The whole range is remarkable for its regularity. The main chain is on the whole easy to trace; its continuity is unbroken, and the variations in its height are mostly confined within narrow limits. The same regularity is seen in the arrangement of the valleys. Except that of Aran, all the principal valleys are given off at right angles, or nearly so, like the pinnae of a fern-frond, on both sides of the chain, and they are again subdivided by similar minor valleys at right angles to them. In all these respects the Pyrenees contrast in a very marked manner with the Alps. They have none of the great longitudinal valleys so characteristic of the latter range, none of the great lakes by which such valleys are occupied, and but few passes like those which are found in plenty leading across the great chains of the Alps at a level much below that of the adjoining peaks. In this last particular, indeed, the Pyrenees are conspicuously deficient. Between the two extremities of the range, where the principal highroads and the only railways run between France and Spain, there are only two passes practicable for carriages,— the Col de la Perche between the valley of the Tet and the valley of the Segre, and the Col de Somport or Port de Canfranc (where it is now proposed to pierce the range by a railway tunnel) on the old Roman road from Saragossa to Oloron.

This latter pass marks the western extremity of what are known as the Central Pyrenees, which extend eastwards to the valley of Aran and include the highest summits of the whole range—Pic de Néthou or Maladetta (11,165 feet), Posets (11,047 feet), Mont Perdu (10,994 feet, Reclus; other authorities, 11,430 feet). In the Atlantic Pyrenees to the west of that pass the average height gradually but steadily diminishes till we come to the Mediterranean, while in the Eastern Pyrenees, with the exception of one break at the eastern extremity of the Pyrénées Ariégeoises, the mean elevation is maintained with remarkable uniformity, till at last a rather sudden decline occurs in the portion of the chain known as the Albères.

Narrow as the range is, the inclination of a straight line drawn from the base to the crest on the French side is not more than 3°, or a rise of about 6 in 100. On the Spanish side it is said to be somewhat steeper, but this has not been definitely ascertained. This fact, however, gives no idea of the general character of the Pyrenean slopes. The descent from the crest to the plains is marked by a succession of terraces terminating in abrupt precipices. On the French side a long cliff marks the northern limit of the chain for the greater part of its length, and this feature is particularly well defined in the department of Aude, where a steep precipice marks the division between the true Pyrenees and the Corbières, a minor chain remarkable for the complexity of its geological structure, stretching in that department from south-west to north-east.

Besides these longitudinal precipices marking the steps in the descent from the summit-line to the plains, the transverse valleys almost everywhere form profound ravines, at the bottom of which brawl the innumerable mountain-torrents (“gaves,” as they are locally called) that form the principal feature in the hydrography of the range. Frequently they form lofty cascades, surpassed in Europe only by those of Scandinavia. The highest is that of Gavarnie at the head of the Gave de Pau, 1515 feet high. The wildness which thus in general marks the scenery of the Pyrenees is even greater on the Spanish than on the French side.

A peculiar and very striking feature in the Pyrenean valleys is the frequency with which their upper end assumes the form of a semicircle of precipitous cliffs. Such basins are called “cirques,” and the most noted is that at the head of the valley just mentioned, the Cirque de Gavarnie. The origin of this form of valley is still a matter of discussion among geologists. Geologically the Pyrenees consist, like the Alps, of a core of granite overlaid by sedimentary strata of various age down to the Tertiary period. The granite is exposed chiefly in the east and centre, and appears in the west only in comparatively small isolated patches. Above the granitic core Cambro-Silurian rocks are very extensively developed, especially in the west, and it would appear that the first upheaval on the site of the present Pyrenees took place after the deposition of the rocks of this age, since those of the next epochs in geological history, the Old Red Sandstone, the Carboniferous, and probably also the Permian, are almost entirely unrepresented. The Secondary rocks down to the Lower Cretaceous were deposited perfectly conformably upon one another, probably against the slopes of a gentle ridge rising out of the water. Among these, Triassic rocks occupy a considerable area in the west on both slopes of the mountains; those of Jurassic age are likewise found on both slopes, but at different points; while the Lower Cretaceous form an almost continuous band on the north and one quite continuous on the south. After the deposition of the last-mentioned strata a second upheaval took place, and then another period of quiet deposition, during which the Upper Cretaceous and Eocene beds were laid down, was brought to a conclusion by the grand upheaval which elevated the Pyrenees into one of the great mountain-chains of Europe and imparted to them the general outline of their present relief. The last deposits of the Eocene sea in this quarter, represented on the French side by the conglomerates of Palusson, have been raised by this upheaval up the slopes of the mountains, and are succeeded by the Miocene· lacustrine molasse, which lies perfectly horizontally at their base. The next and last upheaval was one that did not affect the Pyrenees separately, but raised the whole area on which they stand, causing the emergence from beneath the sea of the region of the Landes and draining the lake that, washed the foot of the Pyrenees on the east, thus establishing the present land connexion between France and the Iberian Peninsula.

