RHÔNE (anc. Rhodanus), a river of Europe, belonging principally to France, rises in Switzerland at the Furka Pass, near Mount St. Gotthard, whence also flows the Rhine in an opposite direction. It dashes down in a series of cascades, and flows south-west through the canton of Valais, receiving numerous affluents from the Bernese Alps on the right, and the Pennine on the left. At Martigny the river takes an abrupt turn to the north-west, and flows through a flat, swampy, and very unhealthy valley into the Lake of Geneva, which stretches in the form of a half-moon between the steep rocks and cliffs of Savoy on the south, and the sloping vineyards of the Pays de Vaud on the north. The pure, blue waters of the swiftly-flowing river issue from the lake at Geneva; but they do not long retain their clear colour, as they mingle with the muddy Arve descending from Mont Blanc. After traversing the canton of Geneva in a S.W. direction, the Rhône leaves Switzerland, and flows southwards along the frontier between France and Savoy, through a narrow pass between the Alps and Mount Jura. A road traverses the defile midway up the declivity, and this entrance to France is commanded by the Fort de l'Écluse, a strong fortress, with batteries hewn out of the solid rock. A short distance below this fort is the Perte du Rhône, where the river plunges into a deep chasm, covered over with massive fragments of rock that have descended upon it. Many of these have been removed by the Sardinian government, so that the cascade is not so remarkable as it once was. At this place the Rhône receives from the right the Valserine, a picturesque stream flowing down from Mount Jura. The southerly course of the river continues as far as St. Genis, near which it receives from the south the Guiers, a small stream which separates Italy from France. At this point the Rhône turns abruptly to the N.W., separating the French departments of Ain and Isère, which it continues to divide, flowing afterwards more towards the west, until it reaches Lyons; receiving during its course the Ain
from the north, and emerging a short distance above Lyons from the hilly region it had been previously traversing. At Lyons the sluggish, gently-flowing Saône from the north joins the Rhône, its muddy water being distinguishable for some distance from the clearer river that it joins. The united stream has a considerable breadth, and flows nearly due south, through a beautiful country studded with villages, among rows of poplar and willow trees. It separates the departments of Rhône, Loire, Ardèche, and Gard on the right, from those of Isère, Drôme, Vaucluse, and Bouches-du-Rhône on the left, and falls into the Mediterranean by two mouths in the last of these departments. The chief affluents of the Rhône from the right, flowing from the Cévennes, are the Doux, Ardèche, Cèze, and Gardon, and they are generally of small size; while on the left the river receives from the Alps the larger tributaries Isère, Drôme, Vigne, and Durance. The chief towns along this part of the Rhône are the ancient Vienne, Valence, Montelimart, Orange (which gave a title to the illustrious house of Nassau), and Avignon, once the place of exile of the Popes. At Arles the river divides into the little Rhône, flowing S.W., and the main stream pursuing a S.E. course. Neither of these channels is of much use for navigation, as their mouths are obstructed by bars; but vessels may enter by two canals, that of Martigues from the E., and that of Beaucaire from the W. From Lyons to the sea the Rhône is regularly navigated by steamers, though the rapidity of the current and the shifting sands in the bed of the river render the progress upwards difficult. Above Lyons steamers ply, but not so regularly, on the Rhône as far as Seyssel, on the Swiss frontier, and on the Saône as far as Chalons. The whole length of the Rhône is about 530 miles, of which 350 are in France; the height of its source is 5904 feet above the sea, that of the Lake of Geneva 1142 feet. The area watered by the Rhône and its affluents is estimated at 11,300 square miles.