124 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



summit to the base, this part of the edifice is com- 

 posed of large blocks of whitish granite arranged in 

 regular strata, and carefully dovetailed into one 

 another. As far as a third of the height of the 

 building the rows of stones are bound together by 

 granite joggles, which at the same time penetrate 

 into the two superposed stones. The stones have 

 been cut and arranged with such precision that there 

 has hardly been any necessity for using cement, 

 which has only been employed in filling up a few 

 imperceptible voids, and hence the lighthouse, from 

 the base to the summit, seems to form one solid block, 

 which is more homogeneous and probably more 

 compact than the rocks which support it. The 

 platform which crowns this magnificent column at 

 an elevation of more than 140 feet above high-tide 

 water-mark, is surmounted by a stone cupola, at 

 once solid and graceful, supported by pillars which 

 are separated by large panes of glass. It is within 

 this frame of glass that the beacon is lighted, which 

 may be distinctly seen from every direction at a 

 distance of twenty-seven miles. 



At low tide the sea leaves a space of several hun- 

 dred square yards uncovered round the base of the 

 edifice ; at high tide it entirely surrounds it. It is 

 then that the tower of Hehaux rises in its solemn 

 isolation from the midst of the waves, as if it were a 

 standard of defiance upraised by the genius of man 

 against the demon of the tempest. At times one 

 might almost fancy that the heavens and the sea, 

 conscious of the outrage offered to them, were 

 leagued together against the enemy which seems to 



