Les (The Heathes), a maritime department in the S.W. of France, part of the old province of Gascogne, is bounded on the N. by the department of Gironde, E. by Lot-et-Garonne and Gers, S. by Basses-Pyrénées, and W. by the Bay of Biscay. It extends from N. Lat. 43° 28' to 44° 38', and from E. Long. 0° 7' to 1° 33' W. The Adour, flowing westward, divides it into two unequal portions. The northern abounds in pine-woods, furze, and brushwood. Numerous lagoons lie along the coast, and shifting sands are everywhere in the interior. Of the entire area, consisting of 2,363,400 acres, a sixth is arable, a third under wood, and a half sterile. Buffalos and wild horses are found in the Landes, and ill-favoured sheep are tended by shepherds, who stalk over the sand and prickly shrubs on stilts. The soil is a dull gray sand, and its only crops are a few scattered patches of maize and barley. The southern portion, called Chalosse, is traversed by offsets of the Pyrenees, watered by the af- Landgrave fleeces of the Adour, and is of considerable fertility, producing corn, wine, and fruit in abundance. The climate of Landes is mild, but unhealthy, especially along the coast. Its natural products are, timber, coal, iron-ore, stone, and marble. Rosin, pitch, and tar, glass, porcelain, earthenware, paper, and leather are manufactured. Its principal rivers are the Leyre, Adour, and Gave-de-Pau. It is divided into three arrondissements, Dax, Mont de Marsan, and St Sever; into 28 cantons, and 333 communes. Pop. (1851) 302,196. Mont de Marsan is the chief town.