﻿an 



ISERB. 



ISERE. 



SM 



ooune ii nrarlj ■oiith to Qreooble, where it U joined by the Dnc 

 from the left biink : below thi* point it make* another bend first to 

 Bortli-wwt, then to louth-west, paMing St-Marcellin, below which town 

 it eaten the depuiment of DrAme, and falls iuto the Kh6ne a few 

 mQesaboT* Valeoo* after a eoiine of 180 milea, 87 milee of which 

 we naTigable. This rirer, which is mibjeot to diaaatroo* floods, is of 

 moderate width, bat Tery deep ; ita waters are always of a blackish 

 tint, owing to the debris whicn it receiTca from the BlateH)uarrieB of 

 the Tarentaiae. Of the other stnams, which are very numerous, the 

 most important are the Dnu [Alpes, Hautcs] : the Runumcltt, 

 which drains the valley of L'Oyaana and the south-cast of the depart- 

 ment, and joins the Drac on the right bank, a few miles south of 

 Orenoble : the Bottrhrt, which riaes south of Virieu, and flowing past 

 La-Tour-du-Pin and lk>urg<>in enters the Rhdne on the northern 

 boundary of the department : the (hUen, which ii formed by the 

 onion of the Ouier»-Tif and the Quiers-Mort (two streams that run 

 down from the mountains of the Orande-Chartreuae), and flows along 

 the frontier of Savoy from Les-Echelles to its junction with the 

 RhAne, a few miles south of Bt-lley. The waters of the Romanche, 

 the Bourbre, and most of the other streams are turned to advantage 

 in irrigating the land and in driving machim-ry. The RH6KE forms 

 the northern and western boundaries of the department, and is 

 navigable. Salt and other articles are conveyed in barges from the 

 RhAne up the Isire ; the transports down the latter are iron, hemp, 

 linen, woollen-cloth, timber, &c. Many of the mountain streams of 

 the department form beautiful cascades. 



The department is crossed by 7 imperial and 17 departmental roads : 

 the Lyon-Avignon railroad, now in course of construction, nms along 

 the west of the department down the left bank of the Rhone, sending 

 off a branch to Orenoble, which lies on the electro-telegraphic route 

 from Paris to Turin and French Africa. 



The department contains 2,048,716 acres, of which 781,837 acres 

 are under tillage ; 164,857 are pasture land ; 68,446 are under vine 

 culture ; 499,695 are covered with woods and forests ; 20,009 are 

 occupied aa gardens, orchards, nurseries, and plantations of different 

 sorts; and 38,276 acres are covered with riven, lakes, canals, &c. 

 The rest of the surface, amounting to about 500,000 acres, consists of 

 irreclaimable rocks and mountains. The products are of the most 

 varied description— wheat, rye, barley, maize, buckwheat, peas and 

 beans, potatoes, fruits of all kinds, walnuts, mulberries, almonds, 

 medicinal plants, hemp, ftc. Vines are mostly grown in the fertile 

 valleys, trained either to greenwood supports of maple or cherry-tree, 

 or to tall dry poles of chestnut-wood ; vines thus grown are called 

 high vines (hautins). But on the hill slopes, in favourable situations 

 and in the RhAne district in the arrondissement of Vienne, the low 

 vines, as they are called when unsupported, produce a stronger 

 better-keeping wine, and more fitted for transport. The produce of 

 wine in ordinary years is 5,324,000 gallons, the best of which is 

 produced in the neighbourhood of the RhAne. Horses, assea, and 

 oowa are numerous, but small ; mules of lai-ge size are reared in the 

 mountains ; sheep are bred in great numbers, and yield a fine silky 

 wool ; piga, goats, and poultiy are plentiful. The rivers and lakes 

 abound in fiui. The art of pisciculture, or the rearing of fish from 

 deposits of spawn in the rivers, is extensively practised in the depart- 

 ment. Game is abundant ; among the wild animals are the boar, wolf, 

 chamois, ibex, porcupine, weasel, red and gray partridge, &c. The 

 mulberry grounds are extensive ; the number of trees exceeds a million. 



