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196 THE OCEAN.
near Cape St. Roch, nearly one hundred and fifty feet high; it rests on
one side against a wooded hillock.
To the eyes of a traveler accustomed to the ascent of the Alps and the
Pyrenees, these are very humble summits; yet these heights of sand assume the aspect of actual mountains, and their chains, arranged* parallel
to the shore, like ranges of enormous waves, seem to constitute an entire
orographical system. Their bold taluses, their solid ridges, cut as with a
chisel, the regular form of their tops, the general harmony of their contours, unceasingly varied at the will of the wind, give them an astonishing appearance of grandeur. The very even base-line which the seashore presents likewise aids to the illusion by contrast, and contributes
to the grand aspect of these white hills. The old name, at once Celtic
and Latin, of the dunes (dun), which was applied to mountains and steep
hills, and which we still find in the names of several towns—Verdun,
Loudun, Issoudun, Saverdun, proves that our ancestors had been singularly struck with the bold form of the sandy hillocks of the coast.
While .gaining incessantly on the plains of the interior, the dune buries,
without destroying, all solid objects, stones, rocks, trunks of trees, or human dwellings. Sometimes even it entirely covers pools of water, and
causes them to disappear for some time under its sloping talus.. When
the sand brought by the wind falls regularly on a sheet of water, stagnant or covered with scum, it often forms a fine layer, completely veiling
the water which bears it, from view. This bed can become solid enough
to remain in equilibrium even when the level of the sea falls below it, and
soon the particles of sand, dried by the solar rays, no longer betray the
existence of the hidden pitfall. The herdsman or animals which set foot
on the surface of the blouse are suddenly ingulfed more or less deeply,
and the waters of the pool rise around them. Most frequently they escape with the fright. Little by little the crumbling sand is heaped up;
they allow the bottom to be consolidated, then quietly raising one leg,
they wait till a sort of step is formed, and thus mount from stair to stair.
If little pools are sometimes apparently swallowed, the more considerable masses of water, situated at the base of the dunes, are continually
driven back into the interior. The rivers, arrested in their course and
changed into marshes, are also forced to retreat, and mix their waters
with those of the pools. This formation of lakes and marshes, parallel to
that of the dunes, is one of the most remarkable features of the coast-lme
of the French Landes. A row of ponds, differing in form and size, but all
situated at a nearly equal distance from the sea, is prolonged over a space
of one hundred and twenty-five miles. One large bay, the basin of Arca-
chon, has been able to maintain a wide communication with the ocean,
owing perhaps to the river which it receives from the interior. But all
the other sheets of water, to the north the etangs of Hourtin and Lacanau,
and to the south those of Cazau, Parentis, Aureilhan, St. Julien, Leon,
and Soustons, only communicate with the sea by tortuous and rapid
streams, and are now at a level considerably higher than that of the sea.
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000219 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 196 THE OCEAN. near Cape St. Roch, nearly one hundred and fifty feet high; it rests on one side against a wooded hillock. To the eyes of a traveler accustomed to the ascent of the Alps and the Pyrenees, these are very humble summits; yet these heights of sand assume the aspect of actual mountains, and their chains, arranged* parallel to the shore, like ranges of enormous waves, seem to constitute an entire orographical system. Their bold taluses, their solid ridges, cut as with a chisel, the regular form of their tops, the general harmony of their contours, unceasingly varied at the will of the wind, give them an astonishing appearance of grandeur. The very even base-line which the seashore presents likewise aids to the illusion by contrast, and contributes to the grand aspect of these white hills. The old name, at once Celtic and Latin, of the dunes (dun), which was applied to mountains and steep hills, and which we still find in the names of several towns—Verdun, Loudun, Issoudun, Saverdun, proves that our ancestors had been singularly struck with the bold form of the sandy hillocks of the coast. While .gaining incessantly on the plains of the interior, the dune buries, without destroying, all solid objects, stones, rocks, trunks of trees, or human dwellings. Sometimes even it entirely covers pools of water, and causes them to disappear for some time under its sloping talus.. When the sand brought by the wind falls regularly on a sheet of water, stagnant or covered with scum, it often forms a fine layer, completely veiling the water which bears it, from view. This bed can become solid enough to remain in equilibrium even when the level of the sea falls below it, and soon the particles of sand, dried by the solar rays, no longer betray the existence of the hidden pitfall. The herdsman or animals which set foot on the surface of the blouse are suddenly ingulfed more or less deeply, and the waters of the pool rise around them. Most frequently they escape with the fright. Little by little the crumbling sand is heaped up; they allow the bottom to be consolidated, then quietly raising one leg, they wait till a sort of step is formed, and thus mount from stair to stair. If little pools are sometimes apparently swallowed, the more considerable masses of water, situated at the base of the dunes, are continually driven back into the interior. The rivers, arrested in their course and changed into marshes, are also forced to retreat, and mix their waters with those of the pools. This formation of lakes and marshes, parallel to that of the dunes, is one of the most remarkable features of the coast-lme of the French Landes. A row of ponds, differing in form and size, but all situated at a nearly equal distance from the sea, is prolonged over a space of one hundred and twenty-five miles. One large bay, the basin of Arca- chon, has been able to maintain a wide communication with the ocean, owing perhaps to the river which it receives from the interior. But all the other sheets of water, to the north the etangs of Hourtin and Lacanau, and to the south those of Cazau, Parentis, Aureilhan, St. Julien, Leon, and Soustons, only communicate with the sea by tortuous and rapid streams, and are now at a level considerably higher than that of the sea. |
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