SAVOY (Sarnia in Italian, Savoie in French), a country with th title of duchy, which belongs to the Sardinian monarchy. It form part of the highlands of the Alps, and is geographically united t south-western Switzerland, being included in the basin of the Risen( Savoy extenda from 45° 4' to 46' 24' N. lat., 5° 37' to 7° E. long. Th boundaries of Savoy are :—on the E. the great chain of the ()rebut an Pennine Alps, which divide it from Piedmont and the Valais ; N. th Leman Lake; W. the Rhone, which divides it from France; and F.
n egad of the Cottian Alps, which, running. westward from tho roup of Mout Cenis, divides the valley of Maurienne, the southern soot part of Savoy, from Dauphine.
Savoy consists of several valleys formed by offsets of the Alps. It I divided into throe basins : the northern basin, the waters of which Low northwards into the Leman Lake; the central basin, the waters of 'hick flow by means of the Arve, the Fier, and the Lake Bourget eastward into the Rhone; and the southern basin, which is drained by ho Isere and its affluents. The Isere tuna southward into France.
Savoy is divided into seven provinces :-1, Chablais, which comprises he southern coast of the Leman Lake and the numerous valleys vhich slope towards it. The Dranse, which rises in the mountains mar the borders of the Valais, is the principal river of Chablais. 2, ?'aissigny, south of Chablais, consists chiefly of the long valley of the arve, from its source in the Col-de-Balme to a few miles below Bonne ille, where the river enters the province of Carouge. The well-known 'alley of Chamouny and the romantic valley of the Giffre, belong to ?aissiguy. 3, Genevese, or Annecy, west of Feissigny, consists of the :alley of the river Fier, an affluent of the Rhone, and the basin of the Lake of Annecy, the waters of which have their outlet in the Fier, and is bounded north by the canton of Geneva. 4, Alta Savoie, south Faissigny, consists of the valley of the Arli, an affluent of the Isere, vhich flows from north to south. 5, Tarantasia or Tareutaise, south >f Alta Savoie, consists of the long valley of the Isere, running from seat to west, from its sources at the foot of Mont Iseran to the con fluence of the Arli. Tarantasia is, next to Faissigny, the most Alpine part of Savoy, and the most interesting to mountain tourists. 6, aloriana, south of Tarantasia, consists of the valley of the Arc. The high road to Italy leads through the whole length of Moriana. 7,.Chambery, or Savoy proper, the most level and the most fertile part of Savoy, lies west of Moriana and Tarentaise, and south of Gene vese. It is divided on the west from France by the Rhone and its affluent the Guier. The waters of Savoy proper find an outlet partly southward by the Isere, and partly by the Leisse and other streams which run westward into the Lake of Bourget, which lake miters the Rhone by a canal called that of Saviere. The Lake of Bourget lies 8 miles north-west of Chamhery; it is 10 miles long and 3 miles wide, and the surface is 700 feet above the sea.
The principal towns of Savoy are :-1, Cnalsnhav, the capital of Savoy proper, and of the whole duchy. 2, ANNECY, the head town of the province of Genevese. 3, Molten, which is noticed under CIUBLAIS.
4, Ai.c-les-Bains, in Savoy proper, much frequented for its baths. [Aix.] 5, Rumilly, in the province of Genevese, has 4000 inhabitants. 6, Moutiers, the capital of Tarentaise, a small town with 2330 inhabit ants, and a bishop's see, is situated on the here. Moutiers has salt works for purifying the salt which is derived from the neighbouring springs of Salina, and also a school of mineralogy and metallurgy, with three professors, a cabinet of minerals, a library, and a chemical laboratory. The lead-mines of Pesei and Macot, in the mountaius
near Moutiers, are worked for the government. The mine of Pesei is eituated at an elevation of 4500 feet above tho sea, and that of Macot at the height of 6000 feet. The ore ie sent to Conflans, where it is smelted and purified. The mineral springs of La-Perriere, situated in the valley of the Doren, about three miles from Moutiers, are much frequented by invalids from Switzerland and France. The province of Tarentaise has numerous mines of anthracite, which are worked by the country people, and it is rich in marble of various colours. 7, Bourg-St.-Maurwe iu Upper Tarentaise, on the road leading to Italy by the Little St.-Bernard, is a town of 3300 inhabitants, and carries on considerable trade in cattle. Several large fairs are held here annually. From the village of Sees above Bourg-St.-Maurice, the narrow valley of Tignes leads south-east to the sources of the Isere, at the foot of Mont Iseran, a noble pyramid 13,300 feet high, covered with perpetual snow and surrounded by glaciers. From Seez a road leads in an easterly direction to the pass of the Little St-Bernard, 7192 feet above the sea, and thence into the valley of Aosta. The pass is practicable nearly all the year round, but only for horses and mules. A Roman road constructed by Augustus led formerly from Aosta, or Augusta Prtetoria, over the Little St-Bernard, and down the valley of the Isere to Vienne on the Rhone. Traces of this road are still visible in the valley of Aosta, but all vestiges of it have disappeared on tho Savoy side. On the summit of the pass is an ancient column of cipoline marble, 15 feet high, which is called 'Colonne de Iou,' or of Jove, and near it is a circle of stones probably druidical. Tarentaise was the country of the ancient Centrones, who, with their neighbours the Salassi, long resisted the Roman arms, and were only subjugated in the time of Augustus. A village on the banks of the Isere, above Moutiers, bears the name of Centroue, and a little higher up, in the valley of Aixme, are several ancient Roman inscriptions. 8, the town of St.-Jean, the chief place in the province of Moriana, has 3000 inhabitants, and a very old cathedral, in which lie buried some of the earlier counts of the house of Savoy. Moriana has mines of iron, copper, and lead.
The late king Charles Felix began the embankment of the three principal rivers of Savoy, the Arve, the here, and the Arc, by which means large tracts of fertile land have been reclaimed.
The population of the duchy of Savoy in 1848 was 583,812, of whom 152,468 inhabit the province of Savoy proper. The population of the other provinces in 1843 is thus stated :—Alta-Savoia, 50,872; 31oriana, 64,239; Tarontaise, 45,723; Annecy, 107,474; Faiesigny, 105,474; Chablais, 57,562. A great part of the country is rocky and barren, and the male inhabitants are obliged to leave their homes in order to get a subsistence. Many of them when young resort to Paris for employment, and return to Savoy after a few years with the fruits of their industry. Cattle and sheep constitute the chief wealth of the Alpine districts. Savoy does not produce corn enough for its con sumption. Wine is made in most parts, and some of it is very good. Silkworms are reared in Savoy proper, and fruit-trees are abundant.
The popular language of Savoy is a Romance dialect, like those of Western Soitserland, but the people of the towns speak good French. [SARDcruN