Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/298

290 been aptly termed, by the French, a 'pole of divergence/ from which the population migrate in all directions, but especially toward the northern plains, within which lies the pole of attraction.

The peninsula of Brittany, with its backbone of crystalline rock, may be counted as a semi-mountainous region. It much resembles the English peninsula of Cornwall. But Britanny contains no attractive mineral deposits, so it has longer remained a world apart than has Cornwall, and it still shields many ancient prejudices and practices. The interior districts are, in analogy with Cornwall, of inferior, unattractive character, but agriculture and the dairy industry are profitably carried on along the coast. This region is the only one in France abounding in good harbors. The sea is the mainstay of a large part of the population. The fisheries yield herring, sardines, mackerel, lobsters and oysters. The four departments which compose Brittany furnish the merchant marine of France with one-fifth of its sailors, while eighty-two other departments supply the remainder.

The portions of France still remaining to be treated may be grouped into river-valley and coast regions. Beginning with the southeast, we have, along the Mediterranean coast, the sea of ancient Phoenician, Greek and Roman colonies. This coast is divided into two very distinct portions, separated by the mouths of the Rhône River. The eastern section comprises the Mediterranean foot-hills of the Alpine system. It is a region of bold cliffs and promontories. It contains several excellent harbors, among which are Marseilles, Nice and Toulon, the last being the first naval station of France. This high, well-drained, romantic coast-land, forming part of the Riviera, is the most popular resort of Europe. Here are Cannes, Nice, Menton and the little principality of Monaco, possessing independence to no better purpose than, to license the gaming tables of Monte Carlo. A little distance from the coast are the romantic islands called by the ancients the Islands of the Hesperides. To the west of the Rhone are to be found low, sandy plains, which stretch away to the foot of the Pyrenees. Toward the coast these give way to malarial swamps. Over these extensive marshes roam herds of half-wild cattle and horses, pastured in the mountains in summer, and brought to the coast in winter, just as are the wild bulls that inhabit the swamps about the mouth of the Guadalquivir in Spain. The inhabitants of the region have to contend with an unhealthy climate. Agriculture implies an expensive system of drainage. The wind-mills used for pumping give to the landscape a striking resemblance to Holland. Along the coast bay salt is evaporated by solar heat. The cities, because they require firm ground for their location, are of necessity situated a long distance inland. This fact has prevented Languedoc from being a commercial country.

Between the Alps and the Central Highlands intervenes the valley