The climate is healthy ; cold in winter, very hot in the valleys and 

 plains in summer. The prevailing winds are from the north and 

 north-west; about 85 days in the year are rainy; hail-storms are 

 sometimes very destructive. 



In mineral wealth the department is very rich. Iron, lead, copper, 

 and coal mines are worked ; gold and silver mince have been worked, 

 but are now abandoned. In the year 1837 a vein of platina was 

 discovered in the valley of the Drac Marble, granite, porphyry, 

 gypaum, and slate are quarried. Antimony, zinc, cobalt, rock-crystid, 

 vitriol, and sulphur are found. 



The industrial products consist of sailcloth, table and household 

 linen, gloves, soldiers' uniforms, calicoes, printed cottons, oil, turpen- 

 tine, liqueurs, and mineral acids. There are iron, copper, and lead 

 foundries, steel-works, zinc and copper rolling factories, marble-works, 

 MW-mills, paper and vellum work^ naileries, dye-houses, glassworks, 

 ootton-yam manufactories, and establishments for the rearing of silk- 

 worms and the reeling of silk. Large quantities of charcoal are burnt 

 in the forests round the Qraudc-UhartreuKe. The number of wind- 

 and water-mills is 1367; of forges and smelting furnaces, iron- and 

 ■teel-works, 119 ; of factories and woriuhops of different kinds, 969. 



The department is divided into four arrondissements, which, with 

 their subdivisioiii asd popalatioo, are as follows : — 





CastOBs. 1 Commnnes. 



Population In 1«S1. 



1. OmwUe . 



1. U-Tour-dn.Pla . . 



1. St..M*rceUia . 



4. Tieaos . . . 



10 

 S 



7 

 10 



211 

 121 



S4 

 1>4 



220,102 



UO.iOS 



S7,1»S 



160,514 



Total 



4t 



StI 



603,407 



1. Of the first arrondissement and of the whole department the 

 capital is Obkxobli. Of the other towns we notice the following, 

 giving the population of the commune with each : — AUtvard standi 

 in a high valley N.E. of Orenoble, watered by the Breda, a feeder of 

 the Xfhn, and has 2638 inhabitants, who are chiefly employed in the 

 neighbouring irou-mines, forges, smelting-fumaces, aud foundries, the 

 machinery of which is driven by the Breda. Bourg-it Oi/tant, S.S.E. 

 of Orenoble, in the picturesque valley of the Romanohe, which is 

 hemmed in by high wooded mountaina, eohoing with numerous 

 cascades, has an eoolesiastical oollege and 8196 inhabitants, who 

 manufacture cotton, and work in the lead- and rock-crystal mines of 

 the neighbourhood. St.-Laurent^aPonl, 20 milea N. from Oreuoble^ 

 is most picturesquely situated at the foot of very high and almost 

 perpendicular mountains, on the road to the monastery of the Grande- 

 Chnrtreune, which was founded by St. Bruno iu 1084, in a wild and 

 rocky defile traversed by the Ouiers-Mort : population, 1734. Mem, 

 25 miles 3. from Orenoble, stands among the Triives Mountains, and 

 has 2126 inhabitants, important linen manufactures and glass factories. 

 La-Mure, S. of Orenoble, on the road to Oap, situated at the extremity 

 of the valley of the HaUSsine, which is inclosed by the Tri&ves 

 Mountains, has 3106 inhabitants, who manufacture ooaree linen and 

 leather, aud work in the coal-mines and marble-quarries near the 

 town. Vif, 10 miles S. from Orenoble, has potteries, silk-throwing 

 factories, and 2314 inhabitants. VUtard-dt-Latu, near the right bank 

 of the Bourne, has a population of 2298. Vizille, in a fertile plain 

 on the right bank of the Romanche, has an ancient castle now con- 

 verted iuto a factory for printed cottons, and contains 2907 inhabitants. 

 Voiron, N. of Orenoble, a well-built town of 7694 inhabitants, stands 

 at the foot of a hill on the Morge, a small feeder of the Isire, which 

 drives the machinery of several iudustrial establishments. The 

 principal manufactures are cloth, silk-stuffs, canvas, li<juears, soap ; 

 there are also iron- and steel-works, paper- and hemp-miils, naileries, 

 and tan-yards. Voreppe, a flourishing village S. of Voiron, has oil- and 

 corn-mills, tan-yards, and 3005 inhabitants. 



