Besides the Rhone, which bounds the department on the E., and the Ardèche, the lower course of which forms part of its boundary on the N., the principal rivers are the Cèze, Gard, Vidourle and Hérault. The most northern of these is the Cèze, which rises in the Cévennes, and after a course of about 50 m. in an E.S.E. direction falls into the Rhone above Roquemaure. The Gard, or Gardon, from which the department takes its name, is also an affluent of the Rhone, and, rising in the Cévennes from several sources, traverses the centre of the department, having a length of about 60 m. In the upper part of its course it flows through a succession of deep mountain gorges, and from the melting of the snows on the Cévennes is subject to inundations, which often cause great damage. Its waters not infrequently rise 18 or 20 ft. in a few hours, and its bed is sometimes increased in width to nearly a mile. Near Remoulins it is crossed by a celebrated Roman aqueduct—the Pont du Gard (see [Aqueduct]). The Vidourle flows in a S.S.E. direction from its source near Le Vigan, and after a course of about 50 m. falls into the sea. Below Sommières it forms the western boundary of the department. The Hérault has its source and part of its course in the west of Gard. The Canal de Beaucaire extends from the Rhone at Beaucaire to Aigues-Mortes, which communicates with the Mediterranean at Grau-du-Roi by means of the Grand-Roubine canal.
The climate is warm in the south-east, colder in the north-west; it is rather changeable, and rain-storms are common. The cold and violent north-west wind known as the mistral is its worst drawback. Les Fumades (near Allègre) and Euzet have mineral springs. The chief grain crops are wheat and oats. Rye, barley and potatoes are also grown. Gard is famed for its cattle, its breed of small horses, and its sheep, the wool of which is of a very fine quality. In the rearing of silk-worms it ranks first among French departments. The principal fruit trees are the olive, mulberry and chestnut. The vine is extensively cultivated and yields excellent red and white wines. The department is rich in minerals, and the mines of coal, iron, lignite, asphalt, zinc, lead and copper, which are for the most part situated in the neighbourhoods of Alais and La Grand’-Combe, constitute one of the chief sources of its wealth. Great quantities of salt are obtained from the salt marshes along the coast. The quarries of building and other stone employ a considerable number of workmen. The fisheries are productive. The manufactures are extensive, and include those of silk, of which Alais is the chief centre, cotton and woollen fabrics, hosiery, ironware, hats (Anduze), liquorice, gloves, paper, leather, earthenware and glass. There are also breweries and distilleries, and important metallurgical works, the chief of which are those of Bessèges. The exports of Gard include coal, lignite, coke, asphalt, building-stone, iron, steel, silk, hosiery, wine, olives, grapes and truffles.
The department is served by the Paris-Lyon railway. It is divided into the arrondissements of Nîmes, Alais, Uzès and Le Vigan, with 40 cantons and 351 communes. The chief town is Nîmes, which is the seat of a bishopric of the province of Avignon and of a court of appeal. Gard belongs to the 15th military region, which has its headquarters at Marseilles, and to the académie (educational division) of Montpellier. Nîmes, Alais, Uzès, Aigues-Mortes, Beaucaire, Saint-Gilles, Bessèges, La Grand’-Combe and Villeneuve-lès-Avignon are the principal places. Opposite the manufacturing town of Pont-St-Esprit the Rhone is crossed by a fine medieval bridge more than 1000 yds. long built by the Pontiff brethren. Le Vigan, an ancient town with several old houses, carries on silk-spinning.
