Meuse

Meuse (Dutch Maas), an affluent of the Rhine, rises in the French department of Haute-Marne, flows in a northerly direction in a deep, narrow, winding valley, past Verdun and Sédan, entering Belgium just below Givet, on to Namur, whence it makes a huge curve to the east, then flows north past Liège and Maestricht, and, bending abruptly to the west, finally joins the Waal, one of the mouths of the Rhine, from the left opposite Gorkum. The united streams take the name of the Maas, which soon divides again. The southern branch passes through the Biesbosch and Hollandsche Diep, and, again dividing, reaches the sea in two wide estuaries, Haringvliet and De Krammer. The northern branch, called the Merwede as far as Dordrecht and to the west of that town the Old Maas, likewise reaches the sea in two channels, the Old and the New Maas. On this last stands Rotterdam. The entire river is 500 miles in length; it is navigable from Verdun. Area of basin, 18,530 sq. m. Its principal affluents are the Sambre on the left and the Ourthe on the right.