MAYENNE

MAYENNE, a department of France, bounded on the N. by those of Manche and Orne, E. by that of Sarthe, S. by those of Maine-et-Loire and Loire Inferieure, and W. by that of Ille-et-Vilaine. It is 55 miles in length by about 30 in breadth. The department is bounded by low ranges of hills on the N., E., and W., and has a general slope towards the S. It consists of gently undulating plains without any marked elevation or depression. The principal river, the Mayenne, from which it derives its name, traverses it from N. to S., dividing it into two nearly equal parts. The department contains also several small lakes. The rocks of Mayenne belong almost entirely to the earliest geological epochs, and contain a considerable amount of mineral resources. Iron, coal, limestone, marble, slate, granite, building-stone, &c. are obtained in the department. The soil is not very fertile, except in the southern parts, where all sorts of corn are grown, while in the other districts the produce of the soil is not sufficient to supply the wants of the inhabitants. Of the entire area of the department, 885,000 acres are occupied with arable land, 172,500 are meadow land, and 65,000 wood. Notwithstanding the small extent of the meadow-land, a great number of live stock is reared on the heaths and fallow land of the department; and the cattle are of good breed, and highly prized. It has been calculated that there are in Mayenne 50,000 horses, 180,000 head of large cattle, 140,000 sheep, 50,000 pigs, &c. The department is very much broken up into small farms, some of them so small as to be cultivated with the spade; and the population live in their own separate farm-houses, instead of congregating in towns and villages. The effect of this on the character of the people may be seen in the blunt honesty and obstinate independence by which the peasant of Mayenne is characterized; but they are also both unable and unwilling to engage in any enterprise for improving their ground, by which their condition might be bettered. The fields are in general surrounded by hedges and rows of trees; and this gives the country, when seen from a distance, the aspect of a vast forest. The principal manufacture carried on in the department is that of cloth, especially table linen and sailcloth; and there are also several forges and iron-works. The trade consists principally in iron. Mayenne contains several ancient Roman and Druidical remains; and at Jublains there have been preserved the remains of one of the strongest Roman forts to be seen in France. In the middle ages this department was the scene of many bloody encounters between the English and the French; and in the Vendean war a great victory was gained here by the Royalists under Larochejacquelin, in 1793, over the Republican forces. The capital of the department is Laval; and it is divided into three arrondissements as follows:—