470 



FOREST AND STREAM, 





TORRENT TAMfflG IN SOUTHERN FRANCE. 

 TN the year 1860 France began upou a new and successful 

 *- plan, a fight with certain lawless torrents, many of them 

 tributary to the Rhone: 



The condition of affairs which made necessary such a 

 movement; the progress of the struggle, audits successful 

 issue, are well worthy our attention heie in America at this 

 time. 



For more than three hundred years tin- improvident wood 

 cutting bad been going on, which at last changed many of 

 the streams of that region into torrents. The lower lying 

 and generally steeper slopes of their basins had been robbed 

 by short-sighted owners of their protecting forests. Next, 

 as the income from woodland became less, the impoverished 

 peasants were tempted to overstock the higher and more level 

 upland pastures with sheep and goats. The sharp hoofs of 

 these animals, and their close bite when pressed by hunger 

 soon weakened the turf, so that it could not hold its place 

 against the washing action of the heavy rain. During hard 

 showers the fragments of this turf, with more or less of the 

 thin soil underneath, started down hill. Arriving at the 

 steeper slopes— formerly protected by trees with their fallen 

 leaves, roots and undergrowth — the water found nothing to 

 check it, till part of it could find the crevices leading to the 

 springs, and there was nothing else to keep the rest from 

 rushing too suddenly to the stream-bed; but carrying with it 

 the scanty soil of these denuded slopes, every yard of descent 

 would add to its volume, velocity and eroding power. By 

 the time the stream was reached each drop would contain 

 some grains of precious soil to be washed down to the sea, 

 or on its way there to be deposited where it would spoil 

 river, channels and harbors. Besides this washing of soil, 

 rocks and boulders imbedded in it would be loosened, 

 tumbled down into the channels, and in flood-time ground 

 op into gravel and spread over fertile ground in the valley. 

 In one province, ArdSche, 70,000 acres, one-eighth its total 

 area, were thus rendered almost worthless by flood deposits 

 (Marsh: Earth as Modified by Human Action, p. 257, n»te), 

 In addition, costly roads, bridges, aqueducts and buildings 

 were undermined and washed away, Large regions, form- 

 erly populous, became solitudes , across which it was hard 

 and often unsafe to travel. 



Great sums were spent in such works as retaining dams 

 built across the mouth of gorges; rows of stone pillars lining 

 the borders of streams, and at right angles to these, walls of 

 pebbles and rows of trees, aud many other expedients, none 

 of which cured the evil; $24,000,000 was annually spent on 

 roads and bridges, and much of this outlay was made neces- 

 sary by the gullying, undermining, and covering with debris 

 done by torrents. 



Meantime rainfall was becoming irregular; floods and 

 droughts alternated-, the rapid heating and cooling of the 

 bare slopes caused violent winds; aud these, with the sudden 

 changes of temperature, wrenched, so to speak, the moisture 

 from the clouds, causing local floods of terrible fury, ft g. , 

 "in a single day of flood the Ardeche, a river too insignifi- 

 cant to be known except in the local topography of France, 

 contributed to the Rhone once and a half, and for three con- 

 secutive days once and one-third as much as the average 

 delivery of the Nile * * although the basin of the 

 latter river contains 1,000,000 square miles * * or 

 more than 1,000 times as much as the former." (Marsh, pp. 

 258-9.) "The water on the Beaume, a tributary of the 

 Ardeche, rose [in 1772] thirty -five feet above low water, but 

 the stream was again fordable on the evening of the same 

 day." (id. p. 258.) 



The most serious results of denuding the steep slopes of 

 the mountains were seen when the warm wind called the 

 Foehn, coming probably from Sahara, and when crossing 

 the Mediterranean loading itself with moisture, struck the 

 snow line on the higher parts of the mountains. This wind, 

 according to Guyol, sometimes has power to melt six feet of 

 snow in twenty-four hours! The melted snow, together with 

 the rain, dashed down from the Foehn, would be likely to do 

 serious damage, even if the hillsides had their full protection 

 of turf, bush and tree. But when no such barriers checked 

 the rush the results were frightful. 



At last, after many costly efforts to cure an evil which 

 grew worse and worse, a timid step was taken toward pre- 

 vention. Many far-seeing men, and especially Surell — who 

 gave a life-work tothe cause — had long been urging this. As 

 the torrent was the accumulation of many drops which, when 

 brought together at one lime, were irresist ible, the poi nt aimed 

 at was to prevent their reaching the ekaanel all at once. 

