B E R 



319 



B E R 



it still bears the name of Lou Caiou or Cat. If any faith is 

 to be placed in this tradition, we must suppose the etang de 

 Beaumont to have been included in the etang de Berre. 



The waters of the etang de Berre deposit a greater quan- 

 tity of salt than those of any other of the pools which line 

 this part of the French coast, and it is of excellent quality. 

 A great number of eels are taken every year ; according to 

 the Encyclopedic Methodique 400 quintaux, or cwts., are an- 

 nually salted, besides those that are eaten fresh ; about forty 

 quintaux of boulargue, a preparation nearly similar to 

 caviare, are also made. 



The country around the lake produces an abundance of 

 olives ; but the air is considered unhealthy ; no doubt from 

 the exhalation from such a surface of water. 



The little town of Berre is upon an inlet on the north-east 

 side of the lake. It was formerly one of the strongest for- 

 tresses in Provence. It was taken in 1 59 1 , after a long siege, 

 by Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy ; and though all the 

 rest of Provence submitted to Henry IV. of France, that 

 monarch was unable to expel the duke from this stronghold. 

 It was evacuated by virtue of the treaty of Vervins in 1598. 

 The fortifications have now gone to decay. The church was 

 once celebrated fur its relics, though even the Catholic writers 

 who mention them cast strong suspicion on their genuine- 

 ness. The population of Berre, according to the Diction- 

 naire Universel de la France, Paris, 1804, our latest au- 

 thority, was 1660. This town is about ten miles S.W. of 

 Aix. 43 29' N. lat.. 5 1 1' E. long. 



There is a small river, Berre, in the department of Aude ; 

 it falls into the 6tang de Sigean. In the department of 

 Drome there is another small stream of the same name, a 

 feeder of the Rhone. (Make Brun ; Expilly ; Encyclo- 

 /..'-/(> Methodique.) 



BERRETI 7 NI. [See CORTONA, P. DA.] 



BERRI or BERRY, a province of France, nearly cor- 

 responding to the present departments of Cher and Indre. 

 AVinle the old territorial divisions of France existed, Berri 

 wus bounded on the N. by the districts of GStinais, Orleanais 

 Proper, and Blaisois, which were parts of the province of 

 Orleanais; on the E. and S.E. by Nivernais and Bour- 

 botiais ; on the S. and S.W. by La Marche ; and on the 

 W. by Touraine. The shape of the province of Berri was 

 very irregular ; its greatest length, measured N.E. and S.W., 

 from the neighbourhood of Cosne on the Loire to near Le 

 Blanc, a town on the Creuse, was about 105 miles: the 

 greatest breadth about 90. These dimensions, which are 

 measured on the map published by the Society for the 

 Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, exceed very much those 

 which are given by Expilly in his Dictinnnaire des Gaules, 

 and are rather more than those given in the Dictionnaire 

 Universel de la France. Berry lies between 46 10' and 

 47 40' N. lat, and between 1 and 3 E. long, nearly. It 

 was usually considered as divided into Le Haul Berri (Upper 

 Berri), between the Cher and the Loire, and Le Bas Berri 

 I Lnwer Berri). S.W. of the Cher. Bourges, the capital, 

 was in Upper Berri, about 125 miles (measured in a straight 

 line) due south of Paris, or 131 by the road through F-on- 

 liiinclileau, Montargis, and Gien. 



The surface of the ground is little varied ; there are no 

 mountains, and few hills, except towards the banks of the 

 Iire (which bounded the province on the N.E.), E. of 

 Bourges. The chief rivers are the Loire : the Cher, a feeder 

 jf the Loire, with its tributaries, the Grande Saudre or 

 Sauldre, the Petite Saudre, the Evre, and the Arnon ; 

 he Indre, another tributary of the Loire ; and the Creuse, 

 which Hows into the Vienne, a third tributary of the Loire, 

 within the basin of which river Berri may consequently be 

 included. The banks of the rivers Loire, Cher, and Auron, 

 are of great fertility, but of the rest of the province a con- 

 siderable part is occupied by heaths, unwholesome marshes, 

 or sandy tracts.which however are not entirely unproductive, 

 but yield tolerable grain crops. The quantity of wood is 

 considerable, above half as much again in proportion as 

 the rest of France. The minerals are iron, ochre, and 

 good building-stone. 



Berri had only one diocese under the old regime, viz., the 

 Archbishopric of Bourgcs ; but the clergy were very nu- 

 merous, and the number of collegiate churches, abbeys, and 

 other religious houses considerable. Of course the Revo- 

 lutifin has caused great changes in this respect. The dio- 

 cese appears, however, to retain its former extent (compre- 

 hending the departments of Indre and Cher), and the dio- 

 cesan his archiepiscopal rank. His suffragans are the 



Bishops of Clermont, Limoges, Le Puy, Tulle, and St. 

 Flour. 



