( in:::. 



CHERBOURG. 



i 



UM toil cotuuU of a hungry mad that yield* litUe else than berth 

 0.1 broom. In the couth and south-west the Uod is tolerably good, 

 tat bore and in the centre of the department there i* a great number 

 of pood* and manhe*. The extant of natural pasturage and moor- 

 land throughout the department ii very oonnderable. 



The river Or, from which the department i* named, rue* east of 

 AubuMoa in the department of Cnuce, on the border* of which, 

 baring received the Tank* from the left, it crone* the north-went of 

 the department of Allier, and running north Mparatc* Allier from 

 Cher, in thi* part of iU ooune taking in the water* of the Aumanoe 

 from the right ; turning from the boundary a few mile* couth of St- 

 Amand it run* north-wort through the departtneDt of Cher to the 

 neighbourhood of Vienon, where it receive* the Arnon from the left 

 an! the Ycrre from the right, and begin* to be navigable. Below 

 Vienon it turn* we*t and enter* the department of Loir-et-Cher, 

 taking in the Sauldre a little below Selle* on the right bank ; hence 

 iU course i* generally west to it* junction with the Loire a little below 

 Tour*, after a ooune of about 200 mile*. The Cher i* subject to 

 flood*, which sometime* rise 16 feet above the usual level of iU 

 surface, and a* the ground* in the lower part of it* ooune along the 

 right bank are low, it* inundation* are often attended with great 

 destruction, notwithstanding that dyke* have been erected along the 

 right bank for 17 mile* from it* junction with the Loire. The Loire 

 and the Allier, both of which are navigable, form the eastern boun- 

 dary. The most northern part of the department i* drained by the 

 Grand Sauldre and Petit Sauldre, which to the east and north-east of 

 Bourge* respectively flow north-west, and uuitc beyond the western 

 boundary to form the Sauldre. 



The department is traversed by the Canal du Due de Bern, called 

 also Canal du Cher, which runs along the left bank of the Cher from 

 Montlucon in the department of Allier to St-Amand ; hence it enters 

 the valleys of the Marmande, the Ycvre, and the Auron, passing 

 Bourges, and joins the Cher again at Vierzon. A branch joins thia 

 canal to the lateral Canal of the Loire, which runs from Digoin to 

 Brian, where the Canal du Loing commences, uniting the Loire and 

 the Seine. The department is crossed by the railroad from Orleans 

 to St-Etienne, which passes through Vierzou and Bourges ; it thence 

 runs eastward to Never*, and then south up the valley of the Allier 

 to Moulin* and Varenne, in the department of Allier. All this part 

 of -the railway U now (March, 1854) open ; the section between 

 Varenne and Roanne when finished will complete the line. A branch 

 railway from Vierzon run* south-west to Chateauroux in the depart- 

 ment of Indre. The common road- way accommodation is by 8 national 

 and 21 departmental roads. 



The whole surface of the department contains 1,779,060 acres. Of 

 this area 916,000 acres are capable of cultivation, 274,958 are natural 

 grass-land, 31,820 are under vineyards, 291,100 under woods and 

 forests, and 155,183 under heaths, ponds, and marshes. The common 

 bread-studs are grown in sufficient quantity for the consumption. 

 Hemp i* extensively cultivated; the annual produce is 14,760 cwts. 

 This department supplies the wine from which the beet Orleans 

 vinegar is made. The annual yield of the vineyards is only 5,500,000 

 gallon*. Other articles of produce are fruits, flax, chestnuts, truffle*, 

 Ac. Hones, goats, pigs, and sheep are numerous ; the wool of the 

 sheep is esteemed for its fineness. Game, bees, and poultry abound. 



Iron and coal mine* are worked ; and marble, building, and mill 

 tone are extensively quarried. Manganese, lithographic stone, 

 gypsum, porcelain, and fuller's clay are found. There are fifteen blast- 

 furnaces and thirty forges, in which the smelting of the ore and its 

 conversion into malleable iron and ateel is effected near the mines, 

 chiefly by means of charcoal supplied from the neighbouring forests. 

 It is probable however that the spread of railroads and the recent 

 lowering of the duty on imported coals have led to the substitution of 

 better fuel in these metallurgic establishments. The other indus- 

 trial products an coarse cloth, drugget, canvass, nails, cutlery, porcelain, 

 saltpetre, oak-stave*, cotton and woollen yarn, to. The commerce ol 

 the department consists of the agricultural and industrial products 

 mentioned, and of fat cattle, goat-skins, timber, and beech-wood toys. 



The department i* divided into three arrondissements, which, with 

 their subdivisions and population, are as follows : 



starved himself to death, July 22, 1461. JMMtofrflWM ha* 2451 

 inhabitant*, who an engaged in the manufacture of brandy and iron ; 

 then i* an ochre mine near th town. Vifrton, 60 mile* 8. from 

 Orlean*, 19 mile* N.W. from Bourge*, and 89 miles N.E. from Cha- 

 teauroux, with which town* it has communication by railway, stands 

 at the junction of the Yam with the Cher, and ha* about 6000 inha- 

 bitant*, including the whole commune. It i* well and regularly 

 built, and it* site on a navigable river and canal among vine-clad hill* 

 and vast meadow* i* very delightful, and present* a most agreeable 

 contrast with the dismal region, well named La Trute Sologne, which 

 ies north of Vienon, and i* traversed in coming here from Orleans. 

 The bouse* are mostly covered with slates. Vienon i* a place of 

 great and 'increasing commercial activity. Cloth, >erge, iron-ware, 

 losiery, porcelain, and leather are manufactured ; great quantities of 

 .he best iron of Bern are manufactured at the furnace* and the forge* 

 near the town. 



