294 CLIMATIC CHANGES IN THE PRAIRIE REGION. 



which to the Moors were as sacred as the oak to the Druids, and they were 

 preserved with an almost religious zeal; but how different is Spain to-day? 



Hardly a hundred years had elapsed after the expulsion of the Moors, 

 before the Spaniards had stripped whole districts of their timber, and there fol- 

 lowed deterioration of soil and aridity of climate to such a degree, that it may be 

 considered one of the most important factors in the decay of her industries. 

 Sir John F. W. Herschel in his work on physical geography, in discoursing upon 

 the absence of trees in relation to the rain-fall, gives it this endorsement: " the 

 destruction of the forests is no doubt one of the reasons of the extreme aridity of 

 the interior of Spain. The hatred of a Spaniard toward a tree is proverbial." 



In 1789, the valleys of the Rhone and the Gironde and the whole region of 

 southern and southeastern France, the slopes of the Alps and the Pyrenees were 

 perfect pictures of fertility. Immense herds of cattle and sheep were reveling 

 in the rich mountain pastures, and the beautiful valleys that nestled between the 

 lofty ranges were as fruitful as a summer garden. The soil was rich in all the 

 elements of productiveness, and the climate as delicious as under the Italian skies. 



At that time the vast forest of Cevennes bordered the Rhone, and the moun- 

 tain slopes were densely covered with a growth of giant timber, all of which have 

 gradually disappeared under the ruthless axe of the woodman, bringing with the 

 work of devastation climatic results that have completely changed the scene of 

 beauty into one of desolation. 



The whole region now is visited by intense drouths, deluging storms, and 

 fearful cold in turns. Torrents of maddened water have plowed through the once 

 purple vineyards, and huge masses of rock, extensive reaches of sand and beds 

 of gravel have filled up those once charming valleys and converted them into irre- 

 deemable wastes. 



These changes of climate in France, due to the disboscation of the forests, 

 have been so marked that the government revenues from the districts referred to 

 have been reduced to almost nothing in comparison to what they were a century 

 ago. Hon. G. P. Marsh* again, in referring to this same subject, says : 



"There are parts of Asia Minor, of Northern Africa, of Greece, and even of 

 Alpine Europe, where the operation of causes set in action by man has brought 

 the face of the earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon ; and 

 though, within that brief space of time men call the "historical period," they are 

 known to have been covered with luxuriant woods, verdant pastures and fertile 

 meadows, they are now too far deteriorated to be reclaimed by man ; nor can they 

 become again fitted for human use except through great geologic changes or other 

 mysterious influences or agencies of which we have no present knowledge, and 

 over which we have no prospective control." 



The author of " Economie Rurale " furnishes an account "of the subsidence 

 and subsequent increase of the waters of Lake Valencia in the valley of Aragua. 

 Prior to the visit of Humboldt in 1800, the volume of water had been diminishing 

 for half a century, exposing from time to time the surface of numerous islands 



* Man and Nature, 1864, 



