BOUCHES-DU-RHONE, a department of France, situated along the south coast, and, as the name imports, at the mouth of the Rhone. It is bounded on the N. by Vaucluse, from which it is separated by the Durance; on the E. by Var, and W. by Gard; and its area is estimated at 1963 English square miles. The western portion consists of a low and marshy plain, known as the Camargue, which is remarkable for its unhealthiness; to the east of this is situated the remarkable stretch of country called the Crau, which is strewn with pebbles like the sea beach; and further east and north there are various ranges of mountains of moderate elevation belonging to the Alpine system. A few small tributaries of the Rhone and the Durance and a number of streams, such as the Arc, the Touloubre, and the Huveaune, which find their way directly to the sea,” are the only rivers that properly belong to the department. The proportion of arable land is exceedingly small, though the quantity has been considerably increased by artificial irrigation. Wheat is cultivated with success in some parts of the Camargue, and, if labour were more easily obtainable, rice might also be grown. Horses and cattle are reared in a half wild condition, and large flocks of sheep are pastured during the winter on the herbage that springs up among the pebbles of the Crau. The numbers of domestic animals in the department were in 1872 as follows :— horses 20,665, cattle 2686, sheep 262,566, and goats 17,560. The only mineral furnished to any extent by the department is coal, in the mining of which between 1000 and 2000 workmen are engaged, but there are also quarries of limestone, sandstone, slate, gypsum, marl, and marble. The salt marshes, which cover an area of 2290 acres, employ more workmen than the coal-mines, and ...