VAUCLUSE, a department in the south of France, bounded N. by the department of Drome, E. by BaaseseAlpee, S. by Bouches-du RhOne, from which It Is separated by the Durance, and W. by the departments of Gard and Ardoche, from which It is separated by tho IthOne. Its greatest length from north-west to south-east is about 69 miles, its breadth 88 ranee. It lies between 43° 38' and 44' 27' N. lat., 4" 40' and 5' 46' K long. The area is 1372 square miles : the population in 1851 was 264,618.
The eastern side of the department is mountainous : the mountains of Lure, which separate the deportment of Hautes-Alpes from that of DrOme, enter this department on the north-east side, where they rise to the height of 5500 feet, and are connected with Mont Veutoux, which has an elevation of 6423 feet above the level of the sea. This eastern side of the department is occupied by secondary geological formations. The western and south-western aides, where the hills subside, and plains extend along the banks of the Rhone and the Durance, are occupied by the tertiary formations. The mineral wealth of the department includes lignite, iron, coal, potter's-clay, gypsum, limestone, and freestone. Peat is found. There are several mineral springs.
The department belongs wholly to the basin of the RHONE, which flows along its western boundary, as its tributary the DURANCE does along the southern. The RhOne is the only navigable river. Large rafts are formed of the timber floated down the Durance from the well-wooded districts about its upper waters; and the produce of the oountry is sometimes transmitted on these rafts to the neighbourhood of Avignon. The other rivers of the department are the Lez, the Aigues, and the Sorgues (with its affluents the Nesque, the Auzon, and the Ouveze), all three tributaries of the Rhone; and the Calavou and the Laze, tributaries of the Durance. There is a number of canals for purposes of irrigation.
The fountain of Vaucluse, to whioh the verses and letters of Petrarch have given celebrity, and from which tho department takes its name, Is the sonrce of the Sorgues : it rises in a cavern in the secluded valley of Vaucluse (learns clause') midway between Apt and Avignon. The
spring is sufficiently copious to form at once a stream capable of bear ing a boat. Not far distant from the fountain is the village of Vau cluse, in which Petrarch lived ; and between the village and the foun tain ie an old castle, formerly belonging to the bishops of Cavaillon, in which the poet frequently resided, and which has derived from that circumstance the name of Tetrarch's Castle.
The department is traversed by 4 imperial, 22 departmental, and 9 parish roads; and also by the railway from Paris to Marseille, which passes through Orange and Avignon.
The climate is on the whole temperate and healthy the variations of the weather are however rapid; tempests are frequent, and the hail is often destructive to vegetation.
About one-half of the area of the department is under cultivation, but from the poorness of the soil the produce in grain is not sufficient for the consumption : rye, barley, and wheat are the principal corn crops. The meadow-lands occupy about 15,000 acres; the heaths and open pastures about 170,000 acres. There are numerous flocks of sheep. The ass and the mule are much employed in agricultural labour. The vineyards occupy an area of 70,000 acres, yielding about 9,000,000 gallons of strong deep red wino. The department yields abundance of olives, almonds, and walnuts; good pears, peaches, plums, apricots, figs, and melons. Saffron, madder, artichokes, anise, ooriander, fustic, and the evergreen oak are cultjvated. The silkworm is extensively reared (between two and three millions of mulberry. trees are planted for this purpose), and honey and wax are abundant. The woodlands occupy above 150,000 acres.
The department is divided into four arrondissements, as follows :— 1. In the first arrondissement are the following towns :—AvroNoN. Garai/Loa, an ill-built formerly fortified town, in a pretty country on the right bank of the Durance, with a handsome town-hall ; madder oil and silk-mills, about 7000 inhabitants, and a weekly market for raw silk : and L hle, a town on an island of the Sorgues, with above 6000 inhabitants, who manufacture woollen-yarn, blankets, woollen stuffs. silk, and leather; and trade In Bilk, oil, wino, and madder.