﻿NORD. 



NOHD. 



1000 



homaa, and d«roto themMlvas to the eoaaolation of tbo old and th« 

 adneation of ths yoaog. 



The departmant U Prided ioto aeTen arrondiaaaments, which, with 

 their subdiTiaiona and population in 18S1, are aa foUowa : — 





Outoaa. 



OonmnBaa. 



Population in 18S1. 



1. IJIIa .... 



1. Do<ul 



S. Doakaiqna . . . 



S. Vilencieane* . 



7. Cambni . . . 



16 



ISS 



66 

 59 

 63 



US 

 SI 



118 



S71,IS6 

 101,109 

 10S,441 

 lOI.SlS 

 14i,04C 

 IS6,779 

 lT4,t4S 



Total 



CO 1 t«s 



l,Ii8,»S 



1. Of the flrat arrondiaaement, and of the whole department, the 

 capital is LiLU. Armentiira, a clean well-built town on the Ly«, 

 9 milea by railway N.W. from Lille, has a college and 7959 inhabitants. 

 It ia a buay manufacturing place ; the chief products are beet-root 

 aogar, table linen, ticking, hosiery, lace, printed calicoes, flaxen- and 

 ootton-yam, tulle, aoap, grain spirits, briclu, &c. ; there are also several 

 hViaoh irnrirn, dye-houses, and salt-refineries. The town has an active 

 eommaroe in its indostrial products, and in corn, wine, brandy, tobacco, 

 iron, naila, aauaages. to. Comina, a pretty little town of 5225 inhabit- 

 ants, aituated on the frontier, 10 mUes N. by E. from Lille, stands on 

 the Lys, which divides it into two ports. The part on the right bank 

 has belonged to France since the treaty of Utrecht in 1713 ; the part 

 on the left bank is in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Tape, 

 cotton stufib, linen thread, bmr, spirits, oil, flour, and leather are the 

 chief industrial products. Halluin, 10 miles N.N.E. from Lille, on 

 the right bank of the Lys, has a population of 4264, who manufacture 

 calico, table liuen, ticking, cotton-yam, bricka, and oil. Near Havhow- 

 din, a amall manufHCturing town aW. of Lille, is the village of Loot, 

 on the Upper Deule, with a population of 3404. The buildings of the 

 former abbey of Loos are converted into a central prison. Le-Quetnoy, 

 on the Lower Deule, a few miles N. from Lille, has 3551 inhabitants, 

 who manufacture nails, anvils, chains, crucibles, iron, beer, coarse 

 linen, &c Jioubaix, 6 miles by railway N.E. from Lille, one of the 

 principal centres of the woollen trade in the north of France, is a 

 Well-built town, with a council of prud'-hommes, a commercial court, 

 and 31,039 inhabitanta. At the b^inning of the present century the 

 population was only 8000; in 1830 it was 13,132. Besides its elegant 

 tiaaoM of wool, the articles manufactured are table linen, furniture, 

 oottoo, nankeens, waistcoat pieces, woollen- and cottou-yam, leather, 

 gin, ke. These products, t<^ether with com, wine, and colonial pro- 

 duce, form the items of a considerable commerce. Seclin, S. of Lille, 

 a station on the Lille-Douai railroad, has a manufacturing population 

 of 3240. Totutoing, about 2 miles N. by railway from Roubaix, is an 

 important manufacturing town, and has a college, a council of prud'- 

 hommes, and 26,834 inhabitants. The town is well built, with wide 

 ■tnight streets and several good public buildings, the most remarkable 

 of which are the town-haU and the churches of SU-Christophe and 

 St-Jaoqnea. Tourcoing is a great mart for the sale of wool, which, 

 after being waahed and combed, is despatched to the manufacturers 

 of RoubaU, Amiens, and St-Quentiu. The principal maniifacturea 

 are table linen, duck for trowsers, swanskin, camlet, velveteens, cotton- 

 and wooU<-n-yam, refined sugar, soap, grain, spirits, &c. 



2. In the second arrondiaaement the chief town is DouA.1. Among 

 the other towns are Marchitnne$, an ill-built town on the Sc'arpe, E. of 

 Dooai, population 2965; and Orchia, N.C of Doual, which is girt 

 with a wall and fosse, and has 3568 inhabitants, who manufacture oil, 

 soap, pottery, beer, gin, leather, and flaxen yam. 



