416 BELGIUM. 



institution. Choral and orcliestral societies abound. Parks, zoological and 

 botanical gardens, and sbady walks contribute to the health and pleasure of the 

 citizens. The largest of these parks, that of Laeken in the north, and that of 

 Cambre in the south, are veritable botanical gardens, for they are rich in exotic 

 plants. 



Owing to the central position of the town and the network of canals and 

 railways which connects it with all parts of Belgium, the commerce of Brussels is 

 continually increasing in importance. The Ssnne is no longer a navigable river, 

 as in the fifteenth century ; but a navigation canal, running past WiUcbroek (5,125 

 inhabitants) to the Rupel, has been substituted for it, and enables sea-going 

 vessels to reach the quays of Brussels.* 



The basin of the Dender, to the west of that of the Senne, is populous, although 

 without large cities. AtJb ((S,850 inhabitants) is a commercial town, near which 

 rises the castle of the Princes of Ligne, abounding in art treasures. Leuze (6,300 

 inhabitants), half-way between Ath and Tournay, manufactures silk stuffs. 

 Lessines (6,700 inhabitants), where the Dender is joined by a tributary rising 

 bevond EUczelles (5,450 inhabitants), rivals Quenast in the importance of its 

 quarries of porphyry. Gmmmont, or Gcertsbergen (9,100 inhabitants), is noted for 

 its black lace. Ninovoi (6,300 inhabitants) manufactures cotton stuffs and gloves. 

 Alosf, or Aald (20,982 inhabitants), exports the hops grown in its neighbourhood ; 

 it is the old capital of Imperial Flanders, and in it Thierry Maertens, in 1-473, set 

 up the first printing-press in Belgium. Termonilc, or Dcndermonde (8,250 inha- 

 bitants), on low ground at the mouth of the Dender into the Schelde, is kept up 

 as a fortress, defending the southern approach to Antwerp. 



3Ions (24,310 inhabitants), the capital of the province of Ilainaut, is built upon 

 the slope of a hill. The fortifications which surround it have stifled its growth, 

 and whilst populous towns sprang up all around, Mons itself underwent but 

 few changes in the course of centuries. Like Charleroi, it is the centre of an 

 extensive coal-mining and manufacturing district, the principal industrial towns 

 near it being Jemappes (10,816 inhabitants), Quaregnon (12,138 inhabitants), 

 Wasmes - en. - Borinacje (11,714 inhabitants), Pâturages (10,232 inhabitants), 

 Fra menés (9,950 inhabitants), and Dour (8,850 inhabitants). The coal-field of 

 Mons is the most productive of Belgium, and does not appear to have been opened 

 up before the fourteenth century, or nearly a hundred years later than that of 

 Liège. In the time of Louis XIV. the miners had penetrated to a depth of 230 

 feet, whilst of the 156 coal seams at present known about 80 are available and 

 furnish coal of various descriptions. Millions of tonsf are annually exported on 

 the canal connecting Mons with Conde in France, branches of which communicate 

 with Tournay and the valley of the Dender. 



The capital of Ilainaut + is not of vulgar aspect, like the majority of mining 

 towns. Its venerable Gothic cathedral occupies the top of a hill, whilst the 



* In 1877 161 sea-going vcssols, of 22,467 tons hurden, entered Brussels, 

 f In 1876 the coal-field of Ilainaut yielded 10,698,000 tons. 



X That is, district of the river Haine. Borinage is the name of the coal-field which extends from 

 Mons to the French frontier. 



