“Truly mysterious is the Channel, in that narrow gullet where it engulfs the waves of the North Sea. Violent are the waters of Brittany, as they eddy to and fro in the ravines of its basaltic coast. But the Gulf of Gascony, from Cordouan to Biarritz, is a sea of contradictions; an enigma of strife and struggle. As it stretches southward, it suddenly acquires an extraordinary depth, and becomes an abyss in which the waters are swallowed up. An ingenious naturalist has compared it to a gigantic funnel, which abruptly absorbs all that is poured into it. The flood, escaping from it under an awful pressure, remounts to a height of which our seas afford no other example.”[51] [50] Our account of the French lighthouses is mainly taken from M. Rénard’s interesting brochure, “Les Phares” (Hachette, 1867). [51] Michelet, “La Mer.” The eloquent historian of the sea does not paint in colours too vivid the raging excesses of the Gulf of Gascony; and, therefore, from a remote epoch, the French government have sought to guard against its dangers by securing a proper lightage of the entrance of the Gironde. To trace the origin of the Lighthouse of Cordouan we must go back to a very distant antiquity. Unfortunately we know little of the history of this marvellous erection on a craggy platform, which is alternately covered and exposed by the waves at every tide. It is certain that the present structure had, at least, two predecessors. If tradition may be credited, the first was raised by Louis the Débonnair. But as no document is extant to support this hypothesis, we are inclined to believe that no lighthouse was built there until the thirteenth century, and that it was then erected in compliance with the urgent request of the merchants of Cordova, and foreign merchants trading in the wines of Bordeaux. Matthew Paris records, in his well-known “Chronicles,” that the Moors having been driven back to the extreme south of Spain, extensive commercial relations were established at this epoch (1236) between the Gascons and the cities of Cordova and Seville. Hence came the name of Cordouan. That this etymology is contradicted by many scholars, and even turned into jest, we are aware, but to ridicule is not to prove. What appears certain is, that the town of Cordova (said to contain 300,000 souls in the thirteenth century, and the ancient capital of the Khalifate of the same name) had two reasons instead of one for demanding the establishment of a lighthouse at the mouth of the Gironde; for its merchants visited Bordeaux not only to deal in its wines, but to sell their hides and leather, renowned then as now for their fineness and excellent quality. * * * * *