3. In the third arrondissement the chief town ia Ddnksbqub. 

 Hergua-Sl- Winoc, 5 miles S. from Dunkerque, on the railway that joins 

 the Lille-Calais line at Uazebrouck, stands at the junction of several 

 oanala, by on* of which, communicating with the sea, vessels of 300 

 tana can raach the town. It is well built, with good brick houses, and 

 baa 8045 inhabitanta. The town-house, the beffroi or clock-tower, and 

 the two towers of the old abbey of Sk-Winoe, which aerve aa land- 

 marka to sailors entering the harbour of Dunkerque, are the most 

 Dotawortby objecta in the town. The manufactnraa consist of soap, 

 boaUry. cotton-yam, sugar, salt, distilled spirits, leather, &c ; boata 

 ■r* bimt: and there ia a considerable trade in com, cheese, butter, 

 wiaiL and cattle. Thia town waa strongly fortified by Vauban, and is 

 aouddarad a foiirea of the first daas. Bourbourg, in au unhealthy 

 marahy situation near the right bank of the Aa, has oil-mills, breweries, 

 salt-worka, and 2508 inhabitanta. Orovelinet, a fortified sea-port town, 

 12 miles W. from Dunkerque, built in a marshy spot at the mouth of 

 the Aa, has a lighthouse and 6582 inhabitanta The town ia pretty 

 well built ; the araenal ia the most remarkable object The R)rtifi- 

 eationa eonatractad by Vautmu render the town impregnable towarda 

 the aaa; on the land side it may be surrounded with water at pleasure. 

 The principal articles of trade are wine, brandy, gin, salt, timber, salt- 

 fish, refined sugmr, beer, tc VesjeU are fitted out for the herring, 

 cod, and mackerel fiahcriea. JJondtchoote, a few miles E. from Berguea, 

 on the BasaC'olmo Canal, haa tan-yards, breweries, oil-mills, bleach- 



worka, and 8971 inhahitanta. Wormkoudt, 11 mile* 8. from Donkerque, 

 situated on the Ysaer, is one of the oleanast and prettiest towns in 

 French Flanders. It has 3328 inhabitants, several bleach-mills, brew 

 eriea, briok-worka, oil-mills, and tan-yorda 



4. In the fourth arrondiaaement the chief town, Uaubroudc, ia 

 situated on the Boorre, a small feeder of the Lya, at the point where 

 the ndlway from Lille diverges to Calais and Dunkerque, and has a 

 tribunal of first instance, a college, and a population of 7539. The 

 town, which is 25 miles distant from Lille and Dunkerque, is well 

 built, and possesses aevaial handaome public buildings, among which 

 are the parish ohorch, the town-house, the sub-prefect's rosidonoe, and 

 the old Auguatinian convent, the several parta of which are now used 

 as college lecture-rooms, tobacco warehouse, hoapital, corn-market, 

 and a normal school. AJnong the industrial producta of Hacebrouck 

 are linen-cloth and twist, soap, leather, refined salt, beer, oil, and lime. 

 A great linen-market ia held every Saturday. BaiUtul, milea from 

 Hazebrouck, on the railway to Lille, stands on high ground, and ia in 

 general a well-built town, with regular streets and taatefully-construotod 

 nouses. The sculptured decorations over the doors of the best man- 

 sions represent subjects taken from the Scriptures, and give au idea of 

 the taste and of the religious feeling of the French Flemings. The 

 most remarkable public structures are the church of St-Vaast and 

 that which belonged to the former Jesuit college. The industrial pro- 

 ducts are linen of all kinds, tape, beet-root sugar, pottery, soap, refiued 

 salt, beer, oil, bricks, leatlm, and flour. There is considerable tnide 

 also in com, beans, cheese, poultry, and cattle, of which great numbers 

 are fed on the fine pastures round the town. Bailleul has 10,141 

 inhabitants. Cattel, said to be the Cattellum Menapioruin, is built on 

 an isolated conical hill, in the midst of a fertile and extensive plain, 

 6 milea by railway N. from Hazebrouck, and has a college and 4410 

 inhabitants. The town is neat, clean, and supplied with water from 

 au abundant fountain. The summit of the hill on which the town is 

 built is the highest point in French Flauders, and presents one of the 

 finest views of the kind in Europe, comprehending the harbours of 

 Dunkirque, Qravelines, and Calais, 32 towns, and above 100 church 

 and clock towers, marking so many towns, vilkges, and hamlets, 

 scattered over a varied and fertile plain. Lace, liuen, hats, stockings, 

 soap, coarse pottery, leather, and oil are the ohief industrial producta ; 

