THE BAY OF BISCAY. 141 



Marines/' those lovely walks which are singularly 

 enough neglected by the Bayonnese for the ramparts 

 of the town, I could hear that distant thundering 

 crash which announces the vicinity of a stormy sea. 

 The half clouded sun was gilding with its rays the 

 whole town of Bayonne and its framework of hills, 

 when I made my way along the narrow jetty of the 

 left bank, which, although it seems a very feeble 

 barrier against the power of the ocean, has hitherto 

 proved sufficient to protect these sandy shores from 

 being worn away. When I approached the village 

 called Boucaut, the noise of the breakers was re- 

 doubled, and at the Quarantine house it became 

 truly formidable. At length I reached the Signal 

 tower, from whose platform I commanded a full 

 view of the mouth of the river and its adjoining 

 banks. 



On either side the smooth and low beach sloped 

 gradually upwards to the long line of sandy dunes, 

 where many arid points rose above the plantations of 

 pines, which were intended to fix the drifting soil. 

 At my feet lay the low dykes which were planned 

 by MM. de Prony and Sganzin, with a view of 

 gradually contracting the bed of the river, and of 

 acting as a means of flushing the sand and gravel. 

 Before me lay the ocean, whose smooth surface was 

 unruffled by the slight east wind that was then 

 moving over its waters, and yet a broad semicircle 

 of waves and foam separated the sea and the river. 

 This was the bar of the Adour, and here was raging 

 that storm which I had heard for more than an 

 hour. 