The later rocks of the Pyrenees are to a large extent limestones, among which are conspicuous the characteristic hippuritic limestone of the southern Chalk and the nummulitic limestone of the southern Eocene. For the most part the highest peaks belong to the granitic core of the mountains. But this is not always the case. In some instances limestone rocks have been carried up to the very crest of the mountains, as in Mont Perdu and in Marboré; the name of the latter, meaning “marble,” indicates the nature of its constituent rock. Such limestone summits have a characteristic square massive form, very different from the sharp peaks of the granite and the schists. As in other limestone regions, caves are numerous in the Pyrenees, and several of these are of great interest to geologists and anthropologists on account of the traces of recent geological changes observable in them, and the remains of early man, both Palaeolithic and Neolithic, which they have yielded.

The metallic ores of the Pyrenees are not in general of much importance, though there are considerable iron mines at Vic de Sos in Ariége and at the foot of Canigou in Pyrénées Orientales. Coaldeposits capable of being profitably worked are situated chiefly on the Spanish slopes, but the French side has numerous beds of lignite. Mineral springs are abundant and very remarkable, and specially noteworthy are the hot springs, in which the Alps, on the contrary, are very deficient. The latter, among which those of Bagnères de Luchon and Eaux-Chaudes may be mentioned, are sulphurous and mostly situated high, near the contact of the granite with the stratified rocks. The lower springs, such as those of Bagnères de Bigorre (Hautes-Pyrénées), Rennes (Aude), and Campagne (Aude), are mostly selenitic and not very warm.

The amount of the precipitation, including rain and snow, is much greater in the Western than in the Eastern Pyrenees, which leads to a marked contrast between the two halves of the chain in more than one respect. In the first place, the Eastern Pyrenees are without glaciers, the quantity of snow falling there being insufficient to lead to their development. The glaciers are confined to the northern slopes of the Central Pyrenees, and do not descend, like those of the Alps, far down in the valleys, but have their greatest length in the direction of the mountain-chain. They form in fact a narrow zone near the crest of the highest mountains. Here, as in the other great mountain ranges of central Europe, there are evidences of a much wider extension of the glaciers during the Ice age. The case of the glacier in the valley of Argelès in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées is the best-known instance. The snow-line is stated to lie in different parts of the Pyrenees at from 8800 to 9200 feet above sea-level.

A still more marked effect of the preponderance of rainfall in the western half of the chain is seen in the aspect of the vegetation. The lower mountains in the extreme west are very well wooded, but the extent of forest declines as we go eastwards, and the Eastern Pyrenees are peculiarly wild and naked, all the more since it is in this part of the chain that granitic masses prevail. There is a change, moreover, in the composition of the flora in passing from west to east. In the west the flora, at least in the north, resembles that of central Europe, while in the east, though the difference of latitude is only about 1°, on both sides of the chain from the centre whence the Corbières stretch north-eastwards towards the central plateau of France it is distinctly Mediterranean in character. The Pyrenees are relatively as rich in endemic species as the Alps, and among the most remarkable instances of that endemism is the occurrence of the . sole European species of Dioscorea (yam), the D. pyrenaica, on a single high station in the Central Pyrenees, and that of the monotypic genus Xatardia, only on a high alpine pass between the Vai d’Eynes and Catalonia. The genus most abundantly represented in the range is that of the saxifrages, several species of which are here endemic.

