TOWNS. 



417 



belfry near it is supposed to stand on the site of a tower built by Julius Caesar. 

 Mons has frequently been besieged, and several memorable battles have been 

 fouo-ht in its vicinity. One of thejn was named after the village of Malplaquet, 

 though the contest of 1709 virtually took place 10 miles to the south of the Belgian 

 village, on French soil. At Jemappes, to the west of Mons, the French, com- 

 manded by Dumouriez, achieved a great victory in 1792. 



The most important centres of population between Mons and Charleroi are 

 La Lourière (10,211 inhabitants) and the picturesque town of BincJie (7,850 

 inhabitants), near which, in the castle of Estinnes, King Dagobert resided for a 

 considerable time. Other populous towns in the same part of the country are 



Fig. 232. — Moxs and the Borinage. 

 Scale 1 : 110,000. 



5°50' E.ofG 



Anderlues (5,300 inhabitants), Morlamveh (6,200 inhabitants), Carnières (5,500 

 inhabitants), Houdeng-Aimerm (5,650 inhabitants), and Hoiidcng-Gcegnics (5,050 

 inhabitants). Péniiveh (7,950 inhabitants), a manufacturing town, lies on the other 

 side of Mons, towards Tournay, whilst Baudour (5,800 inhabitants) is situate in 

 the north-west, near the source of the Dender. 



Tournai/, ^^ Doornich (32,145 inhabitant.s) , is the most venerable city of 

 Belgium. Originally inhabited by Nervii, then occupied by the Bomans, and 

 subsequently the capital of a Frankish kingdom, Tovirnay has at all times 

 enjoyed the advantages conferred by its position on the navigable Schelde, and 

 at the meeting-place of several important natural highways. Barges, for the 

 most part laden with coal, crowd its harbour. The cathedral is a Byzantine 



