■•DC
607.3
S978s
'nia
I
t
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
'■ ■ ■'•'fit' '\,' ■■'•"r'-ri '■'''« J"
■, •■.-.•i|>- ■;'.■■■. -I 'i,';-" it./;,-.
.,,1;, .;.:;.^^n!^M'^,•-
';'!^-;:i'!'r'!
■!i''" ';',".'. I'r"'
•r >,;'^?
i'--- ■; ■'>:;";'■■
■-''' '■. i^.'
■;•! ''t^A"
Uxi-ih
;;r^;;.:!a|.
',' .\!*: *"■■-■■
c;ev&:'.'^
''lCb':v:
I'l.-'^'wi-;
'Mi''~
■'-yx.'f.m'
.! 'i: ■,-;-:
'pn^H'
I '.'■'■''!.<;
'.:''-,\;i)-:i:./[r
/^"r,^,,,,,^ /' J /r/
4t"tfl M i// /^ / /y^i /■ ^atft/
HENRY S^^NBUR'NE ESQ^
s.
[aJ i-i b Li^ng
X
SUPPLEMENT
T O
Mr. SWINBURNE':
TRAVELS THROUGH SPAIN.
B E I K G A
JO U R N E Y
FROM
B A Y O N N E
T O
MARSEILLES.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY J. DAVIS,
FOR P. ELM SLY, IN THE STRAND.
M.DCC.I.XXX VI I.
o%f
PC
5 ^7 ^5
INTRODUCTION.
THE following pages might have ferved as a prelude to my Neapolitan
tour, but at the time of its appearance, I was extremely unwilling to
undertake a defcription of any part of France, and therefore, inftead of con-
tinuing the account of my Travels from the confines of Spain, I chofe to
commence my narrative, at the inftant of our leaving Marfeilles. France is
a kingdom fo often vifited by Englifh travellers, that I had little hopes of col-
lefting new materials either for entertainment or infi:ru(3:ion ; but I am fmce
become confcious that this omiflion deftroys the connexion between my
Letters on Spain and my Travels in Italy, and hurries my reader too abruptly
from the Ocean to the Mediterranean fea. To fupply this deficiency, I now
publifh my obfervations on the intervening provinces, and hope they will fill
up the chafm in a fatisfadory manner, and thus form one regular and well-
conneded feries of travels.
20^4S71
N
J
O U R N E
FROM
B A Y O N N E
T O
MARSEILLES.
LETTER I.
Tarbes, June 22, 1776.
AFTER completing a circle of fixteen hundred miles, I am at length
returned to the point from which I took my departure in Odober.
My laft letter informed you briefly, that I had paflied the limits of the
Spanifh dominions, and was once more landed on the territories of France.
Thefe monarchies are divided by the waters of the Bidaflba, impetuous and
difficult at high tide, but at other times, clear and placid, flowing through a.
delicious vale, that ill accords with the ideas generally entertained of the
boundaries between two mighty empires : the eafe with which we were ferried
over, and the abfence of all military parade, rendered it ftill more unlike ; but
no fooner did we fet foot on French ground, than we were made fenfible of
the feparation ; a mofl: rigorous fearch of our baggage took place ; the ferenity
of the weather was a fortunate circumftan.ee, for every article belonging to
us was taken out of the trunks, and fpread upon the grafs ; the colleding
and ftowing of them again in their refped:ive places, confumed the beft part
of the day, and night overtook us before we could reach Saint Jean de Luz.*
The fituation of this town is charming. The Ninette falls into the fea at
* Luz, or Luis, fignifies mud in Bafque, very chara<^eriftic of the foil.
a fmall.
6 JOURNEY FROM B A YONNE
a fmall diftance below, having firft fwelletl out into a double bay, capable of
admitting veflcls of confidcrable tonnage ; but its entrance is difficult, and the
road dangerous in ftormy weather. The fhore is lined with buildings, and
fheltered by hills of moderate elevation, which rife gently all around, contraft-
ing their green flopes and woody fummits with this grand expanfe of water.
The adjacent country is highly and varioully cultivated, and the Pyrenean
mountains, which difplay fofter features than eminences of fimilar height
iifually pofTefs, clofe in the back ground with pleaiing dignity.
The language peculiar to the province of Labour * is Bafque, which, I am
informed, bears little affinity to any of the neighbouring diale£ls, and claims a
lineal defcent from the aboriginal tongue of the Cantabrians. I fear no monu-
ments remain to guide ctymologifts ia a refearch how far this claim is admiffible,
or how much the language is altered, improved, or degenerated from the
old ftock : it abounds in vowels, and its founds are foft and mufical.
