FRANCE 
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and partly of sand-dunes, which are constantly shifting inland, driven 
by the prevailing westerly winds. Further east the sands are overgrown 
by, coarse grass and heath, and here sheep, pigs, and geese are reared in 
large numbers, while still further inland. are pine-woods. "The planting 
of trees is encouraged as a check to the inroads of the shifting sand. 
Rhoneland.—The Rhone rises on Mont St. Gothard in Switzerland, 
and flows through the lake of Geneva before it enters France, when, 
turning sharply south and then east, it joins the Saöne at Lyons, and con- 
tinues the curiously straight valley of that river to the Mediterranean. 
Rhoneland formed part of Lotharingia (see p. 62), and when that kingdom 
was subdivided it formed a sufficiently distinet natural region to become 
{or a time the seat of a kingdom called Burgundy. The basin of the Saöne 
is bounded on the north-west by the plateau of the Langres and by the 
Cöte d’Or Mountains, which are specially noted for wines, with Dijon 
as a centre of the industry. The sheltered position and southern latitude 
of the Lower Rhone valley promote a_warm sunny climate of the dry 
Mediterranean type; hence the products resemble those of Italy—e.g., 
silk (largely manufactured at Lyons, St. Etienne, and Avignon), wine, 
„live oil, and oranges, produced along the Mediterranean coast. 
The Rhone is a rapid river, with sandbanks in its lower course, which 
somewhat impede navigation, and the silt it brings down has rendered 
it best to place Marseilles, the chief port of the region, to the east of the 
mouth, since here there is a current in the sea from east to west. This 
town, like other Mediterranean ports, has benefited by the cutting of 
the Suez Canal, and is the headquarters of the Messageries Maritimes 
Steamship Company, which carries on a great trade with the East; but 
it has felt the competition of Genoa, since the construction of the Alpine 
tunnels has given that city improved communication with Holland and 
Belgium. Among the industries of the port is the manufacture of soap, 
which is fostered by the good local supply of oil. 
The coastal belt west of Marseilles is marshy, and studded with 
lagoons, called_angs ; but to the east it is extremely picturesque, and 
many health and pleasure resorts have arisen along the Riviera, as the 
coast is here termed—e.g., Cannes, Nice, Monaco, and Mentone. Toulon 
is a naval station. (For commercial statistics on France, see p. 121.) 
QUESTIONS. 
Describe the hinterlands of Marseilles, Bordeaux, and Havre, and mention the 
probable chief export; from these ports. 
„. Why does France both import and export wine and raw wool in large quantities 7