a department in the south-west of France, formed out of Condomois, Armagnac, and Comminges, portions of ancient Gascony. It is bounded on the north by the department of the Landes and of Lot-Garonne, on the east by Tarn-Garonne and Upper Garonne, on the south by Upper Garonne, Upper Pyrenees, and Lower Pyrenees, and on the west by the Landes.

The extent is 2717 square miles, or, according to the Royal Almanack, 623,719 hectares. It is divided into five arrondissements, twenty-nine cantons, and 685 communes, which are inhabited by 312,160 persons. The whole surface of the department is covered with hills, between which are some pleasant valleys, but no plains; but none of those hills exceed 1200 feet in height, and they are a kind of spurs or projections from the mass of the Pyrenees. The soil is generally clayey, but intermixed with stripes of calcareous and sandy land. The melting of the snows on the Pyrenees in the months of May and June causes great injury to the land, before it passes by the beds of the various rivers and rivulets which empty themselves into the Adour. The inhabitants are a lively, cheerful race, simple in their dress, food, and houses, and speak the Gascon language, which is a mixture of Latin, Italian, and Spanish, rich in diphthongs and vowels. Garlic and onions are abundantly cultivated, and form an important portion of the aliment of the inhabitants. Agriculture is in a backward state, and barely produces sufficient corn for the scanty consumption of those who use it. The meadows are about a tenth part of the land, but, from neglect, furnish only a scanty provision for the cattle, which are by no means distinguished for their good qualities. The number of cattle was in 1801 as follows:—11,710 horses, 3020 mules, 171,506 cows, oxen, and calves, 517,380 sheep, and 37,500 pigs. The sheep yield only coarse wool. Fruit is cultivated negligently, and the produce of the vineyards is barely sufficient for the department, and is of bad quality. Brandy is made, and is almost the only article exported; some of it is highly prized. The forests have been wasted, and now scarcely yield sufficient fuel for the inhabitants. There is little manufacturing industry, and no trade with other... restricts, excepting the export of some brandy, and of a few cows, calves, sheep, and lambs.