418 BELGIUM. 



structure of tlie twelfth century, with a Gothic choir of the fourteenth. It 

 is the most remarkable mediaeval building of Belgium, and amongst its 

 thousand columns there are not two alike, so inexhaustible has been the 

 fantasy of the masons employed upon it. The belfry dates back to the 

 eleventh century, and is the oldest in Belgium, and there still exist two private 

 houses equally old, a very rare feature in our European cities, which have 

 undergone so many vicissitudes since the Middle Ages. The manufacture of 

 hosiery and carpets is carried on as of yore, most of the workmen being employed 

 at their own homes. The argillo-calcareous soil of the environs is favourable to 

 the cultivation of pears, and several new varieties of that delicious fruit have been 

 "created " in the district. The neighbouring hills furnish lime for export. 



Audenarde, or Oudenaerde (5,575 inhabitants), also on the Schelde, between 

 Tournay and Ghent, has not maintained its rank amongst the towns of Flanders, 

 and is surpassed in population by its modern rival Rcnaix, or House (14,080 

 inhabitants), in the undulating country to the south of it. But Audenarde 

 could not be robbed of the buildings which were witnesses of its ancient glory, 

 including a Gothic town-hall and two Byzantine churches. In the sixteenth 

 century between 12,000 and 14,000 persons were employed at Audenarde in the 

 manufacture of carpets. The town has sustained many sieges, and the flooded 

 lowlands which surround it have proved a better defence than its walls. 



The Lys, before joining the Schelde in the city of Ghent, washes the quays of 

 several populous towns. It separates Comines into two parts, one French, the 

 other (3,480 inhabitants) Belgian. It then flows past Wervicq, or Werwick (6,950 

 inhabitants), the Roman Viroviaciim, with its tobacco factories, conveniently 

 situated for French' smugglers. Lower down it passes Menin, or Meenen (11,337 

 inhabitants), a town of warehouses and cotton-mills, famous two centuries ago 

 for its hundred breweries. Court rai, or Kortryk (26,389 inhabitants), also on the 

 Lys, is the commercial centre of a considerable portion of Western Flanders. The 

 flax grown in the neighbourhood is of superior quality, and the linen and lace of 

 Courtrai are as highly valued now as they were in the Middle Ages. An ancient 

 and glorious city, Courtrai boasts of a town-hall, a belfr}^, and a Gothic church of 

 the thirteenth century, with stained windows and a painting by Van Dyck. The 

 "Battle of the Spurs," in which the citizens of Ghent defeated the knights of 

 Philippe le Bel, was fought near the town. 



The other towns of the district lie at some distance from the Lys, the banks of 

 which, as far as Ghent, are marshy. Moitscrou, or Mouscroen (9,850 inhabitants), 

 one amongst them, is to the south of Courtrai, near the French frontier. To the 

 west of the Lys are Tngelmumter (5,850 inhabitants), where tapestry is made, 

 Ilarleheke (5,650 inhabitants), Iseghem (8,900 inhabitants), Waereghem (7,100 

 inhabitants), Meulehche (9,000 inhabitants), Rumheke (5,900 inhabitants), Rou- 

 lers, or Rousse/aer (16,133 inhabitants), Moorslede (6,400 inhabitants), Ardoye 

 (6,450 inhabitants), Thielt (10,209 inhabitants), Rirysselede (6,650 inhabitants), 

 Somerghem (5,650 inhabitants), and Adtre (6,900 inhabitants). These towns are 

 especially notable on account of the care with which the country in their vicinity 



