FINISTERE. This department of France, in Brittany or Bretagne, produces, besides the usual kinds of crops, flax, hemp, tobacco, and cider fruits. The cider produce is about 1,600,000 gallons annually. Eels, trout, sal mon, lobsters, and oysters are plentiful ; but the pilchard fisheries along the coast afford the most profitable occupation to the Breton fishermen. In this pursuit more than 1000 vessels of small size, and about 1000 men, are employed, and a gross annual value of 2,000,000 francs is obtained. This includes the value of the enormous quantities of the common pilchard (4,100,000 lbs.), the anchovy pilchard, caught of Concarneau in Foret Bay (1,100,000 lbs.), and a large quantity of oil pressed from fish which are not cured. These fisheries form an excellent nursery for the French navy, which draws its best seamen from Bre tagne.
Iron, coal, lead, bismuth, and zinc mines are worked. An excellent stone, easily worked,
and capable of resisting the action of the weather, is found at Daoulas and one or two other places near the Brest Roads : it is of a light green colour, and when worked presents the appearance of bronze ; it is called Korean ton stone, and of it several of the churches in the department are built. Granite, marble, building stone, and slates are quarried; potters' clay, kaolin, and whetstones are found. The manufactures consist of sailcloth, linen, soda, soap, seed oil, candles, ropes, pottery, paper, leather, refined sugar, litharge, and to bacco. Ship-building is carried on at Brest and in most of the large towns on the coast. The commerce of the department is composed of the various products already named, and of wine, brandy, beer, Dutch cheese, butter, salt, and colonial produce.