Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/554

 518 FRANCE [COMMUNICATION. ing bridge of Penfeld at Brest; the bridge St Esprit, over the Rhone, with 18 arches on a length of 730 metres (2395 feet); those of Toulouse, Libourne, Tours, and Rouen ; the new bridge (Poht-Neuf) and the bridge of lena at Paris ; and the bridge of La Guillotiere at Lyons. Hallways. Although the system of railways in France is far from being so complete as in England and Belgium, the country is now traversed by great lines which connect together all the principal towns ; and lines of less importance have been made, or will ere long be established, in every dis trict. The chief lines, which are worked by powerful com panies under the superintendence of the state, are (1) the Chemins de fer du Nord, which run between Paris and Soissons, Boulogne, Calais, Rouen, Amiens, &c., traverse the coal districts of Picardy, and reach the Belgian terri tory at Quievrain and at Tournay ; (2) the Chemins de fer de I Est, from Paris to Strasburg, Mulhouse, and Basel in Switzerland, through Alsace, with branch lines to Sedan, Metz, Luxembourg, Rheims, Sarreguemines, &c., joining Bel gian and Prussian railways at several points of the fron tier ; (3) the Chemins de fer de I Ouest, which traverse Normandy in every direction, and connect Paris with the towns of Brittany; (4) the Chemins dc fer ^Orleans, which go to Nantes, Bordeaux, Limoges, Bourges, and Tou louse ; (5) the Chemins de fer de Paris d, Lyon et a la Mediterranee, which connect the valley of the Seine with that of the Rhone, and have branch lines to St Etienne, Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Toulon, Cette, &c., esta blishing regular and direct communication between France and Switzerland, the railways of Savoy being also worked by the same company. Paris is the starting point and the administrative centre of all these lines. Another great line worked by the Compagnie du Midi, starts from Bordeaux, which it connects with Cette and Bayonne, with branches between Bayonne, Toulouse, and Foix, Agen and Tarbes, Toulouse and Auch, Montpellier and Milhau, c. Through this line Spain is brought into communication with France. The other lines worthy of mention are the railways of the Charentes, connecting La Roche-sur-Yon, La Rochelle, Rochefort, Coutras, Angouleme, Saintes, Limoges, and St Jean d Angely; the line from Chauny to St Gobain ; the railway of the docks of St Ouen, Paris ; tho line from Dunkirk to Fumay (Belgian frontier) ; those from Epinay to Velars, from B6thune to Lille, from Somain to Anzin and the Belgian territory, from Vitro&quot; to Fougeres, and from Perpignan to Prades ; the M6doc railway ; the Ven- de&quot;e railways ; and the Chemin de fer de ceinture, which encircles Paris. The capital required for the making of these railways has been calculated at not less than 10,000,000,000 francs which gives, for a total length of 21,987 kilometres (13,662 miles), an average of 297,000 francs per kilometre, or 19,118 per English mile. The state has granted and still grants large sums to the companies ; but in return they are subject to a tax in proportion to their traffic, as well as to other dues, which are a considerable source of revenue to the public treasury, the profit realized by it having been 55,942,330 francs in 1873. The yearly re turns of the companies show an average income of 840 millions of francs. All navigable rivers are state property. A table is sub joined of the navigable rivers arranged by basins, with the length of their navigable course, and also of the canals and the small rivers which have been converted into canals. Owing to the cheap rate of transport by water, canal traffic has been but little injured by the extension of rail ways, this inexpensive way of conveyance being used for heavy goods whenever practicable. In 1875, 1,721,070,943 kilometric tons (about 1,748,500,000 tons avoirdupois) were carried by river and canal navigation, besides 176 551,431 Navig able rivers and canals. cubic metres (230,933,000 cubic yards) of wood or bois flotte. The duties levied on these goods amounted to more than 4,177,940 francs. Navigable Rivers. ADOUR Kilo metres. 125 Miles. 78 27 4 118 20 44} 16 54} LOIRE, continued Kilo metres 20 Miles. 12} 7 47 143} 108 7} 28 339} 56} 141 99 35} 201 24} 28V- Midouze 43 11 20 75 Gave de Pau 9 MEUSE 231 190 173 31 Menrthe 1 ... 71 ORNE 45 25 GlRONDB Baise .. S7 RHONE 546 Ain 393 244} 246} 89 172 37* 511 14 154 58} 10 37i 72 83 12 82 Can Miles. 27 36 66 200 37 13 1SOJ 37 72* 20 23} 40} 15 27 16 52 28} 128} nvertc Miles. 18 39 11* 33 Doiihs . 237 Garonne 396 Isfcre .... 158 Isle Lot 143 276 Petit-Rhone Sa6ne .... 57 .. . 324 Tarn ... . 147 Seille... . 39 59 459 LOIRE 822 Aisne 59 37 28 9 10 219 34 73} 8 J} 23 45 Allier 247 Euro 14 Cher 94 Grand-Morin .... 16 . .. 16 353 GO Oise 55 116 Yonne .... 118 134 144 19 als. Lateral it la Mamc. 0960 67 Sarthe ... 132 4326 18 3 15 134 24} 3 223} Kilo metres. From Aire to La Basse&quot;e... 43 From the Aisne to the Lateral h 1 Olse 50 ... 10G 5 From Aries to Bouc 47 From Bergues to Dunkirk 8 Berry 322 From Marans to La chelle Ro- 24 From the Marne to Rhine the .... 215 Blavet 60 21 S&amp;lt;) Bourgogne Briare 242 59 From Mons to Conde 5 From Nantes to Brest... 3CO Neuffosse&quot; is .. . . 41 ... 116 Nivernais .... 174 108 46 118 35 27i 16 97 2060 Miles. 6Si 19* 1855 From the Charente to the Seudre, 32 74 From the Rhone to Rhine the ... ino 38 65 From Roanne to Digoin. 56 St Quentin 97 Est 24 43 Haute-Seine .... 44 25 25 Somme 15G ... 46 d into Canals. Part of the Oise 3315 Kilo metres 105 207 Aa Rivers co Kilo metres 29 63 Scarpe .... 31 18 299 Lvs .. 53 France is but very inadequately provided with harbours ; Hai un her long tract of coast washed by the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay has scarcely three or four good seaports, and those on the southern shore of the channel form a striking contrast to the spacious maritime inlets on the English side. To begin from the north-east, Dunkirk has a small harbour, enlarged, however, by docks, and approached in the Dutcli manner by a canal leading from the sea. Calais, one of the best ports on the coast, is not to be compared with Dover. Boulogne has a roadstead, which has been of late greatly deepened and improved. The port of Dieppe is ex posed, and of course unsuitable for winter. The best mer- cantile harbour in the north of France, Le Havre-de-Grace, at the mouth of the Seine, has la.rge basins and docks, formed at a very great expense. Cherbourg is now a port and arsenal of great utility and importance to the navy ; its roadstead, extensive but open, has a sea-wall, affording protection from the swell of the sea ; and its spacious dock, excavated since the beginning of this century, at an expense of 3,000,000 sterling, i.s capable of containing fifty sail of the line. St Malo, on the north coast of Brittany, possesses a good and large harbour, with quays extending to a length of 2,955 metres (3231 yards); its entrance is protected by fortified islets. Brittany also possesses Brest, the great maritime port of the Atlantic