sounds fill up in time, with the mud and sand deposited in them by the rivers.  Thus the Etang de Vendres, navigated formerly by vessels of sixty tons, is now nearly filled up by the mud and sand of the Aude.  The Vistre and Vidourle, which formerly emptied themselves into the Gulf of Lyons, are now received by the Etangs de Manjo and Aiguesmortes, that is to say, the part of the Gulf of Lyons, which formerly received, and still receives those rivers, is now cut off from the sea by a bar of sand, which has been thrown up in it, and has formed 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