The mountains of the department are in many parts clothed with fine forests of oak, beech, pine, and fir, and abound with aromatic and medicinal plants. The cork tree grows naturally, and is also an object of careful cultivation. There is but little grass land, but the breadth of heath, moor, and mountain pasture is very considerable. Good farm- and saddle-horses, a great number of mules for the Spauish markets, few horned-cattle, but a large number of sheep, common and Thibet goats, are bred. Bees and silkworms are care fully tended ; honey and bees'-wax are important exports. Poultry, game, and fish are abundant.
The Pyrenees in this department are composed almost entirely of granitic rocks, as also is that part of the Corbieres which lies nearest to the Pyrenees. Not only the peaks, but the intervening valleys are in great part occupied by these formations. The mountains which bound the valley of the Ande on the western side, and occupy the extremity of the department towards the west, are composed of mica elate, which is not found anywhere else in this department.. The transition rocks are found near the base of the granitic mountains, except where their continuity is interrupted by the tertiary or alluvial beds. In the valley of the Tech above Caret, and extending north ward across the extremity of that short spur of the Pyrenees to which Le Canigou belongs, these transition rocks consist of clay-slate and transition limestone. About Villefranche, in the valley of the Tet, is found a mass of compact gray limestone, inclosing beds of gray marble veined with red and green. The localities occupied by these two masses of transition rocks are isolated in the district of the granitic formations. The valley of the Gly from &Angel upwards, and that part of the Corbieres which lies at the head of the valley, are formed of transition rocks (chiefly compact gray limestone) which skirt the granitic district on the north, and extend into the department of Ande. The valleys watered by the tributaries of the Sesro are, in this department, occupied by the transition rocks. A small portion of the department to the north of Estagel is occupied by tho Alpine and Jura limestone, which formations extend northward into the department of Ande, where they overspread a large district. All the eastern side of the department, comprehending the sea-coast, the plain which extends for some miles Inland from the coast, and the valleys of the Gly, the Tot, and the Tech, are occupied by formations. A great number of iron-mines are worked, and the ore
is smelted, and converted into malleable iron at /75 forges and furnaces, by means of charcoal prepared on the spot. Copper, lead, bismuth, and alum are found. A coat-mine is worked near Caterer ; marble, alabaster, granite, and steatite are quarried. There is a great number of hot and mineral springs, the most frequented of which are those of Angie lee-Paine, formerly called Arlet-les-Baina Besides wine and Iron, the industrial products include coarse woollen cloths, leather, corks, knit stockings and ceps, brandy, whip-handless, common pottery, tiles, and bricks. The fisheries on the coed are actively plied, and large quantities of sardines and anolloviee are preserved. The coasting trade ha tho leading articles named, and In wool, oil, honey, de. Ls active. About 30 fairs are held In the year.
High roads lead from Narbonne and Careassone to Perpignan, whence southward there are three others—on, leading to Port Veudres ; another to Spain, by the port or col of Pertus, commanded by the fortress of Bellegenle; and a third which crosses by the port of La-l'erche to Puycenia in Spell, where it is joined by the road from Toulouse, up the valley of the Ariego through the port of Puymorena. Another road through Ctirst enters Spain near Prat& de-51011o.
The climate is good : the 'mate of summer in the plains are mode rated by sea breezes; in wint-r the cold is not intense; snow rests ooly on the mountains of the Canigou and about Mont-Louie ; if it falia elsewhere, it disappears in three days at mint. The south-west and north-west are the prevailing winds.
The language of the inhabitants is a mixture of the langue d'oc [F sages], the Catalonian, and the Castilian.
The department contains 1,013,520 acres. Of the whole area 223,714 acres are under cultivation ; 23,907 acres are gnus-land ; 94,995 acres are vineyards ; 141,654 acres are covered with woods and forests; 465,550 acres consist of barren Leath and moor ; 22.512 acne are occupied with orchards, gardens, nurseries, and various culture; and 24,354 acres are covered with riven, canals, lakes, and marshes.