789 



DOTJBS. 



DOUGLAS. 



790 



the Saone 011 ita left bank at Verdun, after, a course of 211 miles, 

 and a descent of 2605 feet. In its upper course the Doubs flows 

 between pine-clad mountains over a limestone bed, in the cavities of 

 which the clear rapid stream sometimes disappears altogether. On 

 approaching the Swiss frontier in the lower part of the canton of 

 Morteau. the river, increased by numerous streams, forms a flue broad 

 sheet of water, pent in at its northern extremity by the mutual 

 approach of wild rocky precipices on each side, which leave a 

 passage only 27 feet in width ; through this gorge the river dashes 

 perpendicularly down a space of 87 feet, and forms a magnificent 

 cataract, the snowy foam and thundering roar of which strikingly 

 contrast with the gloom and silence of the frowning rocks and dark 

 forests above. This cataract called Le Saut-du-Doubs, or ' the Doubs' 

 Leap,' is the finest in this part of France. A great deal of timber is 

 floated down the river. The navigable reaches of its south-western course 

 form part of the canal from the Rhdne to the Rhine, which, leaving the 

 Saone near St.-Jean-de-Losne and running along the western valley of 

 the Doubs, joins the Rhine near Mulhausen. The only other river 

 worth notice is the Oignon, which rising in Haute-Saone, and flowing 

 due south to near Villers-Sexel, then turns south-west, separating 

 the department of Haute-Saone from those of Doubs and Jura, and 

 enters the Saone just within the department of C6te-d'0r after a 

 course of 68 miles. 



surface of the department contains 1,292,151 acres. About 

 478,900 are more or less capable of cultivation, 301,000 are under 

 woods and forests, 176,000 are mountain pasture, and 254,000 are 

 irreclaimable heaths and marshes. The whole department is divided 

 into four arrondissements, which, with their subdivisions and popu- 

 lation, are as follows : 



1 . In the first arrondissement the chief town is Beaanfon [BESANgon]. 

 Ornani, the only other town worth notice, is prettily situated on the 

 Loue, which is crossed by two stone bridges, at a distance of 10 miles 

 S.E. from Besancon, and has a population of about 3000, including 

 the commune. It is a well-built town. The most remarkable struc- 

 tures are the church of St-Laurent and the town-house, in connection 

 with which are the market-hall and prison. On an elevated platform 

 commanded by high hills, and just outside the town, are the ruins of 

 a strong castle, one of the residences of the old dukes of Bour- 

 gogne. The town has an ecclesiastical college, a large trade in cheese, 

 and manufactures of paper, leather, and kirschwasser, which is distilled 

 from the cherries abundantly grown in the neighbourhood. 



2. In the second arrondissement the chief town is Pontarlier, which 

 stands in a valley between the Jura Mountains, at the junction of the 

 Drageon with the Doubs, 35 miles S.E. from Besancon, in 46 54' 9" 

 N. lat., 6" 21' 37" E. long., and has 4936 inhabitants. It is well built, 

 with neat houses arranged in wide straight streets ; the principal 

 buildings are the cavalry barracks, the college, the market-house, and 

 the town-hall. The town is the seat of a tribunal of first instance, 

 and has a public library, a communal college, large iron-foundries and 

 smelting furnaces, hydraulic saw-mills, a copper-foundry, a brewery, 

 and several lanyards. Besides the products intimated, cheese, cattle, 

 horses, watches, extract of wormwood, paper, and agricultural imple- 

 ments enter into the commerce of the town. ifont-Benoit, a small 

 place 9 miles from Pontarlier, deserves mention only on account of 

 the large buildings of the Benedictine abbey from which it takes its 

 name, and which are classed among the historical monuments of 

 France. The abbey existed from the beginning of the 12th century 

 to the'first French revolution, when it was suppressed. Morteau, a 

 small place of great manufacturing industry, on the left bank of the 

 Upper Doubs ; and Mouthe, near its source, the inhabitants of which 

 are engaged in felling timber and in rearing cattle and horses, are the 

 only other places worth notice. 



3. In the third arrondissement the chief town is Baume, or Baume- 

 fa-Damei, which stands in 47 22' 9" N. lat., 6 21' 43" E. long., on 

 the right bank of the Doubs, and on the Canal du-Rh&ne-au-Rhin, at 

 the extremity of a fine plain inclosed by vine-clad hills. It is a neat 

 little town, and contains a fine church, an hospital, a college, a small 

 public library, and a tribunal of first instance. The population is 

 2544 ; who manufacture iron, glass, paper, leather, &c. From the 5th 

 century to 1789 Baume was celebrated for its Benedictine nunnery, 

 the inmates of which had to give proof of noble descent, and were not 

 cloistered. Clenal, higher up the Doubs ; Isle-tur-Douls, still more 

 to the northward ; Kaugemont, near which there are extensive stalac- 

 titic caverns ; and Vercel, 13 miles E. of Baume, are small places, 

 which give name to some of the other cantons, and have about 1500 

 inhabitants each. 



