afford a singular spectacle. They consider it either not worth their while to live, or they remain in a state of complete apathy and indifference. However small the price may be for which they are sold, their masters soon discover that they have paid too much for them." But, as the annotator on Strabo remarks," Diodorus Siculus bears witness to the contrary. According to that writer, the Corsican slaves are the best servants of any; they are from habit singularly clean, and their aversion to their conquerors has tended to preserve the manners of their ancestors. They are sober, brave, hospitable, and enthusiastic in their love of freedom. They may be distinguished by lively eyes, a stature about the middle size, and a dark complexion."

History and revolutions of Corsica.

Corsica was added to the dominions of the Goths after the fall of the Roman empire; but the inhabitants neither lapsed into the barbarism of their masters, nor submitted to the feudal system which they established. The effects of the conquest were battles, murders, and crimes of which history has preserved a confused remembrance. The Goths were succeeded in the eighth century by the Arabs and Saracens, who remained but a short time in the island. It was reserved for the rising republic of Genoa to impose a cruel and tyrannical yoke on the people, which lasted, with many interruptions, during a period of eight centuries. In the same period the people experienced all the vicissitudes that result from resistance and submission; at one time asserting their independence, at another yielding to their oppressors. Rome attempted the conquest of the island; the Pisans took it from their rivals during the eleventh century; but in the twelfth the latter gained it anew. In the course of the thirteenth century it was nearly taken by the Pisans; and during the fifteenth by Alphonso the Fifth, king of Arragon. Genoa ceded it in 1465, and took it back shortly afterwards from the Duke of Milan. Henry the Second assisted the Corsicans, and freed them from the Genoese; but six years after their deliverance, the island was restored to the republic by the treaty of Chateau-Cambresis. Promises of assistance were offered, but never fulfilled, and the inhabitants, almost reduced to despair, had recourse to revolt in 1564. Men were not wanting, who could organize and direct insurgents-none were found capable of liberating their country. Tranquillity was restored each time Genoa promised to abolish the grievances, but when she resumed her authority, the promises were broken. While the different parties against the Genoese were divided on the choice of their leader, a German baron, Theodore Von Neuhof, landed in the island, offered his services to the insurgents, and gained so great an ascendency over them, that he was proclaimed king. Without talent as a general, without energy as a monarch, he was unable to disperse the Genoese, or unite the factions which enfeebled his ephemeral kingdom. Twice he sought in foreign countries resources and supplies, which he might have found at home; and during his absence, an auxiliary army furnished to Genoa by France, put an end to the revolt. The French had hardly left the island before a new insurrection broke out, and king Theodore returned in 1741. Eight years afterwards the French conquered Corsica, and restored it to the Genoese; but the latter found a formidable enemy in Pascal Paoli. It | Pascal Paoli. was not enough that he repelled the oppressors, he became the liberator and lawgiver of his country. Deputies were sent by him to the principal courts of Europe, announcing that the Corsicans, no longer submitting to the treachery of Genoa, had proclaimed their independence. The republic of Genoa ceded in 1768, the sovereignty of the island to France. The people did not confound in their hatred the Genoese and the French; many submitted voluntarily, and the inde

a M. Gosselin.

VOL. V.-3 K

• Diodorus Siculus, Book V. sect. 13.

Corsica ceded to France.

pendent party was annihilated after a single campaign. The efforts and genius of Paoli were employed in vain; he left his country, and found an asylum in England. An unforeseen event called him from his retirement; -the French revolution had commenced; he repaired again to the island, and with the assistance of the English, repelled the French. Paoli intended to found a republic, when the king of Britain was proclaimed sovereign of Corsica; but the inhabitants were mistrustful of the English, and an easy victory freed them from British supremacy.

BOOK CXLI.

EUROPE.

Europe continued.-Physical Geography of France.

