﻿MAINE-ET-LOIRE. 



MAIN'E-ET-LOIUE. 



666 



variety and beauty to the landscape. The eastern side of the depart- 

 ment is occupied by the chalk which encircles the Paris basin : a belt 

 of land in the centre, extending across the department, first south- 

 west along the eastern bank of the Sarthe to its junction with the 

 Mayenne, and from thence south-east by Angers, Brissac, and Doui5, 

 is occupied by the formations between the chalk and the saliferous 

 sandstone : the western side is occupied by th'e primitive rocks. 



The department belongs entirely to the basin of the Loire, which 

 river crosses it from east to west, and forms in its course several 

 beautiful islands. The northern districts are drained by the Mayenne 

 and its feeder the Oudon, by the Sarthe and its feeder the Loire, and 

 by the Authion. [MArEXNE; Sarthe; Loire-et-Cher ; Isdre-et- 

 LoiRE.] The Mayenne and the Sarthe unite above Angers and form 

 the Maine, which after a course of about 5 miles fulls into the Loire 

 south by west of Angers. These last-named rivers are navigable ; the 

 Loire steamers between Nantes and Tours ply up the Maine as far as 

 Angers. The chief feeders of the Loire from the left bank in this 

 department are the Thouet and the Layon. The Sfevre-Nantaise and 

 its tributary the Moine drain a small portion of the south-west of the 

 department. The department is traversed by the Orl<Sans-Nantes 

 railroad, which passes through Saumur and Angers ; it is also crossed 

 by 9 state, 24 departmental, 17 military, and 33 parish roads. The 

 climate is healthy, and the temperature mild ; winter is rainy ; west 

 and south-west winds prevail. 



The soil is generally fertile, yielding com more than enough for the 

 consumption. The chief crops are wheat, rye, barley, and pulse of all 

 kinds. Other valuable products are hemp, Qax, nuts, excellent fruits, 

 &c. About 11,000,000 gallons of white and red wine are made 

 annually, some of which is of good quality. Since 183S a good deal 

 of effervescing wine, resembling the true champagne and rivalling it 

 in quality, has been manufactured. The department is famous for 

 its melons. A considerable quantity of cider is also made. The 

 forests of the department, which are extensive, consist chiefly of oak 

 and beech. The pasturage is good, and great numbers of horses, 

 mules, homed cattle, and sheep are reared. Deer and wild boars are 

 met with in the forests ; wolves and badgers are sometimes seen ; 

 foxes, weasels, and wild cats are more common. Feathered game is 

 yer7 abundant. Fish is plentiful ; the rivers are infested by otters. 

 Among the reptiles are vipers, adders, the common snake, and 

 land-lizards. 



Iron and coal mines are worked. Marble, granite, building stone, 

 limestone, slate, and potters'-clay are quarried. Tho slate-quarries of 

 the department, especially those of Angers, are vast excavations, 

 worked right from the surface of the ground. They give employ- 

 ment to above 3000 men, who raise about 80,000,000 slates annually. 

 The number of wind- and water-mills amounts to 022 ; of iron forges 

 and foundries to 90 ; and there are 160 factories and workshops of 

 different kinds, in which sailcloth, linen, cotton-handkerchiefs, flannels, 

 paper, oil, cotton- and woollen-yam, &,«., are manufactured. There 

 are also numerous tan-yards, sugar-refineries, distilleries, bleach-works, 

 and dye-houses. 



The department is divided into fire arrondissements, which with 

 then: subdivinous and population are as follows : — 



ArrondissciDeiits. 



Csntona. 



Commuius. 



Fopalatlon in 1851. 



1. Angers . 



3. Bnugi . . . 



3. 8egr« . 



4. Beanprteu . . . 

 9. Swunur . 



9 

 6 

 S 



7 

 7 





194,949 

 79,713 

 62,080 



131,375 

 »7,339 



Total . . . 



84 



373 



515,453 



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

 capital is Angen, which is noticed in a separate article. [Akoers.] 

 Of the other towns named in this article the poptilation given in each 

 case is that of the commune. Chalonna, prettily situated at the foot 

 of a hill between the Layon and tho Loire, 12 miles by railway 8. by 

 Vf. from Angers, has 4927 inhabitants, who manufacture setge, hand- 

 kerchiefs, and brandy. Pontt-de-Ci, a town of 4000 inhabitants, 

 stands about 4 miles S. from Angers, at the entrance of the A\ithion 

 into the Loire. It takes its name from the series of bridges that 

 here connects the banks of the Loire with the intervening islands. 

 Tbeae bridges form one of the most important passes of the Loire ; 

 they are partly of wood and partly of stone, and contain 109 arches 

 in all, the entire length, including the causeway, being 3280 yards. 

 The town consists merely of rows of houses built along the cause- 

 ways connecting the bridges. About half a mile below Pouts-de-Cd, 

 and on the right bank of the Loire, is an ancient Roman encamp- 

 ment, which is traditionally said to have been occupied by Csesar. Some 

 derive tho name Pontg-de-Cd from Pontes C'xaaris (Ciesar's Bridges.) 



2. The second arrondissement of Baugd, has for its chief town 

 Baugi, which stands east of Angers, in 47" 32' 32" N. lat., 0° 6' 11" 

 W. long., 192 feet above tho level of the sea, near the Couesnon, a 

 feeder of tho Authion, and baa a tribunal of first instance, a college, 

 and 3147 inhabitants, who manufacture coarse wooUens, linen, and 

 article* of horn. The old castle built here by Foulques Nerra is well 



preserved, and foroia now one of tho fiujst hospitals in Maine. Beau- 

 fort, situated in an extremely fertile country on the right bank of 

 the Loire, was formerly one of the most important towns of Anjou ; 

 but since the construction of the dyke along the Loire, on the summit 

 of which the road from Tours to Angers rvms and not as formerly 

 through Beaufort, the town is much fallen from its former prosperity. 

