FRANCE. 337 



the forest of Fontainebleau, near as large ; and near Morchismoir is 

 a forest of tall, straight limber, of 4000 trees. Besides these, there 

 are numbers of woods, some of them deserving the name of forests, 

 in different departments ; but too remote from sea-carriage to be of 

 much national utility. 



Lakes. ...Few lakes are found in this country. There is one at the 

 top of a hill near Alegre, which is so deep that the vulgar report it 

 to be bottomless. There is another at Issoire, in Puy de Dome : and 

 one at la Besse, into which if a stone be thrown, it causes a noise 

 like thunder. 



Rivers. ...The principal rivers in France are the Loire, the Rhone, 

 the Garonne, and the Seine. The Loire takes its course north and 

 north-west, being, with all its windings from its source to tfye sea, 

 computed to run about 500 miles. The Rhone flows on the south- 

 west to Lyons, and then runs on due south, till it falls into the Medi- 

 terranean. The Garonne rises in the Pyrenean mountains, takes its 

 course first north-east, and has a communication Avith the Mediterra- 

 nean, by means of a canal, the work of Lewis XIV. The Seine, soon 

 after its rise, runs to the north-west, visiting Troyes, Paris, and Rouen, 

 in its way, and falls into the English Channel at Havre. To these 

 we may add the Saone, which falls into the Rhone at Lyons ; the Cha- 

 rente, which rises near Havre de Grace, and discharges itself in the 

 bay of Biscay at Rochefort ; the Rhine, which rises in SAvitzeriand, 

 is the eastern boundary between France and Germany, and receives 

 the Moselle and the Sarte in its passage ; the Somme, which rises in. 

 the department of Aisne, and passing by St. Quentin, Peronne, and 

 Amiens, falls into the English Channel below Abbeville ; the Var, 

 which rises in the Alps, and runs south, dividing France from Italy, 

 and falling into the Mediterranean, west of Nice ; and the Adour, 

 which rises in the department of the Upper Pyrenees, and running 

 from east to west by Tarbes and Dax, falls into the bay of Biscay, 

 below Bayonne. 



Canals. .-.The vast advantage, both in commerce and conveniency, 

 which arises to France from those rivers, is wonderfully improved by 

 the artificial rivers and canals which form the chief glory of the 

 reign of Lewis XIV. That of Languedoc was begun in the year 

 1666, and completed in 1680; it was intended for a communication 

 between the ocean and the Mediterranean, for the speedier passage 

 of the French fleet : but though it was carried on at an immense ex- 

 pense for 100 miles, over hills and vallies, and even through a moun- 

 tain in one place, it has not answered that purpose. By the canal of 

 Paris, travellers easily pass by water from thence to St. Oraer, Gra= 

 veline, Dunkirk, Ypres, and other places. The canal of Orleans is 

 another noble work, and runs a course of eighteen leagues, to the im- 

 mense benefit of the public and the royal revenue. France abounds 

 with other canals of the like kind, which render her inland naviga- 

 tion inexpressibly commodious and beneficial. 



Mineral waters, and remarkable springs. ...The waters of 

 Barrege, which lie near the borders of Spain, under the Pyrenean 

 mountains, have been preferred to all the others of France, for the 

 recovery of health : but probably the cures performed by them are 

 more owing to their accidental success with some great persons, and 

 the salubrity of the air and soil, than to the virtues of the waters. 

 The waters of Sultzbach, in the department of the Upper Rhine, are 

 said to'cure the palsy, weak. nerves, and the stone. At Bagneres, not 



Vol. L X x 