In their fauna also the Pyrenees present some striking instances of endemism. There is a distinct species of ibex {Caprapyrenaica) confined to the range, while the Pyrenean desman or ivater-mole {Mygale pyrenaica) is found only in some of the streams of the northern slopes of these mountains, the only other member of this genus being confined to the rivers of southern Russia. Among the other peculiarities of the Pyrenean fauna are blind insects in the caverns of Ariége, the principal genera of which are Anophthalm,us and Adelops.

See Murray’s Handbook of France ; A. Leymerie, Description géologique et paléontologique des Pyrénées de la Haute Garonne (to which a general account of the chain is prefixed), Toulouse, 1881; De Chausenque, Les Pyrénées, 1854; for the vegetation, Bentham, Catalogue des Plantes indigenes des Pyrénées et de Bas- Languedoc, Paris, 1826, and Grisebach, Vegetation der Erde, Leipsic, 1872; and for an account of the caverns, Geikie, Prehistoric Europe, and the authorities there cited. For the French side of the Pyrenees the best map is that of the Government survey on the scale of π <ι⅛ππ (about an inch to the mile). The first sheet of a map by Fr. Schrader of the Spanish slopes on the scale of tob ⅛∏∏ has been published under the title Pyrénées Centrales avec les grands Massifs du Versant espagnol ; and a sketch map of the whole of the Spanish slopes based on the tracings of MM. Schrader, Wallon, and Saint-Sand was published in vol. vii. (1880) of the Annuaire du Club alpin français, and also separately. See also the maps in Murray’s Handbook.

1. Basses -Pyrenees, a department of south-western France, at the angle of the Bay of Biscay, was formed in 1790, two-thirds of it from Béarn and the rest from three districts of Gascony—Navarre, Soule, and Labourd —which together constitute the Basque region of France. The department lies between 42° 46' and 43° 36' N. lat. and between 0° 6' E. and 1° 47' W. long., and is bounded on the N. by Landes and Gers, on the E. by Hautes-Pyrénées (which has two enclaves, forming five communes, within this department), on the S. by Spain, and on the W.' by the ocean. The name is due to the fact that the peaks of the Pyrenees on its southern frontier are lower than in the neighbouring department. Their height increases gradually from west to east. The peak of the Rhune, to the south of St Jean de Luz, rises only to 2950 feet; and on the border of the Basque country, which occupies the western half of the department, the mean height of the summits is not much greater. The peak of Orhy alone, in the south of the valley of Mauléon, reaches 6618 feet. But beyond that of Anie (8215 feet), on the meridian of Orthez, which marks the boundary of Béarn, much loftier elevations appear,—Mourrons (9760 feet), on the border of Hautes-Pyrénées, and the southern peak of Ossau (9465 feet). The frontier between France and Spain follows the crest-line of the main range, except in a few cases mentioned below. The general direction of the rivers of the department is towards the north-west, through a hilly country for the most part wooded or vine-clad, except on the higher slopes, which are grassy. The northern half of the department is covered with bracken or heath, indicating the proximity of the “landes.” The streams almost all meet in the Adour through the Gave de Pau, the Bidouze, and the Nive. In the north-east the two Luys flow directly to the Adour, which they join in Landes. In the south-west the Nivelle and the Bidassoa flow directly into the sea. The lower course of the Adour forms the boundary between Basses-Pyrénées and Landes; it enters the sea a short distance below Bayonne over a shifting bar, which has often altered the position of its mouth. The Gave de Pau, a larger stream than the Adour, passes Pau and Orthez, but its current is so swift that it is only navigable for a few miles above its junction with the Adour. On the left it receives the Gave d’Oloron, formed by the Gave d’Ossau, descending from the Pic du Midi, and the Gave d’Aspe, which rises in Spain. The second important affluent of the Gave de Pau, the Saison or Gave de Mauléon, descends from the Pic d’Orhy. From the Pic des Escaliers, which rises above the forest of Iraty, the Bidouze descends northwards; while the forest, though situated on the southern slope of the chain, forms a part of French territory. The Nive, a pretty river of the Basque country, takes its rise in Spain; after flowing past St Jean Pied de Port, it joins the Adour at Bayonne. The Nivelle also belongs only partly to France and ends its course at St Jean de Luz. The Bidassoa, which is only important as forming part of the frontier, contains the île des Faisans, where the treaty of the Pyrenees was concluded (1659), and debouches between Hendaye (France) and Fontarabia (Spain).

