Garonne

Garonne (Lat. Garumna), a river of south-western France, rising in the Maladetta group of the Pyrenees, and flowing in a wide curve to the Atlantic Ocean. It is formed by two torrents, one of which has a subterranean course of 2½ m., disappearing in the sink known as the Trou du Taureau (“bull’s hole”) and reappearing at the Goueil de Jouéou. After a course of 30 m. in Spanish territory, during which it flows through the fine gorge called the Vallée d’Aran, the Garonne enters France in the department of Haute Garonne through the narrow defile of the Pont du Roi, and at once becomes navigable for rafts. At Montréjeau it receives on the left the Neste, and encountering at this point the vast plateau of Lannemezan is forced to turn abruptly east, flowing in a wide curve to Toulouse. At Saint Martory it gives off the irrigation canal of that name. At this point the Garonne enters a fertile plain, and supplies the motive power to several mills. It is joined on the right by various streams fed by the snows of the Pyrenees. Such are the Salat, at whose confluence river navigation proper begins, and the Arize and the Ariège (both names signifying “river”). From Toulouse the Garonne flows to the north-west, now skirting the northern border of the plateau of Lannemezan which here drains into it, the principal streams being the Save, the Gers and the Baïse. On its right hand the Garonne is swelled by its two chief tributaries, the Tarn, near Moissac, and the Lot, below Agen; farther down it is joined by the Drot (or Dropt), and on the left by the Ciron. Between Toulouse and Castets, 33½ m. above Bordeaux, and the highest point to which ordinary spring-tides ascend, the river is accompanied at a distance of from a ½ to 3 m. by the so-called “lateral canal” of the Garonne, constructed in 1838-1856. This canal is about 120 m. long, or 133 m. including its branches, one of which runs off at right angles to Montauban on the Tarn. From Toulouse to Agen the main canal follows the right bank of the Garonne, crossing the Tarn on an aqueduct at Moissac, while another magnificent aqueduct of twenty-three arches carries it at Agen from the right to the left bank of the river. It has a fall of 420 ft. and over fifty locks, and is navigable for vessels having the maximum dimensions of 98½ ft. length, 19 ft. breadth and 6½ ft. draught. The carrying trade upon it is chiefly in agricultural produce and provisions, building materials, wood and industrial products. At Toulouse the canal connects with the Canal du Midi, which runs to the Mediterranean. After passing Castets the Garonne begins to widen out considerably, and from being 160 yds. broad at Agen increases to about 650 yds. at Bordeaux, its great commercial port. From here it flows with ever increasing width between two flat shores to the Bec d’Ambès (15½ m.), where, after a course of 357 m., it unites with the Dordogne to form the vast estuary known as the Gironde. The triangular peninsula lying between these two great tidal rivers is called Entre-deux-mers (“between two seas”) and is famous for its wines. The drainage area of the Garonne is nearly 33,000 sq. m. Floods are of common occurrence, and descend very suddenly. The most disastrous occurred in 1875, 1856 and in 1770, when the flood level at Castets attained the record height of 42½ ft. above low-water mark.

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