THE COASTS OF SAINTONGE. 309 



sensibly into the sea that all limits seem to disappear, 

 and the eye passes almost imperceptibly from the land 

 to the ocean. Between the two there intervenes, 

 however, a belt of mud, which, incessantly driven 

 inland, becomes accumulated, and extending to the 

 highest limit of the tides, dries, and, becoming con- 

 solidated, is soon covered with littoral plants, after 

 which it can no longer be carried away by the force 

 of the waves. It thus gradually advances day by 

 day, and threatens rapidly to fill up all that yet re- 

 mains of the ancient gulf. A seafaring man who 

 together with the beadle did the honours of the 

 church to us, gave us a convincing proof of the ra- 

 pidity of this invasion of the coast. At our feet 

 lay a jetty which had been constructed in this man's 

 youth. It then marked the limits of the shore, and 

 its sides were beaten by the waves at every high 

 tide. In the present day, it stands in the midst of 

 fields, and is used as a cross-road, while between it 

 and the sea there extends a zone of two kilometres 

 in width and eight kilometres in length. The bay 

 has thus lost all this space at this one point within 

 half a lifetime. 



Situated on the borders of a kind of mud lake, 

 Esnandes has become the centre of a curious branch 

 of industry, which has spread to the villages of 

 Charron and Marsilly, but which is not to be met 

 with at any other part of the coast. We refer to 

 the breeding of mussels, which is as great a source 

 of general competency to the inhabitants of the 

 bay of Aiguillon as are the oyster-beds to the fishing 

 population of all our coasts, more especially at Ma- 

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