The fpirit of their anceftors ftlll lives in the Bafques and their neighbours the
Bifcayners, who boaft of the fame origin : all we read in ancient hiftory of the
agility, perfeverance, and induftry, of the Cantabrians, may be recognized
at this day in every part of thefc provinces. Their early habits of cxercife
improve the neatnefs of limb and flexibility of mufcles which diftinguiffi them
when adults : if they dance to the found of their native tambourine, the fire of
their character pervades and animates the whole frame. Ancient Greece
herfelf could not prefent her painters and fculptors with models of more exqui-
fite elegance than the young women of this country ; a flowing white veil
faftcned with bunches of red ribbons, and the freedom which their fhort gar-
ments leave for every movement, enhance the natural beauty of their form.
From Saint Jean to Bayonne the landfcape is delightful, the foil rich in
produdlions of many kinds, the furface pleafantly uneven and crowned with
noble woods, but the roads from the banks of the Bidafl!ba are infuff'erably
bad. I cannot account for this uncommon neglett either on political or
oeconomical principles, efpecially as the highways in the next Spaniih pro-
vince, are judicioufly made, and carefully maintained. Can it proceed from
the inveteracy of ancient habits, which perpetuates the nuifance, and prevents
the prefent let of minifters from thinking themfelves authorized to facilitate
* A corruption of Lapwdi/m, the ancient name of Bayonne.
a ccmmu-
TO MARSEILLES. J
a communication, which their predeceflbrs had wifely rendered as difFicult
as poffible? Our carriages, which had pafled unbroken over the rocks of
Valencia, and through the clays of Andalufia, were fhattered to pieces during
this Ihort journey.
* Bayonne is fituated three miles from the Bay of Bifcay, at the conflux
of the rivers Adorer and Nive, both navigable ; but their mouth is embar-
raffed with fhiftlng Hinds, which it requires the fkill of an experienced pilot
to avoid. The hills on each fide are defended by fortifications, traced after
the plans of Marfhal Vauban, in order to render impregnable a place that
was long the Key of France, and as fuch frequently but unfuccefsfully at-
tempted by the Spaniards : although every apprehenfion from that quarter has
ceafed fince the crown of Spain has been fixed on the brow of a prince of
the Bourbon line, the vsrorks are neverthelefs kept up, and a confiderable
garrifon maintained to man them. Twenty-fix thoufand inhabitants are
computed to refide in Bayonne, near four thoufand of which are of the
Jewiih perfuafion : when this perfecuted race of men was driven out of
Spain and Portugal, great numbers of them took refuge here ; they increafed
fo rapidly, as foon to feel the neceffity of fending forth a colony to Bor-
deaux, where it has flourifhed furprifingly by brokerage and privateering.
Bayonne was an independant vifcounty till fubdued by the kings of
England, dukes of Aquitaine : in 1450, when they were ftripped of all
their continental poffeflions, it pafled with the refl: under the dominion of
Charles the Seventh, king of France. Commerce is here carried on with
great fpirit ; the neighbouring provinces of France draw a large proportion
of their foreign commodities from this port, and fend hither in return their
fuperfluous productions to be forw'arded to a proper market ; but the molt
lucrative branches of its traffic are fupported by an intercourfe with Spain*
A great number of fhips are built here, as many materials for conflrudtion
are to be had at the firft hand. In war-time Bayonne fits out ftout and well-
appointed privateers, and in days of peace its mariners approve themfelves
hardy and induftrious in commercial purfuits ; they were the firft that at-
tempted the whale and Newfoundland fifheries, and invented the method
of curing cod ; they difcovered Canada, and penetrated into the heart of
* Bayonne fignifies in Bafqiie a good Bc^.
that
8 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
that vafl: and favage region, by failing up the river of Saint Laurence, thus
opening a new fcene for the ambition and animofity of two rival nations.
The coachmaker having pronounced our chaifes incapable of proceeding,
without great repairs, w^e rode pofl: to Tarbes : the hafte we made to I'each
this city, and the intenfe heat of the day, precluded all obfervations on the
places we pafled through.
LETTER n.
Tarbes, June 29.
TARBES, the capital of the province of Bigorrc, is an open city
widely fpread in the center of a large plain : it has more the appear-
ance of a great village than of an epifcopal fee. The waters of the Adour,
which are conduced through it In various channels, procure fignal conve-
niencles to the inhabitants, but render the air damp and chilly.
The cathedral is very ancient, and fuppofed to occupy the fite of Begafay
or Cajlrum Begorrc?ife^ whence the country derives Its name ; its bifliop fat
among the prelates of the council held at Agde in 506. The ruins of a
cafllc fill part of the central divifion of the town, to which the other quar-
ters were originally fuburbs.
