nor extensive: we proceed, therefore, to notice those of modern times. Passing by the many rude contrivances for lighting up a coast, consisting as they did chiefly of pots of fire mounted on poles or rocks, the first lighthouse which merits attention is the Tour de Corduan, which, on account of its architectural magnificence was long regarded as one of the wonders of the world, in the same way as the Pharos of Alexandria had been in ancient times.
The Tour de Corduan is situated on an extensive reef about three miles from land, at the mouth of the river Garonne, and from its position serves as an important guide to the shipping of Bordeaux, the Languedoc Canal, and all that part of the Bay of Biscay. It was founded in the year 1584, but was not completed until 1610, in the time of Henry IV. Its style of architecture is a mixture of classic and gothic, and so very elaborate, that a just idea cannot be formed of it without reference to drawings in detail. The building is one hundred and ninety-seven fe
