These prisons received all sentenced to short terms of imprisonment, the long-term convicts going to the bagnes (the great convict prisons at the arsenals of Rochefort, Brest and Toulon), while in 1851 transportation to penal colonies was adopted.
The colonial army corps, headquarters at Paris, has three divisions, at Paris, Toulon and Brest.
Of the coast defences the principal are Toulon, Antibes, Rochefort, Lorient, Brest, Olron, La Rochelle, BelleIsle, Cherbourg,St-Malo, Havre, Calais, Gravelines and Dunkirk A number of the older fortresses, dating for the most part from Louis XIV.s time, are still in existence, but are no longer of military importance.
The French coast is divided into five naval arrondissements, which have their headquarters at th.e five naval ports, of which Cherbourg, Brest, and Toulon.
The chief naval school is the Ecole navale at Brest, which is devoted to the training of officers; the age of admission is from fifteen to eighteen years, and pupils after completing their course pass a year on a frigate school.