2. In the second arrondissement the chief town, La-Tour-du-Ptn, 

 stands on the left bank of the Bourbre, on the road from Lyon to 

 Chamb^ry, in 45" 33' 60' N. lat., 6° 27' 7' E. long., at an elevation of 

 1046 feet above the level of the sea, and has 2539 inhabitants, and 

 some beet-root sugar factories. It wa.n formerly important on account 

 of its fortifications, of which there are still some remains. The tri- 

 bunal of first instance is at Bourgoin, a town of 4271 inhabitants, 

 situated among hills at the junction of three small rivers, and at the 

 point where the Lyon road branches off southward to Orenoble, and 

 eastward to Italy through Chambdry. Its situation is favourable for 

 trade, but unhealthy on account of the marshes and bogs near iL Its 

 manufactures are printed calicoes, canvas, cotton cloth and yam, 

 thrown silk, and beet-root sugar ; there are also several flour- 

 mills. Crimieux, 6 miles N. from Bourgoin, has 2292 inhabitants, 

 and is famous for its poultry. It stands at the foot of a chain of 

 calcareous hills, in which is the famous grotto of La Balme, reckoned 

 as one of the seven wonders of Dauphiud. The grotto consists of 

 two long galleries, one facing the entrauce, the other to the right, 

 and both contain beautiful Ktalnctites ; in the former there is a lake 

 of pellucid water, the transit of which to and fro occupies one hour, 

 and is made by torchlight in a boat kept for the purpose. Le-Pont- 

 de-Beau- VoUin, is situated on the Ouiera, here crossed by a bridge of 

 one arch, the line joining the keystones of which marks the boundary 

 between France and Savoy. The larger part of the town is on the 

 Savoy side ; the commune on the French aide han 2268 inhabitants. 



8. In the third arrondissement the chief town, Si.-MarceUin is 

 situated in 45° 9' 18' N. lat., 6° 19' 82' E. long., 1073 feet above 

 the level of the sea, 20 miles W. from Grenoble, in a pretty countiy 

 at the foot of a vine-clad hill, at a short distance from the right bank 

 of the Isdre ; and has a tribunal of first instance, a college, and 3344 

 inhabitants in the commune. The town is surrounded with walls 

 pierced by four gates ; it is well built, with straight streets, orna- 

 mented with fountains. Rivet, N.K.G. of St-Marcellin, is situated iu 

 a smiling valley, watered by the Fure, and has 2270 inhabitants. 

 This town is the centre of considerable manufactures of iron, steel, 

 paper, crape, and silk handkerchiefs; the steel forges, of which there 

 are 23 in the town and neighbourhood, are famous for the excellence 

 of their products. Roybon, T^.VF. of St- Harcellin, has manufactures 

 of coarse woollens and 2288 inhabitants. TulUnt, formerly a well- 

 fortified town, stands a few miles S. of Rives in a beautiful valley, and 

 has 4701 inhabitants. It is surrounded by iron-forges, steel-works, 

 copper foundries, and hemp-dressing establishments. Arms and tools 

 of various kinds are manufactured here. Vinay, 5 miles N.E. from 

 St-Marcellin, has iron-works, sitk-thruwing establishments, and 8351 

 inhabitants. 



4. In the fourth arrondissement the chief town is Vienne, the 

 Vienna of the Allobroges, and the capital of the first and second 

 kingdoms of Bourgogne. It stands in 45* 31' 28" N. lat, 4° 62' 33" 

 E. long., 492 feet above the level of the sea, at a distance of 60 milea 

 N.W. from Orenoble, on the left bank of the RhAne, which is lined 

 with quays and crossed by a suspension-bridge. The town has 

 tribimala of first instance and of commerce, a consultative chamber 

 of manufactures, a college and 19,052 inhnbitantx in the commune. 

 Hemmed in between steep hills aud the river, Vienne has a much 



