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LOIBE-IKFfiRIEURB. 



LOIRE-IKFtilRIEnRE. 



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The department hu an important conmeroe with foreign oountriee 

 oowtwiae, itnd with the interior. The principal articlai of trade are — 

 wine, brandy, fruite, salt (of which a vaet qiumtity ia made along the 

 coaat), hardware, oil, proviaions, eoap, wool, and other French and 

 oolaniiU prodnoe. Ship* are fitted out for the whale, herring, and ood 

 flaheria* ; and the mackerel and pilchard fiaberiea along the coart are 

 aetively plied. About 340 fain are held annually. At theae fairs not 

 cattle only, but broadclnth and small wares of all descriptions are sold. 



The department contains 1,698,768 acres. Of this area 794,723 

 acres are oultiTated; 269,490 acres are grass-land; 72,fil8 acrei) are 

 under Tine-oultore ; 92,796 aorea are covered with woods and forests; 

 37,14S aorea with oivhatda and plantations ; 319,647 acres are heaths 

 and moor-land ; 43,749 aorea are occupied with rivers, lakes, canals, 

 &c ; and 71,285 acres with roads, streets, Ac ^ 



The department is divided into five arrondissebenta, which, with 

 their subdivisions and population, are as follows : — 





Osatoas. 



Commuius. 



FopulatioD ia lUl. 



1. Naatca . 



3. AaeeaU . . 

 I. Chtteaubriiint . . 



4. PaimboiUf . . . 

 «. eavenay . 



ir 



t 



7 



i 



11 



M 



37 

 »7 

 35 

 SI 



140,440 

 48,103 

 71,463 

 4fi,767 



138,893 



Total . . . 



43 



306 



t35,6e4 



I. In the first arrondiaaement the chief town u Namtss, which is 

 also the capital of the whole department : population of the commune, 

 91,303. With the other places noticed the population given is that 

 of the commune. Charlenai, situated on a bill above tlie right shore 

 of thtt Loire, bas a population of 3935. C/uson, beautifully situated 

 on the slopes of two bUls at the junction of the Moine and the Sivre- 

 Nantaise, has a population of 2759, who mnnufncture wooUeu-clntb, 

 ootton-yam, leather, and paper. On a rock above the town stand the 

 majestic ruins of the ancient castle of Clisson, which for extent, con- 

 struction, and beauty of site, has scarcely an equal amonc; the castel- 

 lated structures of France. Some repairs were made a few years ago 

 by M. Lemot, its possessor, in order to arrest the progress of decay 

 among tlieeo maguifioent ruins. In the castle Olivier de Clisson was 

 bom in ISSC ; the Duke of Orltiaus, afterwards Louis XII., took refuge 

 in it from the intrigues of Madame de Beaujou ; Charles VIII., after 

 his marriage with Anne of Britanny, entertained the Breton nobles 

 within its walls. Lig{ is situated in the south of the department, 

 near the right bank of the Logne, a feeder of the Boulogne, on a hill 

 which commands a fine view of a rich well-cultivated country. The 

 town, which sufiared greatly in the civil war between the Veadeans 

 and tbe Republicans, has 3401 inhabitants. On the Nantes road, at a 

 short distance from h6g6, a monument was erected iu 1827 to the 

 Yendeao general Charette, which was demolished (hiring the short 

 frenxy of 1830. Loroux-Bottereau, a few miles £. of Naotea, has SOOO 

 inhabitants : within the town, in a spacious circular place surrounded 

 by trees, a statue of Louis XVI. is erected. Machecoul, an ill-built 

 town on the little river Falleron, and formerly the capital of the duchy 

 of Retz, is 20 miles 3.W. from Nantes, and has 8746 inhabitanta. 

 This town was the scene of great cruelties and of some severe actions 

 during the Vendean war. Sl.-Phillert, 14 miles S.W. from Nantes, is 

 situated on the navigable river Boulogne, near its entrance into the 

 Lake of Grand-Lien, and has Ziib inhabitants. It stands in a fertile 

 wine and com c<^untry, and is a place of some trade in agricultural 

 produce, timber, &c. YaUet, 5 miles N. from Clisson, is situated on a 

 height among rich vineyards that yield the best wine of the depart- 

 ment, and has 5583 inhabitants. Yertou, 5 miles S. by E. from Nantes, 

 •taada near the right bank of the Siivre-Nantaise, and has 5635 

 faihabitaot*. 



