2-970-244 - /Heritage Images

The Inundation at Lyons - sketched by Gustave Dore, 1856. 'The English traveller who has visited France, and knows the districts through which the river Rhone runs from Lyons to the Mediterranean, can hardly form any idea of the ruin which has been caused by the irruption of these waters. The inundation includes in its ravages upwards of 550 English miles, from Lyons to the delta of La Camargue, and from Orleans to the sea through the whole length of the Isere to its junction with the Rhone; that is to say, that the waters covered a vast extent of oountry, not less than 500 leagues, or 1200 English miles...The most fruitful parts of that country have been devastated by the floods. Nearly 40,000 human habitations have been destroyed or so seriously damaged as to require reconstruction'. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.