THE MUSEUM. 



!5i 



do population is reduced to a desert." 



"Swept by the cold winds of winter 

 and parched by the heat of summer, 

 only a Caussenard, " says Reclus, "can 

 love the causses, but every citizen of 

 the world can admire the gorges of 

 mighty depth that cleave it, and the 

 precipices that form the walls of this 

 gigantic acropolis. In decending by 

 goat paths these bordering precipices, 

 one is suddenly transported from parch- 

 ed wastes to pleasant pastures, from 

 vast horizons, vague in outline and 

 sad in tone, to smiling nooks of blend- 

 ed Heaven and earth . . . The startling 

 contrasts between some of the canons 

 and their causses from one of the most 

 phenomenal beauties of beautiful 

 France," 



But pleasant pastures are generally 

 very small, and the smiling nooks are 

 often perched on steep slopes or on a 

 narrow ledge above the rushing river. 

 One or two of these gorges are indeed 

 wide enough to admit of river, and 

 rails but most of them are in places so 

 narrow that the river washes precipit- 

 ous on each side. 



It is these deep ravines or canons, 

 with their vertical walls, rising some- 

 times 111 a single sheer, continuous 

 cliff, sometimes in a series of steps, 

 with mural scorps and faces, that a.re 

 the distinctive feature of the causses 

 country. Tlie tableland is divided by 

 them into a number of msolated mass- 

 es, and it is impossible to pass from 

 one causse to another without decend- 

 ing into the depths of the canon, and 

 climbing again up the opposite cliff; 

 iliere is no way roiiud, for the river 

 enters the canon between limestone 

 walls, and completely traverses the 

 limestone region. 



The average depth of these chasms 



is from 1,300 to 1,500 feet, and their 

 width at the bottom varies from 160 

 to 1,500 feet. Their rocky walls are 

 carved by rain and frost into an infin- 

 ite variety of buttresses and turrets, 

 alcoves and recesses, which recall the 

 fantastic conceptions of Gustave Dore. 

 Still, there is nothing monotonous or 

 sombre about the scenery of the can- 

 ons, for though in places their precipi- 

 tous sides close in till there is only 

 just room for the river to pass, yet 

 soon they widen out again and give 

 space for fields and vineyards and 

 orchards. 



The finest canons is that of the 

 Tarn. "The whole of its course," 

 writes Mr. Baring-Gould, "from Ispag- 

 nac to Roziers, a distance of thirty 

 miles, is one succession of marvels. 

 At every turn comes a surprise. The 

 forms of the rocks are not alone sing- 

 ular and beautiful, the colouring is 

 rich as it is surprising. The dolomi- 

 tic limestone, which rises in nakedness 

 to the height of 600 feet and even 

 i,Soo feet on each side of the water 

 is tinged and splashed with colour. It 

 is fawn or salmon colour, with patch- 

 es of red ochre, here stained black, 

 there it gleams white. Everywhere it 

 is sprinkled with the green of the box 

 of juniper clinging to the interstices. 

 Overhead gleams down the azure sky 

 and below flashes the foaming river" 



Readers who wish for further par- 

 ticulars about this curious country will 

 find excellent descriptions in the read- 

 able book by Mr. Baring- Gould; and 

 s ' far as its physicial features are con- 

 cerned, in E. A. Martel's marvellous- 

 cheap and beautifully illustrated vol- 

 ume on the Cevennes.'"' My present 



* Les "Cevennes," par E. A. ]yiartel. Paris,, 



oth edition, 1894. 



