THE BAY OF BISCAY. 165 



to shipping, and, finally, for nothing checked this 

 genius who delighted in colossal schemes, the Adour 

 was to have been diverted from its present bed, and 

 its waters turned into the new roadstead, which 

 would thus have been kept free from sand. It re- 

 mains for engineers to determine whether so desirable 

 a project, which would have afforded to our coasts a 

 harbour of refuge, which they so greatly need, is 

 practicable and deserves to be put into execution. 



One cannot contemplate the devastation which has 

 been caused by the sea along the whole line of this 

 coast, and more especially at Saint-Jean-de-Luz, 

 without inquiring to what special cause we must at- 

 tribute this destructive action of the ocean. A very 

 simple experiment will suffice to solve this problem. 

 If we take an inverted funnel and plunge it rapidly 

 into a vessel filled with water, taking care not to 

 submerge the mouth, we shall perceive at every 

 movement the liquid will rise within the funnel very 

 much above the external level, darting upwards in a 

 jet thro ugh the orifice. If the funnel remain motion- 

 less, and we let the vessel of water be rapidly moved 

 from below upwards, a precisely similar result will be 

 brought about. 



The Bay of Biscay, which is formed by the union 

 of the coasts of France and Spain, which intersect 

 one another almost at right angles, forms a sort of 

 gigantic funnel whose base opens towards the north- 

 west. Besides this, the coast dips into the sea on 

 almost every part of the bay below slopes which 

 become more and more steep in proportion as we 

 advance towards the bottom of the bay, whilst the 



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