a seaport-town of Arabia, Yemen, on the Red Sea, in N. Lat. 15° 42', E. Long. 42° 43'. A few of the houses are built of stone, but the majority of them are mere mud huts covered with grass. The harbour is capacious, but is so shallow that vessels cannot approach within some distance of the town. A considerable trade is carried on in coffee, which, however, is of inferior quality to that of Mocha or Hodeida. Pop. about 4000.

LOIR-ET-CHER, a central department of France, formed from a part of the old province of Orléanais, is bounded on the N. by the department of Eure-et-Loir, on the E. by those of Loiret and Cher, on the S. by that of Indre, and on the W. by those of Indre-et-Loire and Sarthe. It is situated between N. Lat. 47° 12' and 48° 8', and between W. Long. 0° 40' and 2° 15', and has an area of 2389 square miles. This department is divided into two nearly equal parts by the Loire, and is named from its affluents the Loir and Cher, which water it in the N. and S. The Cher receives the Sauldre and the Feuzon; the Loire, the Cosson, and the Beuvron. The Loire, the Loir, and the Cher are the only navigable rivers; the first has on its left bank a great number of small lakes and ponds. Blois, its capital, with 17,749 inhabitants, is situated on the line of railway which runs along the N. bank of the Loire, and connects Nantes with Paris. The mineral wealth of this department is neither abundant nor varied. Gun-flints used to be worked here more extensively than in any other part of France, but the recent invention of percussion-locks for fire-arms has ruined this branch of industry. There are some iron mines; also quarries of alabaster, lime, and potter's clay. The principal manufactures are—woollen and cotton cloths, leather, gloves, native sugar, earthenware, porcelain, glass, and gun-flints. Agriculture is in a very flourishing condition. The country is generally flat, and in the N. it is exceedingly fertile, producing cereals of all kinds, besides hemp, beet-root, and red and white wines. The trade of the department is much facilitated by the Cher Canal: corn, wine, brandy and wool are the principal articles of commerce. It has three arrondissements, subdivided as follows:

| Canton | Communes | Pop. in 1851 | |--------|----------|-------------| | Blois | 10 | 138 | 131,517 | | Romorantin | 6 | 48 | 50,522 | | Vendôme | 8 | 110 | 72,833 | | Total | 24 | 298 | 251,892 |