The climate of the department is essentially that of the Gironde in the valleys,—mild and damp. The spring is rainy; the best seasons are summer and autumn, the heat of summer being moderated by the sea. The winters are mild. The very calm air of Pau (see Pau) agrees with invalids and delicate constitutions. St Jean de Luz and Biarritz are much frequented by winter visitors.

The department is mainly agricultural, 287,719 of its inhabitants being dependent on this industry (Reclus). In 1881, of a total area of 1,883,667 acres 129,132 were under wheat and produced 217,412 quarters; the other figures were—barley, 4188 acres, 7137 quarters; buckwheat, 455 acres, 761 quarters; oats, 12,800 acres, 22,327 quarters; maize, 161,736 acres, 354,055 quarters; meslin, 2600 acres, 3987; rye, 2308 acres, 3536; flax, 13,399 acres, 9348 quarters; potatoes, 7067 acres, 158,592 bushels; vineyards, 63,511 acres, 4,019,466 gallons of wine (the most highly esteemed vintage being that of Jurançon). From 25,205 acres were produced 642,760 bushels of dried vegetables, and 18,781 acres of chestnut trees yielded 314,480 bushels of chestnuts. There are 163,613 acres of pastures and grazing - lands, 132,342 of permanent meadows and orchards, 28,595 under green crops, and 612,000 acres of waste lands. The live stock numbered 27,845 horses, 9110 mules, 15,409 asses, 139,818 horned cattle, 434,130 sheep (giving 300 tons of wool, worth £18,000), 78,310 pigs, 150,608 goats, and there were 16,000 hives of bees (producing 63 tons of honey and 16 of wax). One-half of the 386,000 acres of forest belongs to private persons, the other almost wholly to the communes or the department, scarcely any woods belonging to the Government. Forest management receives careful attention. The number of inhabitants employed in manufactures was 67,455. There are mines of anthracite, copper, iron, lead, zinc, silver, and kaolin in small quantity. The salt produced amounted to 9663 tons and is used partly for the famous Bayonne hams (so called, but really prepared in the neighbourhood of Orthez). The department has valuable mineral springs.

The Eaux-Bonnes, hot and cold, containing sodium and sulphur, are employed especially for disorders of the chest and respiratory organs. The Eaux-Chaudes, of like composition, are efficacious in catarrh, rheumatism, and skin diseases. Those of Cambo on the Nιve, some hot and sulphurous, some chalybeate and cold, are much frequented by the Basques on the eve of St John. The waters of St Christau, near Oloron, containing copper, are efficacious in skin diseases. The manufactures of the department include woollen caps and sashes, the fez worn by the people of the district, nets, Béarn linen, cord slippers, chocolate, and there are also tanneries and flour-mills. The only shipping port is Bayonne, which town is also the.meeting-place of the roads to St Sebastian and Pamplona in Spain. Within the department there are 258 miles of Government roads and 7460 of departmental or parish roads. There are also 142 miles of railroad, connecting Bayonne with Toulouse, Dax with Puyoo (for Pau), Bayonne with Biarritz, Puyoo with St Palais, and Pau with Laruns (Eaux-Bonnes). The population in 1881 was 434,366 (57 per square kilomètre), almost entirely Catholic. There are five arrondissements—Pau, Bayonne, Oloron, Orthez (population of town, 4657), and Mauléon (2038), divided into 40 cantons and 558 communes. Basses - Pyrénées constitutes the diocese of Bayonne, and is attached to the superior court of Pau and belongs to the district of the 18th Army Corps (Bordeaux).