THE different sciences of which the object is to extend our knowledge of nature, have thrown additional light on geography. Physical geogra phy, a new department of science, possessing many attractions, has thus been created. In its application to France, it indicates the connexion of the different mountainous chains, the rivers that rise from them, the fertility or barrenness of the soil, the different windings on the coasts, the fish that are found in the seas and rivers, the animals indigenous to the mountains and plains. The science of geology tends to illustrate physical geography; descending into the depths of the earth, it reveals the nature of the strata beneath the surface, and the mineral riches contained in them. It may be necessary, therefore, to advert to some elementary principles of geology, principles which have never been contested, and to describe in a few words the formation of the different deposits within the limits of France, and the volcanic convulsions of which it has been the theatre.

The northern declivities of the Pyrenees, and the western of the Alps, are the southern and eastern boundaries of the kingdom. It is obvious that other mountains besides those last mentioned, form part of the high line which divides Europe into two portions. The Pyrenees unite with the Cevennes, the Cevennes with the Vosges, the latter meet Jura on the south, and form the Ardennes on the north. In the present state of geographical science, to determine the points of junction or separation between different mountains, is to determine the nature and formation of the rocks which compose them; and as the same remark is equally applicable to their boundaries and ramifications, the study of mineralogy becomes indispensably necessary to all those who do not confine their inquiries to the systems of ancient geographers, or to political and arbitrary divisions ever liable to change.

Group.

Franco-Celtic According to this method, the mountains in the interior of France may be designated the Franco-Celtic group. It belongs Ceveno-Vosto the vast Alpine range, and consists of two principal chains, I gian chain. the Ceveno-Vosgian and the Armorican. The first, separated from the Pyrenees by the valley of Languedoc, is formed on the south by the Black Mountains, the Espinouse, the Garriguen, and the Cevennes proper. One branch, or the Levezon, stretches towards the south-west from Mount Lozere in the Cevennes; while the mountains of Aubrac extend towards the north-west. In the same direction, the heights of Margeride unite with the Cevennes at Cantal and Mount-Dor, of which the

2

a

Mont-Dor, which Sidonius Apollinaris calls Mons-Duranius, is generally written Mont-d'Or, as if its Latin name had been Mons Aureus. Ramond proposed to call it

summit or the Puy de Saucy is the highest point in central France. A long but not a very high chain passes from these two branches to the Loire; the loftiest points are Mount Olouze, Mount Jurgean, and the heights of Gatine. A much shorter chain, situated between Mounts Lozere and Mezen, formed by the Forez heights and those of La Made, stretches northwards to the banks of the Loire. The Mezen, the Pilat," the mountains of Chorollais, and the Cote d'Or, are united with the Moresot and Tasselot by the ridge of Langres and the Faucilles, or the extension of the Cevennes and the Vosges. The heights of Morvan bend towards the north-west near the banks of the Ouche, and terminate in low hills at the sources of the Vernisson. The Vosges are only separated on the south-east from the chain of Jura, by a valley now watered by the canal of Monsieur, they extend on the north to the banks of the Rhine. Branches of the same heights incline towards the north-west, near the sources of the Moselle, and form different ridges, covered with the thick woods of the Ardennes. They are divided anew into two other branches near the sources of the Oise; the one terminates in the Pas de Calais, and the other near the coasts of the Channel. It appears from their geological composition, and other causes which shall be afterwards urged, that they form part of a single chain.

Armorican

rivers. Garonne.

