THE LANDES OF GASCONY. 1 59 



from Pinus Pinea, which gives a slightly aromatic odour when 

 burned. 



The importance of tar as a naval supply caused a development 

 of the manufacture of tar. Colbert obtained the services of 

 several Swedes for the purpose of teaching the people of the 

 Landes how tar should be made. The material used for this 

 product consisted partly of roots of old trees ; these were cut 

 into short faggots. The most resinous parts of the stem, 

 however, formed the chief source of tar. The manufacture 

 was carried out in a structure known as a "four a gaze"; this 

 consisted of a wide conical receptacle lined with clay or brick 

 work and connected with the exterior by means of a narrow 

 channel. The prepared billets of wood were arranged within 

 the receptacle ; they were stacked in three or four tiers so as 

 to give a semi-ovoidal form of stack. They were then covered 

 over with turf so as to give a compact cover. Fire was kindled 

 at the top and controlled so as to extend gradually to the base. 

 Tar was led away through the prepared channel, and when all 

 the tar that could be obtained had passed out to the vessel 

 ready for its reception, the temperature of the contents was 

 allowed to rise and the wood was then carbonised. The tar 

 canal was not allowed to remain open throughout the process 

 of tar extraction, but was opened only three or four times 

 per day, to allow of the withdrawal of the tar accumulated 

 at the base of the oven. In such an oven, if the content of 

 wood amounted to 70 steres (about 2500 cubic feet), a yield of 

 9000 litres (about 2000 gallons) of tar could be realised, and the 

 charcoal residue amounted to about 405 steres (14,300 cubic feet). 

 When the tar was manufactured from the superficial parts of the 

 trunk which were covered with barras the product was called 

 "brai gras." The same term was used to describe a product 

 obtained by mixing "brai sec" and tar. From the year 1382 

 onwards, references to these various products are common. 



One more interesting to British readers may be given. 

 A record of the export of resine and terebenthine to Great 

 Britain by one Pierre Dousseau, in the period 1532-1550, shows 

 the importance to which the industry had attained. The orders 

 issued by the Government of the period in connection with the 

 manufacture of tar are specially instructive. Two of these 

 orders may be briefly summarised. The first appeared in the 

 year 1672, a short time after the Swedes referred to above had 