 It is however a well-built and still important town, with 5474 inhabit- 

 ants, who manufacture sailcloth, zinc, leather, &o. There is also a 

 considerable trade in com, wine, oil, fruit, hemp, &c. Durtal, a town 

 of 3452 inhabitants, is built at the foot and on the slope of a hill on 

 the right bank of the Loire, which is here passed by a bridge of cut 

 stone. There is a pretty chateau, with two battlemented and maohico- 

 lated towers, on a hill near the town. Earthenware, tiles, bricks, and 

 linen are manufactured here. LongvA, on the Lathan, a feeder of the 

 Authion, a few miles S. of Baugd, has 4287 inhabitants, who manu- 

 facture oil and leather, and trade in cattle, leeches, and agricultural 

 produce. The leeches are found in a marsh lake traversed by the 

 Lathan. 



3. The third arrondissement is named from its chief town Segri, 

 which is situated in the north of the department, on the Oudon, a 

 feeder of the Mayenne, and has a tribunal of first instance, and 2631 

 inhabitants. Lion-d' Amjera, a well-built little town, near the junction 

 of tho Oudon with the Mayenne, has a population of 2732. Pouanci, 

 in the north-western angle of the department, has iron-smelting forges 

 and blast furnaces, and 2821 inhabitants. 



i. In the fourth arrondissement the chief town, Beauprdau, stands 

 on the Erve, a feeder of the Loire, 34 miles S.W. from Angers, and 

 has a tribunal of first instance, a college, and 3448 inhabitants. There 

 is a fine turretcd chateau near the town. Leather, flannel and other 

 woollen stuffs, and linen are manufactured. ChemiUf, E. of BeaupnSau, 

 on a river called lonne, is an old town with 4049 inhabitants, who 

 manufacture linen of all kinds, calico, cotton-yam, and paper. Cholet, 

 or ChoUet, a busy manufacturing town in the south of the depart- 

 ment, stands on the Moine, and has a tribunal of commerce, a council 

 of Prud'Uommes, a college, and 8413 inhabitants. The town was 

 burnt in the Vendean war by the Vendeans and the Republicans ; 

 but it has been since rebuilt. It is famous for the manufacture of linen 

 and pocket-handkerchiefs ; flannel, calico, cotton-yarn, and leather 

 are also made ; there is a brisk trade in these articles, and in cattle and 

 agricultural produce. Sl.-1'lorcnt-k-Yieil, a town of 2025 inhabitants, 

 stands on a steep hill above the left bank of the Loire. 



5. In the fifth arrondissement of Saumur the chief town, Saumur, 

 stands in a charming situation on the left bank of the Loire, in 

 47''15'34" N. lat, 0"4'17' W. long., 252 feet above the level of the sea, 

 at a distance of 28 miles by railroad W. from Tours, and has tribunals 

 of first instance and of commerce, a college, and 12,608 inhabitants. 

 A magnificent stone bridge, of 12 arches, 3104 yards long, joins tho 

 town to an extensive suburb built on several islets in the river and 

 along the dyke on its right bank. Saumur is built at the foot and 

 on the slope of a hill, the summit of which is crowned by an old castle, 

 now used as an arsenal. The lower part of the town is well built, 

 and extends along the river, which is lined with quays. The higher 

 part of the town is irregularly built; the streets are ill laid out, and 

 some of them very steep. The principal buildings, besides the 

 castle, are the churches of St-Pierre, Nautilly, and Notre-Dame-des- 

 Ardilliers (the convent formerly attached to this church is now an 

 hospital) ; and the town-haU. The splendid barracks of Saumur, 

 which were built between the Loire and the Thouet, were destroyed 

 by fire. May 8th, 1848. Other objects of notice at Saumur are tho 

 public library, the theatre, and the baths. There are several fine 

 promenades ; the view from the castle over the valley of the Loire is 

 very splendid. The environs of Saumur, along the left bank of the 

 Loire, abound in druidioal monuments. The chief industrial products 

 are linen, cotton handkerchiefs, enamelled articles, beads, saltpetre, 

 and leather. The line of steamers that ply between Nantes and 

 Tours put in at Saumur. Doui, S.VV. of Saumur, is a well-built littlo 

 town, with 2590 inhabitants, who trade in corn, linen, iron, and 

 cattle. It possesses one of the finest fountains in France, both in an 

 architectural point of view and on account of the abundance of its 

 waters. I'ontevrauU, in tho south-eastern angle of the department, 

 9 miles from Saumur, has a population of 363i>. The town owes its 

 existence to the famous abbey of Fontevrault, founded in 1099, of 

 which the great church, a magnificent monument of the 12th century, 

 and all the other buildings now remaining, have been converted into 

 a central prison for eleven departments. The abbey possesses great 

 interest for an Englishman ; it contains the cemetery of the Norman 

 kings of England and the Counts of Anjou. The tombs of Henry IL 

 and his queen, Eleanor of Ouienne, of CcDur-de-Lion, and Elizabeth 

 the Queen of John, alone have been saved from utter destruction. 



The department forms the see of the Bishop of Angers. It is 

 included in the jurisdiction of the High Court of Angers, and belongs 

 to tho 15th MiUtary Division, of which Nantes is head-quarters. It 

 returns four members to the Legislative Body of tho French empire. 

 There are at Angers a diocesan seminary, a preparatory theological 

 college, a secondary school of medicine, an endowed college, and 

 a primary normal school ; and commun.il colleges at Baugd, Beaufort, 

 Doud, and Saumur. The former University-Academy of Angers (like 

 Bomo others) is now suppressed uul by recent legislation and a decree 



