EURE-ET-LOIK. 



EURE-ET-LOIR. 



978 



takes his title, and near which he has a large mansion surrounded by 

 a fine park. Broglie was formerly called Chambraie. 



5. Of the fifth arrondissement the chief town, Pont-Audemer, 40 

 miles N.W. from Evreux, is prettily situated on. the left bank of the 

 Rille, which here becomes navigable. It is surrounded with walls and 

 wet ditches. The streets are regular, well built, and kept clean by 

 running streams. The town has public baths, a small theatre, and 

 5497 inhabitants, who manufacture hosiery, glue, harness, and cotton- 

 yarn ; it has 40 tan-yards, 12 currieries, and 12 establishments for 

 dressing sheep-skins and glove-leather. There is also some trade in 

 corn, cider, flax, hides, &c. Beuzeville, W. of Pont Audemer, has 

 brick-kilns, oil-mills, and 2610 inhabitants, who trade in corn, horses, 

 cattle, and sheep, for the sale of which large fairs are held. CormeMes, 

 near the Calonne, a feeder of the Touque, on the old Roman road from 

 Lisieux to Lillebonne, has 1373 inhabitants. Quillebceuf, on a pro- 

 montory which juts out into the Seine, and on the extremity of which 

 stands its massive church-tower and lighthouse, is a small place of 

 only 1447 inhabitants. The port of Quilleboeuf is important as a place 

 of anchorage for large vessels making for Rouen, which here unload 

 part of their cargoes ; and as a station for pilots, who are indispen- 

 sable to guide ships through the shifting sandbanks in this part of 

 the river. Henri IV. threw some fortifications round Quilleboeuf, 

 granted it several privileges, and called it Jfenriqueville, intending to 

 make it the rival of Havre. The bore at the mouth of the Seine is 

 observed to great advantage from this place. [BoRE ; SEINE.] Routot 

 and t-'.-George's-du-Viilvre are small places of a little over 1000 

 inhabitants each, which give name to the other cantons. 



The 'lepartment forms the see of the Bishop of Evreux, is comprised 

 in the jurisdiction of the High Court of Rouen, and belongs to the 

 2nd Military Division, of which Rouen is head-quarters. 



(Dictitmnaire df fa France ; Annuaire pour VAn 1853.) 



EURE-ET-LOIR, a department in France, is bounded N. by the 

 department of Eure, N.E. and E. by Seine-et-Oise, S. by Loiret and 

 Loir-et-Cher, and W. by the departments of Sarthe and Orne. The 

 department extends from 47 57' to 48 56' N. Lit, and from 47' 

 to 2 E. long. Its length from north to south is 68 miles; its breadth 

 varies from 57 to 36 miles. The area is 2208'7 square miles, and the 

 population in 1851 was 294,892; which gives 133'51 to the square 

 mile, being 41'20 below the average per square mile for all France. 



It is formed out of portions of the old provinces of Orldanais and 

 Maine. The districts of Orldanais included in the department are 

 eauce, which covers all the east and part of the south of the depart- 

 ment, and a portion of which about the city of Chartres took the name 

 of Chartrain ; and Dunoit in the south-west, of which Chateau-Dun 

 was the capital. The west of the department, including the arron- 

 dissement of Nogent-le-Rotrou, and a portion of that of Dreux, consists 

 of a part of Ifaut-Perche and Perche-Thimerais, districts of Maine, which 

 had Nogent-le-Rotrou and Chftteau-Neuf for their respective capitals. 



The department lies high upon the watershed between the Bay of 

 Biscay and the English Channel. The surface is in general level, the 

 Beauce districts (which include part of the plateau of Orldans) consist 

 of high and extensive plains destitute of watercourses, springs, and 

 trees ; but the south and west of the department are more diversified, 

 and present hills, well-watered valleys, and in some places ponds and 

 marshes. The city of Chartres which stands on the plain of Beauce 

 is 5 1 7 feet above the level of the sea, and the highest points in the 

 department exceed this but little. The department takes its name from 

 the two rivers that drain it the Eure described in last article, and the 

 Loir which rises in the department and drains its south-western 

 districts, receiving the Thironne, the Ozanne, the Conie, and the Yere. 

 [LoiR-ET-CHER.] The only other river is the Huisne, or Huine, a feeder 

 of the Sarthe, which just enters the west of this department and passes 

 Nogcnt-le-Rotrou. [ORNE.] None of these rivers is navigable in the 

 department of Eure-et-Loir, but their water power is made to drive the 

 machinery of a large number of corn and other mills. A canal from 

 Pontgouin to the aqueduct of Maintenon connects the upper part of 

 the Eure at Pontgouin with the lower part of the same river at 

 Maintenon. The canal is about 20 miles long. The aqueduct was origi- 

 nally designed to convey the waters of the Eure to Versailles, but the 

 design was given up ; and the aqueduct, a vast pile, is fast going to decay. 



