INUNDATION OF VALLEY OP GARRONNB. 329 



where — in the course of thi^ year ; but the reference is to the inundation 

 in the valley of the Garonne, which proved destructive to life and property 

 in many a town and village, and that to such an extent in and around 

 Toulouse as to awaken a thrill o: sympathy throughout the civilised world. 

 This inundation was attributed to a late fall of snow on the Pyrenees and 

 on the Cevennes having been followed by a long-continued heavy fall of 

 rain, and a warm westerly wind, which melted both the newly-fallen snow 

 and much which was lying there, and thus added to the rainfall what by 

 itself might have produced a torrential flood. 



Great damage was done not only along the lower-lying lands through 

 which the water flowed off to the sea, but also in the high-lying lands on 

 which the flood originated. 



In the Pyrenees the flood may be traced from Bagnferes de Bigorre down- 

 wards to the sea by the ravages of its waters. This town is in the region of 

 Bareges and the Brfeche de Koland, and the Pic-du-Midi. It has been 

 famous as a watering-place since the days of the Csesars. Twenty-seven 

 public springs bubble up within view of the town, one of which is so copious 

 as to turn a mill-wheel. From all of these the hot water rushes with force, 

 and there are lesser springs which supply baths in many of the houses. 

 As a place which is well known it supplies a good starting-point for our study. 



Much of the water resulting from the fall of rain and the melting of the 

 snow in that region was carried off by the Adour, which empties itself into 

 the sea at Bayonne. At Tarbes a large artillery foundry suffered much 

 from the inundation occasioned by the overflow of this river, and valuable 

 machinery for boring guns is said to have been hopelessly destroyed. There 

 and at other places along the channel of this river houses were undermined or 

 overthrown, and all growing crops were destroyed. Three villages close to the 

 railway from Tarbes to Toulouse — viz., Eoques, Anterive, and Pinsanguel — 

 were reported to be literally annihilated. At Sarginnet all the houses were 

 inundated, several fields were washed away, and the bridge was demolished. 



But more of the water produced by the rainfall and the melting of the 

 snow seems to have flowed away by the Garonne, which rises a little further 

 to the east, and following a much more lengthened course, flowing past 

 Bordeaux, is lost in the Gironde ere it reaches the sea; and still more, 

 perhaps, was carried away by the Arri6ge, an affluent of the Garonne, rising 

 still further to the east ; the Gri6ge (aurifera) as it was anciently called, on 

 account of the gold found in the detritus chiefly between Campiegnac andFoix, 

 the chief town of the department to which the same name has been given. 



At Muret, on the Garonne, situated a little above the confluence of that 

 river and the Arri^ge, the destruction of property was great. The suspension- 

 bridge was destroyed, and many houses wrecked. At Moulis, on the Tarn 

 and Garonne, the church fell. At Golfech only four houses and the church 

 were left standing. At Lamagistfere many houses fell, and the bridge was 

 carried away. 



At Verdun, on the Arridge, fifty houses were destroyed, and eighty lives 

 were lost, besides 500 head of cattle. Numerous are the notices of whole 

 villages having been washed away — or of one, or five, or twelve, or some 

 similar number of houses alone standing, and showing what was the site of 

 the village, while numerous bodies have been found. 



At St Lizier three-fourths of the town were under water. 



At Foix, with its picturesque castle, perched upon a rock, and charac- 

 terised by a lofty donjon tower, the destruction was considerable. 



2q 



