BEL 



179 



BEL 



south of Mons, and eight and three-quarter miles from 

 Baisieux on the W.S.W. to Jernmapes on the west of Mons. 

 The second coal-field on the east of Mons extends ten and 

 five-eighth miles from Saint Denis on the west to Chapelle 

 les Herlaimont on the east ; and fifteen miles from Ville- 

 sur-Haine on the N.W. to Thuin on the S.E : thirty-four 

 pits are wrought in this field, and 142 in that west of Mons. 



The third coal-field in this province is the most extensive, 

 and it stretches into the adjoining province of Nanmr. The 

 town of Charleroi stands in the centre of this coal district, 

 which extends in Hairault from Fontaine-l'Eveque on the 

 west to the boundary line on the east, a distance of thirteen 

 and one-eighth miles ; and from Fleurus on the north to 

 Jamioulx on the south, about ten miles. The part of this 

 field which is in Namur is in the form of a triangle, the base 

 of which extends from Falisotte on the south to Velaine on 

 the north, a distance of nearly three and three-quarter 

 miles. The vertex of this triangle is between Mozet and 

 Maizaret, so that it is nearly fifteen miles. The whole coal 

 district of Hainault traverses the middle part of the pro- 

 vince from E.N.E. to W.S.W. in a belt about five miles in 

 breadth. 



The soil, which in each of the provinces consists almost 

 entirely of clay and sand, has for the most part been rendered 

 fertile by a due admixture of both these elements. Agri- 

 cultural industry is carried to a great extent in the king- 

 dom, and the cultivators have availed themselves of every 

 advantage within their reach for increasing their produc- 

 tions. The extent of cultivation in each province will be 

 seen in the following table, taken from the Annuaire de 

 fObservatoire de Bruxelles pour Ian 1835, compiled by 

 Mons. Quetelet, from otlicial documents : 



It appears from this statement, that about nine-elevenths 

 of the whole surface of the country are under cultivation. 

 Even of the uncultivated land, which amounts to no more 

 than 15 per rent, of the whole area, a considerable part is 

 occupied by forests, and is therefore productive. A part of 

 the uncultivated surface is also occupied by towns, roads, 

 and canals. In England only six-tenths of the land has 

 been brought under cultivation. 



Stivers, Canals, $c. The principal rivers of Belgium are 

 the Maese, or Meusc, and the Scheldt. The first, which has 

 its source in the department of Haute Marne in France, 

 enters Belgium about a mile from Givet, in the province of 

 Namur. It flows first to the north as far as Hastiere-par- 

 dela, about seventeen and a half miJes south of Namur ; it 

 then turns to the north-east, and afterwards resuming its 

 north course, flows to Namur, where its direction is again 

 changed to E.N.E. The Maese quits the province of Na- 

 mur at Huy, and continues the same course to Liege, when 

 it again takes a more northerly direction to Maestricht in 

 Limbourg, which province it enters at Navagne, and quits 

 the Belgian territory between AVessem and Stevenswaardt. 



In its course, as here described, the Maese is increased by 

 the waters of the Sambre, which joins its left bank at Na- 

 mur. and those of the Houyon on the left, and the Mehaigne 

 on the right at Huy. It is joined by the Ourthe on the 

 right, and the Legie on the left at Liege, and by the Ber- 

 winne on the right at Navagne ; by the Geer or Jaar on 

 the left, and the Geule on the left at Maestricht, and just 

 before it quits the Belgian territory it is joined by the Geleen 

 near Stevenswaardt. The Maese is navigable through the 

 whole of its course in Belgium ; below Liege the passage is 

 rendered difficult by shilling sand-banks. It U crossed by 

 a stone bridge of six arches at Dinant, and by another of 

 nine arche? at Namur. At Liege a stone bridge unites the 

 two parts of the .town which stand on opposite sides of the 

 river. 



The Scheldt has likewise its source in France, ahout one 

 and a quarter mile south-east of Casteiet, in the department 

 of L'Aisne. It enters Belgium immediately after its con- 

 fluence with the Scarpe, about twelve miles south of Tour- 

 nay in Hainault. Its course is N.N.W. to Tournay, which 

 town it divides into two parts ; it then turns more to the 

 north, and at the end of seven and a half miles, at Herinnes, 

 forms the boundary-line between Hainault and East Flan- 

 ders ; it leaves the former province at Escamaffles, and be- 

 comes the common boundary of West and East Flanders to 

 the north-eastern extremity of the commune of Berchem, 

 when its course is altered to N.N.E., and it passes through 

 East Flanders to Ghent. At this town the course of the 

 river turns east, in which direction it continues to Dender- 

 mond, where the Scheldt again becomes the boundary of 

 two provinces, and divides East Flanders from Antwerp. 

