8 APPEARANCE PRESENTED BY PLANTATIONS. 



do well not to stray from it, as it is quite possible to realise in these 

 pignadas the unpleasant feeling of losing your way, particularly when 

 -the sun has set. 



"Few places are more. impressive than dark pine forests, now scream- 

 ing when the wind sweeps through to the trees, and now filling the 

 solitude with murmering voices, when stirred by gentle breezes, and 

 yet not a solitude ; for as you pass through them in the noontide the 

 air trembles with ceaseless hum. Pines are always a favourite home 

 for insects ; and here, in the warm south, they exist in countless 

 multitudes, making even silence vocal ; for, flashing through the air, 

 or sluggishly basking in the summer sun, they are endowed with the 

 power of making the forest resonant with strange sounds. By far the 

 most remarkable of these noisy animals is the Cicada, which attains 

 a great size in the pine forests in Southern France, and emits a loud 

 sound, according to my observation, always increasing in intensity as 

 the temperature rises." 



Agriculture, as from the first was intended, has followed in the 

 wake of sylviculture. 



" After innumerable futile attempts to reclaim and fertilise portions 

 of this desert, two joint stock companies (Gompagnie des Landes, and 

 Gompagnie d'Arcachon), have succeeded in reclaiming a considerable 

 portion of the Plaine de Gazaux. 



"Sheltered from the prevalent west winds, by the great maritime 

 pine forest, the Plaine de Gazaux, situated to the east or leeward, 

 as may be said, of that forest, is not so liable to the destructive effects 

 of the great sand storms as other parts of the Landes. Rice, tobacco, 

 and the topinamhour or Jerusalem artechoke, for which the soil is 

 admirably adapted, are the chief crops. The improvements are in a 

 great measure due to a M. Pierre." 



From these pen and ink sketches some idea may be formed of the 

 appearances presented by the pine plantations on the Landes of the 

 Gironde. The forest-like character of these will bear comparison 

 with that of the plantations seen from the tower of the cathedral of 

 Antwerp. And a knowledge of the general appearance presented by 

 the district may lead to the conclusion that the transformation 

 cannot have been less complete. 