2. Hautes-Pyrénées, a department of southern France, on the Spanish frontier, was formed in 1790, half of it being taken from Bigorre and the remainder from Armagnac, Nébouzan, Astarac,and Quatre Vallées, districts which all belonged to the province of Gascony. It lies between 42° 40' and 43° 37' N. lat. and between 19' W. and 39' E. long., and is bounded on the S. by Spain, on the W. by Basses-Pyrénées, on the N.W. by Landes, on the N.E. by Gers, and on the E. by Haute-Garonne. Except on the south its boundaries are conventional. Some of the Pyrenean peaks in this department reach or exceed the height of 10,000 feet, the Vignemale (10,820 feet) being the highest in French territory. The imposing corries, with their glaciers and waterfalls, and the pleasant valleys attract a large number of tourists, the most noted point being the famous Gavarnie. The northern portion of the department consists of plains, or rather fertile valleys, clothed with corn-fields, vineyards, and meadows. To the north-east, however, the cold and wind-swept plateau of Lannemezan (about 2000 feet), the watershed of the streams that come down on the French side of the Pyrenees, presents in its bleakness and barrenness a striking contrast to the plain that lies below. The department is drained by three principal streams, the Gave de Pau, the Adour, and the Neste, an affluent of the Garonne. The sources of the first and third lie close together in the Cirque of Gavarnie and on the slopes of Troumouse, whence they flow respectively to the north-west and northeast. An important spur of the Pyrenees, which carries the Pic de Néouvielle and the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, projects to the northward between these two valleys. From the Pic du Midi the Adour descends, which, after watering the pleasant valley of Campan, leaves the mountains at Bagnères and then divides into a multitude of channels, which irrigate the rich plain of Tarbes. Beyond Hautes-Pyrénées it receives on the right the Arros, which flows through the department from south to north-north-west; on the left it receives the Gave de Pau. This latter stream, rising in Gavarnie, is joined at Luz by the Gave de Bastan from Néouvielle, and at Pierrefitte by the Gave de Cauterets, fed by streams from the Vignemale. The Gave de Pau, after passing Argelès and the grotto of Lourdes on its left and the chateau of Lourdes on its right, leaves the mountains and turns sharply from north to north-north-west; it has a greater volume of water than the Adour, but, being more of a mountain torrent, is regarded as a tributary of the Adour, which is navigable in the latter part of its course. The Neste d’Aure, descending from the peaks of Néouvielle and Troumouse, receives the Neste de Louron from the pass of Clarabide at

Arreau and flows northwards through a beautiful valley as far as Labarthe, where it turns to the north-east; it is important as furnishing the plateau of Lannemezan with a feeding canal, the waters of which are partly used for irrigation and partly for supplying the streams that rise there and are dried up in summer,—the Gers and the Balse, affluents of the Garonne. This latter only touches the department. The climate of Hautes-Pyrénées, though very cold on the highlands, is warm and moist in the plains, where there are hot summers, fine autumns, mild winters, and rainy springs. The mean annual temperature is 68° Fahr. On the plateau of Lannemezan, while the summers are dry and scorching, the winters are very severe. A meteorological observatory has been built on the Pic du Midi.

Of the total area of 1,119,292 acres 259,334 are arable, 214,782 under wood, 160,624 pastures and grazing-lands, 76,015 permanent meadows and orchards, and 39,135 vineyards. The mountain slopes are covered with pasture to a height of more than 6600 feet. In 1881 the live stock included 114,900 horned cattle (the milch cows of Lourdes and the oxen of Tarbes being the most esteemed), 18,000 horses (mostly of the Tarbes breed crossed with Arab blood), 11,830 asses, 3200 mules (part of which are bred for Spain), 222,300 sheep, 74,800 pigs, and 8718 goats. The more important cereals are successively, as the elevation increases, maize, wheat, and rye; in the mountain districts oats, barley, and buckwheat are grown. In 1882 the harvest yielded 158,620 quarters of wheat, 197,931 of maize, 70,690 of rye, 47,586 of oats, 15,069 of barley, 27,586 of buckwheat, 61,241 of meslin, and 1,793,104 bushels of potatoes. The formerly extensive forests have suffered considerably from the weather and other causes. Vines, trained upon trees as in Italy, yield on an average 2,464,000 gallons of wine annually. On the lower slopes chestnut trees and fruit trees take the place of the vines. There are various quarries of fine marbles, which are sawn and worked at Bagnères, and numerous slate quarries. The mines of iron, nickel, lead, cobalt, manganese, and zinc are worked only irregularly. There is no coal, but a few hundred tons of peat are annually extracted. The mineral waters of Hautes-Pyrénées are numerous and much resorted to. The principal in the valley of the Gave de Pau are Cauterets (twenty-four hot springs containing sulphur and sodium), St Sauveur (two springs with sulphur and sodium), and Baréges (twelve hot springs with sulphur and sodium), and in the valley of the Adour Bagnères (fifty-two hot or cold springs containing calcium sulphates, iron, and arsenic) and Capvern near Lannemezan (two springs containing calcium sulphates). There are 2 paper-mills employing 101 workmen, 28 spinning or weaving factories employing 908 workmen (4000 spindles and 750 looms, of which 220 are power-looms). The light woollen materials known under the name of “baréges” and the knitted work of the department are widely known beyond its limits. A company has been formed for establishing cheese - factories in the mountains, as in Switzerland. There are also saw-mills, flour-mills, tanneries, and at Tarbes very important artillery establishments and a bell-foundry.

