a department of France, formed out of a part of the ancient Touraine, and a portion of the province of La Marche. It is an inland division, surrounded on every side by other departments of the kingdom. The extent is 2325 square miles, or, according to the Royal Almanac, 702,240 hectares, of which 441,383 are under the plough, 14,025 are vineyards, 35,996 pastures, 10,409 commons, 104,568 waste heaths, 57,343 woods and forests, 5059 gardens, and the remainder consists of the sites of cities, towns, and villages, and of roads, rivers, and canals. It is divided into 4 arrondissements, and these are subdivided into 23 cantons, and 275 communes, with a population of 207,721 individuals, all professing the Catholic religion, and having 166 churches. It is a level district, with but few hills, and only such valleys as receive the several streams which run through them. On the southern boundary there is a range of hills, not lofty, composed of granite and slate, but they rather belong to the department of the Cher. The department is watered by no less than 15 rivers, and 100 subsidiary brooks. The principal streams are the Creuse, the Indre, the Fouson, and the Arnon. The climate is temperate, neither the heat nor the cold being excessive, but in the vicinity of the more sluggish streams there is a moisture in the air, deemed unfavourable to health. The department is very backward in its agriculture, and the farms are mostly small, being let on the Metayer system, and the rent being paid by a stipulated portion of the crops. The common rotation is a fallow and two crops of corn. The yearly produce, wheat and rye, is about equal, and of both, as well as barley and oats, there is a surplus. The vineyards, though extensive, are neglected, and the wine is badly managed, and of little repute. The manufactures are chiefly of the domestic kind, and supply the inhabitants with clothing and household and rural implements. The capital is Chateauroux, with 8500 inhabitants.