218 THE OCEAN. 



I 



A single imprudence may cause great misfortunes ; and thus, accord- * 

 ing to Staring, one of the highest dunes of Friesland owes its origin 

 to the destruction of a single oak.* 



It is for man now to arrest by his labour those hillocks of sand 

 which he has, so to say, created by his imprudence. Happily this is 

 not an impossible task. The shepherd of the French. Landes, wben 

 he wishes to protect his cabin, erected in the depth of some ravine of 

 the dunes, takes care to cut, in the ledes and surrounding marshes, 

 grass or rushes, which he spreads over the soil in such a manner as 

 to cover it completely, and to leave none exposed to the sea-breezes. 

 This is sufficient ; the sand remains immovable, and the dune is fixed 

 for the future ; so long at least as no horse's foot, or the teeth of a 

 sheep or wild animal, a shower of rain, or any other cause, have 

 penetrated the protecting layer and restored their mobility to the 

 sands. It is then necessary to carpet the ground with a new litter of 

 plants. 



This means of protection, which is moreover only practicable over 

 small extents, is evidently quite provisional ; to obtain a definite result 

 we must have recourse to the direct fixation of the dunes by the 

 seeds of trees or other plants, so as to present an insurmountable barrier 

 to the winds. In modern times the Dutch, those great masters for 

 all works concerning the sea and the coasts, have been the first to re- 

 cognize the absolute necessity of arresting the dunes. Defended and 

 menaced at the same time by those masses of moving sand which never 

 cease to encroach on their territory, even while protecting it against 

 the assaults of the sea, they have understood that the very safety of 

 their country may depend on this rampart of hills, and for a century 

 they have effectually consolidated it by planting reeds, maples, and 

 firs. 



The first attempts at the fixation of the dunes made in Gascony 

 date from the beginning of the eighteenth century. M. de Euhat, 

 who had acquired the ancient Captalate de Buch, sowed some of the 

 hills of La Teste with pine trees ; but though this plantation succeeded 

 perfectly, the work was not continued, and everywhere else the indolent 

 Landese allowed the dunes to advance to the assault of their villages. 

 Later, the brothers Desbiey and the engineer Yillers proposed re- 

 peatedly, at various times, the fixation of the entire district of sands. 

 Their voices were not heard. It is to the celebrated Bremontier that 

 the honour is due of first causing to be adopted and put in practice a 

 complete plan for the culture of all the dunes. Inspired with the writ- 

 * Be Bodem van Nederland, tome i. p. 425. 