 Its course again changes at Dendermond to N.N.E., and at 

 Antwerp it turns to N.W., in which direction it flows until 

 it quits the Belgian territory between Zeeland and North 

 Brabant, and joins the acstuary of the West Scheldt at the 

 point of its junction with the East Scheldt opposite the 

 south-eastern end of the island of Zuid-Beveland. 



In its course through Belgium the Scheldt receives the 

 waters of the Lys on the left at Ghent, and those of the 

 Durme on the left at Thielrode, two leagues N.E. of Den- 

 dermond ; it is afterwards joined on the right by the Dender 

 at Dendermond, and by the Rupel nearly opposite Rupel- 

 mond, seven and a half miles S.S.W. of Antwerp. 



The Scheldt is navigable throughout its whole course in 

 Belgium, and indeed as far as Cambray in France, 1 95 miles 

 from the sea. The navigation is rendered somewhat diffi- 

 cult for large vessels at the mouths of the river by sand-banks. 

 At Antwerp the mean depth of the river at low-water is .12 

 feet, and its width 480 yards: the rise of the tide at this 

 city is 16 feet. The water is brackish as high up as Fort 

 Lillo. Opposite Antwerp it is quite fresh, but too muddy 

 to drink. In spring-tides the water Hows at the rate of 

 three miles an hour, but only at half that rate during neap 

 tides : the tide flows as high ns Ghent, 100 miles from the 

 mouth of the river. From the nature of the country, there 

 being no hills to break the force of the winds, they have a 

 very sensible effect in increasing or diminishing the tides, 

 causing a difference in this respect of three or four feet in 

 the height of the water in different conditions of the 

 weather. 



In addition to the two principal rivers and those of their 

 affluents which have been described, Belgium is watered by 

 other streams, some of which require notice, but as descrip- 

 tions of them will necessarily be given in connexion with 

 the provinces in which they occur, it does not appear neces- 

 sary to do more than mention them here. 



The Ourthe rises in the Ardennes from two sources, 

 which are more than twelve and a half miles apart. The two 

 branches join at Houffalize in Luxembourg, and become 

 navigable at Laroche, in Liege having previously been 

 augmented by two smaller streams, the Aine and the Logne. 

 It joins the Maese at the town of Liege, as already men- 

 tioned. The Vesdre has its source in the Grand Duchy of 

 the Lower Rhine, and enters Liege near the town of Lim- 

 bourg. Flowing to the west it falls into the Ourthe at 

 Chcnee, near to the town of Liege. The Ambleve also 

 rises in the Prussian territory, enters Belgium near Stavelot, 

 in the province of Lk'ge, and joins the Ourthe near to 

 Comblain-au-Pont in the same province. The Mehaign 

 rises in Namur, and discharges itself into the Maese on its 

 right bank at Statte, near to Huy in Lige. The Geer or 

 Jaar rises in the district of Waremme in Liege, and falls 

 into the Maese at Maestricht. 



The Sambre has its source in France, in the Forest of La 

 Haye Cartigny, in the department de 1'Aisne. It enters 

 Hainault at Erquelinnes, runs in a direction E.N.E. to Na- 

 mur, which province it enters a little 1-elow D'Aiseau, not 

 far from Moignelee, and falls into thi: Maese, as already 

 described, at Namur. 



Belgium is not so well provided as Holland with canals. 

 The canal of Bois-le-duc commences at Maestricht, passes 

 through the communes of Neerharen, Reckheim, Borsheim, 

 Mechelen, Eysden, Neeroeteren, Oppiter, Brfie, Beck, 

 Bockholt, Weert, and Nederwcrt, at which last-named 

 place it quits the province of Limbourg, and enters the Dutch 

 territory of North Brabant. The length of the canal from 

 Maestricht to Nederwert is about forty-two English miles ; 

 it has two stationary bridges, fourteen drawbridges, seven 



2 A2 



