IN THE DUNES 3 



swept on with greater rapidity, as a larger area 

 is now devoid of binding vegetation and is open 

 to all the winds of heaven. Little remains of the 

 birch grove, and the camp therein will shortly be 

 overwhelmed. The sand has doubtless advanced 

 at times at a faster rate than five feet a month in 

 winter, a rate formerly determined by measure- 

 ment and markings of individual trees. 



Between these two, a dune has overwhelmed a 

 fisherman's shanty which formerly bore a weather- 

 beaten sign, — "The Vendome." Higher and 

 higher crept the sand until nothing was left ex- 

 posed but the ridgepole, and this finally disap- 

 peared. By a further shift and advance of the 

 sand, a bit of the ruins is now revealed on this 

 Vendome dune. 



The reverse waves of sand, with their steeper 

 undercut surfaces to windward, held in place by 

 the binding roots and buried stalks of the beach 

 grass, have continued to cut backwards. These I 

 formerly called amphitheatre dunes, as they take 

 the shape of large or small amphitheatres. A 

 similar name, that of cirque dunes, might well be 

 adopted, for, like the glacial cirques cut out of 



