294 K AMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



CHAP. X. 



THE COASTS OF SAINTONGE. 

 CHATELAILLON ; ESNANDES. 



The evident marks of great changes in the coasts of Saintonge ; 

 encroachment of the sea; destruction of Montmeillan, aud of 

 Chatelaillon ; accumulations due to marine action ; salt marshes. 

 The former gulf of Poitou ; elevation of Saint-Michel-en- 

 1'Herm ; Esnandes. "Walton the Irishman ; his introduction of a 

 new breed of sheep ; his nets ; the aeon and bouchot ; Mussel-beds. 

 Excursions to Esnandes ; shrimp-fishing. The Termites ; ancient 

 fables regarding them ; habits of the Termes bellicosus ; the 

 buildings erected by these insects ; fecundity of the queen ; the 

 ravages occasioned by them. French Termites ; their recent 

 appearance in Europe ; the Rochelle Termites ; the destruction 

 they have effected in the Prefecture of that city. Observations 

 made on Termites in confinement ; means of destroying these 

 insects. 



THE coasts of Saintonge and the neighbouring dis- 

 tricts have not always presented the form and out- 

 lines which they now exhibit. Few coasts perhaps 

 have experienced more marked changes since the 

 great geological revolution which gave them origin. 

 It is true that elsewhere at the mouth of large rivers 

 new lands are often formed, and without going 

 beyond France we find that the Rhone presents us 

 with an example of one of these deltas at La Ca- 

 margue, while, moreover, there are many other points 

 which the sea is incessantly wearing away as it ex- 

 tends its barriers farther and farther inland. French 



