﻿e-js 



LOWESTOFT. 



LOZERE. 



620 



France, and the North Sea, and which now comprises the kingdoms 

 of FlolIanJ and Uelgium, and grand-duchy of Luxembui^. All this 

 teiTitory was united to form the kingdom of the Netherlands fi'om 

 1815 to 1830, when Belgium shook off the yoke of the Dutch. The 

 king of Holland, whose territories comprise only the northern part of 

 the Low Countries, is still sometimes styled King of the Netherlands. 

 [Netherlands; Holland; Belgium.] 



LOWESTOFT, coUoquiaUy LAYSTOFF, Suffolk, a market-town in 

 the parish of Lowestoft, is situated on the east coast in 52° 29' N. lat., 

 1° ii' E. long., distant 45 miles N.E. from Ipswich, 114 miles N.K 

 from London by road, and 149i miles bv the Eastern Counties railway. 

 The population in 1851 was 6580. The living is a vicarage in the 

 archdeaconry of Suffolk and diocese of Norwich. 



The town stands on the top of a cliff facing the sea, from which it 

 is separated by a beach in some parts nearly half a mile wide. It 

 consists of a principal street nearly a mile long, well paved, and of some 

 smaller streets. The parish church, a handsome edifice of perpendicular 

 architecture, nearly half a mile west of the town, is 182 feet long, 57 

 feet broad, and 43 feet high; it has a tower and spire 120 feet high. 

 In the town are a chapel of ease ; chapels for Wesleyan Methodists, 

 Independents, and Baptists ; Wylde's Free school, which educates 

 about 60 boys ; Annott's Endowed school, which has been made a 

 National school, and has 90 scholars ; a Girls' school, and an Infant 

 schooL There arc a town-hall, a theatre, and a bathing-house. On 

 the cliff is the upper lighthouse, and on the beach are the lower light- 

 house and a battery at the south end of the town. Off the shore are 

 the North and South roads, sheltered to sea-ward by the Corton and 

 Newconie sands. South of the town is the cut communicating between 

 lake Lothing and the sea, forming part of the line of the Norwich and 

 Lowestoft navigation. The tide-lock will admit vessels 84 feet long 

 and 21 feet in beam. A principal branch of industry at Lowestoft 

 is the fishery. Oreat quantities of mackerel and soles are caught, and 

 sent to' the London and Norwich markets; and large numbers of 

 herrings are taken and cured. There are rope and twine manufactories. 

 The market is on Wednesday, and there are two yearly fairs. Lowestoft 

 is also frequented as a bathing-place. Communication by steam-vessel 

 is maintained during the season between Lowestoft and Tonniugen, on 

 the Evder, being the nearest point of communication with Denmark. 



LOWISA. [FINL.VND.] 



LOWTHER. [Westmobelaxd.] 



LOWTHEUSTOWN, or IRVINESTOWN, Fermanagh, Ireland, a 

 post-town and the seat of a Poor-Law Union in the barony of Lurg, 

 18 situated in 54° 28' N. lat., 7°3!)' W. long., lOJ miles N. from Ennis- 

 kiUen, and 111{ miles N.W. by N. from Dublin. The population in 

 1851 was 1008. Lowtherstown Poor-Law Union comprises 1 1 electoral 

 divisions, with an area of 75,916 acres, and a population in 1851 of 

 25,673. The town consists principally of one street, forming part of 

 the post-road from Enniskillen to Pettigo, and contains a chapel of 

 ease, a chapel for Methodists, a National school, the district dispensary, 

 and the union workhouse. Fairs are held on the Sth of each month. 



LOXA. [Granada.] 



LOZERE, a department in the south of France, is bounded N. by 

 the departments of Cantal and Haute-Loire, E. by Ard^che, S. by 

 Card, and W. by Aveyron. The department lies between 44° 7' 

 and 44° 68' N. lat., 3° and 4° E. long. Its greatest length from north- 

 west to south-east is about 65 miles, its greatest breadth is about 

 44 miles. The ai-ea of the department is 1995 square miles. The 

 population in 1841 was 140,788; in 1851 it was 144,705, giving 72-53 

 inhabitants to a squai-e mile, or 102°05 below the average population 

 per square mile for the whole of France. The department is named 

 irom one of its principal mountains, and is formed out of a subdivision 

 of Languedoc called Gd7au<Ian. 



The department is altogether of a mountainous character. The 

 Cdvennes cross it in the south-eastern part ; Mont Lozftre, one of the 

 loftiest mountains of this range, is 4887 feet high, and gives name 

 to the department The Margeride Chain which branches off from 

 the C^vennes at Mont Loz^re, and unites that mountain range with 

 the volcanic group of Auvepgne, extends through the department in 

 the direction of its length, covering all the east of the department ; 

 and the mountains of Aubrac overspread the western part, and extend 

 into the adjacent department of Aveyron. The mountain ranges of 

 the C^vennes and La-Margeride determine the watershed of the 

 department, which they divide between three of the great river-basins 

 of France. A small portion on the south-east, separated by the 

 crest of the C^vennes, belongs to the basin of the Rhdne ; the 

 rest of the department is divided by the mountains of La-Margeride, 

 between the basin of the Loire in the north and that of the Qaronne 

 in the west. The part comprehended in the basin of the Oaronne is 

 considerably larger than either of the others, it comprises many high 

 plains (called Causs<!es), some of which are of great fertility ; but 

 others of them, as the Cauasde de Sauveterre, which is traversed by 

 the road from Mende to Florae, is a calcareous table-land, bare, arid, 

 and totallv uninhabited. This Caussde is about 3000 feet above the 

 level of the sea, and about 7 miles broad : the cold felt upon it 

 in winter is intense ; it is then deeply covered with snow, and exposed 

 to violent hurricanes. 



