80 OUTLINES OF FORESTRY. 



winds of fire, menacing and dreadful, spread on every side ; a 

 woody region, formerly so fertile, is entirely devoured by fire, 

 and only an immense mountain of charcoal remains of all this 

 mass of wealth. 



" We ask, against what formidable enemy such an army of 

 men has been launched ? Who are they going to attack with 

 their rods which they brandish on all sides ? What redoubta- 

 ble aggressors are the others attempting to stay the march of, 

 with the long trenches they are scooping out? Why these 

 frightful fires in the middle of the night ? Why this general 

 conflagration ?" 



