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CHARENTE-INFERIEURE. 



CHARENTE-INFERIEURE. 



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saffron, garden beans, which are an article of export, wormwood, Ac. 

 Great numbers of pigs are fattened ; poultry is very abundant ; hares, 

 rabbit*, and winged game are plentiful ; aquatic birds in countless 

 numbers frequent the marshes along the coast ; the pilchard and 

 oyster fisheries are extensive and valuable. 



The industrial activity of the department is considerable. Besides 

 the distillation of brandy, which is generally managed by the farmer 

 on his own premises, and the manufacture of salt, the following indus- 

 trial products, though only of secondary importance, deserve mention : 

 namely, woollen hosiery, shoe and glove leather, fine pottery, vinegar, 

 hoops, oak-staves, and timber. In almost all the ports, but especially 

 at La-Rochelle and Rochefort, ship-building is carried on. The com- 

 merce of the department consists in the products already named, and 

 in colonial produce, batter, oil, bottles, wine-casks, liqueurs, Ac. 

 Ships are fitted out for foreign trade and for the cod fisheries ; the 

 coasting trade ia active ; about 600 fah-s are held in the department 

 yearly. Traces of iron and copper have been found, but no mines of 

 any kind are worked. 



The department is divided into sir nrondissements, which, with 

 their subdivisions and population, are as follows : 



1. In the first arrondissement the chief town is La-Rochdle, the 

 capital of the department and of the former province of Annis. It 

 stands on the north aide of a small inlet (which extends about two 

 miles inland and terminates in a salt-marsh), in 46' 9' N. lat, 1 1(X 

 W. long., 295 miles 8.W. from Paris, and has 14,420 inhabitants, 

 including the whole commune. By the marriage of Eleanor of 

 Guienne and Poitou to Henry II. the town came into the hands of 

 the English kings, from whom it was taken by Louis VIII. in 1224, 

 again ceded to England by the treaty of Bretigny in I860, bat finally 

 recovered for France by Bertrand du Quesclin in 1372. The Hugue- 

 nots held it from 1557 to October 28, 1628, when the garrison reduced 

 by famine surrendered to Louis XIII., who demolished the fortifica- 

 tions. The present defences were erected by Vauban. The entrance 

 to the inlet which forms the outer harbour is defended by forts. The 

 inner harbour, round which the town is built, consists of two basins, 

 both surrounded by fine quays, and one of them is closed by flood- 

 gates, whereby ships are kept constantly afloat. The largest vessels 

 can come up to Rochelle at high water. The town, which is entered 

 by 7 gates, is well built with broad straight streets and houses adorned 

 with porticoes. The finest square is the Place-du-Chateau, three sides 

 of which are planted and serve for promenades. Outside the walls 

 there are two other extensive walking-grounds, called the Du-Mail 

 and Champ-de-Mars. The chief buildings are the cathedral, the 

 town-house, the exchange, the tower called Porte-de-1'Horloge, the 

 marine baths, and the public library, which contains 18,000 volumes. 

 The exports consist of the produce of the department ; the imports 

 chiefly of colonial produce. The town is the seat of a bishop, has 

 tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a college, mint, school of 

 navigation, besides numerous glass-works, sugar-refineries, potteries, 

 ship-building yards, and cotton-yarn factories. Vessels are fitted out 

 here for the Newfoundland fisheries. JUarara, which is situated in 

 a district recovered from the sea, near the confluence of the Vende'e 

 and Sevre-Niortaise, has a tide harbour which admits vessels of 100 

 tons up to the quays, while larger vessels load or unload in a safe 

 roadstead near the mouth of the Sevre. A canal recently cut admits 

 vessels of 300 tons quite up to the town. The town is well built, 

 has 4713 inhabitants, and a very important export trade in corn. It 

 has also large timber-yards and salt-stores, and a good commerce in 

 clover and oleaginous seeds, brandy, flax, hemp, flour, hoops, staves, 

 Ac. Cvurcon and Ln-Jnrrie are small towns with rather more than 

 1000 inhabitants each. 



To this arrondissement belongs also the Igle of Rf, which at its 

 south-eastern extremity approaches within 2J miles of the mainland; 

 on its northern extremity there is a lighthouse called Tour-des- 

 Baleines, anil marking the entrance to the Pertuis- Breton. The isle is 

 17 miles long; in some places 5 miles, in others only 1 mile wide. 

 It has neither gram, nor spring, nor tree ; but 'vines flourish on it, 

 and a great deal of brandy is made ; salt also is manufactured and 

 exported from the numerous harbours of the isle. Filtered sea-water 

 is used for drink. The isle is defended by four forts, and has about 

 16,000 inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in fishing and making 

 wit. The chief towns are Ars-cn-Rt, on the west coast, which has 

 small harbour and 3668 inhabitants ; St.-Hartim-en-Rt, on the east 

 coast, which is fortified, has a tribunal of commerce, and a population 

 of 2617 ; and La-Flotte, which has a harbour for vessels of 300 tons 

 and 2429 inhabitants. 