The department is chiefly occupied by the primitive rocks which 

 constitute the mass of the Cdvennes and the connected mountains. 



OEOO. Drv. VOL. in. 



Op the south-eastern elope of the Cc^vennes, towards the ba.siu of tlio 

 Rhone, the gninites and other primitive rocks are covered with the 

 strata of later formation which intervene between the chalk and the 

 saliferous sandstone. The same strata overspread a considerable 

 portion of the western side of the department on tlie banks of tho 

 Tarn and the Lot, and in the country between them. One or two 

 extinct volcanoes have been observed within the limits of this depart- 

 ment ; but they are not so numerous as in the adjacent departments 

 of Haute-Loire and Cantal. 



The mineral wealth of the department is not great : lead, silver, 

 antimony, copper, and iron-ore are procured. Marble, freestone, 

 porphyry, granite, basalt, and gypsum are quarried. There aro some 

 mineral springs, of which the most frequented are those of Bagnols 

 les Bains near Mende. 



The melting of the snow that lies on the mountains of the depart- 

 ment for several months in the year, gives rise to a great number of 

 rivers which drain the three slopes formed by the mountain masses 

 above named. The rivers are all small in that part of their course 

 which lies within the department. To the basin of the RhOue belong 

 the Cdze, which rises in Mont Lozfcre, and brings down particles of 

 gold ; the Garden d'Alais, tlie Garden do Mialet, and the Qardou 

 d'Anduze, which unite their streams to form the river Gard [Qard], 

 in the adjacent department of Gard, on the eastern border of which 

 all these rivers join the Rh6ne. The Chassezac rises on the east side 

 of the department, and flows by the Arddche into the Rhone 

 [Ard£che.] The Borne, a small feeder of the Chassezac, forms part 

 of the eastern boundary. To the basin of the Loire belong the AUior, 

 which rises in the north-eastern slopes of La-Margeride, and for some 

 distance separates this department from those of Ard&che and Huute- 

 Loire ; the Chapeauroux and the Anco, which also rise on the same 

 slope and flow northward into the AUier [Allier.] To the basin of 

 the Oaronne belong the Lot and the Tarn. The Lot rises in tho 

 south-western slope of La-Margeride, not far from Mont Lozfere, and 

 flows west by Mende and Chanac into the department of Aveyrou : 

 nearly 40 miles of its course belong to this department. It receives the 

 Coulanges and some other small streams. [Lot.] The Truy5re, a more 

 important tributary, rises in the slope of La-Margeride, and flows 

 north-west ; it does not join the Lot till far beyond the boundary of 

 this department. The BiSs, a tributary of the Truydre, forms the 

 boundary between the departments of Loz&re and Cantal ; it rises in 

 that of Loziire. [Oasial.] The Tarn rises on the western side of 

 Mont Loz^re and flows westward to Sainte-Enimie, and then south- 

 west into the department of Aveyron. It receives the Tarnon, which 

 has a northerly course below Florae, the Joute (which separates the 

 department of Lozire from that of Aveyron), and several smaller 

 streams. None of tho rivers named is navigable in this departmeut. 

 Many of them flow through gloomy ravines and dark glens, screened 

 by lofty cavernous rocks. There are a few small tarns in the 

 mountains of Aubrac. 



The department is entirely destitute of inland navigation, and very 

 indifferently provided with roads. There are 5 state and 21 depart- 

 mental roads, but in general they are in a bad state of repair. The 

 principal road is that from Paris by Moulins and Clermont to Narbonne 

 and Perpignan. Goods are conveyed for the most part on mule-back. 



The climate is variable and cold : winter lasts about four months 

 in the southern part of the Cdvenncs, and is prolonged to six mouths 

 in the north of the department ; the spring is very rainy, and violent 

 storms are frequent in summer, during which season the heat is great 

 in the lower grounds of the department. 



The nature of the soil presents great obstacles to the labours of the 

 farmer ; yet in most instances the laud everywhere that it is capable 

 of cultivation is well tilled. The chief crops raised in the north of 

 the department are rye, some barley, oats, and hay ; in the Caussdes 

 wheat, barley, oats, fruits, &c. are grown ; and iu the Cdvennes, the 

 chestnut and the potato are the chief support of the population. 

 The vine is cultivated in some favourable situations ; but the quantity 

 of wine produced does not sufBce for the consumption, and the same 

 may be said for the cereal productions of the department. In the 

 basin of the Tarn the mulberry is extensively grown for the pro- 

 duction of silk : here also bees are kept by every householder. The 

 mountain pastures are extensive, and of excellent quality; great 

 numbers of well-wooUed sheep are reared. Horses are not numerous ; 

 but mules and homed cattle are. Amongst the wild animals aro 

 wolves, badgers, great numbers of hares and rabbits. Medicinal 

 plants, and plants used in tanning and dyeing, are abundant. The 

 forest timber is composed of oak, beech, fir, chestnut, &c. The base 

 of Mont Loz&re is surrounded with large forests, the upper part of 

 the mountain is covered with pastures, on which vast flocks of sheep, 

 numbering together above 200,000, feed during the summer months. 

 The CfSvennes also about the sources of the Tarn and its feeders 

 abound with forests, and are scored by numerous wild glens and 

 defiles, in the sides of which are many extensive caverns, the retreats 

 of the persecuted Calvinists in the beginning of the 18th century. 



Tho manufactures are unimportant ; some woollen yarn, serge, 

 blankets, drugget, and cotton-cloth, nearly all for home use, are tho 

 chief products. In the arrondissemeut of Florae there are some 

 cotton-spinning and silk-throwing establishments. Paper, leather, 

 felt hats, parchment, tiles, and earthenware are also made. About 40 



2s 



