Lourdes

LOURDES, a town of south-western France in the depart ment of Hautes-Pyrenees, at the foot of the Pyrenees, I 2 M. S.S.W. of Tarbes on the main line of the Southern railway between that town and Pau. Pop. 8,769. The origin of Lourdes is uncertain. From the 9th century onwards it was the most important place in Bigorre, largely owing to its famous fortress. In 1360 it passed by the treaty of Bretigny from the French to the English, who lost it to the French in 1406. During the religious wars the castle held out successfully against the Protestant troops. From the reign of Louis XIV. to the beginning of the 19th century the castle was used as a state prison. Since the visions of Bernadette Soubirous, their authentication by a commission of enquiry ap pointed by the bishop of Tarbes, and the authorization by the pope of the cult of Our Lady of Lourdes, the quarter on the left bank of the Gave has sprung up and about 600,000 pilgrims annually visit the town, August being the favorite month.

Several religious communities have been named after Our Lady of Lourdes. Of these one, consisting of sisters of the third order of St. Francis, called the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes (founded 1877), has its headquarters in Rochester, Min nesota. Another, the Order of Our Lady of Lourdes, was founded in 1883 for work in the archdiocese of New Orleans. Lourdes is divided into an old and a new town by the Gave de Pau, which at this point leaves the valley of Argeles and turns abruptly to the west. The old quarter on the right bank surrounds a scarped rock, on which stands the fortress with its large square 14th century keep. A tower of the 13th or 14th century, surmounting a gate way known as the Tour de Garnabie is part of the old fortifica tions. The old quarter is united with the new by a bridge which is continued in an esplanade leading to the basilica, the church of the Rosary and the Grotto, with its spring of healing water, where the Virgin Mary is believed in the Roman Catholic world to have revealed herself repeatedly to a peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. A statue of the Virgin stands on a rock projecting above the grotto, the walls of which are covered with crutches and other votive offerings ; the spot is marked by a basilica built in 1876 above the grotto. The Byzantine church of the Rosary was built in front of and below the basilica from 1884 to 1889. Near the grotto are other caves, where prehistoric

remains have been found.

Lourdes is the seat of the tribunal of first instance of the arron dissement of Argeles. There are slate quarries and the pastures support a breed of valuable Aquitaine cattle.

LOURENg0 MARQUES,

capital of Portuguese East Africa or Mozambique, on the north bank of the Espirito Santo or English river, Delagoa bay, and 396 m. by rail via Pretoria from Johannesburg. A census completed in 1931 gives the population of city and suburbs as 42,779, including 9,001 Europeans, an increase in the European population of 71.88% since 1912. The large majority of non-Europeans are Africans, but there are also British Indians. Foreigners numbering 1,588 are employed in the town, which is close to the mouth of the river in 25° 53' S. and 32° 3o' E., and is built upon a low-lying spit of sand, formerly sur rounded by swamps which have now been filled in, providing a large area for business and other occupation, and on the hills be hind it. The streets are regularly laid out, lighted by electricity, and adorned by several fine buildings, among which are the railway station, municipal market, post and telegraph offices, the Treasury, the Residency, the British consulate, offices of the Attorney Gen eral and the palatial Polana hotel. There are Roman Catholic, Anglican and Wesleyan Methodist churches, and the large church of the Mission Suisse Romande. There are two theatres and many good shops. The handsome Avenida Aguiar, in which are situated the fine municipal gardens, adjacent to which is the municipal museum, leads to the upper town. There is an electric tramway system, 7 m. in extent, and motor buses ply between the lower and the upper town. At Ponta Vermelha (Reuben point), which marks the spot where the river enters the bay, are cavalry barracks, the wireless station and many private residences of the wealthier citizens. The town is healthy. The climate, although very hot in summer, is almost ideal in the winter months. The mean annual temperature (14 years) was 72° F. There is a large military and civil hospital in the town and also a private nursing home run on English lines. Water, brought from the Umbeluzi river 18 m. away, is of excellent quality. Pop. est. (1931) 42,779.