The Armorican range consists of four divisions, which extend in different directions. It commences on the western | chain. coasts of ancient Brittany, where it divides itself into two branches, known by the names of the Arree and the Black Mountains; the former are situated on the north of the Aulne, and the others on the south of the same river. The Menez heights extend eastwards, and a series of hills, beginning near the sources of the Vilaine, run towards the south, and, but for the course of the Loire, might join a part of the preceding chain. The northern extremity of one branch forms Cape Hogue; another on the east stretches to the heights of Beauce, which are separated by the valley of the Vernisson from the mountains of Morvan. Thus it might almost be concluded that the two chains form a single group, France has been divided into fifteen basins, viz. four princi- | Basins and pal basins, one German, two Belgian, and eight connected with the coasts. The basin of the Garonne is formed by the Pyrenees on the south, the Cevennes on the east, the Cantal, Mounts Odouze, Jargean, and Beron, on the north. The Gironde discharges all its waters into the ocean. The Garonne, of which the name is a translation of the Latin word Garumna or Varumna, has its source in the valley of Aran in the Pyrenees. The Gers and the Save, which descend from the same mountains, are the only feeders of any consequence on its left bank; but on the right it receives the Ariege, the Aurigera of the ancients, the Pactolus of Gaul, the Tarn, enlarged by the Aveyron, the Lot by the Truyere and the Celle, and lastly, the Dordogne, which, rising from Mount-Dor, is fed by the waters of the Cere, the Vezere, and the Isle. The Garonne receives the name of the Gironde after its junction with the Dordogne. The tide is perceptible in the river at thirty leagues from the embouchure; the length of the course may be about two hundred and fifty miles. Rafts and timber are floated down the streams from a place about two leagues above the small town of Saint Beat, and it becomes navigable at Cazeres, in the department of the Upper Ga

Mont-Dore, after the name of the river which rises from it; but as the same river is called the Dordogne beyond its junction with the Dogne, we have adopted the name in the text, which may be considered a translation of Mons-Duranius.

So called from the Latin word Pileatus, because its summit is often covered with clouds, as if with a cap.

The gold borne down by the waters of the Ariege, is at present found in too inconsiderable quantities to be worked with profit.

ronne. A number of islands and sand banks below Ambes, where it joins the Dordogne, render the navigation dangerous. The banks are enclosed by heaths or downs, at no great distance from its mouth, and the breadth of the river exceeds seven miles; but it becomes gradually narrower, and enters the ocean by a passage little more than two miles in width.

Rhone.

The basin of the Rhone, bounded on the north by Jura, on I the west by mounts Pilat, Mezen, Saone, and the Cevennes, and on the east by several mountains which may be considered the counterforts of the Alps, extends on the north to the Vosges; its waters are discharged on the south into the Mediterranean. The Rhone, the Rhodanus of the ancients, rises below the glaciers of mount Furca, and enters France at some leagues to the east of St. Dizier. It is one of the most rapid rivers in Europe; the declivity has been estimated at thirty-three feet on each league. The principal feeders on the right bank are the Ain, the Saone, the Ardeche, and the Gard; it receives on the left the Isere, the Drome, the Aigues, and the Durance, which rises at the base of Mount Genevre. The Rhone begins to be navigable at Seyssel, on the boundaries between Savoy and the department of the Ain. The length of its course is equal to a hundred and eighty leagues, and of these a hundred and twenty are included between the frontiers of France and the Mediterranean. After it passes Beaucaire, it becomes less rapid; it flows slowly into the sea, and divides itself into four branches, in which several banks render the passage difficult.

The length of the basin watered by the Loire is still greater; Loire. it is bounded on the east by the mountains of Charolais, and part of the Cevennes, on the south by the mountains of Margeride, Cantal, and Mount-Dor, on the south-west by the heights of Gatine, and on the north by the hills which form the ridge of Beauce, and unite with the Armorican chain. The Loire rises from mount Gerbierle-Joux, at some leagues from Mezen. It runs first northwards, being separated from the Allier by the Forez heights and those of La Made; it then bends to the north-west, and continues in that direction until it reaches the neighbourhood of Orleans; beyond the last place, it flows westwards, and enters the ocean after a course of two hundred and twenty leagues. The mean depth of its waters may be more than seven, but less than ten feet, and the declivity of the course about twenty-three feet on each league. Trees or rafts are not floated on its streams above the village of Retournac, at five leagues from Beauzac, in the department of the Upper Loire; it becomes navigable a short way above Roanne, in the department of the Loire. The Mayenne, swollen by the streams of the Jarthe and Loire, enters it on the right, but it receives no other important river from the same side, as it is not confined by lofty hills. Several large rivers on the left rise from the chain of mountains, in which are situated the highest summits in central France; these rivers are the Allier, the Cher, the Vienne, and others which fall into the Loire. The alluvial deposits conveyed by it, obstruct the embouchure, and form sand banks which are daily increasing; thus in some places the depth, which was formerly twenty feet at low tide, does not at present exceed seven or eight.

