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including the towing paths. It required 15 years labor, and an expense of more than two millions of dollars.

235. Agriculture. The northern parts of France have a rich soil, chiefly loam; the western parts are more gravelly. But France is generally under high cultiva tion, tho not to the same degree as England. Wheat, barley, oats, and every grain and plant proper for the climate, is cultivated. Maiz thrives and comes to perfection in the southern half of France, but not in the northern parts. The vine is cultivated in most parts, as is the olive in the south. But France is subject to most destructive storms of hail, which not unfrequently lay waste the country, and destroy the fruits of the earth in whole provinces.

236. Manufactures. The manufactures of France extend to almost every thing necessary or ornamental in life. The manufactures for exports are chiefly silks of various kinds. In 1773, there were in France 1500 silk mills; 21,000 looms for weaving silk stuffs; 12,000 for ribands and lace; 20,000 for silk stockings; and these manufactures alone gave employment to two millions of persons. France also manufactures woollen cloths, which for fineness and color are superior to the English.

237. Commerce. The commerce of France is very great in time of peace; but in war, is very much impaired by the British navy, and carried on almost solely by neutral ships. Wine is the staple commodity for exportation; of which France makes a great variety, as champaign, burgundy, muscat, pontac, frontigniac, and many other species. Olive oil, which is produced in the southern provinces of Provence and Languedoc, now the departments of Tarn and Var, is a considerable article of export. The principal imports of France are coffee, sugar, tobacco, rice, tea, whale oil and fish. The commerce of France has suffered exceedingly by the loss of Hayti, one of the most productive islands on the globe. The annual amount of exports before the revolution was from 60 to 70 millions of dollars, and that of the imports from 50 to 60 millions.

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On the western coast of

238. Islands of France. France, opposit to the mouth of the Charente, lies Oleron, which is about 12 miles long and five wide; containing 12,000 inbabitants, many of whom are excellent This island is celebrated for the maritime laws made there by Richard I. when he possessed it.Re, or Rhe, 3 leagues westward of Rochelle, contains 6 parishes; its productions are wine and salt. Ushant, which lies off the north western coast, is 9 miles in circumference, and contains about 600 inhabitants. Bellisle, opposit the river Vilaine, is 8 leagues in length, and three in bredth. Noirmoutier, which is 7 leagues in circumference, was the place of retreat for the roy alists during the late civil war.

239. Islands in the Mediterranean. Nearly opposit to Toulon, are the Hieres, three small islands, which are mostly barren rocks, but produce a variety of medicinal plants. Corsica, which lies south of Genoa, and north of Sardinia, from which it is separated by a strait of 7 miles in bredth, is 150 miles in length, and from 40 to 50 in bredth. It is rocky and mountainous, but has fertile valleys. Its honey has been celebrated from ancient times. It has good harbors, and contains 160,000 inhabitants. It has been successively in possession of Greek colonies, of Carthage, the Romans, the Saracens, and the Genoese. It was sold by the latter to France, in 1767, whose dominion was unsuccessfully opposed by the celebrated Paoli. In 1794, the English took it, but the French retook it in 1796. The chief town is Bastia.

SPAIN.

240. Name. Spain was known to the Phenicians, who planted colonies at Cadiz and Malaga, nearly nine centuries before the christian era. It was probably the Tarsish of scripture; a small island near Cadiz, and indeed Cadiz itself, bore the name of Tartessus, among the Greeks and Romans. In later times, it was called Iberia, from the river Ebro, or the Iberi of Africa, who settled there; and by the Romans Hesperia, or western country. But the more general and permanent name

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has ever been Hispania, or Spain, which is said to be a Phenician word signifying rabit, as the country abounded with those animals.

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241. History. The primitive inhabitants of Spain were of the same race as those of France, and passed under the denomination of Celts. The Phenicians, who were the earliest navigators, built Cadiz, and opened a trade to Spain about the year 896, before the christian After that period, the Carthaginians took possession of the eastern and southern shores of Spain, being invited by the rich mines of gold and silver with which that country abounded. In the third century before Christ, the Romans expelled the Carthaginians and gradually reduced Spain to their dominion. About the year 400 after Christ, Spain was invaded by the Vandals and Suevi, who established their power in the country. Their empire, in its turn, was overthrown about the year 584, by the Visigoths, who kept possession till the beginning of the 8th century, when the Saracens or Moors from Africa, subdued the Goths, and maintained their dominion in the south of Spain, for 800 years, when they were subdued by the christians.

