﻿<C9 



LOT. 



LOT-ET-QARONNE. 



manufacturing establishments in the department. The commerce is 

 composed of the articles already indicated, and of hides, salt, oak- 

 staves, groceries, small wares, broadcloth, &c. About 680 fairs and 

 markets are held in the year. Roadway accommodation is afforded 

 by 4 state, 11 departmental, and 37 parish roads. 



The department presents great differences of temperature and 

 climate. Among the granitic highlands of the east the winters are 

 long and rude, generally lasting from November to April, during 

 which time snow and rain, each accompanied by cold winds, alter- 

 nately succeed each other. The calcareous slopes of the Auvergno 

 range have a di'ier and leas rigorous climate, and a much shorter 

 winter. In the plains and the valleys of the Dordogne and the Lot 

 the climate is genial, except during the spring, when the night-frosts 

 ai-e often very harsh and biting. 



The department contains 1,383,187 acres. Of this area 574,622 

 acres are under tillage, 62,483 acres consist of grass-land, 144,876 

 acres are under vines, 215,620 acres are covered with woods and 

 forests, 176,153 acres with heaths and moors, and 80,520 acres are 

 occupied with orchards, plantations, and nurseries. 



The department is divided into 3 arrondissements, which, with their 

 subdivisions and population, are as follows : — 



ArrondiMements. 



Cantons. 



Commones. 



Popnlation In 18il. 



1 1. Cahor. . 



i. Figeac . . . 

 3. Gourdon 



11 

 7 

 



125 



113 



73 



118,$1S 

 94,34S 

 83,364 



Total ... 27 



310 



296,324 



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

 Cabobs is the capital. Ciulelnait-deMonlratier occupies the summit 

 of a steep hill, 14 miles S. from Cahors, and has 4133 inhabitants. 

 Its position, its ramparts and strong castle, of which there are still 

 some vestiges, rendered it formerly a town of considerable importance. 

 MotUcuq, situated on a conical hill between two valleys, 14 miles S.W. 

 from Cahors, has 2314 inhabitants. It was formerly one of the most 

 important fortresses of Qiiercy; in accordance with the treaty of 

 Meaux, its formidable defences were demolished, with the exception 

 of a single square tower 109 feet high, which still stands in the highest 

 part of the town. Puy-VEvtque is situated on a peninsula formed by 

 the Lot, on its right bank, 15 miles W. by X. from Cahors, and has 

 2505 inhabitants. 



2. In the second arrondissement the chief town, Figeac, is situated 

 in a pretty valley surrounded by hills, which are covered with woods, 

 vineyards, and orchards, on the right bank of the Sello, 32 miles N.E. 

 from Cahors, and has a tribunal of first instance, a college, and 6171 

 inhabitants. This town was formerly surrounded by ramparts and 

 ditches, part of which still remains. The streets are narrow and ill 

 laid out ; the houses ill built, many of them remarkable for antiquity 

 of style. The most important buildings are the ChAteau-de-Baleine, 

 a part of the old fortifications of which now serves for a court-house ; 

 the abbey-church of St.-Sauveur ; and the church of Notre-Dame-du- 

 Puy. Two obelisks, called Aiguilles, one south the other west of the 

 town, are remarkable for their structure and antiquity ; they were 

 used in former times as fire-beacons to guide travellers by night 

 through the surrounding countries, which were then covered with 

 dense forests. Figeac originated in a monastery founded A.D. 755. 

 It was governed by consuls, had the right of coining money, and 

 enjoyed several other immunities. All thfse it lost for voluntarily 

 submitting to the English in the reign of King Jean ; by the efforts 

 and sacrifices they made to shake off the yoke of the foreigners their 

 priyil^es were afterwards restored. The English seized the town 

 again in the reign of Charles V., and levied heavy contributions as a 

 condition of evacuating it Cajarc, a town of 2055 inhabitants, is 

 situated in a very fertile district, on the right bank of the Lot, 12 

 miles 3.W. from Figeac. St.-CiH, 18 miles N. by W. from Figeac, is 

 built on an island formed by the Bave, a feeder of the Dordogne, and 

 has 3902 inhabitants, who manufacture great quantities of hats. To 

 the north of the town are the remains of a fortified Camp, said to be 

 Roman, in which however several ecclesiastical structures seem to have 

 been erected ; of these two lofty isolated towers are still standing. 



3.»The third arrondissement takes its name from its chief town, 

 Gmrdon, which is situated on a hill in the west of the department, 

 22 miles N. from Figeac, and has a tribunal of first instance, a college, 

 and 5325 inhabitants, who manufacture woollen stuffs, linen, and hats. 

 The town, which is tolerably well built, and has a handsome church, 

 was formerly surrounded by strong ramparts. Qramat, situated in a 

 romantic valley, 16 miles N.E. from Gourdon, on the right bank of 

 the Alzon, a feeder of the Dordogne, has mineral springs and 3660 

 inhabitants, who trade in corn and wool. M artel, 11 miles N. by W. 

 from Oramat, has a college and 3070 inhabitants. It owes its origin 

 and name to Charles Martel, who erected here the church of St-Maur, 

 which was rebuilt on a large scale in the year 1300, and is lighted 

 through stained-glass windows remarkable for beauty of colouring 

 «od correctness of design ; the subjects represented are the principal 

 incidents of our Saviour's passion. Souillac, a well-built town, with 

 s tribunal of commerce and 3087 inhabitants, is situated iu a fertile 



CEOO. DIV. VOL, III, 



valley, 12 miles N. by E. from Gourdon, on the right bank of the 

 Dordogne, which is here spanned by a stone bridge of seven arches. 