The general affembly of the ftates of Bigorre meets annually at Tarbes,
whofe prelate is their perpetual prefidcnt j the other members ai^e feven
abbots or priors, two commanders of the order of Maltha, twelve barons,
and twenty-eight deputies of towns*. Each branch of adminiftration has its
vote, and two out of the three fuffice to carry a point. In thefe affemblies all
public bufinefs is difcuffed, and all aflefTments made. In countries that enjoy
the privilege of meeting annvially, taxation and expenditure are generally
managed in a manner lefs onerous to the fubje£t, than in thofe provinces,
which, having been long the peculiar domain of the French monarch, or
* This is the account I received in the country. The geograpliical defcriptions of Bigorre
compole the ftates of one bifhop, four abbots, one commander, twelve barons, fome gentlemen, and
the deputies of the townfhips.
I acquired
TO MARSEILLES. 9
acquired by conqueft, retain no traces of liberty, and are abiindoaed to the
mercilefs rule of financiers.
The little freedom ftill apparent in Bigorre is the ghofl of that conftitution,
which the ancient inhabitants maintained in full force againfl the efforts of
feveral races of fovereigns, all of whom felt a defire of fubverting it, but either
failed in the attempt, or forefaw that their fafety depended upon their com-
pliance with the eftablifhed regulations. The Bigorri were a people of
Gaul, clafled by the Romans among the nations of the third Aquitanla. In
the ninth century, a particular count or governor was firfl fent to prefide over
them, and in the common courfe of events, the power of thefe counts became
hereditary. Towards the clofe of the fourteenth century, this province was
united to the vifcounty of Beam ; it afterwards formed a part of the domi-
nions of Navarre, and with that kingdom fell to the crown of France, by the
acceflion of Henry the Fourth.
The people of Bigorre have a warm attachment to the place of their birth,
and feldom fail to return to it with the money they have earned in various parts
of the kingdom, in order to purchafe a little land, and wind off the remnants
of the clew of life, among the companions of their youth. Cookery is a favourite
profeffion of theirs, but in every trade they become confpicuous by their in-
duftry. They are far from a comely race, and when advanced in years are
troubled with wens on the throat ; their ftature is rather below what the Engliili.
efteem the middle fize ; but they are mufcular and active, and dance with,
uncommon fpirit and precifion. In fummer they go barefoot, though the foil
is full of ftones, and only put on flippers when about to dance. Their clothes
are always neat and in good condition, their circumilances being much eafier
than thofe of the French peafantry in other provinces ; the women wear a red
hood, that fits the head like a nun's veil, and falls down to the waift. In the
diftrid of Offun the men fi:ill adhere to the mode of drefs that prevailed in
the reign of Henry the Fourth, and probably in times of much greater anti-
quity; a fmall round bonnet, a brown jacket and doublet laced down the feams
with white, red cuffs, and trunk-hole, diftinguifh them from all their neigh-
bours ; they are principally employed as carriers, and have long enjoyed
the reputation of unfullied honefty.
The provincial dialed of Bigorre is extremely uncouth to the ear of a
ftrangcr. Though I believe tlie wealthier inhabitants of Bigorre are neither
B poffeHed-
lO JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
poflened of more probity, nor lead more irreproachable lives than thofe of the
northern parts of France, there appears to exift a greater fund of honour and
honefty among the inferior ranks, at leaft as far as concerns pecuniary tranf-
a£tions among themfclves : fcveral cuftoms and traits that have come to my
knowledge confum this opinion, one of which I flaall quote for its fmgularity^
When a peafant A, the owner of a few fheep or cows, is diftrcflcd for ready mo-
ney, either to complete a purchafe of land, or for the immediate fiiftenance
of his family, he applies to fome richer neighbour B, and offers to fell him his
fl:ock enga%iulle. If the propofal be accepted, the property is valued and the
price paid down ; but notv^-ithftanding this transfer, the feller A retains pof-
feflion, and pays B, by way of intereft, half the profits upon the wool and young
produced ; the milk remains the perquifite of A. The buyer may at any
time claim and drive away his cattle, which however A has in his option to
repurchafe ; if he decline this offer, an eftimate is made, and whatever the
property may have gained is equally fhared between them, as the lofs, if any,
falls equally upon both parties. If the gazaille die by any common diforder,
is devoured by wild beafls, or dafhed to pieces by a fall into a precipice, A
makes good the damage; but an epidemical diftemper affects the interefls of
B exclufivcly. Touching in the hand conflitutes the whole ceremony of the
agreement, and fuch bargains are inviolably adhered to.
LETTER III.
Bagneres de Bigorre, July 28.