3. Of the second arrondissement the chief town, AncenU, is prettily 

 dtnated among vine-dad slopes on the right bank of the I^ire, 21 

 milea by railway N.E. from Nantes, and has a tribunal of first instance, 

 • college, and 3661 inhabitanta in the commune. The old castle of 

 tiie duke* of Bethuna, from the gardens of which there is a splendid 

 view of the valley and islands of the Loire ; the Ursuline convent^ now 

 a cavalry barrack ; and the hospital, are deserving of notice. The 

 ■teamboaUthat navigate the Loire make Ancenis one of their stations. 

 Momtrtlau, N.EL of Ancenis, on a hill near the eastern boundary of 

 the department, stands upon a valuable coal-field, and has about 3500 

 iahabitaota Coal-mines are worked also at Monzeil, a small place near 

 Mootrelaia. Tarad<», 8 miles by railway E. from Ancenis, stands on 

 a Ull Dear the right bank of the Loire, and has 3483 inhabitants. It 

 was before Vanides that the Vendean army, after their defeat at 

 ChoUat by the Republicana, oroased the Loire iu 1703. At Meilierait, 

 Bear Varadea, is the celebrated monastery of the order of La Trappe. 

 Driven from their retreat by the revolution of 1792, the Trappists of 

 Meillpraie emigrated and founded several raonastories in foreign 

 oountriaa; among others, one near Lulworth Castle, Uorsetehire, 

 where they devoted themselves, aa elsewhere, te agriculture and 

 reclaiming waste lands. Alter the general peace they returned from 

 Dorsetshire to their original monastery of Meilleraie iu 1816, with 

 iacreaaed skill in agrioultun^ and furnished with superior agrioultural 



instruments ; repurchased the abbey and some farms adjacent, and 

 esteblished a model-fiirm. On the accession of Louis Philippe, how- 

 ever, they were again expatriated in 1831, and we believe again 

 took refuge iu England. 



3. In the third arrondissement, the chief town, Chdleanbnant, 

 stands 37 miles N. by E. from Nantes, and has a tribunal of flnt 

 instance and 4010 inhabitants, who manufacture common woollen 

 stufiii, cordials, earthenware, tiles, and leather. The town in itf 

 architecture is a modal of the unsymmatrical irregularity and bad taste 

 which prevails in old Breton towns generally. It seems to have bean 

 originally called Cadite. The present name was aasumed in 1016, 

 from Briant, count of Penthi&vra, who built the oastla. The caatls was 

 taken and demolished, with the exception of the keep and two other 

 high towers which still remain, by Ija TremouiUe in the reign of 

 CWlea VIII. There is a new chAteau, which conLiins a fine gallery 

 and other handsome apartments. MoUdon, on a hill near the right 

 bank of the Don, has iron-mines, iron-forges, and 2305 inhabitants. 

 Nort, 15 miles N. from Nantes, is situated on the right bonk of the 

 Erdre, across which a stone bridge of six archea leads to the suburb 

 of St.<<j)eorges. The Erdre here becomes navigable for steamers which 

 ply daily to and from Nantea. Nort ia a busy town, with a popu- 

 lation of 5561, who trade largely in wood, charcoal, coal, iron, leather, 

 cattle, &o. Nozay, 11 miles N. from Nort, on the road from Nantes 

 to Keunes, has 3002 inhabitanta. Ravgl, 5 miles N.W. from Ch&teau- 

 briant, gives name to important iron-mines, and has 2272 inhabitants. 