 They must be arrested as long as possible where they first 

 fell, as many as possible must be enabled to find the crevices 

 leading to springs, and all the way down to the, stream bed 

 the. progress of the remainder must be delayed. Besides, if, 

 in addition to terracing and horizontal furrows, the steep 

 hillsides were covered with growing trees, hushes, and fallen 

 leaves, much of the descending water would be taken up 

 into these plants, to be gradually given back into the air in 

 drier weather, thus equalizing temperature. 



At first the Corps Legislatif could only be induced to vote 

 2. 000,000 frs., to be expended at the rale of 200, 000 frs. a year. 

 It was clear that the State must take the lead, since it alone 

 was rich enough to advance the capital necessary aud wait 

 twenty years for a return, and which could control the whole 

 region from which a torrent drew its water: aud nothing 

 could be done unless the whole of a torrent-basin were taken 

 in hand at the same time and under the same direction. 



The works were classed as j*eiwsm«nW (ref ores t tags) jfiKt* 

 tntifi, and reb&imnenU 'AititjttlniM, In the former the State 

 merely assisted by loans of money, seeds and cuttings, and 

 by the advice and oversight of its trained officials. In the 

 latter the State for the time being assumed ow ncrship of the 

 land, and when its work was done gave the individuals or 

 communes who had held it the choice either to repay the 

 cost of the work and take the land back (the State, however, 

 retaining such oversight as would prevent torrents forming 

 again) or to take back one-half the land and pay nothing. In 

 the case of re-turfing (regax-onnement) the State retained only 

 one-fourth the land to cover the cost of the work. 



Local opposition to the law was at first a serious obstacle 

 to its enforcement. This was overcome by great patience 

 and kiudness; by putting leading men of the districts on the 

 boards, which, in connection with the Slate experts, decided 

 what land must be operated upon, and by circulating a 

 Science Primer entitled " Etudes de Mail re Pierre stir I'Ag- 

 ■/culture el ks Forets." A prize was offered for such a primer, 

 and a young lawyer, A. Rousset, won it. It consists of 

 eight dialogues between a peasant farmer, Master Peter, 

 and a government teacher who, iu these walks and talks 

 converts his pupil from a stubborn foe to a firm friend of the 

 law. The little, book is a fine model of Socratic questioning 

 and will repay careful study by teachers. It may be added 

 that rigid economy was practiced and minute accounts kept, 

 so that those whose land was taken could know just what 

 they must pay for when they redeemed their land, and feel 

 satisfied that they were not being charged too much. 



The bold expedient which was adopted of attacking one 

 of the worst torrents first, proved a prudent one. For not 

 only would the owners of land so nearly rained be more 

 willing to give up its ownership for a time, but besides, if 

 such a demon as the Ardeche could be tamed, it was the 

 best proof that less violent torrents could be brought under 

 control. 



Beginning with the trifling sum of 200,000 francs a year 

 for ten years, before the end of that time the success was so 

 marked that all the money that could wisely be expended 

 was readily voted by the Corps Legislatif, and nearly all 

 local opposition vanished. The war with Germany mad 

 the state less liberal in its expenditure for reboiumsnt for 

 awhile, but soon the work was taken up again with vigor. 

 Jt was estimated that the great flood in the Garonne in 

 June, 1875, did damage tothe extent of 800,000,000 francs, 

 besides destroying more than 1,000 lives. Careful investi- 

 gation afterward showed that had the work of rehoUement 

 contemplated in the original act of 1860 (and which it 

 was supposed it would take 140 years to finish) been com- 

 pleted, that awful flood would have been comparatively 

 harmless. 



To give an idea of the process of torrent-taming, we quote 

 the graphic words of Cezanne, with which he concludes his 

 supplement to the great work of Surell {"Etude sur leu Tor- 

 rents des Hauies Alpes," published first by the Adminirtralion 

 des Ponts el Chavssees in 1841, and when it had been for 

 years out of print, a new edition was prepared in 1870 by 

 his friend Cezanne, and in 1872 the supplement. The Boston 

 Public Library contains this and most of the leading works 

 on forestry). Speaking of the astonishment of visitors when 

 they see pointing heavenward the verdant shoots of the elm, 

 the maple and the acacia growing on the dry schists; and of 

 the walnut aud the oak on the dry and solid buttresses, while 

 the alder, the poplar, the ash, the osier and the white willow 

 of the Alps grow in the more moist depths of the ravines, he 

 says: 



"These works, so ingenious in their very simplicity, form 

 a net work of horizontal lines like the alleys of a garden. 

