T A R 



64 



TAR 



ron, on the cast anil south-past by that of Tarn, on Ihe 

 south bytlmt of Hautr Garonne, on the south-west by tluit 

 of Gers, and on tin- north-wc-t by ili-.it ot ..nine. 



Its form is irregular: 1lu> irrei'.ic-t lensrth is from north- 

 east to so> Ihe border of the department <u' 



Areyron near Pan-ot, lo the bank of the little river Ijirax. 

 near' Ijivit-dc-1. '< mile-: the creates! lireailth :it 



rijrht anirles lo tile lcni:lh. i- IV. mi tin- border of the dc- 

 i, nne. near Montaiirut. to the border nf 



the department of Haute Garonne. ticai-Gri/alle-. -I \ mile-. 

 The area 1. 1 the department is estimated :it 14 - J1 square miles. 

 which is not -o miieli as two-thirds of the average area of 

 the Kreneh departments. and is rather less than the area of 

 the Knirli-h county of Sussex. The population, m Is'Jf.. 

 wa- -JII. :.-;: in 'isUl. 1 J4:>,50!> : and in \XW. ^1'J.lsl. 

 showing a very trilling inerea-e 5!N persons. le.-s tlian 

 O-i"i per cent.' in the ten years from 1820 to IKMi : and in 

 the latter half of the term'a positive decrease. The num- 

 ber of inhabitants to a square mile, in IKili, was 170. 

 which is rather above the average den-in of the population 

 of France; but the department is inferior in amount of 

 population to most other departments: and both in 

 amount and density of population to the English county 

 with which we have compared it. Montauban, the capital. 

 is :t:O miles in a direct line south by west of Paris, or -His 

 miles by the road through Paris, Orleans, Chatcauroux, 

 Limoges, and Cahors. 



This department was not one of those formed at the first 

 establishment of the departmental division of France by 

 the National Assembly. A.D. 1790; but was created by a 

 si 'iiatu eonsultum under the reign of Napoleon, A.D. 1808. 

 Jt was formed from the Rrromlissement of Montauban, 

 taken from the department of Lot ; the arrondissement of 

 1 Sarrasin, taken from the department of Haute 

 Garonne : the cantons of Auvillard.Montaigut, and Valence, 

 taken from the arrondissement of Alien, in the department 

 of Lot et Garonne : the canton of Lavit-dc-Loma<rne, taken 

 from the arrondissement of Lectoure, in the department of 

 Gere; and the canton of St. Antonin, taken from the ar- 

 rondissement of Villefranche, in the department, of A\ey- 

 ron. The department thus formed was divided into three 

 new aiTondissements, Montauban, Moissac, and l'a-te! 

 Sarrasin. 



The department has no mountains and scarcely any 

 hills; slisrht undulations alone vary its surface. The 

 greater part is occupied by the tertiary formations of the 

 ba-in of the Gironde : the part north-cast of St. Antonin, 

 on the Aveyron, and Puy-la-Koqne. is occupied by ihe 

 secondary formations which intervene between the chalk 

 and the red marl or new red sandstone. Some of our 

 authorities enumerate coal among the productions of the 

 department ; but this is hardly consistent with its geoloiii- 

 cal character, nor were any coal-mines wrought in 1834 

 and 1835, of which the official returns are before us. Some 

 iron is obtained; and there was. in 1834, one iron-work. 

 with two furnaces for making pin-iron. and live forces for 

 making wrought-iron. Charcoal wa.- the fuel iilmo>t ex- 

 clusively employed. Marble and irood freestone are 

 quarried in the "north-east parts of the department ; and 

 limestone, marl, and pottcr-'-clay are dug in several 



The department belongs altogether to the basin of the 

 Garonne. The Garonne itself enter.- it on the south side. 

 a little below Grenade, and flows north-west by Verdun 

 and I/e-Mas-Garnier, to the junction of the Tarn : it then 

 flows a few miles west bv Auvillard: and turning again 

 north-west, and passim: Valence, quits the department. 

 It has about 4<) miles of its course (4i) miles, according to 

 the official account in tlnsdcpartment, navigable through- 

 out. The Tarn enters the department on the south-east: 

 it flows first north-we-l by Montauban to the neighbour- 

 hood of I-a Franchise ; and then, in a winding channel, 

 westward into the Garonne, which it joins on the rii;ht 

 bank: its whole course in this department may be e-ti 

 mated at 36 miles (40 according to the official account . 

 naviirable throughout. These are the only navigable 

 rivers. Of smaller streams, the Garonne receives on the 

 left bank the I.amhon. the Gimone, and the Scrre, above 

 the junction of the Tarn; and the Larax, or Rats, below 

 the junction of that river. The Barifuelonc lonmd b\ 

 the junction of theGraodt Barffuelone and the Petite liar- 

 jtnelone) and the Saone (which receives the Seum 

 the Garonne on the right bank, below the junction of the 



Tarn, and beyond the limits of the department, to which 



however a con-iderable part of their course he!, 



.\\eyron, a con-i . .ierof the Tarn, which it joinsoll 



the riirht hank. I lontanhan and I 



the lower part of it- course In this department 01 aionir the 



boundaiy. The Tarn .d-o the T. which 



Mi. Tc- .-!., met is a feeder' and the I.eml .-. hieb 



Ihe I .all.'- i- lioth on the riirht hank. The. \\e\- 



ton reeetvi > the s> ye, the Honncttc. and the la-re, on the 



riirht Imnk; and the Verre and tl i the hit 



bank. 