4. The fourth arrondissement is named from ito chief town, Paimbcevf, 

 which stands 24 miles W. from Nantes, on the left bank and near the 

 embouchure of the Loire, and has a tribunal of first instanoe, a naval 

 school, and 4080 inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in the con- 

 struction and repairing of ships, in the manufacture of cordage, tiles, 

 and bricks, and iu the fiaheries and coasting trade. The town oonsiste 

 chiefly of one long street, which is built along the quays that line 

 the river. It has a hirbour formed by a well-constructed mole, and 

 capable of admitting the largest ships. Steamers ply several times a 

 day to Nantes. The population of Paimboeuf was nearly 10,000 

 hefore the French lost the West Indian Islands. Bourgneuf-en-Rtl*, 

 15 miles S. from Paimboeuf, is situated on the Bay of Bourgni-nf, 

 opposite the isle of Noirmoutier, in a low marshy place, and has 2625 

 iuhabitonts, who are engaged in the fishery along the coa<t, and in 

 the manufacture of salt. Sl.-Pirt-tn-Rtit, 4 miles S. from Paimbosuf, 

 has 2679 inhabitants. Pomie, a small fishing village, situated on 

 an inlet of the Bay of Bourgneuf, is much frequented in summer 

 for its fine sea-bathing : population about 1500. 



6. The fifth arrondissement is named from ite chief town, Savtnay, 

 a small place of 2381 inliabitaots, situated 22 miles N.W. from 

 Nantes, near the right bank of the Loire. The town, which has a 

 tribunal of first instance, was the scene of a most bloody engagement 

 (November 25, 1793) between the Republican army under Westermann, 

 Kl^ber, Marceau, and Tilly, and the gallant Vendeans, who were 

 entirely defeated. A monument in honour of the slain has been 

 erected in the cemeter}- of Savenay. Bati, situated among the salt- 

 marshes on the sea-shore, where it has a good fishing harbour, ia a 

 well-built town with 8697 inhabitants. It has a handsome church 

 with a tower, terminating in an elegant cupola 180 feet high, which 

 serves as a landmark for sailors. Blain, near the right bank of the 

 Isao, has 5441 inhabitents. The town was formerly defended by a 

 strong feudal castle, erected by Alan, duke of Bretagne, in 1105. 

 This fortress, which, frith the exception of ite towers, is still in 

 tolerable preservation, subsequently belonged to the family of Cliivon, 

 from whom, by the marriage uf Beatrix, daughter of the Consteble 

 Olivier de Clisson, it passed to the dukes of Rohan. Coueron, prettily 

 situated a few milea Wow Nantes, on the right bank of the Loire, 

 which here forms a commodious harbour for the repairing of vessels, 

 has glass-works and 4214 inhabitents. Orouie, situated on the 

 extremity of a small tongue of land that jute out into the Ba^ of 

 Biscay, is an ill-built place with 2589 inhabitents, who are chiefly 

 engaged in the fisheries, in the manufacture of salt and soda, and in 

 the coasting trade. Oti6mfn4, situated on a hill near the right bank 

 of the Don (which here begins to be navigable), at a dixtenca of, 

 22 miles N.N.E. from Savenay, has 4018 inhabitants, (lufrande, 

 an ancient town, situated about 8 miles from the sea and 25 miles W. 

 from Savenay; has an ecclesiastieal college, two hos|iitnl'<, and 8603 

 inhabitants, who manufacture great quantities of salt, linen, serge, 

 cotton, and woollen-yam, fta The town, built on the slope of a hill, 

 is commanded by an old castle flanked with towers ; it is surrounded 

 by walls built of granite, and pierced by four gates situated at the 

 cardinal points. The ditehes which formerly surrounded this ancient 

 fortress are now filled up and converted into shady walks. Jlerhigwic, 

 18 miles N.W. from Savenay, has extensive potteries and 8176 

 inhabitente. St.-Naxairt, a town of 8771 inhabitents, composed 

 chiefly of sailors, pilots, fishermen, and custom-house officers, is 

 situated on the northern shore of the embouchure of the Loire. It 

 has a lighthouse at the head of the mole which forms the harbour ; 

 ite chief trade ia in fish, com, and salt. Steam-tugs for hauling large 

 vessels up the river to Nantes lie off St.-Nazaire. Pmt-ChOleau, on 

 the left Imnk of the Brivj, which is navigable by means of the tide 

 from this town to ite entrance into the Loire a little above St-Nazaire, 

 hM a oom-markat, tan-yard^ and 8516 inhabitants. 



