LANGUEDOC, a large and maritime province of France; bounded on the north by Quercy, Rouerque, Auvergne, and Lignon; on the east by Dauphiny and Provence; on the west by Gascony; and on the south by the Mediterranean Sea and Roussillon. It is 225 miles in length, and 100 in breadth where broadest. The clergy are more rich and numerous here than in the rest of France, there being three archbishops and 20 bishops. Languedoc is divided into the Upper and Lower; and in general it is a very pleasant country, fertile in corn, fruits, and excellent wines; and the inhabitants carry on a considerable trade. There are many curious medicinal plants, with iron mines, quarries of marble, and turquoise stones. There is also a great deal of kelp, and on the heaths are considerable numbers of the kermes oak. The principal rivers are the Rhone, the Garronne, the Aude, the
Tarne, the Allier, and the Loire. There are also a great number of mineral springs. Thouloune is the capital town. This province is famous for the royal canal, which divides it in two, joining the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean. This canal was undertaken in 1666, and finished in 1680; the mathematician who undertook it made a basin 400 yards long, 300 broad, and seven feet deep, which is always kept full of water, and may be let out by means of a sluice on the side of the Mediterranean, as well as by another on the side of the Atlantic.