WE removed from Tarbes to drink the mineral waters, and fpend the hot
months among thefe mountains. The road hither is excellent, and
pafTes through a rapid fuccefTion of gi'and, romantic, and pleafmg profpedts,
where the uncommon richnefs of the foil is ably feconded by the intelligent
induflry of the cultivators. Near Tarbes the plain is fo extenfive, that the
range of hills on each fide fcarce engage the attention ; a large portion of its
flat furface is covered with pollard cherry trees, ferving as props to the vines,
while Turkey w^heat occupies the ground below. Not a fpot of land is fufFered
TO MARSEILLES. II
to He in unprofitable idlenefs, except where the Adour has defolated the
plains with its irrelillible torrents that rufh down from the mountains on the
melting of the fnows. We gradually drew near the entrance of a valley^
the hills, as it were, approached towards us, and each lofty fummit became
more diftindily marked ; the way foon grew lefs level, and the face of the
country was hidden by woods of tall oak ; in the midft of thefe groves are
numerous villages, delicious habitations in fummer, for every cottage is
Ihaded by a clump of trees, and every garden is refrelhed by copious ftreams
of limpid water ; the ground rifes gently towards hills neatly cultivated, and
itrewed with a beautiful variety of produdlions. At length the vale narrows to
a point like the bottom of a net, and is intirely clofed up by the buildings of
Bagneres ; an awful pile of mountains rudely thrown together, prefFes
behind upon the green woody heights that overhang the town : the low land*
before it are covered with crops of divers forts of grain, but chiefly abound
in Turkey wheat : the method of managing it is to raife the feed in garden
beds, then plant out the fhoots in the fields, towards the end of May, in rows
two feet diftant from each other; as foon as they haveacquired ftrength fufficient,
and the flowers appear, kidney beans are fet at the foot of each plant ; hence
forward it ferves as a pole for the bean, which is gathered before the maize
is fit to remove. In September, the fruit-bearing part of the plant being
impregnated, the ftalk that produced the pollen is cut away, and with all the
leaves ufed as fodder for cattle ; the remainder is left till Od:ober, a bare ftalk
to ripen its feed. Millet is fown on the plots that have already yielded flax
or early corn ; it ripens in Odiober, when the fecond crop of flax begins
to appear above ground. Corn is reaped with fickles or fcythes, and then fpread
very thin over the field ; in a few days it is carried home in carts, if a road
can be made, or in crates on the heads of the women ; then as many hands as
can be procured, are employed in threlliing it out upon earthen floors, with,
light flails. In thefe vallies the hufbandman tears out his ftubbles by means
of a triangular harrow armed with ftrong iron teeth turned forwards ; a thick
oaken laplin bowed double ferves him to prefs down the harrow, and to lift it up
occafionally, to Ihake off the clods ; two oxen draw this machine, under the
guidance of a girl, who walks on finging and knitting. This procefs drags away^
the weeds in this light foil, and prepares the ground for the plough. The
operation of, ploughing is performed very tenderly, for there is but a fcanty
B 2 covering
12 JOURNEY FROM B A Y O N N I
covering of good earth above a (Invery ftratum ; two oxen, cows, horfes,
and, not imfrequcntly, affcs, are yoked together by means of a ■wooden
bar, whicli keeps them at fuch a diftance afundcr, that they cannot trample
on the rows of plants between which they move.
All the meadows, even on the declivities of the mountains, are watered by
fmall cuts from the fprings or rivers, and produce annually two crops of hav,
the firft extremely abundant : the fields in the plain admit of a third mowing
in 0£tober.
Bagneres contains about three thoufand inhabitants ; they fubfift comfort-
ably uponthcir paternal inheritances and the money they amafs from the
annual vifits of flrangers who refort hither to drink or bathe In its waters. It
is furrounded with old walls, and is tolerably built, but the ftreets are narrow
and crooked ; the quantity of water that runs through them renders the
town cool and pleafant in fummer, but in winter it is exceedingly cold on
account of the vicinity of the mountains, and the heavy falls of fnow, that
remain feveral months upon the ground. It has no buildings of any note.
The Adour is here a fierce torrent ; its waters are white like thofe of
all mountain ftreams proceeding from fnows ; they are diverted at feveral
places from their natural courfe, and conveyed in channels acrofs the plain, and
through the town, where they are employed in numberlefs ufeful operations.
Bagneres derives its name from the mineral baths, which were known and
frequented by the ancient Romans, as many infcriptions and monuments
ftill exifting on the fpot, fatisfadorily demonftrate ; the moft explicit is to
be icen in the fquare, dedicated to the nymphs of thefe falutiferous waters.
KYMPHISPROSALVTESVASEV£RSERANVSVSLM.
