402 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



mouth having become blocked up, the water cut out the present more direct channel. 

 By this change the old town of Findhorn, which originally stood on the east side of the 

 river, was left upon its western bank ; and the inhabitants, in consequence, removed the 

 materials of their houses across the new channel, and erected the present village on the 

 eastern side. The site of the old town is now covered by the sea. When the tide 

 retires, the river almost entirely disappears, being absorbed by the sand ; and, owing to 

 the bar formed across its entrance, it is unable at spring tides to force its way into the 

 sea, so that it flows back and inundates a considerable extent of land at the head of the 

 bay. Of late, however, the great accumulations of sand have disappeared from Coubine, 

 and the ancient rich soil has in some places been left bare, so that it is not unlikely that 

 the barony will resume its former fertility. Such a result would be rendered much more 

 certain, if, by putting in proper kinds of plants, an attempt were made to fix the 

 Mavieston hills, and thus prevent fresh inroads from that quarter ; but, notwithstanding 

 the destruction which has happened, the lessons of experience have been lost upon the 

 inhabitants, who persist in gathering what little vegetation spontaneously appears. 



The coast of France presents the most remarkable examples of these formations of 

 sandy downs, and of the mischiefs arising from their drifting inland, which are chiefly 

 found along the shore from Britanny to the Pyrenees. In the former province, a village 

 near St. Pol de Leon has been entirely covered, so as to leave no part visible but the spire 

 of the church. Southward from the Gironde, the coast forms almost a straight line, broken 

 by only one small inlet, and is bordered by the Landes, which are vast undulating tracts 

 of sand accumulations from the Atlantic. These have advanced easterly into the interior 

 of the country, within the period embraced by historic notices, under the influence of the 

 westerly gales. A great number of villages mentioned in the records of the middle age 

 have been overwhelmed, and the town of Mimazan, which has long been struggling with 

 the sands, is apparently destined to be engulfed by them. Intercepting the flow of the 

 inland waters into the sea, the sand-hills give rise to large stagnant pools, which, in 1802, 

 covered five farming establishments at the village of St. Julien. The old Roman road 

 leading from Bayonne to Bourdeaux has, in many parts, long been immersed, which, 

 half a century back, might be seen when the waters were low. In former times, the 

 growth of the sands blocked up the mouth of the Adour at Bayonne, when the river 

 forsook its channel, flowed northward on the inner side of the downs upon the coast, and 

 found an outlet into the sea at Vieux Boucan, forming a haven which gave considerable 

 importance to the place, Bayonne losing the reputation which caused the formation of its 

 name from the Basque words baia, ona, a good bay or port. For nearly two centuries the 

 Adour pursued its new course, until, in the year 1579, the old mouth was cleared of its 

 sand by the citizens of Bayonne, and re-opened, occasioning the downfall of Vieux Boucan, 

 which has now scarcely thirty inhabited houses. At various parts of this coast, the land 

 is now in process of invasion from the material constantly brought by the sea, which 

 advances between the mouths of the Adour and the Gironde at the alarming rate of 

 about sixty feet yearly, and even seventy-two feet in some places. The Gascon peasants 

 endeavour to preserve their cabins from the enemy, when the wind blows towards the sea, 

 by tossing the sand high into the air with shovels, by which the retreat of a small 

 portion is secured ; but obviously these feeble efforts offer no effectual resistance to its 

 progress. It has been calculated, that at the present rate of advance, it will require two 

 thousand years for the downs to reach Bourdeaux. 



In addition to the statements made at the commencement of this chapter respecting 

 alterations of coast-line by depression effected by extraordinary natural convulsions, 

 examples of elevation meet us from the same cause on the south-west shores of Italy and 

 America, which are too important to be overlooked. We shall first go to the western 