The greater portion of the department lies on the chalk that sur- 

 rounds the basin of Paris, the south-eastern district is occupied by 

 the formations that overlie the chalk. The soil is for the most part 

 clayey, mixed with a small quantity of sand : in some parts the clay is 

 mixed with a calcareous earth, in others with large flints. In the west 

 and south-west the soil is in many parts hungry sand covered witli 

 heath and furze, the ashes of which are used for manure. The land 

 in all the eastern and southern parts is fertile, well cultivated, and 

 admirably adapted for growing wheat. The corn produced in these 

 districts (and especially that grown in the Chartrain) is of the best 

 quality ; it ig for the most part sent for the supply of Paris, Beauce 

 having been at all times considered the granary of that capital. The 

 corn market of Chartres is one of the most important in France. In 

 the Perche districts, the culture of bread-stuffs is joined to that of 

 applia for making cider, which is more agreeable than the cider of 

 Normandy, but not so strong. Here the fields are divided by hedge- 

 rows, and the country having vineyards on the hill sides, and a consi- 

 derable number of trees, is called the ' covered country' to distin"- u i sa 



GKOO. DIV. VOL. II. 



it from the bare plains of Beauce. The produce of Perche is sold in 

 Chateau-Dun which has a large corn market. Besides wheat, rye, 

 barley, oats, leguminous plants, onions, teazles, weld, flax, hemp, &c., 

 are grown. Hops grow spontaneously in some districts of this depart- 

 ment. Oak and birch are the prevailing trees of the forests. Horses 

 well adapted for posting are bred by the farmers of the arrondisse- 

 ment of Nogent-le-Rotrou, which consists almost entirely of the 

 highlands of Perche. Horned cattle are deficient in numbers, owing 

 to the small extent of grass land ; sheep valued for the fineness of 

 their wool, pigs, and poultry are numerous and abundant. Of game 

 there are hares, rabbits, red and gray partridges, plovers, lapwings, 

 &c. The rivers contain carp, trout, pike, and crayfish. 



The villages and hamlets of Beauce are built of clay and thatched, 

 and are in general far apart. In Perche they are built of clay and 

 stone, and covered with tiles, staves, or sometimes with heath ; but in 

 this district the hamlets are very numerous. The people of the plains 

 are called Beaucerons ; the people of Perche are called Percherons. 

 The peasants of both districts commonly wear the blouse and the 

 heavy sabots. The costume of the women of Perche is neat and 

 picturesque; the women of Beauce, though clothed in more costly 

 stuffs, are not distinguished for taste in their costume. In the Beauca 

 district the peasant women work in the fields. 



The department is essentially agricultural, with the exception ot 

 the arrondissement of Dreux, in which the manufactures are very 

 important. The number of wind- and water-mills for the manufacture 

 of flour is 684, and 400 of these are driven by the waters of the Eure 

 and the Loir. Along the course of the Avre or Aure in the arrou- 

 dissement of Dreux there are important paper-mills belonging to the 

 Messrs. Firruin-Didot. There are also numerous other paper-mills, 

 tanning- and fulling-mills, cider-mills, cotton-spinning factories, several 

 iron blast-furnaces, forges, and foundries (which are supplied with ore 

 partly from the mines of this department, and partly Irorn those of 

 Eure), and 526 factories and workshops of different kinds. Besides the 

 articles indicated, flannel, serge, drugget, nails, blankets, linen, sieves, 

 and woollen hosiery are manufactured and exported. A great number 

 of caps are knitted of the fine wool of Beauce or of Spain, and sent to 

 Orleans, where they are dyed of different colours, and form an im- 

 portant article of export. The imports are wine, brandy, timber, 

 wool, cloth, colonial produce, &c. Iron mines are worked in the 

 north-west of the department. Stone, marble, granite, and gypsum 

 are quarried. Lime is burned. Marl is very abundant, and is used 

 for manure. Brick-earth and potters'-clay aro found. Peat is dug 

 for fuel in the iron districts at the source of the Blaise, a feeder of 

 the Eure, and in a few other districts. There are mineral springs 

 near Chartres, and in the park of Ferte'-Vidame. 



The surface measures 1,413,575 acres. Of arable land there are 

 1,075,634 acres, of grass Jand 55,801 acres, of woods and forests 

 138,918 acres, of orchards, nurseries, and gardens, 14,782 acres, of 

 vineyards 12,605 acres, and of heath and marsh land 13,900 acres. 

 The amount of wheat exported to Paris and Orleans from the Beauce 

 district alone in ordinary years is 412,500 quarters. The annual 

 produce of wine is only 2,332,000 gallons ; it is all of ordinary quality 

 and consumed at home. Of cider the ordinary produce is about 

 3,850,000 gallons. 



The department is crossed by 8 national and 7 departmental roads. 

 The Paris-Orleans railroad runs for some miles along the south- 

 eastern boundary. The Paris-Brest railroad crosses the centre of 

 the department, passing through Chartres, La-Loupe, and Nogent-le- 

 Rotrou; thus far the road is open. From Nogent the line runs 

 south-west to Le-Mans in the department of Sarthe, whence another 

 line running northward to Caen is met by a branch from La-Loupe 

 between Alenjon and Seez. 



The climate is healthy ; the temperature is not subject to sudden 

 changes. The heat of summer ia seldom oppressive ; the winters are cold 

 and dry; fogs are not unfrequent; a good deal of snow falls in the 

 winter ; and the crops often sutler from hailstorms. The prevailing winds 

 are the east and west. The west wind blows at times with such vio- 

 lence as to carry sea-birds into the middle of the plains of Beauce. 



The department is divided into 4 arrondissements, which, with 

 their subdivisions and population, are as follows : 



1. The first arrondissement has Chartres for its chief town, which is 

 described in a separate article. [CHARTRES.] Among the other towns 

 we notice briefly the following, with the remark that the population iu 

 every case is that of the commune. Auneau is a small place E. of 

 Chartres, with some hosiery manufactures and 1652 inhabitants. 

 J}retigny. f ?, village 5 miles S.E. from Chartres, gave name to the treaty 

 (136^ by which Edward III. resigned his claim to the throue of 

 i'rance, but obtained the independent sovereignty of all the south- 

 west of France, from the Loir to the Pyrcnues, and by virtue of 



3 u 



