Rev. R. Ashington Bullen—AHolian Deposits at Eel. 9 
with the ‘ Dolmen-sous-marin’ overgrown with seaweed, near Carnac- 
Plage and others elsewhere, point to a movement of subsidence, in or 
after Neolithic times, and posterior to the Raised eee epoch, similar 
to that of the British Isles.‘ (See Plate LV, Fig. 1.) 
§ 5. The course of the Riviére @Etel from Etel to the sea is 
almost due north to south, and is undoubtedly due to the underlying 
granulite, which crops out at the Lighthouse point with a slight orienta- 
tion to the south-east, and a dip to the east. We were exceptionally 
favoured with a violent gale on October 8, 1909, so that the action of 
the prevailing south-west wind could be well observed. The sea 
broke with unceasing fury on the granulite mass, one large rock of 
which standing close in- shore, the “Pierre d’Etel, well named the 
‘Chaudronnier’, on which a Deacon is built, was in a constant smother 
of water and at times invisible. There is a ladder up the beacon, but 
the chance of any swimmer reaching it would be very small. The 
lighthouse is built on the solid land farther in from the sea. 
On this side of the river (the right), for 12 kilometres, stretch dunes 
of blown-sand, used by the French Government for testing the heaviest 
artillery, occasionally with fatal results to indiscreet explorers.. Last 
year (1908) an ancient building, rather primitive, was unearthed 
about a kilometre south of La Magoire. The Curé.of Plouhinec 
considers that this is an old chapel of Ste. Brigitte, the church of 
a small settlement of poor fishermen, burnt down during some raid. 
It was surrounded by burials, but so far [ have been unable to learn 
any more about its age. The sand-dune which covered it being 
cleared away, much charred wood was found and some interments. 
There are no modern buildings near it; the sand has now entire 
possession of the place (Diagram, Text-fig. 3, p. 10). 
Judging by the size of some of the lichens, these dunes have 
not greatly increased inland for several years, any increase probably 
taking place along the sea-edge of the area. The absence of pebbles 
on this series of dunes is remarkable, and also the fineness of the sand. 
The natural effect of the south-west wind would be to bend the 
mouth of the river to the south-east, but the strong scour of the 
incoming and outgoing tide is such that the contour of the banks is 
not altered nor is there anything at the mouth in the nature of 
a ‘ fleet’, and the barre across the entrance can be sailed over at all 
suitable times of tide. 
§ 6. Passing now to the consideration of the east or left bank of 
the Riviére d’Hitel, near its mouth, along the edge fretted by the 
waves (which is a somewhat coarse quartz sand), we find that above 
the tide-mark landward, for a distance of some 200 yards in breadth, 
the beach material is a quartz gravel of well-worn oval or round 
pebbles, mostly varying from the size of a pea to a small French bean, 
out of which small gravel everything has been riddled, seemingly by 
the action of the prevalent south-west wind. 
There are occasional lines of large white gravel, resembling the 
stones of the Raised Beach ( x ) before described. (Text-fig. 1, p. 7.) 
‘ See Prestwich, Geology, vol. xi, p. 525; Q.J.G.S., 1892, vol. xlviti, p. 304. 
Also ‘* Les Megalithes submergés des Cotes de Vendée”, par Dr. Marcel Baudouin: 
L’ Homme Préhistori tque, 1& Mai, 1905, No. vy, pp. 130-48. 
