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Loire (HAUTE far as Orl ans where it)

HAUTE far as Orléans, where it bends round to the S. W. and continues on to Tours; thence following , in general, a W. course to its embouchure in the Bay of Biscay. mouth; entire length, 620 miles. It be- It is tidal to Nantes, 35 miles from its comes navigable a little above Roanne, 550 miles from the sea. notorious for the destructive inundations it causes, though the lower part of its The Loire is levès, 20 feet high. The principal tribu- course is protected by large dykes or taries are the Nièvre and the Maine (which is (which is formed by the Sarthe, its and the Mayenne) on and Vienne, on the left. The Loire is the right; and the Allier, Cher, Indre, its course, and is connected with the canalized along considerable stretches of Brest by canals. Its valley is extremely Seine, the Saône, and the harbor of fertile. Area of drainage basin, 44,450 square miles.

France, formerly part of the province of