The peafants of the neighbourhood are a lively race, and often alTemble in
a fhady walk near the gates to dance. One of the Queens of Navarre re-
mitted all fines upon alienation of property at Bagneres, on condition that a
fmall fum fliou.ld be levied irponcach perfon admitted to his freedom, and
fpent in bonefires and other merry expences at Midfummer,
The fituation of this place is happily calculated for all exercifes that tend
to the recovery of health ; it is built in a fiat and upon a very dry foil ;
every part of it enjoys an eafy communication with the fields, the banks of
the river, or the high roads, where the weaker fort of vifitants may breatlie
I the
TO MARSEILLES. I3
die frefli air, and regain ftrength by moderate exertions ; while the more vi-
gorous, who repair to Bagneres for the lake of amufement, may cUmb delightful
hills, and wander among ftiady groves through a never-ending variety of
landfcape. The plain and eminences arc travcrfed by innumerable paths
acceflible to horfemen as well as foot-paflengers ; the high grounds are not like
thole in the Alps, broken and precipitous, but eafily floped, and clothed
with foft and pleafant verdure. The timber that crowns their fummits is of
the nobleft fize. In the heart of cultivation, and near the foot of the moun-
tains, the Spanifli cheftnut predominates intermingled with cherry, walnut, and
other fruit trees, round which the vine entwines its tendrils. Higher up the
extent of pafture becomes more confiderable ; the middle regions of the moun-
tains are darkened with woods of beech overhung by forefts of filver fir, and
above all, black pinnacles of rocks fhoot up to a frightful height, with here
and there a wrearh of fnow preferved unmelted through the fummer by the
protedlion of their fhade. That fide of the mountains which faces the noon
tide fun is richly covered with wood, but the oppofite flope is feldom fo beau-
tiful, for it produces fewer trees and thofe of a Hunted growth ; the greatefl
part of thefe forefts is the common property of the neighbouring villages, and
as high as carriage can be eafily contrived, is cut after a regular but carclels
manner, for the fupply of fuel, and the purpofes of hufbandry.
tarn
LETTER IV.
I HAVE referved the principal merit of Bagneres for the laft part of my
defcription, and fhall devote this letter to its medicinal waters ; they alone
have refcued this valley from the obfcurity which involves fo many neigh-
bouring beautiful diftridls ; a great number of boiling, lukewarm, and cold
flreams, iflue out of the fides of the mountain that covers the town on the
weftern afpedl ; all of them poflefs, or are fuppofed to poflefs, very ftrong
healing qualities, which each patient applies with great confidence to his
particular diforder, under the dire<flions of the phyficians of the place.
The fummit of this mountain is indented with a large hollow, fim.ilar to the
crater
14 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
crater of a volcano, and I have no doubt but fire has been emitted from this
cup at feme period beyond the reach of hiftory ; the fire which was then
fufEcient to produce explofions, and to caft forth torrents of lava, flill retains
the power, in its weaker ftate, of imparting virtue in various degrees to the
mineral fprings that flow from the mountain where its focus is eftabliflied.*
The number of wells and baths amounts to thirty ; fome are covered in for
the ufe of patients that can afford to pay for their cures. Others are open pools,
where the poorer clafs gargle their ulcerous throats, or lave their fores, gratis.
The heat of fome fpouts is at firft almoft infupportable, but gradually grows
lefs painful. I have feen people expofe their difeafed limbs to the boiling ftream
for more than a quarter of an hour at a time. The hotteft fprlng raifes the
qulckfilver in Fahrenheit's thermometer to 123 degrees, while the cooleft caufes
it to afcend no higher than 86. Out of the thirty different fources, two are
exaftly equal in heat to that of the human body, ten below, and eighteen above
it. Their medicinal qualities differ no lefs effentially than their degrees of heat;
for the waters of the Queen's bath are ftrongly purgative, thofe of Salut and
Le Pre diuretic and co oling. The bath of Salut is fituated about a mile from
the town, among the mountains ; a pleafant winding road leads to it, through
beautiful fields planted with clumps of cheftnut trees. The houfes and groves
on the furrounding hills cheer the profped; but in fohot a feafon, and in this
latitude, an avenue would be a great improvement and relief to the patients^
The fpring is copious and equal to the demands of the crowds that flock
round it on holidays, when every perfon may drink his fill for the value
of three farthings Englifli: the vogue is fo great, that two guineas have
been taken in one morning, at this low price. From the drinking place the
waters are conveyed into two marble troughs, which are in conftant ufe
during the whole feafon. Seniority of refidence confliitutes the right of bathing,
and therefore many late comers, who forefec but a diftant profpe£t of being
* When I vifited the Pyrenees, I had little acquaintance witli volcanoes, their diftinclive features
and produftions, therefore I can bring no proofs, but analogy, of their priftine exiftence near
Eagneres ; the circular lakes on the mountains, the hot, fulphureous vapours and waters, the
caverns, bafons, and forms of the ground, are the tokens, which, being imprelTed on my memory,
convince me that volcanoes have in remote ages difturbed the face of that country. The know •
ledge requifite for difcovering volcano traces in rocks, foils, and minerals, is almoft unattainable
without a vifit to thoCs regions where nature is aftually employed in thofe tremcjidous operations..
accommodated
TO MARSEILLES. I5
accommodated with an hour of Salut, take up with the other baths of inferior
reputation, but perhaps equal efficacy. The degree of heat of Salut is 881 ;
when evaporated by a flow equal fire, the furface of its water is covered with
a pellicle formed by fmall infipid chryftals, which towards the completion
of the evaporation acquire confiderable acritude. Thefe waters contain no
particles of iron, but fmall parallelopiped pyrites are frequently found in
them, of a bright golden colour, and about an inch long.
