[Footnote 85: _Tweel´ree._] [Footnote 86: _Ghee-nyol._] [Footnote 87: _Gil´o-tēn_, the beheading instrument, so called from its inventor, Joseph Ignace _Guillotin_ (1738-1814).] [Footnote 88: _Lē´ong_, city of France, at the confluence of the Saône and the Rhone; the great centre of French silk manufacture.] [Footnote 89: Fortified town of France, near the Belgian frontier, 66 miles south-east of Calais. It is noted for the manufacture of linen, cotton, velvet, and woollen goods.] [Footnote 90: _Roo-ong´_, chief cotton port of France, on the Seine, 87 miles by rail north-west of Paris.] [Footnote 91: _Bor-do´_, port of France, on the Gironde, 60 miles from the sea; the great wine-exporting port.] [Footnote 92: River of Germany, tributary of the Rhine, which it enters at Mainz.] [Footnote 93: (1808-73). Son of Louis Napoleon, brother of Napoleon I. He was elected President of the French Republic in 1848, and on December 2, 1852, after he had overthrown the Government by armed force, was proclaimed emperor as Napoleon III.] [Footnote 94: _Krī´me-a_, peninsula of Southern Russia, in which the British, French, and Turks fought the Russians (1854-6).] [Footnote 95: Watering-place of Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, 11 miles by rail east of Coblenz (at the confluence of the Rhine and its tributary the Moselle).] [Footnote 96: Called the mitrailleuse (_me-trah-yuse_).] [Footnote 97: Fortified town of Lorraine, on the Moselle.] [Footnote 98: Body of troops kept in hand to be called up when needed.] [Footnote 99: That branch of the army which handles the big guns.] [Footnote 100: Horse soldiers armed with sabres, carbines, and sometimes lances.] CHAPTER IX. "THE COCKPIT OF EUROPE." Before I tell you the story of the great struggle between France and Germany in 1870-71, I must ask you to look for a little time at Belgium. You know that it lies between Holland and France, and is one of the smallest countries in the world. The five northern counties of England cover a greater area than the whole of Belgium. The coast is low and sandy, and is fringed with dunes. There are only two important harbours on the coast--Nieuport, which is the same word as our English "Newport," and Ostend, which simply means "East-end." The eastern part of the country contains a few low ranges of forest-clad hills, but elsewhere the surface resembles that of Holland.