TOWNS. 



419 



is cultivated, tobacco and cereals being the principal crops raised. Crvyshautcm 

 (5,700 inhabitants) is the most important town to the east of the Lys. 



Grind, called Gent by the Flemings, and Ghent in English (127,603 inha- 

 bitants), occupies one of those happy positions which always enable a town to 

 recover after every disaster by which it is overtaken. Situate at the point of 

 junction of the Schelde, Lys, Lieve, and Moere, it has naturally become the 

 emporium of the upper valleys of these rivers. The tide ascends the 8chelde as far 

 as its quays, and the river, forming an elbow, approaches close to the sea before 

 sweeping round to the east. For centuries past the Ghenters have taken advantage 

 of this proximity to the sea, and a canal excavated by them enabled their vessels 

 to proceed direct to foreign countries. Roads, and recently railways, have still 



Y\r. 233.— Ghent (Gand). 

 Scale 1 : 150,000. 



E.ofG. 



3° !to 



3° k'z 



1 MUe. 



further increased the means of communication. Ghent is the third city of Belgium 

 in population, but the first in industry. The number of its inhabitants is probably 

 not inferior now to what it was in the time of its greatest power. The custom of 

 tolling a bell when the workmen left their shops, in order that peaceable citizens 

 might retire to their houses, is rather an evidence of the rough manners of the 

 period than a proof of Ghent having had at one time 80,000 men capable of bearing 

 ai-ms. Old plans and documents prove very conclusively that Ghent was at no 

 time larger than it is now, and as to Charles V. telling Francis I, that " he could 

 put Paris in his glove {gant),'" that was merely a play upon words. No one has 

 contributed more largely to the decadence of the city than that emperor, himself 

 a native of it. 



