TORRENTS IN FRANCE. 
241 
anciently wooded. In its peat bogs are fonnd buried trunks 
of trees, monuments of its former vegetation. In the frame¬ 
work of old houses, one sees enormous timber, which is no 
longer to be found in the district. Many localities, now com¬ 
pletely bare, still retain the name of ‘ wood,’ and one of them 
is called, in old deeds, Coniba nigra [Black forest or dell], on 
account of its dense woods. These and many other proofs 
confirm the local traditions which are unanimous on this 
point. 
“ There, as everywhere in the Upper Alps, the clearings 
began on the flanks of the mountains, and were gradually 
extended into the valleys and then to the highest accessible 
peaks. Then followed the Revolution, and caused the destruc¬ 
tion of the remainder of the trees which had thus far escaped 
the woodman’s axe.” 
In a note to this passage, the writer says: “ Several per¬ 
sons have told me that they had lost flocks of sheep, by stray¬ 
ing, in the forests of Mont Auroux, which covered the flanks 
of the mountain from La Cluse to Agneres. These declivities 
are now as bare as the palm of the hand.” 
The ground upon the steep mountains being once bared of 
trees, and the underwood killed by the grazing of horned cat¬ 
tle, sheep, and goats, every depression becomes a watercourse. 
“ Every storm,” says Surell, page 153, “ gives rise to a new 
torrent. Examples of such are shown, which, though not yet 
three years old, have laid waste the finest fields of their val¬ 
leys, and whole villages have narrowly escaped being swept 
into ravines formed in the course of a few hours. Sometimes 
the flood pours in a sheet over the surface, without ravine or 
even bed, and ruins extensive grounds, which are abandoned 
forever.” 
I cannot follow Surell in his description and classification 
of torrents, and I must refer the reader to his instructive work 
for a full exposition of the theory of the subject. In order, 
however, to show what a concentration of destructive energies 
may be effected by felling the woods that clothe and support 
the sides of mountain abysses, I cite his description of a valley 
16 
