304 DEVASTATIONS AND EESTOBATIONS. 



sistence and hardness -which gives to them the appearance of a cement. 

 But when there comes a storm of rain, or continuous rain, which softens 

 the earth, then follows a phenomenon of which it is difficult to form a 

 correct idea unless it have been witnessed. At a definite moment the trans- 

 ported earth becomes semi-fluid, suddenly puts itself in motion, and 

 changed into a thick, blackish mud, descends in a compact mass towards 

 the bottom of the valley, carrying off in its course the blocks which it held 

 suspended. These, striking against each other, roll on with a dull, con- 

 tinuous sound, somewhat like that of thunder — a sound familiar to the 

 inhabitants of Bareges, who, hearing it from afar, hasten to see pass what 

 they call the Barraiique. In an instant the imperial road — flooded, covered 

 with mud and debris, and stopped up with large blocks of granite — becomes 

 impassable for carriages and for beasts of burden, and sometimes for foot 

 passengers. And at the same time the adjacent meadows are covered with 

 sand and stone from the one end to the other. 



"For some years past — thanks to the works executed by the Forest Admini- 

 stration in the bed of the ravine — the dejections of the Rieulet have become 

 reduced to a very trifling amount ; and all devastation, even the most trifling, 

 would have ceased entirely if there did not exist, between the road and the 

 limit of the forest soil, some hectares of land which it was considered should 

 be left at the free disposal of the municipal authorities. It is from this 

 come, under the impulse of waters, the few blocks which still land on the 

 imperial road. 



" On the Administration des Fonts et Chaussees devolves the charge of 

 clearing the way. A few hours of a few workmen will from this time for- 

 ward suffice for this work. The average annual expense, which was 3500 

 francs, has been reduced to 700 francs, a sum destined to be stiU further 

 decreased. 



" It is by means of dry-stone barrages that the Rieulet has been bridled. 

 The first of those erected at the head of the ravine were not of strength 

 sufficient to withstand for a lengthened time the action of the waters ; un- 

 dermined at the base and at the sides, this ended in their fall, and they 

 have not been re-erected, because it would have been necessary every year 

 to renew the underworks, and because, moreover, there have subsequently 

 been erected others sufficient to maintain their position against all that 

 may occur. 



" In 1861, 1862, and 1863, a beginning was made to open at the summit 

 of the Rieulet large and deep cuttings, to stop up the entrance of the ravine, 

 and turn away the waters of the rainfall. 



" At the same time, they consolidated the ground by means of turfed 

 terraces, and wooden stakes and hurdles ; they lowered the sides of the 

 ravine in the more abrubt slopes ; they tried, moreover, to plant there cut- 

 tings of willow and of alder, but all imaginable care has failed to cause 

 these cutting to sprout in a soil which becomes desiccated and hardened to 

 a great depth. 



"It was in 1861 that the erection of barrages was commenced. Under- 

 taken and continued without interruption from that time onward, there are 

 now of these fifteen, exclusive of those the abandonment of which has been 

 determined. The total cubic contents of them is about 4300 metres 



" As all of these are similar, and difi'er only in dimensions, it will suffice 

 to describe briefly the strongest of them, that known as barrage No. 4. 



" Begun in 1867, it was finished in 1869. 