 there is also some trade in corn, butter, beans, poultry, and cattla 

 Ettaira, 11 miles S.E. from Hazebrouck, formerly a forlifitd but now 

 an open town, stands on the Lys, and has a college and 6890 inhabit- 

 ants. The manufacture and bleaching of linen, the preparation and 

 spinning of flax, nail-making, and boat-building are the leading occu- 

 pations of its population. ilerviUc, at the junction of the Buurre 

 Canal, with the Lys, 8 miles S. from Hazebrouck, is a well-built town, 

 with a population of 6079. It has important manufsctures of domaak 

 and linen-cloth ; and also salt-refineries, breweries, and brick-works. 

 Stenvoorde, N. by E. of Hazebrouck, near the Belgian frontier, has a 

 custom-house and 3863 inhabitanta, who manufacture woollen stufis, 

 linen, pottery, beer, leather, and tiles. A great deal of hops are grown 

 near this town. 



5. The fifth arrondissement takes its name from A vana, a small 

 well-built fortified town, aituated on the Helpe, a feeder of the Sambre, 

 in the former territory of Hainaut, 54 miles S.E. from Lille. It 

 has a tribunal of first instance, a college, and 2946 inhabitants, who 

 manufikcture hosiery, gin, soap, leather, and bricks ; there are alao 

 salt-refinariea, marble-works, and, in the neighbourhood, iron-mines, 

 iron-forgea and smelting-furnaces, naileries, and glasa-works. Bavay, 

 15 miles N. from Avesnes, a small place of only 1700 inhabitants, 

 marks the site of the Roman Bajacum. It contains several tracea of 

 its founders — among others, the ruins of a circus and an aqueduct, 

 lu the middle of the town a heptagonal column marks the point 

 where seven Koman roads, called Chaussdes Brunehaut, met. Lan- 

 dreciei,H fortified town on the Sambre, 12 miles W. from Avesnes, has 

 a handsome church, lai-ge barracks, and 391)1 inhabitants. The Sambre 

 is navigable at this place ; and there is a good trade in com, hops, flax, 

 oheese, wood, charcoal, slates, cattle, and glass bottles. Manbeuge, a 

 well-built fortified town on the Sambre, by which it exports the coal, 

 marble, and slates found in the neighbourhood, has 7323 inhabitants. 

 The manufactures consist of ironmongery, tin-ware, nails, soap, and 

 beet-root sugar ; there are also marble-works, tan-yards, a salt-refinery, 

 and a government manufactory of fire-arms. Le-Quetnoy, another 

 fortified town, 17 miles N.W. from Avesnes, is prettily situated on a 

 hilt above a fertile and extensive plain, fringed by the forest of Mormal, 

 and hus 3922 inhabitanta, some cotton-spinuing factories, tan-yards, and 

 breweries. It is a pretty brick-built town, witlx a handsome town- 

 house, an arsenal, and a remarkable church, founded iu the 11th 

 oentuiy. SoUt-le-Chdttan, situated on the Soire, 7 miles N.E. from 

 Aveanes, has fulling-mills, marble-works, tan-yards, naileries, glaaa- 

 works, and manufacture* of lace, serge, blankets, and wooUen-yam : 

 population, 2645. TrfUm, 8 miles S.E. from Avesnes, has 2000 iuhabit- 

 ants, who manufacture hosiery, chemical products, iron, and lime. 



6. Of the sixth arromlissement the chief town, Valenci<mM$, 

 which is situated on the railway from I'aria to Brussels, 22 miles S.E. 

 from Douai, at the junction of the Itbonelle with the Escaut, in 

 60° 21' 29" N. lot., Z^'iV 34" E. long., is S4 feet above tbo level of 

 the sea, and has 22,625 inhabitant). The town, which is surrouudcd 

 by fortiflcatioDS and defended by a citadel constructed by Yaubau, is 



