EUROPE. FRANCE. THE RHONE. THE Rhone rises in the central and highest part of Switzerland, at the foot of Mount Furca, within a few miles of the source of the Rhine. It flows through a long and wide valley of the Swiss canton of Valais, and, after receiving a great number of mountain streams, rushes with a powerful current into the Lake of Geneva. Issuing from the lake at the city of Geneva, it afterwards enters France, passes by Lyons, Vienne, Valence, Avignon, and Arles, and flows into a part of the Mediterranean, called the gulf of Lyons, by three mouths, some distance to the west of Marseilles. Its general course is westerly till it reaches Lyons, afterwards it flows to the south. Its whole length is nearly 500 miles. It is not quite so long as the Loire, but is of larger size, and is the most rapid of the great rivers of Europe. The navigation down the stream takes place with great ease, but the upward navigation can be performed only by draught or steam. Its channel in some parts between Geneva and Lyons, is extremely narrowed by rocks, and about 16 miles below Geneva it passes under ground, for the space of 12 rods. THE LOIRE. The Loire rises in the southeast part of France, among the mountains of the Cevennes. In the first half of its course, it flows northerly, passing by Le Puy, Roanne, Nevers, and Chatillon sur Loire, after which it turns to the west, flowing by Orleans, Blois, Tours, Saumur, and VOL. II. 1 Nantes, 27 miles below which it runs into the Atlantic. The length of its course is upwards of 500 miles. It flows through the central part of France, and is connected by canals with the Rhone and Seine. From Angers to Nantes, it is one of the finest rivers in the world; having a broad stream, with beautiful islands, and rich and highly cultivated banks. The produce conveyed down the Loire is exported from Nantes. The Levees, or causeways, upon the Loire, are among the most stupendous works in France. They extend from Angers nearly to Orleans, and were constructed to confine the river within its banks, and to exclude the waters from a tract of country, which is said to have formerly been a morass, 100 miles in length, and 30 or 40 in breadth. The height of these causeways is about 25 feet, and the breadth, at the base, 40 feet. The upper surface is paved, and is just wide enough to admit of three carriages passing abreast. THE GARONNE. The Garonne rises among the Pyrenees, on the borders of Catalonia, and flowing northwesterly it passes by Toulouse, Agen, and Bordeaux, 47 miles below which it runs into the Atlantic. About 12 miles below Bordeaux it receives the Dordogne, and then takes the name of Gironde. The numerous shoals between Bourdeaux and the mouth of the river are dangerous to navigation. The whole length of the Garonne is about 400 miles. It begins to be navigable at Toulouse, where it is joined by the celebrated canal of Languedoc, which is 140 miles in length, 60 feet in width, and 6 in depth. It is the principal canal in France, was finished in 1680, and cost £1,600,000. This river and canal form a communication between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. THE SEINE, The Seine rises in the eastern part of France, not far from Dijon, flows west by north, passing by Troyes, Paris, and Rouen, and runs into the English channel at Havre de Grace, which is the seaport of Paris and of the country watered by the Seine. It is about 400 miles in length, and flowing in general through a flat country, is of easy navigation. Vessels of 150 or 200 tons go up as far as Rouen, and boats as far as Troyes. Its width at Paris varies from 300 to 500 feet, less than half the width of the Thames at London. PARIS. See Plate, No. 43. Paris, the metropolis of France, and the second city in population in Europe, is situated on the Seine, 112 miles from its mouth, and contains 714,000 inhabitants. It is the residence of the king and his court, the centre of fashion, literature, and the fine arts in France, and one of the gayest and most luxurious cities in the world. It is built on both banks of the Seine, and on two islands in the river. Its form is nearly circular, and it is surrounded by a great wall, 17 miles in circumference. The country around is more level, and less diversified with gardens, parks, and country houses, than the environs of London; but none of the entrances to London can be compared to the entrance to Paris by the great road from the west, passing through St. Germains. The streets of this city are, in general, greatly inferior in width and accommodation to those of the English capital; yet no street in the latter city can be compared with the Boulevards of Paris. These Boulevards occupy the space formerly appropriated to the defence of the city, when its circumference was only seven miles, and are from 200 to 300 feet wide, and more than two miles long. In the middle is a wide unpaved road, on each side of which is a row of lofty trees, and between each of these rows and the parallel row of magnificent stone houses, are spacious gravelled walks for foot passengers. In