Seine

Seine, one of the four chief rivers of France, rises on the slope of the plateau of Langres, north-west of Dijon, and flows north-westward, with many windings, past Troyes, Fontainebleau, Melun, Paris, St Denis, St Germain, Mantes, Elbeuf, and Rouen, through a total course of 482 miles, and pours its waters into a wide estuary of the English Channel, on which stand the ports of Harfleur, Havre, and Honfleur. It is navigable for boats from Maricilly, 350 miles from its mouth, and since 1890 the canalisation of the Seine has been one of two projects (the other a ship-canal) for connecting Paris with the Atlantic (see PARIS, p. 767). The Seine drains an area of 30,000 sq. m.; receives the Aube, Marne, and Oise from the right, and the Yonne, Loing, Essonne, and Eure from the left; and is connected by canals with the Somme, Scheldt, Meuse, Rhine, Sâone, and Loire. Works for keeping open a navigable channel through the estuary, which is liable to silt up, were commenced as far back as 1848, and were continued for more than twenty years. In consequence of these engineering works 28,000 acres of land have been reclaimed, and vessels of 2000 tons, drawing 20 feet of water, can get up to Rouen. Moreover a canal has been constructed to give Havre connection with the Seine at Tancarville, so that vessels using this channel can avoid the uncertainties of the deeper estuary. See L. F. Vernon-Harcourt, 'The River Seine,' in Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers (1886), and the beautiful engravings in The Seine and Loire (Turner's Rivers of France) published in 1886.