146 KAMBLES OF A NATUEALIST. 



d? Amour, a deep recess hollowed out in a semicircle, 

 and surrounded by inaccessible cliffs. The only 

 access to it is by a narrow tongue of sand which 

 is left dry by the retiring tide at the base of the 

 northern cliffs. Formerly the shore was everywhere 

 very low, and at high tides the waves beat the 

 precipitous rocks of the bay in every direction, and 

 sometimes penetrated into the grotto which had been 

 excavated in the cliff. According to tradition it 

 once served as the rendez-vous of two lovers. For a 

 long time the ocean appears to have respected and 

 protected their try sting place ; but one day, \\ hen the 

 waves were driven violently against the rocks by a 

 strong north-west wind, the waters rose above their 

 usual level, and the next day a fisherman, on pene- 

 trating into this rocky recess, found the bodies of the 

 lovers clasped in each other's arms. 



A similar catastrophe need no longer be appre- 

 hended. For many years past the repeated shock of 

 the waves has crumbled away a portion of the cliffs, 

 and the sand which has been washed in from the 

 open sea has covered these debris, and obstructed the 

 entrance to the grotto. At the present day, if the 

 traveller were surprised by the tide and imprisoned 

 Avithin the Chambre d' Amour, the worst that could 

 befall him would be imprisonment for a few hours in 

 the open air, or perhaps, if the sea were running very 

 high, he might be compelled to take refuge on the 

 summit of the little hillock which covers the tomb 

 of the two lovers. 



The naturalist feels perhaps even a greater interest 

 than the poet in the Chambre d'Amour, for the un- 



