TOWNS. 



405 



most picturesque towns of Belgium, is the head-quarters of the tourists who 

 annually flock to the upper valley of the Meuse and to that of theXesse, which 

 leads south-easterly into the heart of the Ardennes. The towns of Ctiicij (2,850 

 inhabitants), the capital of Condroz, Marche-eu-Faineiiiie (2,580 inhabitants), and 

 Bastogne (2,700 inhabitants) rise on the plateau of this sparsely peopled region, 

 St. Hubert (2,300 inhabitants), on one of the most frequented high-roads of the 

 Ardennes, was formerly famous as a meeting-place of sportsmen. The breed of 

 doo-s of the old abbots is extinct in the country, but still survives in England. 



Following the Meuse, below Dinant we pass Boutigties, a modest village now, 

 but formerly a rival of the city named, and reach Namur (25,006 inhabitants), 



Fig. 22G. — The Coal-field of Chauleroi. 

 Scale 1 : 75,000. 



,2° 5 E of Paris 



4° 25' ■F.ofG. 



1 Mile. 



situate at the foot of a bold promontory commanding the confluence of the Meuse 

 and Sambre. The strategical position of Namur is highly important, and a 

 powerful citadel now occupies the site of the old castle of its dukes. Sieges and 

 bombardments have robbed the town of nearly all its ancient buildings, and only 

 a belfry and a monastery now used as a court of justice date back to the Middle 

 Ages. The cathedral, finished in 1772, is one of the finest churches in Belgium. 

 ■ The town carries on the mannfacture of glass, cutlery, and hardware. Iron has 

 been manufactured in the country for at least twenty centuries, as is proved by 

 the discovery of ancient forges and of pits containing cast iron. 



The central valley of the Sambre is rich in coal, and its iron industry is far 

 more developed than that of iSTanmr. Charleroi (15,943 inhabitants) is the capital 