The sinuous course of the Seine, or the ancient Seguana, Seine. passes along a basin formed by the extension of the Armorican chain, which on the south separates it from the Loire, and joins the mountains of Morvan; it is enclosed on the east by mounts Moresot and Tasselot, the ridge of Langres, and the heights that separate the Meuse from the Aisne; it is bounded on the north by the Faucilles and the Ardennes, which unite with the chalky hills that follow the river to its embouchure. The Seine rises between Chanceaux and Saint Seine, at the foot of a hill connected with those of Langres. It does not become navi

gable until it reaches the village of Marcilly, below its junction with the Aube. On the right bank it receives the Marne at Charenton near Paris, and the Oise near Conflans-Saint-Honorine, above Poissy. The feeders that enter it from the left are the Yonne at Montereau, and the Eure near Pont de l'Arche. The length of its course may be about a hundred and sixty leagues. When the tide is full, the breadth of its embouchure gives it a very majestic appearance; but at low tide, it looks like a canal flowing in the middle of an oozy bed. It is not easy to imagine the changes which take place during the equinox, and more particularly at the time of the syzigies; the billows enter the mouth of the Seine by narrow passages, rise to a considerable height, are precipitated into the bed of the river, and impede the course of the streams. The cry of the Barre then becomes a signal of alarm, and the houses on the banks have been more than once destroyed. The same sort of phenomenon has been observed at the embouchure of the Loire.

Having shortly described the four principal rivers in France, Germanic it remains for us to cross the Vosges, and to examine the Ger- Basin. I manic basin, or the basin of the Rhine. Formed by the sides of the black forest and the Vosges, it extends from Huningue, below the declivities of Jura, to those of mount Tonnere. The course of the Ill, the largest feeder it receives, may be equal to thirty-six leagues; it rises near the burgh of Wenckell, in the department of the Upper Rhine, and throws itself into the river at the distance of two leagues above Strasburg. The Moselle is a feeder of the Rhine, and for that reason its basin, although a separate one, may be considered as forming a part of the other.

On the west of the last, are the two Belgian basins; the one | Meuse.

is watered by the Meuse, a considerable river that traverses

only a small part of France. It rises from the heights of Langres, a short way above the village of Meuse. The long and narrow basin of the river is bounded by the Ardennes, and the heights of the Moselle. It begins to be navigable at Verdun, and continues so to the frontiers of the kingdom.

Scheldt.

The second Belgian basin, or that of the Scheldt, is formed by two ranges of hills; the one commands the course of the Meuse on the north-west, and the other extends towards Calais. The country is watered by the Scheldt, which holds no inconsiderable rank among rivers, both because it receives several navigable feeders, and because it discharges itself into the North Sea. It takes its source near Castelet in the department of the Aisne, and becomes navigable below Condé, at no great distance from the confines of France.

Somme.

Of the remaining eight basins, five discharge their waters either into the Channel or the Ocean. The basin of the Somme is enclosed by the chain of hills that were last mentioned, and by another which extends towards Cape Heve; the principal current takes its source at Font-Somme in the department of the Aisne; it may perhaps be considered a river, to which the Miramont, the Avre, and the Cellé, are tributary. It is navigable from Amiens to Saint Velery, where it throws itself into the Channel after a course of forty leagues.

The Orne receives the Noireau, which is navigable, the Orne. Aize, the Odon, and other small rivers; it rises near Seez,

in the granite heights on the north of Alencon; the basin is bounded by the northern branch of the same heights that stretch towards Cape Hogue. The course of the Orne may be about thirty leagues, it discharges itself into the Channel.

See on the importance of rivers, the article Rivieres in the fifth volume of Physical Geography in the Encyclopedie Methodique, by M. Huot.