20 A HISTORY OF THE PERCHERON HORSE 



lecting medium of the waters that descend the green 

 hills of The Perche. A study of the map will reveal 

 the tortuous course of this river; it receives many 

 rivulets in its passage, and after it leaves Nogent its 

 volume increases perceptibly until it empties itself 

 into the Sarthe. 



Climatic Conditions. — The surface of the land is 

 considerably broken, being traversed by numerous 

 valleys, chief of which are the basins of the Huisne 

 and the Sarthe. There is some timber along the 

 banks of the streams and on the numerous low hills. 

 The forests which border the rim of The Perche 

 serve to condense the atmospheric vapors, and con- 

 sequently the precipitation is abundant. The climate 

 is rather himaid and conducive to the growth of 

 grass. The mean precipitation is 884 millimeters. 

 The mean annual temperature, according to the 

 Scientific Commission of the Department of Orne, 

 is 49.1° Fahrenheit. The wooded area forms 16 per 

 cent of the total land, a proportion which corres- 

 ponds to the average of all the area of France. The 

 natural "prairies", where most of the horses are 

 pastured, occupy the bottom-lands of the valleys. 



Ancient History. — The records of the first settle- 

 ments of this region, Belleme, Mortagne and Nogent- 

 le-Rotrou, are lost in remote antiquity. The most 

 ancient Count of The Perche was Agombert, who 

 lived during the time of Louis the Debonair, about 

 830 or 840 A. D. "When the Romans overran Gaul 

 The Perche was conquered by one of the lieutenants 

 of Caesar, who in his "Commentaries" mentions 