GARDA, LAKE OF (the Lacus Benacus of the Romans), the most easterly and the most extensive of the great Lombard lakes, being only surpassed in the Alpine region by those of Geneva and Constance. Save the extreme northern extremity (Riva, which was secured from Venice by Tirol in 1517), the whole lake is Italian, being divided between the provinces of Verona and Brescia. Its broad basin orographically represents the southern portion of the valley of the Adige, though that river now flows through a narrow trench which is separated from the lake by the long narrow ridge of the Monte Baldo (7277 ft.). Nowadays the lake is fed by the Sarca, that flows in at its north end from the glaciers of the Adamello, while at the southern extremity of the lake the Mincio flows out, on its way to join the Po. The area of the lake is about 143 sq. m., its length is 32¼ m., its greatest breadth is about 10 m., the height of its surface above sea-level is 216 ft. and the greatest depth yet measured is 1916 ft. Its upper or northern end is narrow, but between Garda (E.) and Salò (W.) the lake expands gradually into a nearly circular basin, which at the southern extremity is divided into two parts by the long low promontory of Sermione, that projects from the southern shore between Peschiera and Desenzano. Owing to this conformation the lake is much exposed to sudden and violent winds, which Virgil alludes to in his well-known line (Georg. ii. line 160): fluctibus et fremitu assurgens, Benace, marino. The most dangerous of these winds is the Borea or Suer, that sweeps down from the north as through a funnel. In the southern portion of the lake the Vinessa, an E.S.E. wind, is most dreaded. The Ora is a regular wind coming from the east which, on reaching the lake, blows from S. to N. The steep grey limestone crags of Monte Baldo, on the eastern side of the lake, contrast strongly with the rich vegetation on the western and southern shores. The portion of the western shore that extends from Gargnano to Salò is the most sheltered and warmest part of the region, so that not merely does it resemble one continuous garden (producing lemons, figs, mulberries, olives, &c.), but is frequented in winter, and has been given the name of the Riviera Benacense. The lovely promontory of Sermione, at the southern end of the lake, has also an extremely luxuriant vegetation, while it contains many remains of buildings of Roman and later date, having been the Sirmio of Catullus, who resided here and celebrated its beauties in many of his poems. In 1827 a boat with paddles set in motion by horses was put on the lake, but the first steamer dates only from 1844. At the south end of the lake, E. and W. respectively of the promontory of Sermione, are the towns of Peschiera (14¼ m. by rail from Verona on the east) and of Desenzano (17½ m. by rail from Brescia on the west), which are 8¾ m. distant from each other. On the west shore of the lake are Salò, Toscolano, Gargnano and Limone, while the rugged east shore can boast only of Bardolino and Garda. At the northern tip of the lake, and in Tirol, is Riva, the most considerable town on the lake, and 15½ m. by rail from the Mori station on the main Brenner line.
(W. A. B. C.)
GARDANE, CLAUDE MATTHIEU, Count (1766-1818), French general and diplomatist, was born on the 30th of January 1766. He entered the army and rose rapidly during the revolutionary wars, becoming captain in 1793. In May 1799 he distinguished himself by saving a division of the French army which was about to be crushed by the Russians at the battle of Bassignana, and was named at once brigadier-general by Moreau. He incurred Napoleon’s displeasure for an omission of duty shortly before the battle of Marengo (June 14th, 1800), but in 1805 was appointed to be aide-de-camp of the emperor. His chief distinction, however, was to be won in the diplomatic sphere. In the spring of 1807, when Russia and Prussia were at war with France, and the emperor Alexander I. of Russia was also engaged in hostilities with Persia, the court of Teheran sent a mission to the French emperor, then at the castle of Finkenstein in the east of Prussia, with a view to the conclusion of a Franco-Persian alliance. This was signed on the 4th of May 1807, at that castle; and Napoleon designed Gardane as special envoy for the cementing of that alliance. The secret instructions which he drew up for Gardane, and signed on the 30th of May, are of interest as showing the strong oriental trend of the emperor’s policy. France was to guarantee the integrity of Persia, to recognize that Georgia (then being invaded by the Russians) belonged to the shah, and was to make all possible efforts for restoring that territory to him. She was also to furnish to the shah arms, officers and workmen, in the number and to the amount demanded by him. Napoleon on his side required Persia to declare war against Great Britain, to expel all Britons from her territory, and to come to an understanding with the Afghans with a view to a joint Franco-Perso-Afghan invasion of India. Gardane, whose family was well known in the Levant, had a long and dangerous journey overland, but was cordially received at Teheran in December 1807. The conclusion of the Franco-Russian treaty at Tilsit in July 1807 rendered the mission abortive. Persia longed only for help against Russia and had no desire, when all hope of that was past, to attack India. The shah, however, promised to expel Britons and to grant to France a commercial treaty. For a time French influence completely replaced that of England at Teheran, and the mission of Sir John Malcolm to that court was not allowed to proceed. Finally, however, Gardane saw that nothing much was to be hoped for in the changed situation of European affairs, and abruptly left the country (April 1809). This conduct was not wholly approved by Napoleon, but he named him count and in 1810 attached him to Masséna’s army in Portugal. There, during the disastrous retreat from Santarem to Almeida, he suffered a check which brought him into disfavour. The rest of his career calls for no notice. He died in 1818. The report which he sent to Champagny (dated April 23rd, 1809) on the state of Persia and the prospects of a successful invasion of India is of great interest. He admitted the difficulties of this enterprise, but thought that a force of picked French troops, aided by Persians and Afghans, might under favourable conditions penetrate into India by way of Kandahar, or through Sind, especially if the British were distracted by maritime attacks from Mauritius.
See Count Alfred de Gardane, Mission du général Gardane en Perse (Paris, 1865); and P.A.L. de Driault, La Politique orientale de Napoléon: Sébastiani et Gardane (Paris, 1904).
(J. Hl. R.)