THE COASTS OF SAINTONGE. 299 



time should be lost in collecting our fossils. To the 

 north, the island of Re and the Point Chef-de-Baie 

 appeared almost to meet ; whilst to the west, facing 

 us, the strait of Antioche opened a broad vista to- 

 wards the Atlantic which here is known by the name 

 of the mer sauvage ; to the south, the Point of Fouras 

 and the Isle of Olcron almost entirely blocked up the 

 strait of Maumusson. In the midst of this basin rose, 

 like some watchful sentinel, the Isle of Aix, whose 

 bastions and cliffs were gleaming brightly in the sun- 

 light. Between this island and the spot on which 

 we were standing there spread to a distance of 

 nearly three miles, and almost at the water's level, 

 the plateau of Chatelaillon, which was at this moment 

 enlivened by the presence of several hundred fisher- 

 men, who had been busy in catching Mussels, and who, 

 loaded with their booty, were hastening with rapid 

 strides before the rising tide. The waters were 

 rising quickly up this slightly inclined slope, and we 

 Avere soon able to judge of their progress by the agi- 

 tation of the mud. Here land and water are so much 

 alike in respect to colour and consistence that the 

 eye can scarcely distinguish them by any other 

 indications excepting those afforded by motion. 

 In proportion as the tide rose we saw the plain 

 covered with undulations and long parallel furrows, 

 the whole looking like some vast field of clay that is 

 being broken up by an invisible plough. A tempest 

 on this beach must present a very singular appear- 

 ance, for it must seem as if the cliffs were being 

 besieged by moving lines of rocks, and not merely by 

 waves. 