The chief towns in Upper Berri, with their population in 

 1 832, are as follows : Bom-ges, the capital, on the rivers 

 Auron and Evre, pop. 17,026 for the town, or 19,730 for the 

 whole commune ; Vierzon, on the Cher, pop. 4706 ; Dun- 

 Le-Roi, on the Auron, pop. 3428 for the town, or 3874 for 

 the whole commune ; Sancerre, near the Loire, pop. 2270 

 for the town, or 3032 for the whole commune ; Mehun, on 

 the Evre, pop. 2277 for the town, or 3310 for the whole com- 

 mune ; Aubigni, on the Nere, a feeder of the Grande Saudre, 

 pop. 2169 ; and Chateauneuf, on the Cher, pop. 1737 for 

 the town, or 2019 for the whole commune. [See BOURGES, 

 CHER, DEPARTMENT OF, and SANCKRRE.] In Lower Berri 

 are ChSteauroux, on the Indre, pop. 10,851 for the town, or 

 1 1,587 for the whole commune ; Issoudun, on the Theols, a 

 branch of the Arnon, pop. 9544 for the town, or 1 1,664 for 

 the whole commune; Le Blanc, on the Creuse, pop. 3617 

 for the town, or 4804 for the whole commune ; La Chatre, 

 on the Indre, pop. 3913 for the town, or 4343 for the whole 

 commune ; Valencay, on the Nahon, a small stream, a 

 feeder of the Feuzon, which flows into the Cher, pop. 3095 ; 

 Buzancais, on the Indre, pop. 2729 for the town, or 4416 for 

 the whole commune ; Levroux, on the Moulins, a branch of 

 the Nahon just mentioned, pop. 2343 for the town, or 3058 

 for the whole commune ; St. Aignan, on the Cher, pop. 

 2228 for the town, or 2772 for the whole commune ; Selles, 

 on the Cher, pop. 1915 for the town, or 4121 for the whole 

 commune; Vatan, between Chateauroux and Vierzon, pop. 

 1 889 for the town, or 2764 for the whol? commune ; Deols 

 or Bourg de Deols or Bourg Dieu, close to Chateauroux, 

 pop. 1792 for the town, or 2113 for the whole commune ; 

 and Lignieres, on the Arnon, pop. 1704 for the town, or 11)87 

 for the whole commune. [See CHATEAUHODX, INDRE, 

 DEPARTMENT OF, ISSOUDUN, LACnATHE.and LE BLANC.] 

 The present population of the district cannot be given 

 exactly, as the census has for many years been taken by 

 departments. Probably 500,000 is not far from the truth. 



In a very remote period this province was inhabited by a 

 people, the Bituriges, or as they are sometimes called, to 

 distinguish them from another people of the same name, 

 the Bituriges Cubi. These once held, if we may credit the 

 testimony of Livy, the supreme dominion of the Celtic tribes 

 in Gaul ; and Ambigatus, their king (a contemporary of 

 Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome), sent out, under his 

 nephews Bellovesus and Sigovesus, two numerous bodies of 

 Gauls to attack, the one Italy and the other Germany. In 

 the time of Ctesar, the Bituriges had lost their antient pre- 

 eminence, and were under the protection of the Aedui. Their 

 chief town was Avaricum, which Caesar describes as nearly 

 the finest city in Gaul, and very strong by situation. In 

 the war which Caesar, near the close of his command in 

 Gaul, carried on against Vercingetorix the Arvernian, this 

 country became the scene of contest, and Avaricum was 

 taken, after an obstinate defence, by the Romans. Accord- 

 ing to the division of Gaul made by the Romans, Berri 

 was included in Aquitania Prima. After the downfall of 

 the Roman dominion, this country came successively into 

 the hands of the Visigoths and Franks; and in the middle 

 ages was under its own hereditary counts, who took their 

 title from their capital, Bourges, a name derived from Bi- 

 turiges, which designation had superseded that of Avari- 

 cum. In the early part of the tenth century the counts 

 were, according to some writers, succeeded by the viscounts 

 of Bourges, the last of whom, Eudes Arpin, sold the pro- 

 vince to Philippe I., king of France. From this time, 

 though often bestowed as an appanage upon various 

 branches of the royal family, it never continued long alie- 

 nated from the crown. In later times it has frequently 

 given title to some of the French princes. The last who 

 held it was the younger son of Charles X., ex-king of 

 France. He was assassinated on the 13th February, 1820, 

 by an individual named Louvel. The assassin, a po- 

 litical fanatic, had harboured for several years the design 

 of assassinating either the duke or some other branch of 

 the Bourbon family. He was tried on the 5th and 6th, and 

 guillotined on the 7th of June of the same year. (Piganiol 

 de la Force, Nouvelle Description de la France ; Expilly, 

 Dictionnaire des Gaules, fyc. ; Dictionnaire Universel de la 

 France; Malte-Brun ; Letters from France, by John M. 

 Cobbelt ; Encyclupedie Methodique.) 



BERRY, in the acceptation of botanists, is a term con- 

 fined to such soft and lucoulent fruit* as have their ssedb 



