and Spouting Fountains. 293 



which disappeared under the surface of the earth, the Alpheus in 

 the Peloponesus, the Tigris in Mesopotamia, the Timavtis in 

 the territory of Aquilia, &c. He also ranks the Nile in the same 

 class, for, according to him, it disappears for the space of three 

 days' journey before its entrance into the Cesarian Mauritania, 

 and also to the extent of twenty days' journey upon the frontiers 

 of Ethiopia. Come we now, however, to examples that are 

 nearer to ourselves, better determined, and more known. 



The Guadiana loses itself in a flat country in the midst of 

 an immense meadow. Here we have the explanation of the fact, 

 that, when we are speaking with admiration of some superb 

 bridge in France or England, the Spaniards remark that they 

 have one in Estremadura, upon which a hundred thousand head 

 of cattle can feed at the same monienL 



The Meuse disappears at Bazoilles. It would appear that it is 

 only in later times that this has been the case, for, according to M. 

 Hericart ^e Thury, although the original bed is now cultivated, 

 it may be still distinctly traced above the subterranean course. 



The Drume in Normandy completely loses itself in the midst 

 of a meadow, in a pit of about thirty feet diameter, known to 

 the inhabitants under the name of the Fosse de Soucy. But this 

 engulfing takes place only by degrees ; for there are other ope- 

 nings in the same locality, which, though they are less remark- 

 able, yet, to use the local expression, drink up the greatest pro- 

 portion of its water. 



In the same district of France, the Rille, the Iton, the Aure, 

 and other rivers which might be named, are lost by degrees. 

 There are, from one point to another in the beds of these rivers, 

 great gaps, which are called betoirs, and each of which absorbs a 

 portion of the running stream. On its arrival at the betoir 

 which entirely drinks it up, the stream is usually reduced to the 

 size of a trifling rivulet. 



It would be easy to quote examples such as these, in which 

 rivers entirely disappear from the surface. But how much 

 larger a descent of water would require to be taken into account, 

 if well executed investigations had made known to us all the in- 

 stances in which there was only a partial disappearance .'' We 

 shall shortly have an opportunity of remarking that the Loire is 

 one nf those rivers in which this occurrence may be observed 



a2 



