVER. [CHABESTB.] 



CHARENTE-1NFERIEURE, a maritime department on the west 

 coast of France, is named from its geographical position on each side 

 of the Lower Charente. It extends from 45 5' to 46 19' N. lat, 

 from 7' E. to 1 13' W. long. ; and is bounded N. by the depart- 

 ments of Vendee and Deux-Sevres, K. by the department of Charvnte, 

 >. by that of Oironde, and W. by the Bay of Biscay. The greatest 

 length of the department extends from north to south about 85 miles ; 

 the breadth varies from 10 to 50 miles. The area is 2628 square 

 miles, and the population according to the census of 1851 was 469,908, 

 which gives 178-84 to the square mile, being 4*12 above the average 

 per square mile for the whole of France. 



The department comprise* the old province* of Ssiutonge and 

 Auuia, the latter forming the portion between the river Sevre and the 

 mouth of the Charente. The Isle of 1W, whioh is separated from the 

 mainland of the department of Vendee by the channel called Pertuis- 

 Breton ; the Isle of Oleron, 8. of R#, and separted from it by the 

 Pertuis-d'Antioche ; the Isle of Aix, N. of the embouchure of the 

 Charente ; and Isle-sfadame, which commands the entrance to the 

 Charente from the south, are included in this department 



The coast line of the department, including the north-eastern shore 

 of the Oironde, measures 105 miles, and has several good harbours 

 and well-sheltered roadsteads. The coast U low, consisting of salt 

 marshes, partially separated from the sea by sand-hill* liable to be 

 flooded by every tide, and extending a considerable way inland. Of 

 these marshes however a very large extent has been converted into 

 most productive laud ; the sea being shut out by mean* of dikes, and 

 the surface of tbe marshes drained by ffrnrit, in pretty nearly the 

 same way a* the ' polders ' in Holland and Belgium are drained. 

 [AKTWEBP, Province of.] In those to which the sea still has access, a 

 gnat quantity of excellent salt is made. The rest of the depart- 

 ment is level and very fertile. The soil, which consists of a vegetable 

 and sandy mould, resting in most places on chalk, affords excellent 

 pasture for great numbers of cattle, sheep, and horses ; abundant 

 supplies of tbe farm produce mentioned in the preceding article ; and, 

 a vast quantity of wine, in the growth of which Chareutc-Infe'rieuru 

 ranks second among the wine-growing departments of France. The 

 climate is temperate and healthy, except in the low grounds along the 

 coast, in which agues and fevers prevail in summer and autumn. 



The department is drained by the Charente, one of the deepest riven 

 in France, the Boutonne, and the Seugne, described in the preceding 

 article [CBA RENTE]; by the Oiroude, which borders it on the south-west 

 [GIRONDE] ; by the Sevre-Niortaise in tbe north [DECX-SEVRES] ; and 

 by the Seudre, which rising north of Jonzac flows north-west past 

 Saujon, and enter* the Bay of Biscay opposite the Isle of Oleron, and 

 a little north of the Passe de Maumussou. All these are tide riven 

 and navigable, and together with the canal from La-Rochclle to the 

 Sevre-Niortaise, and that from Brouage to Rochefort, afford great 

 facilities for internal and external trade. The department is traversed 

 by 9 royal and 16 departmental roads, besides tbe military road from 

 Saumiir to La-Rochelle. A branch railroad is projected from Poitiers 

 on the Paris-Bordeaux line to the naval harbour of Rochefort. 



The department contain* 1,681,206 acres, of which 812,025 acres 

 re arable ; 196,900 meadow and pasture ; 276,000 under vine* ; and 

 196,217 acres under woods and forests, in which the chestnut, oak, 

 and resinous trees are the most common. Grain of all kinds is pro- 

 duced in quantity more than sufficient for the consumption. The 

 annual produce of wine, as estimated by the government, is 52,668,000 

 gallons, of which about one-third I* used for home consumption ; the 

 remainder is distilled into brandy or exported. None of tbe wine* of 

 the department an of high repute ; the red wines of the right bank 

 of the Charent* rank as third-class vins d'ordinaire ; the white wine 

 grown on tbe left bank and in the eastern part of the arrondissement 

 of La-Rocbelle are converted into brandy and sold a* Cognac, but are 

 greatly inferior to the Champagnes de Cognac, mentioned in the article 

 CHABSHTB. A large quantity of apples, plums, walnuts, peaches, *c. 

 are grown. Other article* of produce are clover and flax-seed, hemp, 



