The principal industrial products comprise shoe and glove leather (which are prepared in the neighbourhood of Niort, whence vast quantities of shoes and booth are exported), oil, vinegar, brandy, pottery, woollen-cloth, iron, and paper.
The department is divided into 4 arrondissements, which, with their subdivisions and population, are as follows :— I. Of the first arrondissement and of the whole department the chief town is /Clone. Among the other towns are the following : Coulanges, near the Autise, 15 miles N.W. from Niort, has a good corn-market, and a population of 2000. St. Maixent, on the elope of a hill on the right bank of the Sevre-Niortaise, 14 miles N.E. from Niort, has a college and 4320 inhabitants, who manufacture woollen stuffs, and trade in corn, wool, and cattle. The town is ill laid out, and the houses are ill-built, but the publio walks aro and the neighbourhood, which is very fertile, abounds with picturesque scenery. Rohan-Rohan, also called Prontenay, is on au elevated site between two small streams, the Guirande and the Courance, 11 miles S. from Niort, and has about 2300 inhabitants. A branch of the family of Hoban took the title of Rohan-Rohan from this town.
2. In the second arrondissement the chief town, Bressuire (popu lation 2622), stands in a hilly country 35 miles N. from Niort, on a feeder of the Argenton, and has a handsome church, an ecclesiastical school, woollen and cotton manufactories, and a tribunal of first instance. The college is at Thouars, a town of 2244 inhabitants, on the elope of a hill above the Thouet, 15 miles N.E. from Bressuire. Thouars was a place of strength in the time of Pepin in the Sth century; and the English, when masters of Poitou, made it yet stronger; it was however taken from them by Dugueselin in 1372. It is surronnded partly by the river and partly by walls, and has two handsome churches, a college, two hospitals, and a handsome castle or mansion built by the Duchess de la Tremonille iu the time of Louis there are three public walks. Woollens, linens, hats, and cutlery are made; and trade is carried on in corn, hemp, horses, mules, and oxen.
3. In the third arrondissement the chief town is Mlle, an ill-built town on a hill above the Bet oune, 17 miles E.N.E. from Niort: popu lation 2676. Mello has a college, a tribunal of first instance, some manufactures of coarse woollens, leather, paper, &c., and a consider able trade in corn, seeds, cattle, wool, and mules of fine breed. It is situated iu a beautiful and fertile country, of which, from its situa tion on a 1:111, it has a commoding prospect. ChefBoutonne, an
ancient village near the source of the has a population of 2366, who manufacture serge, drugget, earthenware, and leather. Laey, E.N.E. from 3lelle, on the Dive, has tile-works, and 2500 inhabitants In the commune, who are engaged in agriculture and in breeding horses and mules. In the neighbourhood are several large :mansion' or chateaus. La-Mothe-Saint-Mroye, 8 miles N. from Melle, near the source of the Sevre-Niortaise, is pleasantly situated, and has flour-milla, and 2650 inhabitants, who manufacture coarse woollens and leather, and trade in seeds, flour, cattle, horses, and mules. The castle of IA-Mothe, the finest specimen of turreted architecture in Poitou, was demolished in 1842.
4. In the fourth arrondissement the chief town is Parthenay, which is situated in a hilly well-wooded country, 33 miles N.N.E. from Niort, and has a college, a tribunal of first instance, and 4621 inhabitants in the commune. Parthcnay is an ill-built place : it suffered materially in the English wars, the rdigiona ware of the lath century, and the Veudean war. It stands ou a elope on the right bank of the Thouet.
There aro some manufactures of woollen yarn, coarse woollens, and leather ; and considerable trade in corn and cattle is carried on.
Parthenay was the capital of the Poitoviu district of Getine. At irrautt, a tolerably handsome town of 2000 inhabitants, on the right bank of the Thouet, there is a fountain which scuds water into every house in the town, and gives rise to a stream which drives a mill at a very little distance from its source. It has the ruins of an ancient castle and of a monnatery. Woollen-stuffs, hempen cloth, linen, and leather are manufactured ; and trade is carried on in clocks and watches, sheep, wool, wine, brandy, corn, and flax. Moneoutant, 1G miles W.N.W. from Parthenay, near the Sevre-Nantaise, has above 2000 inhabitants. Thezenay, E. by N. from Parthenay, and near tho eastern boundary of the department, has about 2100 inhabitants in the commune.
This department, with the adjacent department of Vienne, forms the diocese of Poitiers, the bishop of which is a suffragan of the archbishop of Bordeaux. It is in the jurisdiction of the High Court and the University-Academy of Poitiers, and it belongs to the 15th military division, the head-quarters of which are at Nantes. It returns two members to the Legislative Chamber of the French empire. The Calvinists have five churches in Niort, Melle, St-Maixent, LaMothe, and Lezay ; and seven meeting-houses in other places in the department.