LETTER V.
Bagneres, Aug. 15.
1 Returned yefterday from a journey on horfeback, through the moft
romantic and curious part of the Pyrenees, and hafteri to impart my
obfervations, while each idea is ftill imprelTed with force on the tablet of my
memory.
I fet out on the fixth with fome friends, and travelled up the valley; the
low grounds are finely cultivated ; numberlefs ftreams pour acrofs the road,
and hurry to blend their waters with thofe of the Adour, which is here con-
fined to a narrow bed ; beyond it eallward, the mountains are covered with
beautiful verdure ; at their foot flands Afte, a village belonging to the family of
Grammont. *
A peafant, who refides here, earns a livelihood by fupplying the apotheca-
ries with medicinal plants, which he gathers on the adjacent mountains,
particularly that of Lieris, juftly celebrated for the immenfe and variegated
fhew of flowers, that cover its elevated paftures, before fheep and cattle are
let in to graze. The convent of capuchins, at Medous, oppofite Afte, is placed
fo clofely under a mountain, that in winter it enjoys but two hours funfhine
in the whole day ; its garden is remarkable for a large volume of- water, that
* In 1530 the Lord of the valley of Aure acquired the vifcounty of Afte by marriage, and his fon
married the heirefs of Grammont, a family that bore a diftinguiftied part in the troubles of Na-
varre, in the 15th century Their defcendants afiumed the name and arms of Grammont.
2 iflues
l6 J O U R N E V FROM B A Y O N N E
iiTues out of ihc rocks ; trouts are often feen fwimming down the flream, hut
if clifuirbcd, they retire into the bowels of the mountain, to fome fubterraneous
lake. The populoufncfs of this vale is fcarce credible : in the extent of three
miles 1 reckoned near five hundred houfes, or barns. The burgh of Campan
gives name to the upper diftn(fl:, and is famous for the excellency of its but-
ter ; it acknowledges no lord but the king, and has confiderablc woods and
cultivated lands, appertaining to its community.
At a finall dillance above the town, we were conduced to a celebrated
grotto, in the fide of a bare mountain : the entrance is narrow and Hoping,
but at the depth of ten feet the floor of tlie cavern lies nearly on a level : the
vault feldom exceeds nine feet in height ; its length is an hundred and four
yards; the path wet and rugged ; the walls and roof incruftatedwith clu-yfiallza-
tions; but all that were curious for fize, fhape, or beauty of colour, had been
broken off and carried way by preceding travellers. At the end of the grotto
we found a marble flab, fixed up by order of the countefs of Brionne, to commemo-
rate, that after infinite labour, fhe, with her family and fervants, whofe names
are all configned to immortality on this fubterraneous monument, penetrated
thus far into the bowels of the earth, in the year 1 766.
Above Campan the valley grew more confined, the hills on the right hand
ftudded with trees and barns, and covered with lively verckire ; thofe on the
left were rocky, barren, and favage. At the chapel of Saint Mary, two branches
of the Adour flow from different glens, and join their waters ; we rode up the
more weftern ftream to Grip, where all level ground terminates. Noble
groves of fir overhang the river, which daflies fucceffively down three roman-
tic falls. Having taken fome refrefliment, we proceeded up the mountain
by a winding, fieep, and rugged path, through a foreft of filver and fpruce firs;
we occafionally caught views of the river foaming among the rocks and trees,
and in one fpot darting over a vafl: precipice in a full, magnificent fheet.
Upon leaving the woods we croffcd a large naked plain, at the foot of the
Pic du midijthe higheft mountain of the Pyrenees.* The Adour ilTues out of
a pyramidical hill, a few miles farther up, and winds in a fmall ftream through
the rufhy pafturcs. Abundance of flowers animate the face of this other-
wife dull fcene of nature. We were now arrived at the higheft point of land
* The Canigout in Rouflillon is nearly as high above the fea.
we
TO MARSEILLES. ly
we had to furmount, when we were furprifed by a very heavy fall of fnow,
that whitened all the furrounding eminences, but foon melted into rain,
and wetted us thoroughly. When the ftorm abated, and the atmofphere grew
clear, a horrible view opened down the valley of Bareges : rude and barren
mountains fhade it on both fides, and the Bafton, a foaming torrent, fills
the intermediate hollow. We defcendcd by the edge of the river, and entered
one of the bleakeft and moft defolate places in nature ; where not a tree
was to be feen, but the heights were feamed with yawning crevices, and
the pafTages blocked up with quarries of ftone, tumbled from the cliffs by the
irrefiftible force of the waters. In this frightful chafm ftands the village of
Bareges, confifting of a fmgle ftreet built along the fouth fide of the torrent.
