300 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



The mud which covers the plateau of Chatelaillon 

 does not, as we may readily suppose, entirely sup- 

 plant those districts on which formerly rose the 

 towns and fortresses of the Isamberts. Driven back 

 by the currents, these debris have been carried along 

 the whole length of the coast, and have been arrested 

 within every sheltered creek and every calm basin. 

 Thus have been formed the low and marshy lands of 

 Brouage, and of the basin of the Charente, near Roche- 

 fort, and the alluvial deposits lying at the foot of 

 the bay of Fouras, at Che, and all round La Rochelle. 

 These alluvial beds, which are only slightly elevated 

 above the level of high tide, are admirably adapted 

 for the fabrication of salt, and indeed all these bays 

 run inland in the form of salt marshes. The sea- 

 water is carried by sluices and canals far inland, 

 and flows back to the ocean with the ebbing tide, 

 and this branch of commerce is thus extended to 

 the very limits of the newly accumulated deposits of 

 soil. 



The salt marshes of Saintonge are well worth the 

 attention of the traveller. Having been established 

 in a district which is not so warm as those parts of 

 Southern France in which the other salt works are 

 situated, they have here been arranged in such a 

 manner as to compensate for a deficient intensity in 

 the sun's rays. For this purpose the extent of sur- 

 face has been greatly multiplied, whilst the arrange- 

 ment of the tanks in which the water is collected for 

 evaporation is much more complicated than at Gard 

 or Herault. Here each marsh is composed of seven 

 distinct kinds of compartments, which are arranged 



