GARONNE, the ancient Garrumna, an important river of France, which rises in the Spanish Pyrenees, passes in succession through the departments of Haute Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, and Gironde, and falls into the Bay of Biscay by the estuary of the Gironde after a course of about 300 miles. It has its source in the Vallée d'Aran, and enters France near the Pont du Roi in Haute Garonne. Hence it flows N.W. to its junction with the Neste, then N.E. to Toulouse, and afterwards in a N.W. direction to its mouth. It is navigable to Cazeres above Toulouse, and at Toulouse it is connected by the Canal du Midi with the Rhone and the Mediterranean. Its chief
affluents on the right are the Salat, Ariège, Tarn, Lot, Dropt, and Dordogne; on the left, the Neste, Loue, Save, Gimone, Gers, Baïse, and Ciron. At Bec d'Ambès, where it receives the Dordogne, it takes the name of Gironde. The Gironde presents an almost uninterrupted succession of islands and banks, which divide it into two nearly equal branches and render the navigation somewhat difficult. The valley of the Garonne is noted for its beauty and fertility.