 The green edgings and linings develop themselves ameng 

 the innumerable sinuosities of the combes [valleys], embracing 

 from the rocky beds of the torrents to the very summit of 

 the mountain crests those ravines which were but lately in- 

 accessible and presented an aspect full of horror. On see- 

 ing what has been done, one immediately understands how 

 such a combination should be effectual. Every liquid mole- 

 cule, so to speak, is seized individually, the thin sheet of 

 water flowing down is retarded in its course by a thousand 

 thirsty little plants, by the lines of cultivated herbage, aud by 

 the hedges of shoots and trees. It is compelled to tarry a 

 little on each terrace to slake the thirst of the ground, 

 and wheu it reaches the lower end of a furrow it 

 spreads itself out on the flattened bed there pre- 

 pared for it. Stopped at every barrier, it loses 

 its vital force on every hand, and finally, from 

 resting place to resting place, and from descent to descent, it 

 arrives, after a thousand retardations, and still limpid, in the 

 channel which conveys it to the river. The violence of tor- 

 rents is occasioned by the combination of an infinitude of 

 elements infinitely minute; and the system of extinction con- 

 sists in extinguishing each of these elements without disre- 

 garding one; it is an accumulation of infiuitessimal littles. 

 The secondary ravines are blocked up, their minute ramifi- 

 cations are intercepted, the lesser flanks are filled up, and 

 finally there are spread over the soil, completely to diffuse 

 them, the innumerable thrcadlets [of water], divided and 

 subdivided like the fibres of a root." 



The best single work from which one can get an idea of 

 this great triumph is "Reboisement in France, "by J Oroum- 

 bie Brown, LL.D. It is in the Mercantile Library in this 

 city, and probably will soon be in the Aetor. 



LIFE AMONG THE BLACKFEET. 



BY J. WTLL.VUD SCHOXTZ. 



SEVENTH PAPER. 



THE Blackfoot medicine practices consist chiefly of mean 

 tations. Some few roots and herbs are used, and bleed- 

 ing and blistering is also practiced. 



In Blackfoot a "medicine man" is called a Bear-man and a 

 "medicine pipe" a bear-pipe. The bear, the wonderful 

 monster, most powerful of all the animals, is thought to be 

 — like the strange white buffalo — the special property of the 

 gods. Whenever a person killed one tie left the meat as 

 an offering, and took only the claws for a necklace, and a 

 small piece of the hide to wrap around the bear-pipe. Any 

 one but a Bear-man terms the bear Kl'-yu. The Bear-man, 

 however, must never use this word, tl 

 being Nilmp'-ska. Unfortunately, then 

 learn the meaning of either of 'these \ 

 in reality no pipe at all, merely 



.me for the animal 

 liter has been unable to 

 ords. A bear-pipe is 

 y long wooden pipe- 

 stem, beautifully wrapped and decorated with pieces of all 

 kinds of fur, scalps, and many colored feathers. When in 

 use any large pipe-bowl is smoked which will tit the stem. 

 When not in use it is rolled up in fur, and in pleasant 

 weather hung on a tripod outside. At other times it is kept 

 suspended on a lodge pole just above the seat of the owner. 

 A large quantity of tobacco and herb Is always kept with the 

 bear-pipe, and besides this, the following articles which are 

 used in the pipe ceremonies: A. si rip of white buffalo robe. 

 Which is placed around the forehead of the Bear-man. one or 

 more rattles, the dried scrotum of a buffalo bull filled with 

 small pebbles, a pair of wooden tongs, a bag of red paint, 

 another of sweet grass, and a siring of bells made of dried 

 buffalo hoofs. 



