contiguous to its banks, and which were fwcpt away by the violence of the cui-rent. There
have alfo been inllances of lives being facrificed to this impetuous element, owing to the
too great temerity of the inhabitants, who, defiroos of faving W of their property, have
been incautioully led to pre cape till all alManee was impoffible ; but, ?
fortunately thefe inftances are rare. I will defift from fo melancholy a fubjedt. Bcfides,
finee the late improvements erefted by order of government, which were planned and •
executed by their moil eminent hidraulie engineers, of reftraining the water to a bed proportionate
to its current and rife, by means of caufeways built of frce-iione, and which
were nearly completed in 179], the ravages fo much di'eaded in tlie adjacent country have
to a coiiTiderable degree been prevented.
. , I purfued my eourfe acrofs tlie Paglion, and leavhig it on my left, I began to afecnd
the hiU of Efcarene, which ftands on the other fide of the town. This hill is fonned of
a kind of fand-ftone, containing a quantity of marl of a greyifii Unt, which appeared to
be of a pofterior date to that found in the neighbourhood of La GiandoU, with this difference,
Uiat the grain is finer, its ftraaure lamellated, effervefeing widi acids, diffolving
witii great cafe. Theft ftones alfo contain vaft quantities of foffils, moflly bivalves, fimilar
to thofe which are fliU found in the fca which waflies the coaft of Nice.
This eminence, the height of which is but inconfiderable, compared to the ftupendous
mountains I had already croffed, is wooded to the top, forming a moll pleafmg mixture
of oUve trees, larch, and various forts of pines, &c. amongft the latter were an abundance
of pinus Maritima Alpina, pinus pmea, pinus cembra, and pinus larix. From the pinus
larix the inhabitants of thefe mountains exU-aft a gum, which Uiey fell to mercliants
refiding at Nice, for exportation in homs made of the bark of fir.
Befides thefe refinous trees, there are the ilex, or green oak; betula-alba, or birch; the
cork, or quercus fuberlati folium femper yivens. The extreme variety and number of plants
were likewife fo great, that it would be impoffible to particularize them. 1 lhall therefore
notice thofe only wliich drew my attention, either from beauty or fingularity.
On the Col de Braus, were quantities of the myagrum iaxatUe caule fimpliei, the bifcutella
didyma, and the carlina acaulis. In the neighbourhood of SofpeUo, the hedyikrarum
iaxatile, the buphthalmum grandifiorura, and the eentaurea cichoracea, of a
beautiful red, which I deem fcarce, this being the only place in my rambles acrofs thefe
mountains, except near the caflle of Demon and vUlage of Argentera, where I have met
this charming plant. In the vicinity of Efcarene my eyes were attraded by the ephedra
diftachya, the rofmarinus officinalis, the faxifraga csefpitofa of Haller, the gypfophila repens,
and the antirrhinum linifolium, which grows profiifely contiguous to the fea; as
likewife others, the fpceics of which I have not been able to find in Linnseus, although
their clafs and order were perfedtly diftinft.
Soon as I had crolTed tl^is delightful hill, or fmall foreil, I entered a deep, narrow,
landy valley, of about three miles in length, tending in a dire<ftion from nortli-eaft to
fouth-weft. This defile feemed to open a new and extenfive field for obfervation to an
inquifitive mind, as it afforded me a freih example of one of thofe phenomena of nature,
which feems to me to facilitate the attainment of geological knowledge, as far, at leail, as
relates to the immenfe accumulations of heterogeneous matter totally foreign to the places
where they are now feen, this valley being literally placed in another of a different nature,
as I ihall endeavour to explain.
The hills which border tlie inner valley are entirely formed of fand, refembling downs;
whereas the mountains which fcreen the outward are calcareous, hard, containing particles
of quartz, efFervefcing ilowly witli acids, but without any impreffions of foffils. The
ilrata of thefe calcareous mountains are thick and irregular, inclining towards tlie fouthweft.
Their height, wliich is coniiderable, commands the fandy hills which border tlie
inner valley, whofe elevation does not exceed eleven or twelve hundred feet above its
foil.
Thefe hills are not only fingulai" from their ftanding in a place, to the matter of which
they have not the Icafl analogy, but li-om their being formed of ftrata, tlie fand of which
differs greatly both as to colour and grain; and likewife, tliat the fame ftrata, fcparated by
thin beds of gravel or pebbles, appear to have in the fides of the two lateral hills, which
fcreen this laft valley, a perfc<5t analogy with each other, both as to their inclination, which
forms witli tlie horizon an angle of about feven degrees and a half towards the fouth-weft,
and thicknefe, reciprocal ftruilure, and fpecies of foflils contained in their oppofite ilrata.
The lower beds appeared filled with a variety of univalve fofiils, moft of which are at
prefent unknown in the Mediterranean fca. The buccinites and muricites were the moft
prevalent.
The middle ih'atum fcarcely contained any, except a few tellinites or tellinse, and oyfters
of an uncommon fize; but I difcovered amongft them pieces of petrified wood of a deep
brown, which took a fine polifh.
The tellinites and oyftei--flielIs were confufedly heaped together; but as for the upper
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