594 



FRANCE. 



CHAPTER LXXV. FRANCK. 



A Street in Paris. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. France is bounded north by the English Channel and the 

 Netherlands ; east by Gernnany, Switzerland, and Italy ; south by the Mediterranean and 

 Spain ; and west by the Atlantic, or rather an open gulf called the Bay of Biscay. From 

 Switzerland, Italy, and Spain, it is separated by mountains. It extends from 42° 30' to SI*-* 

 N. latitude ; and from 18'° E. to 5° W. longitude. Its greatest length from north to south is 

 590 miles, and its breadth is about the same. It contains 205,000 square miles. 



2. Mountains. The Cevennes form the central chain. They rise in the south, on the west 

 of the Rhone, and extend northerly between that river and the Loire. They diverge into 

 various branches easterly and westerly. About the head streams of the Loire, west of the 

 main chain, is a branch called the Puy de Dome, which contains some extinct volcanoes. 

 The southern branch is called the Cantiil, and between these are the .Monls d^Or, the highest 

 mountains in France. These branches are called the mountains of Auvergne. The highest 

 point is the Puy de Sansi, 6,330 feet above the level of the sea, which approaches within 98 

 feet of the height of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. This group of mountains covers 

 an extent of 120 miles, and is composed chiefly of basaltic rocks. In winter they are expos- 

 ed to dreadful hurricanes of snow, which fill up the ravines and confine the inhabitants to their 

 houses. Sometimes communications throughout a neighborhood are effected by means of 

 long arches under the vast masses of snow. In summer, thunder-storms with torrents of hail 

 are frequent. On the eastern borders of France are the Vosges., a chain of low and rounded 

 elevations running north and south. They are covered with ricii pastures, and on the south- 

 ern and eastern slope wilf) vines. They abound in minerals, and one of the valleys affords s 

 precious green granite. The highest summit of these mountains is 4,580 feet. On the bor- 

 ders of Switzerland is a range called the Jura ; and further south are the ^-^/ps, which separate 

 France from Switzerland and [taly ; some of them are granitic, and others calcareous. 



In the south are the Pyrenees., separating France from Spain. They run nearly east and 

 west, and tfie west'ern extremity of the range extends into Spain. They will be described in 

 .he ci^nptet on that country. 



