ed it into sounds. Other
proofs that the land gains there on the sea, are, that the towns of
St. Giles and Notre Dame d'Asposts, formerly seaports, are no far from
the sea, and that Aiguesmortes, where are still to be seen the iron
rings to which vessels were formerly moored, and where St. Louis
embarked for Palestine, has now in its vicinities only ponds, which
cannot be navigated, and communicates with the sea by an inlet, called
_Grau du Roy_, through which only fishing-barks can pass. It is pretty
well established, that all the Delta of Egypt has been formed by
the depositions of the Nile, and the alluvions of the sea, and it is
probable that that operation is still going on. Has this peculiarity
of the Mediterranean any connection with the scantiness of its tides,
which, even at the equinoxes, are of two or three feet only? The
communication from the western end of the canal to the ocean, is by
the river Garonne. This is navigated by flat boats of eight hundred
quintals, when the water is well; but when it is scanty, these boats
carry only two hundred quintals, till they get to the mouth of the Tarn.
It has been proposed to open a canal that far from Toulouse, along the
right side of the river.

May 22. _Toulouse_. 23. _Agen_. 24. _Castres. Bordeaux_. The Garonne,
and rivers emptying into it, make extensive and rich plains, which are
in mulberries, willows, corn, maize, pasture, beans, and flax. The hills
are in corn, maize, beans, and a considerable proportion of vines. There
seems to be as much maize as corn in this country. Of the latter, there
is more rye than wheat. The maize is now up, and about three inches
high. It is sowed in rows two feet or two and a half feet apart, and
is pretty thick in the row. Doubtless they mean to thin it. There is
a great deal of a forage they call _farouche_. It is a species of red
trefoil, with few leaves, a very coarse stalk, and a cylindrical blossom
of two inches in length, and three quarters of an inch in diameter,
consisting of floscules, exactly as does that of the red clover. It
seems to be a coarse food, but very plentiful. They say it is for their
oxen. These are very fine, large, and cream-colored. The services of the
farm and of transportation are performed chiefly by them. There are a
few horses and asses, but no mules. Even in the city of Bordeaux we see
scarcely any beasts of draught but oxen. When we cross the Garonne
at Langon, we find the plains entirely of san