242. Situation. Spain, with Portugal, is a large peninsula, bounded by the Atlantic on the west, by the Mediterranean on the south and east, and by the Bay of Biscay and France on the north. The neck of land which joins it to France, consists of the lofty Pyrenees, which form a strong barrier between the two countries. 243. Extent. Spain lies between the 36th and 44th degrees of north latitude; and between the 9th west, and 3d east longitude. On the north the length is about 600 miles, but on the south about 400 miles. From north to south the bredth is about 500 miles. The estimated contents are 148,000 square miles, or 95 millions of akers, and the population about eleven millions, or 74 inhabitants to the square mile.

244. Climate. Spain enjoys a mild climate, as in ordinary winters, no frost or snow appears in the southern provinces. In severe winters, the earth is covered with snow, and the rivers with ice for a short time. In summer, the heat is oppressive in the south, and the cit

ies are not unfrequently visited with the bilious plague, the fatal disease of all hot countries. The sea coast, however, is refreshed by cool breezes from the ocean, and the mountainous regions enjoy a pure, and salubrious air.

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245. Mountains. The mountains of Spain are ar ranged in distinct chains. On the north, the Pyrenees present a range of majestic elevations, extending from the Mediterranean, westward towards the Atlantic, south of Biscay. Another chain, called that of Guadarama, runs from Soria, south westward to Portugal. The chain of Toledo is nearly parallel to the last. er chain is called Sierra Morena, to the south of the riv er Guadiana; and the most northern chain, to the north of Grenada, is called Sierra Nevada.* Montserrat, a detached mountain, with broken summits, on a plain 30 miles from Barcelona, exhibits most romantic scenes, and is the seat of a convent.

246. Rivers. The Ebro. One of the chief rivers in Spain, is the Ebro, which has its source in the Py. renees, in Asturia, and running south east, enters the Mediterranean, after a course of 380 miles; on the banks of this river stands the city of Saragossa, and the more ancient city of Tarragona.

247. The Douro. The Douro springs from the mountains in the centre of Spain, near the ancient Numantia, and being augmented by numerous streams from the great chains of mountains, north and south, pours its waters into the Atlantic, near Oporto, after a course of

350 miles.

248. The Tajo. The Tajo, or Tagus, the largest river in Spain, rises in a chain of mountains, near Abarracin, and receiving many tributary streams from the mountains on the north and south, penetrates Portugal, and enters the Atlantic, below Lisbon, after a course of 450 miles. On the banks of the Manzanares, one of its tributary streams, stands Madrid, the metropolis of Spain, and its estuary forms a noble harbor at Lisbon.

Sierra in Spanish, is a saw; the name is given to chains of mountains presenting detached summits, which, at a distance appear like saw-teeth. Hence the name Mont-serrat.

249. The Guadiana. The Guadiana has its sources in the mountains of Toledo, and Sierra Morena, in New Castile, and pursuing a winding south westerly course, through Estremadura and a part of Portugal, it enters the Atlantic, in the bay of Cadiz. Its length is about 400 miles

250. The Guadalquiver. The Guadalquiver, anciently called Betis, rises in Andalusia, in the Sierra Morena chain of mountains, and pursuing a south westerly course, nearly 300 miles, it enters the bay of Cadiz, at St. Lucar.

251. Smaller Rivers. The Segura, Xucar and Guadalavir, are secondary rivers which enter the Mediterranean on the east. On the west is the Minho, which rises in the mountains of Gallicia, and forming a boundary between Spain and Portugal, enters the Atlantic, after a course of 160 miles.

252. Forests. There are several forests in Spain; some which are suffered to remain, through negligence of cultivation, and others are reserved for the amusement of the kings, who are excessively addicted to the chase. The forest of Pardo is 30 miles in length. Some of the forests are said to be the haunts of free booters,

253. Animals. Spain is remarkable for producing most excellent breeds of horses and mules; and this celebrity has been maintained from high antiquity.But in nothing is Spain more distinguished, than in the excellence and numbers of its sheep, which produce the finest wool on earth, and constitute no inconsiderable part of its riches. These useful animals are pastured in the mountainous regions of the north, in summer, and driven to the more southern provinces in winter. The whole number of sheep is estimated at thirteen millions, five millions of which produce the wool of the finest kind.

254. Minerals. In ancient times, Spain was to the Greeks and Romans, what South America now is to Spain, the source from which they drew vast supplies of gold and silver. At present, few mines are worked, tho some rich veins of silver are known to exist. The chief mines of that metal are in the Sierra Morena, at Guadal

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