The department had, 1 Jan., 1837, seven Ron), 

 or iro\ eminent roads, with an air^reirate length of l.'is 

 mile-. \ i/. |5() miles in L.-OOI! re-pair and K miles imtini-bed : 

 the aggregate lenirth of the departmental road.- at the 

 same time was ZH miles. \ i/. !."><; miles in irood repair 

 and 7* miles unfinished : the bye-roads and lane- had an 

 au'irrciralc lensrth of above 4800 tfllea, The principal road 

 is that from Paris to Montauban and Toulouse: it . 

 the department on the north side, at the ul 

 Madeleine, and inn- southward by Cans.-ade and Kealville 

 to Montauban ; and from thence' still southward. l< . 

 xalles. a little beyond which it ((nits the depaitmc'nt. to 

 Toulouse. A road from Montauban i .us west-north 

 parallel to the cour.-e first of the Tarn, afterward of the 

 Garonne, by La Francai-c, Mol-sac. and Valence, to Hor- 

 deaux : another road runs south-west. h\ Montcch and 

 Beaumont-de-Lomagne, to Audi ; and a third, east -south- 

 east, to Gaillac and Alby. in the adjacent department of 

 Tarn. A road which enters the department on the north- 

 east run- b\ Cay I us and Sept Ions, and. unit imr with Hi. 

 from Paris to Toulouse at Caussade, forms the communi- 

 cation between Hodez and Montauban. A road runninsr 

 from Moissac along the valley of the Garonne, by ' 

 SaiTa.-iu. St. Porquier, Sealalen, and Finnan, to Gri/alle.-, 

 forms the shortest cominunication between Hordeau 

 Toulouse. 



The climate is generally mild, but subject to variations, 

 which occasion frequent attacks of catarrh and rheumatism. 

 The mean temperature in winter is from lili" to Hi)" of Fah- 

 renheit, that of spriiiir and autumn from 511- to (>1 J . and 

 that of summer from 81" to 86. Mains are frequent in 

 sprinsr : the summer heat increases irradnally towards the 

 end of .Inly, when it is very great : autumn is the plca- 

 santest season of the year: winter, thonirh sometime.- verv 

 cold, is generally dry. Snow rarely tails. 



The area of the department may be estimated at about 

 910,000 acres in round numbers, of which about .")75.(XX 

 acre-, or above six-tenths, are under the plough. Tli. 

 is various; in some parts stiff and clayey, in others liirht 

 and sandy; so sandy in some places a.- to he incapable of 

 cultivation. The greater, part however is \ery fertile: the 

 plains and alluvial tracts which line the banks of th 

 ronne, the Tarn, and the Aveyron, are anioni: the richest, 

 in France ; but those alona; the hanks of the Garonne are 

 to be injured by the inundations of that river. 

 The farms are generally separated by quick-hcd_!c<. and 

 adorned with clumps of Ike wild quincc-tice. The most 

 important article of agricultural produce is wheat, which 

 is of excellent quality. It is ground into Hour, especially 

 at Montauban ; and larire quantities are exported to Ann - 

 rica. llarley. oats. rye. maixe. pulse, potatoes, vegetables 

 of excellent quality, rape, flax, and hem]), are also culti- 

 vated to a considerable extent. 



The meadows have an extent of about 43,000 or 4 : 

 acres, the heath- and open pastures of more than 4 I.IKKI 

 acre-. The number of horned cattle and sheep is m 

 any means so considerable as it misiht be: the breed of 

 sheep has been however gradually improving, and tin- 

 wool is of good quality. Horses, fitted lor the liirht ca- 

 valry, are reared ; and a considerable number of mule 

 bred for the Spanish market. The breediiiir of swine is 

 on the increase. Poultry, especially duck- and srccse, are 

 numerous: they are salted in considerable quantity: and 

 their livers, which sometimes weiirh two pounds, are made 

 into the pies for winch this part of France. Toulouse espe- 

 cially . is so famous. The quills also form an important 

 article of trade. 



The \ine is extensively cultivated on the slopes and 

 more elevated plains, where the soil is commonly of a 

 whitish colour, Of mingled ''lay and fine sand, little adapted 

 for the growth of corn, but suited to the vine, which 

 succeeds admirably in the district between the Taj-n and 



