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LANDES

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 155 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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LANDES , an extensive natural region of See also:

south-western See also:

France, known more strictly as the Landes de Gascogne. It has an See also:

AREA

area of 5400 sq. m., and occupies three-quarters of the See also:

DEPARTMENT (Fr. departement, from departir, to separate into parts)

department of Landes, See also:

HALF

half of that of See also:

GIRONDE

Gironde, and some 175,000 acres of See also:

Lot-et-See also:

GARONNE (Lat. Garumna)

Garonne. The Landes, formerly a vast See also:

TRACT (from Lat. tractare, to treat of a matter, through Provencal tractat and Ital. trattato)

tract of moorland and See also:

marsh, now consist chiefly of See also:

FIELDS, JAMES THOMAS (1817-1881)

fields and forests of pines. They See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form a See also:

plateau; shaped like a triangle, the See also:

BASE

base of which is the See also:

ATLANTIC

Atlantic See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast while the See also:

APEX

apex is situated slightly See also:

west of See also:

NERAC

Nerac (Lot-et-Garonne). Its limits are, on the S. the See also:

RIVER

river See also:

ADOUR (anc. Aturrus or Adurus, from Celtic dour, water)

Adour; on the E. the hills of See also:

ARMAGNAC

Armagnac, Eauzan, Condomois, See also:

AGENAIS

Agenais and Bazadais; and on the N.E. the Garonne, the hills of Medoc and the Gironde. The height of the plateau ranges in See also:

general from 130 to 260 ft.; the highest See also:

ALTITUDE (Lat. altitudo, from altus, high)

altitude (498 ft.) is found in the See also:

east near Baudignan (department of Landes), from which point there is a See also:

GRADUAL (Med. Lat. gradualis, of or belonging to steps or degrees; gradus, step)

gradual slope towards See also:

north, south, east and west. The See also:

SOIL

soil is naturally sterile. It is composed of See also:

FINE

fine See also:

sand resting on a subsoil of tufa (See also:

ALIAS (Lat. for " at another time ")

alias) impermeable by See also:

WATER

water; for three-quarters of the See also:

YEAR

year, consequently, the See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters, settling on the almost level See also:

SURFACE

surface and unable to See also:

FILTER (a word common in various forms to most European languages, adapted from the medieval Lat. fi-ltrum, felt, a material used as a filtering agent)

filter through, used to trans-form the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country into unwholesome swamps, which the Landesats could only See also:

TRAVERSE

traverse on See also:

STILTS

stilts. About the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the 18th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century an engineer, See also:

FRANCOIS (1558-1614)

Francois Chambrelent, instituted a See also:

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme of draining and planting to remedy these evils. As a result about 1600 m. of ditches have been dug which carry off superficial water either to streams or to the lakes which fringe the landes on the west, and over 1,600,000 acres have been planted with maritime pines and oaks. The coast, for a breadth of about 4 m., and over an area of about 225,000 acres, is bordered by See also:

DUNES

dunes, in ranges parallel to the See also:

SHORE

shore, and from 10o to 300 ft. in height. Driven by the west See also:

wind, which is most frequent in these parts, the dunes were slowly advancing year by year towards the east, burying the cultivated lands and even the houses.

See also:

Nicolas See also:

Thomas Bremontier, towards the end of the 18th century, devised the See also:

plan of arresting this See also:

SCOURGE (Ital. scoriada, from Lat. excoriare, to flay, corium, skin)

scourge by planting the dunes with maritime pines. Upwards of 210,000 acres have been thus treated. In the south-west, See also:

cork trees take the See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of the pines. To prevent the formation of fresh dunes, a "dune littorale" has been formed by means of a palisade. This barrier, from 20 to 30 ft. high, presents an obstacle which the sand cannot See also:

CROSS

cross. On the eastern See also:

side of the dunes is a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of lakes (Hourtin et Carcans, Lacanau, Cazau or Sanguinet, Biscarrosse, Aureilhan, St See also:

JULIEN, STANISLAS (1797?-1873)

Julien, See also:

Leon and Soustons) separated from the See also:

sea by the heaping up of the sand. The See also:

salt water has escaped by defiltration, and they are now quite fresh. The See also:

Basin of See also:

ARCACHON

Arcachon, which lies midway between the lakes of Lacanau and Cazau, still communicates with the ocean, the current of the Leyre which flows into it having sufficient force to keep a passage open.

End of Article: LANDES

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