2. In the second arrondissement the chief town is Rochrfort-sur-Mtr, 



situated partly on a hill and partly on a marsh, on the right bank of 

 the Charente, and 9 miles from its month, in 45 56' 39" N. lat., 

 58' W. long. : population above 20,000. The approach to the town 

 is defended by forts all along the banks of the river. The streets of 

 the town are broad, regularly built, and several of them planted with 

 double rows of acacias and poplars ; the houses are low. The finest 

 buildings are the marine hospital, which stands on a height outside 

 the town, the residence of the port admiral, the bagnio, the civil and 

 military hospital, and more especially the arsenal and naval artillery 

 school, in connection with which are dock-yards, rope-walks, and 

 other establishments for manufacturing everything necessary to the 

 completion of the largest men-of-war, fast sailing-vessels, and steamers. 

 Other remarkable objects are the large saw-mills, the water-works for 

 cleansing the harbour, the theatre, &c. The naval harbour, which 

 ranks as the third harbour of its kind in France, has a depth of 

 22 feet at low water, and 40 feet at full tide. In the part of the 

 harbour allotted to merchantmen, ships of 900 tons can enter at all 

 times. The town is the seat of a maritime prefect, has tribunals of 

 first instance and of commerce, a college, schools of hydrography and 

 of naval medicine, several sugar refineries and vinegar works, aud a 

 large trade in colonial produce and the staple products of the depart- 

 ment. It is surrounded by ramparts which are planted with trees. 

 The importance of Rochefort dates from 1666, when it was made a 

 naval station by Louis XIV. Tonnay-Charente, 10 miles E. from 

 Rochefort, on the right bank of the t'harente, has a safe harbour, 

 into which vessels of 600 tons can enter ; and a population of 3435, 

 who carry on a brisk trade in the products of the country, colonial 

 produce, coal, deals, oak-staves, oil, bricks, Ac. The other towns 

 are Surgtres, which has a population of 2153, and Aiyrefeuille : 

 population, 1688. 



The Itle of Aix, which belongs to the arrondissement of Rochefort, 

 is about half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. It is fertile, 

 has a population of about 500, and is very important on account of 

 its position and fortifications, which command the approach to Roche- 

 fort from the Pertuis-d'Antioche. Here Napoleon went on board an 

 English line-of-battle-ship, July 15, 1815. Ide-Madame, which is 

 situated close to the mouth of the Charente, and is still smaller than 

 the Isle of Aix, is also strongly fortified. 



3. In the third arrondissement the chief town is Marennes, situated 

 on the northern side of the embouchure of the Seudre, on which there 

 is a harbour about half a mile from the town. It is a well-built 

 place, has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and 4469 

 inhabitants, who carry on a brisk trade in the produce of the country, 

 and in salt made in the marshes near the town, which are a source of 

 great profit, but very insalubrious. Royan, a watering-place on the 

 north shore of the Gironde, has a lighthouse, and 2957 inhabitants ; 

 there is regular steam-communication between this place and Bor- 

 deaux. La-Tremblade, on the south side of the embouchure of the 

 Seudre, has a small harbour, and a population of 2551. Brouage, a 

 fortress and sea-port, a few miles N. of Marennes, and on the 

 navigable canal of Brouage before mentioned, is now almost deserted 

 on account of the unhealthiness of the site. 



The Isle of Oleron (the ancient UliariAs), which lies off the coast, 

 between the mouths of the Charente and the Seudre, is included in 

 the arrondissement of Marennes. Its southern point is separated from 

 the mainland by the Passe-de-Maumusson, a strait about 24 miles 

 wide, commanded by a fort. The length of the island is about 19 

 miles, its greatest breadth 5 miles. The isle is traversed in its whole 

 length by a road which terminates at the north-west extremity, near 

 the Chassiron lighthouse, at the entrance of the Pertuis-d'Autioche. 

 It is very fertile, yielding all the products mentioned in this article, 

 and has a population of 16,000. The western coast is bold, and witL- 

 out harbours. On the south-east of the isle, opposite Brouage, ia the 

 town of Oleron or Ckdteau-d' Oleron, which has a harbour, distilleries, 

 rope-walks, ship-building yards, and 3135 inhabitants. St.-fierre, 

 which stands near the centre of the island, has a tribunal of commerce, 

 and a population of 4769. 



4. In the fourth arrondissement the chief town is Saintes, the 

 capital of the former province of Saintonge, which stands on a hill 

 above the left bank of the Charente, 43 miles S.E. from Rochelle, in 

 45 44' 40" N. lat., 38' W. long., and has 10,000 inhabitants. The 

 appearance of the town from whatever side it is approached is very 

 picturesque ; but the interior consists of crooked streets, and gene- 

 rally ill-built houses. The former cathedral, the churches of St.- 

 Eutrope and Sainte-Marie-des-Dames, are the most remarkable 

 buildings. The town is the seat of the court of assize for the depart- 

 ment, of tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and possesses a 

 college, public library, theatre, cabinets of natural history, antiquities, 

 and natural philosophy. The departmental nursery is close to the 

 town. Woollens, hosiery, pottery, shoe and glove leather, and wine- 

 casks are the chief industrial products ; there is also a good trade in 

 corn, brandy, timber, wool, &c. Saintes is the Roman Mediolanum ; 

 in the time of Ausonius it was called Santones, from the people whose 

 capital it was, and hence the modern name. Of ancient remains the 

 most interesting are tlie Roman baths, amphitheatre, and a triumphal 

 arch which bears inscriptions dedicatory to Germanicus, Tiberius, 

 and Drusna. Roman thermae were discovered iu 1851 in this town, 

 with the wall-paintings in parts still fresh and perfect. Pom, 14 



