316 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



nandes, the bouchots were only arranged in four rows ; 

 now, however, there are no less than seven rows, and 

 some of them measure more than one thousand yards 

 from the base to the summit. The whole of these 

 bouchots, which were at first limited to the immediate 

 neighbourhood of the three villages of which I have 

 already spoken, extend at the present day uninter- 

 ruptedly from Marsilly far beyond Charron, and 

 form a gigantic stockade of two miles and a half in 

 breadth and six miles in length. 



Unfortunately, however, the enormous extension of 

 these bouchots has given rise to some inconvenience. 

 In former times, if a ship were driving before the 

 wind, it could generally find a safe refuge on this bed 

 of soft mud, where there was very little danger to be 

 apprehended even in case of running aground. As 

 long as the bouchots were constructed of simple poles, 

 a merchant vessel, or even a fishing boat, could easily 

 strike them down ; and at worst, they would only 

 experience some slight damage in crossing the palis- 

 sades ; but in proportion as the bouchots have been 

 extended further out to sea, and have been brought 

 into the deeper portions of the bay, it has been found 

 necessary to increase their solidity, in order to prevent 

 their being torn up or broken by the waves, and the 

 simple poles of Walton have been changed into strong 

 and thick piles. At the present day ships are 

 obliged in a storm to wait outside the bouchots until 

 the full tide enables them to pass above these palis- 

 sades. Were they to neglect this precaution, they 

 would run the risk of being driven upon stakes as 

 thick as the trunk of a tree, which would be as dan- 