2. In the second arrondissement the chief town is Sancerrt, near 

 lie left bank of the Loire, an ill-built place, but prettily situated on a 

 lill, the sides of which are covered with vines. It is 28 miles N.E. 

 From Bourges, and ha* 3483 inhabitant*, a college, tribunal of first 

 uatance, manufacture* of hosiery and leather, and a considerable 



trade in corn, cattle, wool, and marble raised from the neighbouring 

 quarries. Aultiyny, N.W. of Soncerre, is a wretched, ugly, ill-built 

 town, with 2176 inhabitants and a large market for wool. Ifenriche- 

 monl, formerly called oi-bclle, is a pretty and well-built town a few 

 miles W. from Saucerre, with 3018 inhabitants ; in the centra of the 

 town is a spacious square in which the four main streets meet ; the 

 bouses are all built of brick ; the town has cloth-factories, tanneries, 

 and a large wool-market Itoy-le-Prf, 17 miles from Sanoerre, has 

 blast-furnaces, forges, and iron-foundries, and 2703 inhabitant*. 



3. In the third arrondissement the chief town is Si. -A mand-Moitt- 

 rond, which has a tribunal of first instance, a college, and 8158 

 inhabitants, including the whole commune. [AMAND, ST.] CMttaa- 

 M i ill a nl, in the south of the department, has a population of 2711, 

 and a very ancient castle. C/ultcauncuf-tur-C her, on an island formed 

 by the Cher, has 2219 inhabitants, who trade in wine, horses, and 

 cattle ; there is a wire-drawing factory and an ancient ruined castlo 

 in the town. Dun-lt-Iloi, N. of St-Amand, on the right bank of the 

 Auron, a feeder of the Y6vre, was formerly a very important town 

 defended by walls and a strong citadel ; but it seems never to have 

 recovered its capture in the reign of Charles VIL by the English, who 

 pillaged the town and burned the suburbs: the population is 40U7. 

 Large cattle fairs are held in Dun-le-Roi. Guerche, on the Aubois, a 

 feeder of the Loire, has 2090 inhabitants, and smelt-furnaces, which 

 produce metal of the best quality. Ligniirtt, in the beautiful valley 

 of the Arnou, and near the large pond or rather lake of Villiers, has 

 2200 inhabitants, and an old castle rich in historical associations. 

 Sancoiiu, near the source of the Aubois, has 2464 inhabitants, who 

 trade in corn, wood, cattle, gypsum, lithographic stones, *c. 



The department forms, together with that of Indre, the archiepis- 

 copal see of Bourges ; it is within the circuit of the High Court and 

 University of Bourges, and is included in the 19th Military Division, 

 of which Bourges is head-quarters. 



CHERBOURG, a sea-port town, naval station, and fortress of the 

 first class, is situated on the north coast of the peninsula of Cotoutiu, 

 in the department of Manche, in France, at a distance of 75 miles 

 due 3. from the Needles and the Isle of Wight, 213 miles W. by N. 

 from Paris, and has 24,212 inhabitants, including the whole commune. 

 It stands at the mouth of the Divette, which falls into the bay lying 

 between Cape Levi on the east and Cape la Hague on the west The 

 streets are narrow and dirty ; the houses are built of stone and roofed 

 with slate*, which ore got from quarries near the town. The only 

 objects deserving of mention besides those connected with the harbour 

 are the old tower, which formed port of the ancient fortifications, the 

 church near it, and the Cliapelle-de-Notre-Dame-du-Vocu, first erected 

 by the empress Maude on a spot called Chantereyne, outside the town 

 and close to the dockyard ; the public library ; the collection of pic- 

 tures in the town-hall ; and the theatre. 



The commercial port at the mouth of the Divette consists of an 

 outer harbour, which communicates with the sea by a channel 656 

 yards long, 55 yards wide, and with a depth of 20 feet at low water ; 

 and of a basin, closed by flood-gates, in which vessels are kept always 

 afloat The harbour is lined with quays ; on the eastern side of the 



1. In the first arrondisMment the chief town is Bocnoia. Oracry 

 an ill-built town, 20 mile* N.W. from Bourge*, ha* 3075 inhabitants 

 near it then i* a Druidical alUr, consisting of a Urge stone slab 

 inclining to the north supported by three other slab*, and surrounded 

 except toward* the couth, by twenty-one huge stone*. St. -Martin 

 tTAujiiyny, 10 mile* from Bourge*, ha* 2318 inhabitant*. Mfhun-nu- 

 Ylvrt stands in a very fertile district near the Yevre, and on the 

 railroad from Vienon to Bourge*, and ha* 3333 inhabitants. Th< 

 town is very ancient ; near it an the ruin* of the old castle in which 

 Charle* VII. lived with Ague* Son), and in which he subsequently 



outer harbour is the old arsenal, and east of the jetty which forms 



Ing establishment 

 The naval harbour, which U better than half a mile N.W. from the 



the channel is a large bathiii 



river's mouth, is excavated out of the solid rock ; it has a depth of 

 52 feet at high water, and is large enough to contain fifteen vessels of 

 the line. To the south of the harbour are dry docks, and n.mi.l 

 these four slips for luiil.ling the largest ships, two slips for frigates, 

 beside* powder magazine*, barracks, forges, furnaces, workshops, a 

 large timber-shed, and various other establishments necessary to a 



upon 

 forts and redoubts on built, 



The triangular bay opening to the north of these harbours l'nii < 

 the Cherbourg Roads, which are capable of holding 400 large vessels, 