When not in use, no one may touch a bear-pipe except 

 the Bear-man, Niimp-skan, and" his head wife, the Bear- 

 woman, Namp-sk;V kl. When it is suspended in the lodge 

 no one may pass between it and the fin-; fire or ashes may 

 not lie carried out of the lodge, and the woodiu the fireplace 

 must be laid so that the sticks touch each other in the center, 

 the long ends projecting away from the pipe. When a per- 

 son enlcrs a Bear-pipe-man's lodge he must, on leaving, go 

 out by the same side of the lodge by which he entered. For 

 instance, if one should pass by the right side of the ledge on 

 entering and on going out go around the left side of the 

 lodge, thus making a complete circle around the pipe, he 

 would be sure to have some bad luck befall him. Months 

 frequently pass during which the pipe is not unrolled. Cer- 

 tain occasions ouly warrant this important eercmouy. At 

 the o-kan', as before slated, the bear pipes are smoked, and 

 again, the first time thunder is heard iu the spring. A bear- 

 pipe is valued equal to from ten to fifteen or more head of 

 horses, and frequently is bought and sold. If a man pos- 

 sessing one of these pipes dies, the pipe and all its appur 

 tenances is buried with him. The writer has never wit- 

 nessed the ceremonies at the changing of ownership of a 

 pipe, and is unable to say whether the pipe is then smoked 

 or not. 



Only within the last few weeks has the writer been able 

 to learn anything at all of the ceremonies and duties Of the 

 Bear-men, and only after repeated disavowal of all belief in 

 the while rnair's God was he allowed to witness l£ 

 ceremonies. The first time he was present the pipe 

 unwrapped, the occasion being the healing of a siel; woman. 

 The Bear-pipe-man was an old gray-headed man. When I 

 entered the lodge it was already well filled with men who 

 had been invited to participate in the ceremony. Between 

 the aged Bear-man aud his wife, the Bear-woman, was the 

 pipe, as yet unrolled, lying on a carefully folded bui 

 Plates of food were placed before each guest, and when all 

 had eaten and a common pipe had been lighted, the ceremony 

 commenced. With the wooden tongs (made of a forked 

 branch of willow) the woman took a large coal of tire from 

 the fireplace and dropped it on the ground directly before 

 the bear-pipe. Then, while every one joined iu singing a 

 pipe song, a beautiful, low, plaintive chant, she took a buuch 

 of dried," sweet grass and, alternately raising; and lowering 

 her hand in time to the music, at last dropped it on the coal. 

 As the thin column of perfumed smoke rose from the burn- 

 ing herb, both she aud the Bear-man leaned over it and, 

 grasping handfuls of it, rubbed it over their persons to purify 

 themselves before touching the sacred pipe. They also took 

 each a small piece of some kind of root from a little bag and 

 ate it, signifying that they purified their bodies, not only on 

 the outside, "but on the inside. 



The man and woman now faced each other and began the 

 Buffalo song, keeping time to the music by touching with 

 their clenched hands — the right and left alternately — the 

 wrappings of the pipe. Occasionally, they would make the 

 sign for buffalo— vi/... both hands— tightly closed— elevated 

 to and touching the sides of Ihe head, forefinger of each 

 crooked obliquely forward to represent the horns. After 

 singing this song for some ten minutes they changed the 

 tune to the Antelope song; aud instead of touching the pipe 

 wrappings with the clutched hands, which represented the 

 walking of buffalo, they closed the hands, leaving the index 

 finger in the form of a hook and the thumbs pai tly extended 

 and in time to the music, as iu the previous song, alternately 

 touched the wrappers with the right and left nai 

 occasionally brought the hands to the side of the head, mak 

 iug the sign for antelope, and uttered a lond Kiln! to repre- 

 sent the whistling or snorting of the animal 



At. the conclusion of this song, the woman put another 

 bunch of sweet grass on a coal aud carefully undid the 

 wrappings of the" pipe, holding each one over the smoke that 

 it might be pure. At last the last wrapping was removed, 

 Hie Bear man sentlv grasped the stem, and every one begin- 

 ning to sing the Pipe song, he raised and lowered it several 

 limes, shaking it us he did so, until every feather and bit of 

 scalp and fur'could be plainly seen. 



At this moment the sick woman entered Ihe lodge and 

 with great effort, for she was very weak, walked over to the 

 Bear-Woman and knelt down before her. The Bear-woman 

 then produced a small bag of red paint and painted a broad 

 band across the sick woman's forehead, a stripe down the 

 nose, and a number of round dots on eaeh cheek; then pick- 

 ing up the pipe-stem she held it up toward the sky and 

 prayed, saying, "Listen, Old Man, take pity! Listen. Sun, 

 take pityl Listen, all Above-people, Animals, Under water- 

 people, all take pity! Let us survive. Let us survive. Let 

 us survive. Why is our daughter now sick? Give her a 

 complete life. Give us good, give us all complete lives " 

 At the conclusion of this short prayer all the people uttered 

 a m-m-m-mah! and reaching out their arms folded them 