4. In the fourth arrondissement the chief town Montbelliard, or 

 MontbSliard, stands in the northern angle of the department, in a 

 valley between the Vosges and the Jura Mountains, 48 miles N.E. 



from Besancon, in 47 30' 36" N. lat., (T 48' 19" E. long., and has a 

 tribunal of first instance, a college, and 5605 inhabitants, including 

 the commune. It is situated at the confluence of the Alan and the 

 Lusiue, about three miles north of the point where their united 

 waters enter the Doubs. The town is well built, and ornamented 

 with several fountains : the most remarkable buildings are an old 

 castle flanked by strong towers (which now serves for a prison), the 

 church of St.-Martin, the town-house, the market-house, and the 

 hospital. Watch and clock movements, hosiery, files, cotton-yarn, 

 leather, scythes, and other agricultural implements are manufactured ; 

 there is also a brisk trade in corn, colonial produce, cheese, linen, 

 deals, oak planks and staves, timber, &c. Montbelliard was formerly 

 a place of great strength. It was the capital of a county which, after 

 having formed part of the kingdom of Bourgogne, was included with 

 the latter in the estates of the Emperor Conrad II., but was soon after 

 governed again by its own counts. In 1395 the county came by 

 marriage to the Wiirternberg family. The town was taken by a sur- 

 prise by the French under Marshal de Luxembourg in 1 647 ; Louis XIV. 

 took it in 1674, and demolished the ramparts. The eldest son of the 

 dukes of Wiirtemberg resided in Montbelliard from 1723 till the 

 outbreak of the first French revolution. French troops occupied the 

 town in 1793, and it was ceded with its territory to France by Wiir- 

 temberg in 1796. There is an Anabaptist chapel at Montbelliard. 

 Audincourt, 3J miles from Montbelliard, is a small place of about 2000 

 inhabitants, but it has one of the finest establishments in France for 

 the manufacture of iron, yielding annually 500 tons of pig, 2000 tons 

 of hammered, and 500 tons of sheet iron, besides 20,000 cases of tinned 

 plates. There is a Calviuistic church in Audincourt. The places 

 that give name to the other cantons are mere hamlets. 



The department, together with that of Haute-Saone, forms the 

 arch-diocese of Besancon ; it is under the jurisdiction of the High 

 Court of Besancon, and belongs to the 7th Military Division, of which 

 Besan9on is head-quarters. There is a university academy, an endowed 

 college, and a consistorial church at Besancon. 



(Dictiannaire de la, France; Balbi, Geographic; Annuaire pour 

 I'An 1853.) 



DOUGLAS, the capital of the Isle of Man, a market-town, sea- 

 port, and watering-place, is situated on the south-east coast of the 

 island, in 54 10' N. lat., 4 27' W. long., distant 75 miles N.W. from 

 Liverpool, and 281 miles N.W. from London. The population of the 

 town of Douglas in 1851 was 9880. The town is chiefly in the parish 

 of Onchan, or Conchau : a small portion is in the parish of Braddau, 

 or Kirk Braddan. The livings of both parishes are vicarages in the 

 archdeaconry and diocese of Sodor and Man. 



The name of the town was formerly written Dufglass, which is sup- 

 posed by some to have been derived from the two rivers Doo and 

 Glass, which run close to the town. The view which is obtained on 

 approaching the bay is extremely interesting and beautiful. The bay 

 is about three miles in extent, reaching from Clayhead to Douglas 

 Promontory, in the form of a crescent, and sheltered from all winds 

 except the south-east. Much improvement has taken place in Douglas 

 of late years, especially since the establishment, in 1830, of regular 

 communication by steam-vessels between Liverpool and the Isle of 

 Man. The steamers ply daily in summer and twice a week during 

 the winter. Steamers also ply occasionally to Fleetwood and Dublin. 

 Douglas has become a favourite residence and watering-place. The 

 new town has a well-arranged square and several handsome terraces, 

 and is being extended northwards. The margin of the bay is studded 

 with numerous fine marine villas. Castle Mona, erected by the Duke 

 of Athol, and formerly one of his seats, but now used as an hotel, is a 

 large and handsome building. The pier, which is 520 feet long, and 

 upwards of 40 feet broad, was built by government at the cost of 

 25,000i. 



Among the public buildings may be noticed the court-house on 

 the p:"ir ; the custom-house for the island, an extensive building in 

 the market-place ; the Wellington market, a commodious erection with 

 a large room for public entertainments ; the House of Industry, which 

 affords an asylum for upwards of seventy aged and infirm persons, and 

 is supported by subscriptions and annual collections in the churches ; 

 the Odd-Fellows Hall, a large and elegant structure, erected by a body 

 of shareholders for public dinners, balls, concerts, &c. ; and a public 

 hospital in Fore-street, with a dispensary attached. 



The parish church of Braddan, an ancient structure, was partially 

 rebuilt in 1773. In Keith's ' Catalogue ' it is said that " Mark, bishop 

 of Man, held a synod at Kirk Braddan in 1292, when 39 canons were 

 made." There are 4 chapels, the oldest being St. Matthew's; St. 

 George's is pleasantly situated on an eminence at the west end of the 

 town ; a third is dedicated to St. Barnabas ; the fourth is St. Thomas's, 

 a very handsome edifice recently erected. The Wesleyan Methodists 

 have two chapels, and the Primitive Methodists, Scotch Presbyterians, 

 Independents, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Plymouth Brethren, and 

 Mormonites have each a place of worship. There are National and 

 Infant schools ; a Free Grammar school connected with St. Matthew's 

 chapel ; a school supported by the Wesleyan Methodists ; two savings 

 banks ; a mechanics institute with library ; and four public libraries. 



The manufacture of linen and canvas is carried on to a considerable 

 extent. There are paper, woollen, and rope-works. On the shore are 

 numerous bathing-machines. By an act of the luaular legislature, or 