regard to palaces and public structures of the first rank, Paris is greatly superior to London. The Tuileries, the present royal residence, was begun in the 16th century, and finished in the 17th. It extends from north to south, including the pavilion at each end, above 1000 feet. It is a noble and venerable structure, exhibiting several orders of architecture, and has, when viewed through the shady avenues, an air of romantic grandeur. The Louvre is a most elegant and magnificent edifice, and a model of symmetry, of a square form, 525 feet in length, with a large interior court, 400 feet by 400. It is used as a depot in its magnificent halis for the most splendid collections in the fine arts. The gallery of the Louvre is a long range, detached from the main building, and extending parallel to the bank of the river, all the way to the Tuileries, a quarter of a mile distant. The palace of the Luxembourg is also a superb edifice, and its gardens are very magnificent. The cathedral church of Notre Dame is a large Gothic building, but much inferior to St. Paul's in London. The squares are generally small, and are surrounded with stately buildings. The finest one is the Place Vendome, having an open space of only 500 feet long, and 400 broad. In this square is the triumphal pillar, the most remarkable of the public monuments of the city: it was erected by Bonaparte to commemorate his successes in Germany, and its form is an imitation of Trajan's pillar at Rome. It is a great brazen pillar, 12 feet in diameter, and 133 in height, built at the expense of £60,000. The materials were obtained by melting the cannon of the van quished. The Palais Royal, once a royal residence, is now a grand bazar, a centre of amusement and dissipation, and the general rendezvous of the foreigners who visit Paris. It is an immense pile of buildings, containing a little world within itself, and has long been considered one of the principal curiosities of the city. The ground floor of the buildings is occupied by elegant shops, coffee-houses, and restaurateurs on a large scale. Paris contains a university, and numerous literary and scientific institutions and associations, at the head of which is the Institute, the most eminent scientific body in the world. In large libraries, and collections in the fine arts, this city surpasses any other in Europe. The royal library contains about 400,000 printed books, 70,000 manuscripts, and 100,000 medals. All persons have free admission into this and the other great libraries. The botanic garden is nearly half a mile in length, laid out with great taste, and contains plants from almost every region of the globe; also a collection of animals of various latitudes, lions, tigers, bears, &c. The private houses in Paris are higher than in London, having frequently 5, 6, and sometimes 7 stories. They are built of freestone, from quarries in the immediate vi cinity, and extending in various directions under the city. No coal is used here for fuel, and the edifices, unlike those of London, which have received a dark hue from the burning of coal, are of a dazzling brightness. The streets are all lighted by reflecting lamps, which are suspended at a great height in the middle of them. Paris is almost exclusively the seat of wholesale bookselling and printing in the kingdom. Its manufactures consist chiefly of articles of taste and nice workmanship. It is still more the centre of elegant amusement for France, than London is for England, being the residence, during the autumn and winter, of all who can afford the gratification of a town life. This splendid and luxurious metropolis abounds in vice and misery. Beggars are numerous, and upwards of 100,000, one seventh of the whole population, receive support from public charity; and one third of the deaths in the city take place in the hospitals. Catacombs. The catacombs of Paris are supposed to be the largest in the world, exceeding in extent those of Rome, Naples, Malta, and even those of Thebes. The excavations ex tend beneath the whole of the southern half of the city, and under a small part of the northern division across the Seine. They are the quarries whence Paris was built; the stone is a soft calcareous aggregate, filled with organic remains, of which shells form the principal part. Here are vast quantities of human bones collected from the different cemeteries of Paris since 1786, and arranged according to the receptacles from which they were taken. Nothing can be conceived more solemn and affecting, than a visit to these dreary abodes-this place of sculls. It is, as it were, Paris in the grave. Here lie the remains of millions of its once gay and busy people, ranged in their long home, and piled together without distinction of high or low, rich or poor, friend or enemy. One pile alone contains 2,400,000 human sculls, and the different heaps extend a mile in length. Here are chambers, and galleries connecting them, which are lined from the roof to the floor with bones; in whatever direction the eye turns, it rests on rows of sculls. How affecting the con |