a rich kind of silk-stuff, covered on the outside with a close, short, fine, soft shag; the other side being a very strong close tissue. Cotton stuffs manufactured in the same way are commonly called velveteens.

VENDÉE, a department of France, bounded on the N. by those of Loire Inferieure and Maine et Loire; E. by that of Deux Sèvres; S. by that of Charente Inferieure; and W. by the ocean. Length, from N.W. to S.E., 82 miles; greatest breadth, 56; area, 2616 square miles. The surface is in general low and flat, uninterrupted by any hills, except in the N.E., where the department is crossed by the series of heights extending from the central mountains of France to the mouth of the Loire. They cover a considerable breadth of country, but nowhere rise more than 500 feet above the sea. This hilly part of the department is distinguished by the name of the Bocage, on account of the copses and thickets with which it is covered; and it was the chief theatre of the long and bloody war waged here at the time of the first revolution. South of the Bocage lies a region called the Plaine, covering about 120 square miles of the best land in Vendée, and sloping gradually towards the S.W. The remainder and by far the larger part of the department forms the Marais, which stretches along the whole coast, and is chiefly occupied with extensive marshes. The coast is low, and indented with no large inlets, except that of Aiguillon in the S.W. Off it lie several islands, the largest of which are those of Noirmoutier and d'Yeu. The rivers are of no great size or importance. That from which the department takes its name is a small stream, rising in Deux Sèvres, and flowing S.W. through the Plaine into the Sèvre-Niortaise, which forms the southern boundary of the department. It is navigable for small barges as far as Fontenay. Further N. is the Lay, which rises by two branches in the hills of the Bocage, flows irregularly S.W., and falls into the Atlantic. It has been made navigable for 20 miles. Another river falling into the sea is the Vic, navigable for 6 miles. The Sèvre Nantaise traverses the N.E. corner of the department, and it, as well as the Boulogne, which rises here, flows northwards to join the Loire. The geological structure of the country is various in different parts. In the hilly region granite and other primitive rocks prevail; while the rest of the department has a thick clayey soil, supported in the portion called the Plaine by extensive strata of limestone. Coal and iron are worked to some extent, and large quantities of salt are obtained from the marshes along the coast. The soil is fertile, especially in the Plaine, and much of the marshy land, when drained and protected by embankments, affords excellent pasture. The climate in the Bocage is colder but more healthy than in the rest of the country, as the marshy land along the coast gives rise to noxious exhalations, and is liable to sudden and violent changes of weather. Agriculture is in a very low state, although the produce of corn is more than sufficient for the home consumption. Besides wheat, barley, oats, rye, millet, buckwheat, hemp, and flax are raised; and a large extent of ground is occupied by vineyards, though the wine produced is of very inferior quality. On the pastures, horses of small size but good breed are reared; but the cattle and sheep are little esteemed. Game abounds in the woods and heaths, and fish in the rivers. The manufactures are few. The most considerable is that of linen; but coarse woollen cloth and earthenware are also made. The principal articles of trade are corn, wine, timber, charcoal, and horses. There is one navigable canal, from Luçon to the bay of Aiguillon, and numerous roads traverse the department. The inhabitants, especially those of the Bocage, are described as hospitable, good-tempered, honest, simple and antique in their manners, averse to any innovations, and attached, almost to superstition, to the doctrines and observances of the Roman Catholic Church. The nobles and the common people were equally resolute in their opposition to the changes effected by the Revolution of 1789, and all were alike distinguished for their bravery, their perseverance, and their endurance of the hardships and disasters which came upon them. The department has for its capital Napoléon-Vendée, and is divided into three arrondissements as follows:—