The fituation is fo dangerous and horrid, that the inhabitants dare not abide
here in winter ; they remove all their furniture, even doors and windows,
to fuch houfes as are fuppofed moft out of the way of mifchief : a few in-
valid foldiers alone remain, to preferve the fprings from being buried under
the earth that Aides down from the movmtains. Sometimes a large volume
of water burfts out of its fide, the overplus of a lake on the fummit, and
fweeps off all before it : each year fome houfes are wafhed away by the floods,
or crufhed under the weight of fnow. The avelanches^ or heaps of fnow that
are detached from the mountains, are often fo prodigious as to fill up the
whole bottom of the glen ; and the river has been known to roll for feveral
weeks through an arch of its own forming under this immeafureable mafs.
The mineral waters, for which Bareges is famed, ifTue out of the hill in the
center of the village, and are diftributed into three baths. They are very
fetid, but clear in the glafs ; their degrees of heat rife from 89 to 112^.
They are greafy to the touch, tinge filver black, and are efteemed fovereign in
the cure of ulcers, wounds, and fcrophulous humours. The baths belong to
the king, and are entirely under the diredion of his furgeons. The poor
have the ufe of a large bath covered with boards, and are fed by a tax of
fix livres impofed upon all new comers ; with this fund a comfortable dinner
is provided for them, and diftributed in prefence of the governor, a worthy
veteran, who folicited this command from a motive of gratitude, having been
cured of a dangerous wound by bathing it with thefe waters. No company
reforts hither merely for amufement ; diforders only, and thofe fevere and
inveterate ones, can induce people to inhabit thefe wild regions. There is an
C alFemblv
l8 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
aflembly room and regular bath, when it Is I know not whether a melancholy
or a hidicrous fight, to behold fevcral couples dancing together, fomc with a leg
boimd up, others with an arm in a fling, and all with a feeble body and a
fickly afpc£t.
On the 8th we continued our journey by an excellent road with a rapid
defcent. — The landfcape grew gayer every ftcp; trees, villages, and cultivation
gradually ftole upon us as we travelled down the valley; it terminates in a
Imall beautiful plain, in the front of which the ruined caftle of Saint Maria on
a rocky brow prcfents a groupe of objeds, fuch as Salvator Rofa delighted
in delineating ; mountains of ftupcndous altitude environ it, and fccm to pro-
hibit all communication with the reft of the world ; many hamlets appear
at once, half hidden by rich groves, fome rifing in the plain, others placed
high up the mountains. We pafled through Luz, a confiderable town, and
crofling the river Gave, into which the Ballon empties itfelf, alighted at the
batlis of Saint Sauveur, a mod romantic fpot. Six large houfes built on a
rock overfhaded with woods, contain the company. The Gave winds under
the cliff, the mountain rifes immediately behind, and on every fide cafcades are
feen and heard dafhing from precipice to precipice. The waters of thefe
baths are not fo hot as thofe of Bareges, but their tafte is dill more naufeous :
great quantities of faponaceous fcum are gathered in the cifterns and fpouts.
There is a fpecies of harmlefs ferpent that delights in thefe waters, and fre^
quently pays very unwelcome vifits to the bathers.
LETTER VI.
Bagneres, Auguft 21.
AS my laft letter had long detained you among wild, mountainous fcenes,
a fliort paufe was neceffary to relieve your imagination, which might
in fome degree be fympathetically affeded with the bodily fatigue we un-
derwent in vifiting them. I have therefore fuffered a few days to elapfe
before I gave you the continuation of my rambles, that you might have
leifure to familiarize yourfelf with this grand ftyle of landfcape : here nature
exhibits her boldeft features ; here every objeO: is extended upon a vaft
fcalc,
TO MARSEILLES. I9
fcalo, and the whole aflemblagc Impreflfes the fpedtator with awe as well as
admiration. What is left to defcrlbe ftill exceeds the majefty of the views
which have been the fubjeft of my lafl letters : I wifli it were poffible for
me to communicate, by means of words or paintings, the rapturous fenfations
excited in my mind by the fight of thofe fublime works of the Creator.
We left Saint Sauveur by funrife, repaffed the bridge of Luz, and ftruck
into a road that leads up the river. As we advanced we found ourfelves
immured in a narrow valley, with the Gave roaring below us, between
walls of immenfe rocks, and frequently hidden from our view by thick
groves of lime and oak trees. The path was wide enough for our moun-
tain horfes, but very alarming to fome unexperienced travellers in our com-
pany ; on one hand a perpendicular rock, without any parapet, laid open
the deep gloomy bed of the river almofl; under our feet, and a fliivery moun-
tain prefled fo clofe upon us on the other, as to leave no room for a retreat
The turns in the road, where torrents have heaped flones, and choaked the
pafs with rubbiih, are particularly diflrefTing ; but our horfes were fo un-
concerned, and furefooted, that they foon infpired their riders with equal
indifference for the furrounding perils.