 The town was taken by the English in 1362, and by the Calviuists in 

 1562. Coarse woollens, agricultural implements, bar-iron, leather, 

 and iron-ware are manufactured ; there is also some trade in wine, 

 tobacco, hides, salt, groceries, oak-staves, cattle, &c. 



The department forms the see of the Bishop of Cahors ; it is 

 included in the jurisdiction of the High Court of Agen, within the 

 limits of the University-Academy of Toulouse, and belongs to the 

 12th Military Division, of which Toulouse is head-quarters. It 

 returns two members to the Legislative Body of the French empire. 

 There are a diocesan seminary, an endowed college, and a normal 

 school at Cahors; and communal colleges at Figeac and Martel, 

 besides the ordinary communal schools. 



(Dictionnaire dt la France ; StalUtique de la France; Annuaire poy,r 

 eAn 1853 ; Oficial Papers.) 



LOTET-GARONNE, a department in France, is bounded N. by the 

 department of Dordogne, E. by those of Lot and Tarn-et-Garonne, . 

 S. by that of Gers, and W. by those of Landes and Gironde. It lies 

 between 43' 53' and 44° 45' N. lat., 1° 5' E. and 0° 8' W. long. Its 

 greatest length from north-east to south-west is 63 miles ; from south- 

 east to north-west, 55 miles. The area is 2067 square miles, and the 

 population in 1841 was 347,073 ; in 1851 it amounted only to 341,345, 

 which gives 165"14 to the square mile, or 9"44 below the average per 

 square mile for all France. The department takes its name from 

 the two principal rivers which traverse it — the Lot, fx'om north-east 

 to west, and the Garonne from south-east to north-west ; and is formed 

 out of the old district of Ag<5uois, part of the diocese of Condom, 

 and small portions of those of Bazas, Lectoure, and Cahors. 



The surface of the department presents a high plain, furrowed to 

 different depths by river-valleys, but diversified in the south by some 

 low swells, the last declivities of the Pyrenees northward ; the whole 

 inclining towards the north-west and belonging to the basin of the 

 Garonne. Nothing can exceed the beauty and fertility of the valleys 

 of the Lot and the Garonne ; the slopes that inclose them are covered 

 with vines and other fruit-trees, especially the fig and the plum, and 

 the low-lands yield abundantly wheat, maize, rye, hemp, tobacco, &c. 

 The valley of the Baise, in the south, and that of the Dropt, iu the 

 north of the department, are also very fertile. With these exceptions, 

 the department presents an arid, treeless surface, with a barren stony 

 soil, especially in the eastern districts at a little distance from the 

 Lot and the Garonne. In the upper part of Agiinois, the soil is a stiff 

 iron-coloured clay that ill repays the labour of the husbandman ; and 

 in the Landes, which extend over the south-west of the dep.irtment 

 along the Avence, the ground is covered with arid sands, unhealthy 

 marshes, and in some places with a scanty soil, wliiuh can with diffi- 

 culty be made to produce a few ears of com. In this last district 

 there are also some hungry pastures and forests of pine and cork ; the 

 cork-woods along the left bank of the Gclise, a feeder of the Losse, in 

 the south of the department, are the largest in France. On the 

 northern borders there are fine chestnut woods. The quantity of 

 wine annually produced is 14,014,000 gallons, half of which goes for 

 the home consumption ; part of the surplus is distilled into brandy, 

 and the remainder is exported to Bordeaux. A considerable number 

 of cattle, horses, mules, and sheep are reared. Immense numbers of 

 geese also are reared, and form an important article of export. Game 

 and fresh-water fish are plentiful The climate of the department is 

 in general very healthy ; but long alternations of drought and ram are 

 not uncommon. 



The principal rivers are the LoT, the Gakosne, and the Qers. 

 The J3aue, which enters the Garonne on the left bank nearly opposite 

 the mouth of the Lot, rises near the village of Lunnemezan, in the 

 department of Hautes-Pyrfin^es, whence it flows northward through 

 the department of Gers, passing Mirande (below which it is joined on 

 the right b.ink by the Baise-Devant) and Condom, to which town wo 

 believe it has recently been made navigable. At a short distance 

 below Condom it enters the department of Lot-ot-Garonne, and 

 passing N^rao (where the navigation formerly began) it joins the 

 Garonne opposite Aiguillon after a course of nearly 100 miles. The 

 Dropt rises in the department of Dordogne to the east of Montpazier. 

 It flows westward along the southern base of a western offset from the 

 mountains of Canttl, and iu its course cross.-s the boundary between 

 Lot-et-Garonne and Dordogne more than once. Below Eymet iu the 

 south of the latter department it finally leaves Dordogne, and crossing 

 the north-western angle of Lot-et-Garonne it runs north-west to Mon- 

 s<Sgur in the department of Gironde, and thence west by south to its 

 mouth in the Garonne below La-Ii^ole. Its whole length is about 86 

 miles. The Dropt runs through a pretty valley; it is crossed by many 

 mill-dams, but has been rendered navigable by canalisation and by 

 lifting apparatus up as far we believe as Eymet. Steamers ply up the 

 Garonne between Bordeaux and Agen. [Auen ; Garonne.] 



The projected railway from Bordeaux to Cette enters the depart- 

 ment on the north-west between LaR^ole and Marmande, where it 

 crosses from the left to the right bank of the Oar.nne. From Mar- 

 mande it is to run up the right bank of the Garonne through 

 Tonneins to Agen, thence through Moissao to Montaub.an, and then to 

 the Garonne at Toulouse. Roadway communication is afforded by 6 

 state and l(i departmental roads. 



2n 