The passes {ports) into Spain rise more than 6500 feet; none of them are accessible to carriages, and only three—Gavarnie, Our-, dissetou, and Plan—to beasts of burden. Within the department there are 222 miles of Government roads, 2837 miles of other roads, and 129 miles of railroad. It is traversed from west to east by the line from Bayonne to Toulouse, which has branches from Lourdes to Pierrefitte for Cauterets, from Tarbes to Bagnères de Bigorre, and from Montrejeau to Bagnères de Luchon. It is crossed also by lines from Tarbes to Bordeaux and from Tarbes to Agen, which separate at Vic de Bigorre. The population in 1881 was 236,474. There are three arrondissements, those of Tarbes (chief town), Argelès (town, 1682 inhabitants), and Bagnères de Bigorre (7634 inhabitants), 26 cantons, 480 communes. Hautes-Pyrénées constitutes the diocese of Tarbes, and is attached to the superior court of Pau and to the 18th Army Corps (Bordeaux).

3. Pyrénées-Orientales, a department of southern France, bordering on the Mediterranean and the Spanish frontier, was formed in 1790 out of the old province of Roussillon and to some slight extent out of small portions of Languedoc. It lies between 42° 20' and 42° 56' N. lat. and l o 43' and 3° 10' E. long., and is bounded on the N. by Ariége and Aude, on the E. by the Mediterranean, on the S. by Catalonia, and on the W. by Ariége. Its boundaries are almost all natural and on the north follow the line of the Cor bières (from 2500 to 3000 feet high), on the north-west and south-west that of branches of the Pyrenees (from 8000 to 10,000 feet), and on the south-east that of the Albères (from 4000 to 5000 feet), which end in the sea at Cape Cerbera. Deep and sheltered bays in this vicinity are succeeded farther north by flat sandy beaches, along which lie lagoons separated from the sea by belts of sand. The lagoon of St Nazaire is 5400 acres in extent, and that of Leucate on the borders of Aude is 20,000 acres. Mont Canigou (9137 feet), though not the highest mountain in the department, is the most remarkable, since it stands out to almost its full height above the plain, and exhibits with great distinctness the succession of zones of vegetation. From the base to a height of 1400 feet are found the orange, the aloe, the oleander, the pomegranate, and the olive; the vine grows to the height of 1800 feet; next come the chestnut (2625 feet), the rhododendron (from 4330 to 8330 feet), pine (6400), and birch (6560); while stunted junipers grow quite to the summit. The drainage of the department is shared by the Tet, Tech, and Agly, which flow direct into the Mediterranean. The Aude, the Ariége (an affluent of the Garonne), and the Sègre (an affluent of the Ebro) also take their rise within the department and include a small part of it in their respective basins. The Tet rises 9430 feet above the sea and descends rapidly into a very narrow valley before it debouches at Hie (between Brades and Perpignan) upon a large plain, where it flows over a wide pebbly bed and supplies numerous canals for irrigation. It is nowhere navigable, and its supply of water varies much with the seasons, all the more that it is not fed by any glacier. The Agly, which passes Rivesaltes (famous for its wines), rises in the Corbières, and serves almost exclusively for irrigation, though admitting of navigation in the lower part of its course. The Tech, which after the Tet is the most important river of the department, flows through Vallespir (Vallis aspera), which, notwithstanding its name, is a green valley, clothed with wood and alive with industry; in its course the river passes Prats de Mollo and Amélie-les-Bains, before reaching Arles and Céret. In the lowlands the climate is entirely that of the Mediterranean, and the productions are the same as those of Corsica or Sicily; Amélie-les-Bains is much frequented on account of its mild climate and sheltered position. The thermometer ranges from 85° to 95° Fahr, in summer, and in winter only occasionally falls as low as 26° or 27°. The average number of rainy days in the year is 70; the mean amount of the rainfall is 27 inches on the coast, but increases towards the hills. The most common wind is the “tramontane” from northnorth-west, as violent as the mistral of Provence and extremely parching. The “marinada” blows from the south-south-east.

