The Durance itself just touches the north-west corner. The length of the Argens, the most considerable river which belongs wholly to this department, may be estimated at about 60 miles: it receives the Caulon, the Calami, the united stream of the Bresque and the Braque, the Artuby, and the Endre. Three /shore-lakes of considerable extent are found near the coast : the chief is that of Pesquier, in the isthmus of Glens ; the others are those of Napoulo and Villepey.
The climate of the department Is temperate; the winters are mild except when 'the mistral' blows. The south-east wind is very relaxing.
The soil is by no means favourable, taken as a whole, however fertile particular spots may be; and from the hilly nature of tho country, cultivatioh is very much carried on by manual labour. Only about a sixth part of the surface of the department is 'under the plough. The produce in grain is not equal to more than half tho consumption of the department There is a considerable extent of heath or other open pasture : in summer however the grass is so scorched up, that the sheep are chiefly sent at that season to feed in the mountain pastures of the department of Basses-Alpes. Sheep, goats, mules, asses, and pigs are numerous. The vineyards cover 170,000 acres, and the orchards and gardens 5000 acres. The vine and the olive are cultivated in terraces on the slopes of the hills. The department yields about 17,600,000 gallons of white and rod wines and good muscatel annually. The olives are used for making oil, or are exported for use at the table. The pomegranate, the citron, the orange, the almond, and the fig grow iu the open air; the plum and the peach are grown and preserved for exportation ; and the caper and the jujube are cultivated. Mulberry-trees are extensively grown for the production of silk. Tobacco is an important crop, and odoriferous plants are abundantly cultivated. The woodlaude, which cover about 570,000 acres, yield firs, cork-trees, and the kerma oak. Game is abundant, and a great number of bees are kept, which produce exquisite honey.
The tunny, anchovy, and sardine fisheries are actively carried on along the coast; and the rivers yield abundance of fish—the sturgeon, trout, eel, shad, barbel, tench, carp, and crayfish.
The department is divided into four arrondissements, as follows :— 1, In the first arrondissement the chief town is Dasseurcsress, which is also the capital of the department. Callas, population 2125;
Salernes, population 2544; Longues, population 4106, on the road between Brignoles and Draguignan ; Le-Luc, population 3441, on the road from Toulon to Frejus; St.-Tropez, a small sea-port with 3588 inhabitants; and Freju.s, population about 3000, on the coast. Frejus, the representative of the ancient Forum Julii, is built on an eminence about a mile from the sea and the mouth of the Argens. Forum Julii was a place of importance in Roman times ; it has remains of an aqueduct, an amphitheatre, a triumphal arch, of the two moles that form the entrance to the harbour, and other ancient buildings. The ancient harbour communicated with the sea by a canal fed from the Argens. Long neglect converted the harbour and canal into a marsh which has been drained, and corn now grows where the Roman galleys formerly rode at anchor. Frejus gives title to a bishop, whose diocese is the department of Var.
2. In the second arrondissement the chief town, Brignoles, is situ ated in a fertile basin screened by hills, 25 miles W. by S. from Draguiguan, and has 5581 inhabitants in the commune. It is a well built town, and has manufactures of' broadcloth, soap, glue, wax, candies, pottery, leather, and brandy. The trade in these articles and in silk, wine, liqueurs, olive-oll, plums, and fruits, is considerable. Bargols, situated on a small affluent of the Argens, in a beautiful district, has about 3000 inhabitants, who manufacture paper, leather, brandy, and confectionery. Catignac, population 3602 for the com mune, in the country between the Bresque and the Argens.
.5faximin, a walled-town near the source of the Argens, has 6385 inhabitants in the commune, manufactories for cotton-yarn and woollen-stuffs, soma brandy-distilleries, marble-quarries, and some trade in saffron. There are a school of arts and trades, a public library of 3000 volumes, and a handsome church built in 1283. Boguebrussane, 8 miles from Brignoles, stands at the foot of a rock, crowned with the remains of a castle, which was burnt by the Pied montese In 1707 : population 1500.