Description of the Landes. of Acquitania.. 105. 
on the surface: in these vallies occur the Plantago psyllium, P. sub- 
ulata, P. maritima, Beta maritima, Scilla amoena, Rumex mariti-. 
mus, Dianthus arenarius, D. virgineus, D. prolifer, Spergula sagi- 
noides, Euphorbia Paralias, Bunias kakile, Apium palustre, &c. 
Such are the general features of the vegetation of the downs. 
The dark funereal tint of the pine forests, contrasting in the distance 
with the brilliant whiteness of the aclivities of sand, or crowning 
the blue waters of the lagunz, adds a sad and still solemnity to the 
scene. A vast plain, formed of undulating and unequal basins, 
ever which, from the presence of a rush or a reed, are scattered a 
few green spots,—a few flowering plants gathered in a miniature 
easis,—deeply excavated vallies, with aquatic plants, and some- 
times a few shrubs, inhabited alone by the larger birds of prey, and 
seldom traversed by the foot of man or domestic animals, present 
in their combination the fierce outline of a desert ; and if the love 
of natural science leads man to attempt the passage of these hills, 
the laborious progress in a yielding sand, the uniformity of soil and 
vegetation, the fear of quicksands, the refracted heat, and want of 
fresh water, demand all his patience for the accomplishment of his 
purpose. 
Before we finish the natural history of these tracts, it will be 
necessary to notice cursorily their animal productions, which, by 
leading us to consider the physical characters of its human inhabi- 
tants, will introduce its civil and statistical history. 
The rarer species of birds and quadrupeds, choose for their resi- 
dence spots the least frequented by man, whose progress into the 
interior has the same influence upon the zoology as it has upon the 
vegetation of a newly civilized country. From the description which 
we have given of the Landes, and of the extensive downs which 
border the coasts, it may naturally have been concluded that they 
are the resort of the few untamed carnivorous quadrupeds, and 
larger birds of prey, which still inhabit the more unfrequented spots 
of the European continent. 
Of these none are more dreaded than the wolves. In the deep 
recesses of these forests, they can without danger rear their off- 
spring and propagate their race ; and so frequent are they, that no 
master of a farm goes to his daily labour without a gun, nor is a 
single shepherd to be met with without that necessary appendage. 
These spots are also the resort of the numerous species of mam- 
malia which may be found scattered over the whole continent. 
The arrian vulture (Vultur cinereus, Lin.) and the white vul- 
ture (Cathartes Percnopterus, Tem. ) prefer the great Landes of 
Boutegre, where they assemble in flocks round the dead bedies of 
animals, both of sheep killed by the wolves, or of the latter when 
shot by the vigilant shepherd. At that time they are so fierce that 
no dogs dare approach them. - 
* A large flock of vultures followed the scattered troops, during the late pe- 
ninsular war, on their passage through the Pyrenees, Be like princes on 
the remnants of a starving army. ‘ . 
VOL. I. O 