Of a total area of 1,018,632 acres 211,960 are arable, 172,980 under vines, 167,740 under wood, 193,367 pasture-land, 27,305 meadow-land, and 148,270 barren moors (garrigues). In 1881 the live stock numbered 7287 horses, 6261 asses, 4373 mules, 17,768 horned cattle, 121,016 sheep (125 tons of wool in 1878), 12,864 goats, 23,838 pigs, and fowls and game in abundance; there were also 6163 beehives, yielding 24 tons of wax and 19 tons of honey known as “miel de Narbonne.” Thirty tons of cocoons (silk) were produced in the same year. The main source of wealth to the department is its wine, of which 48,840,000 gallons were produced in 1881; some kinds are strongly alcoholic and others are in request as liqueur wines (Rivesaltes, Banyuls). The harvest of 1881 yielded 26,551 quarters of wheat, 3793 of meslin, 37,930 of rye, 6896 of barley, 3448 of buckwheat, 34,480 of oats, 55,172 of maize, 1,655,168 bushels of potatoes, 67,448 of dried vegetables, 22,640 of chestnuts, 110,336 of beetroot, 39 tons of hemp, 39 of flax, and 23,000 of olives. Market-gardening (artichoke, asparagus, tomatoes, melons) and fruit culture (peaches, apricots, plums, pears, quinces, pomegranates, almonds, apples, cherries, walnuts, chestnuts) yield abundant returns. The woods produce timber for the cabinetmaker, cork, and bark for tanning. In iron Pyrénées-Orientales is one of the richest departments in France. The greater part of the ore is transported to Aveyron, Gard, or Allier; but 25,000 tons are smelted in blast-furnaces and 1800 in Catalonian forges within the department. In 1881 12,100 tons of pig-iron were produced. The mineral resources of the department also include a bed of bismuth and mines of copper and silver, while both the Tet and the Tech are to some extent auriferous. A small amount of lignite is obtained (1639 tons), and various fine marbles are abundant. Granite, slate, gypsum, and limestone are quarried. The mineral waters are much resorted to. Amélie-les-Bains has twelve hot springs, chalybeate or sulphurous. In the arrondissement of Céret there are also the establishments of La-Preste-Ies-Bains, near Prats de Mollo, with hot sulphurous springs, and of Boulou, the Vichy of the Pyrenees. Near Prades are the hot sulphurous springs of Molitz, and a little north of Mont Canigou are the hot springs of Vernet, containing sodium and sulphur. In the valley of the Tet the sulphuros and alkaline springs of 01ette reach a temperature of 172° Fahr. The baths of Escaldas near Montlouis are hot, sulphurous, and alkaline. There are numerous tanneries, oil-works, distilleries, and saw-mills, and the manufactures of the department include the making of corks, cigarette-paper, barrels, bricks, woollen and other cloths, and “espadrilles” (a kind of shoe made of coarse cloth with esparto soles). The ports of the department are Collioure, Port Vendres, and Banyuls, with 371 vessels and a total tonnage of 3638 in 1882. Port Vendres alone has any importance; in 1882 the ships entered numbered 380 (104,572 tons), those which cleared 368 (95,931 tons). There are 67 miles of railway, consisting of a portion of the line from Narbonne to Barcelona (Spain) by Perpignan, with its branches from Perpignan to Prades; there are 208 mües of Government roads and 2107 miles of other roads. The chief routes across the Pyrenees are from Perpignan and Montlouis to Puycerda (Puigcerda) in the Spanish province of Gerona, through the pass of La Perche, skirting in the French department an enclave of Spanish territory. Three other roads run from Perpignan to Figueiras (Figueras) through the passes of Perthus, Banyuls, and Balistres. In 1881 the population of Pyrénées - Orientales...