THE BAY OF BISCAY. 153 



recently fractured rocks, meet the eye. Science 

 alone can profit by a state of things which threatens 

 the future stability of these districts. The rent and 

 fractured sides of the cliffs bring to view innumerable 

 fossils, the remains of those animal and vegetable 

 races which once peopled these ancient seas, and 

 every storm prepares a new harvest for the naturalist. 

 In order to avail myself of this opportunity, I lost 

 no time in providing myself with a geologist's 

 hammer and a quarryman's chisel, and thus equipped, 

 I was enabled, under the direction of the expe- 

 rienced guide * who accompanied me on my explora- 

 tions, to make a large collection of fossils in the 

 course of a very few days. 



Biarritz, therefore, presents sufficient attractions 

 for the tourist and the geologist, but it is not 

 equally favourable to the pursuits of the zoologist. 

 The rocks of la Pointe, which are isolated between 

 two long tracts of sandy beach incessantly worn by 

 the waves, afford a very precarious and limited 

 retreat to marine animals. Indeed, some small 

 Molluscs, now and then an Annelid, and a few of 

 the commonest Zoophytes are the sole representa- 

 tives of their fauna. I saw, therefore, that it would 

 be mere loss of time to remain longer at this station, 

 and after consulting M. Beautemps-Beaupre's Atlas, 

 I determined to fix my quarters at the little village 

 of Guettary, which is situated about six miles from 

 the town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. 



Guettary, which is a true type of a Basque vil- 



* M. Darrac of Bayonne, who is well known to all naturalists 

 who have visited this part of France. 



