an arrondissement of the department of the Lower Charente, in France. It is 536 square miles in extent, and comprehends eight cantons, divided into 109 communes, with 104,871 inhabitants in 1836. The capital is the city of the same name situated at the foot of a hill on the navigable river Charente. It is an ill-built place, but, with the suburb, contains 1800 houses, with 9559 inhabitants, carrying on some woollen manufactories, and consi- Saintes, Desirable distilleries of brandy and spirits of wine. Near to it are some Roman antiquities, especially the remains of an amphitheatre, an aqueduct, and a triumphal arch. Long. 0° 43'. 58". W. Lat. 45° 44'. 43". N.

Des, a group of small islands in the West Indies, adjacent to Guadaloupe, of which government they form a part.