One of Europes last remaining wildernesses, the Camargue forms a unique landscape of salt-marsh, lagoons, cultivated farmland and seashore. Where the turbulent River Rhne meets the Mediterranean in southern France lies this huge delta, home to a rich array of wildlifeflamingos, a host of other migrating birds and marshland floraas well as a complex mix of agricultural and tourist interests. The whole region is now under increasing threat from commercial and ecological pressures. Edwin Mullins, whose acquaintance with the Camargue dates back many years, evokes the areas natural beauty and also its appeal to artists and writers. From Dumas pre to the great champion of Provenal culture, Frdric Mistral, and Vincent van Gogh, he considers the aesthetic inspiration offered by a romantic emptiness that was once despised as a mosquito-infested swamp.