The whole valley is occupied by the river and the road, with vaft piles of
mountains rifmg on each fide, and almofl clofing together ; now and then
level fpots occur at the angles of the river. We croffed a bridge romantically
clothed with ivy, which hid the tremendous chafm from our eyes : huge
rocks rear up their perpendicular points, and torrents rufh over them on all
fides. The mountain afh, and fervice tree, blufhing with cluftered berries,
bend over the precipices, and foften the harilinefs of the wild profped. After
this the valley rather fwells out, and more room is allowed for the indefati-
gable induflry of the inhabitants to exert itielf ; but great part of the level,
and all the lower regions of the mountains, are overgrown with wood,
Interfperfed with a charming variety of flowering flirubs : many of the
favourite denizons of our Englifli gardens, flourifh here in all their native
luxuriancy. This dale terminates at Gedres, a rambling village on the fide
of the mountain. The road is afterwards cut through the rock, and leads
to a fituation that gave us an idea of confufion, and defolation, the efFeds of
fome violent earthquake: the mountain is fplit and torn to pieces; its flde^s,
and foot are ftrewed with innumerable huge blocks of (lone, detached irom
C 2 the
20 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
the impending ridge that forms its bare fummit ; the pafTage through this
rocky hibyrinth opened to a magnificent amphitheatre ; on the top waved
thick forefts of firs, through which feveral flreams forcing their way, dafhed
down the lofty precipice, but almoft vanilhcd away in niifl before they could
reach the bottom. The field below was beautifully overfpread with purple
monkfhood.
Our morning's expedition ended at Gabarnie, where we found good
accommodations prepared for us by a meflcnger we had dilpatched the pre-
ceding day. This is a village confifting of a church, and thirty houfes, in
the midft of bare hills, fhaded by vei-y high mountains, and traverfed in
feveral dlreftions, by foaming torrents. The curate partook of our dinner,
after we had removed the table to the door of the inn, for he durft neither eat,
nor drink, within the walls of a public houfc. We found him a modeft, con-
verfable man, worthy of a richer fettlement. After dinner we travelled to-
wards the head of the Gave, the objedt of our journey : we had long had in
view the fnow-capped cliffs from which its waters iflue, but were furprifed
to find them ftill fo diftant froni us. We fpent an hour and a half in riding
acrofs a bare tra£l of pafture, clofed in with immenfe forefts of evergreens on
the French fide, and along the Spanifli frontier, which lies on the right hand,
confined by bare rocky mountains : this plain is called the Prade ; the river
follows a ferpentine courfe through it : in winter it is generally covered with
fnow forty feet deep. Not far from hence a filver mine was difcovered fome
years ago, and worked by a company of adventurers ; but the bufinefs was
fo injudicioufly managed, and the condudl of the miners fo flagitious, that the
miniftry thought proper to put a ftop to the undertaking. All the heights
towards the fouth-weft, are debateable land between the French and Spaniards,
and arbitrators have long been appointed to fettle the limits ; but as they
have hitherto made but little progrefs, the claimants have been under the. ne-
cefTity of forming a temporary agreement to feed their flocks alternately upon
the difputed grounds.
Our guide having now brought us to his tie phis ultra, prefTed us earneftly
to alight, as no horfe had ever advanced beyond this pafs : but as we were
not contented with fo diftant a view, we rejected his timid advice, and clam-
bering over feveral rocky eminences, plunged into the river, which by its
limpidity deceived our eye, both as to the depth of the water, and the fize of
the
TO MARSEILLES. 21
the rocks at the bottom. It required our utmoft exertions to extricate our
horfes, and bear them fafe through to the oppofite bank. This difficulty
being overcome, all others appeared contemptible, and we foon reached the
center of a mod ftupendous amphitheatre ; three fides of it are formed
by a range of perpendicular rocks ; the fourth is (haded with wood : above
the upright wall, which is of a horrible height, rife feveral ftages of broken
maffes, each covered with a layer of everlaftiug fnow. The mountain eall-
ward ends in iharp pinnacles, and runs off to the weft in one immenfe bank
of fnow. From thefe congealed heaps the Gave derives its cxiftence :
thirteen ftreams rufh down the mighty precipice, and unite their waters at
its foot. The whole weftern corner of the area below is filled with a bed
of fnow, which being ftruck by few rays of the fun at any feafon, receives
a fufficient volume of frelli fnow every winter, to balance the lofs occafioned
by the warmth of the atmofphere in fummer. Two of the torrents fell upon,
this extenfive frozen furface j they have worn a huge chafm, and extending
from it, a vaulted paffage five hundred yards in length, through which their
waters roll. We boldly rode over this extraordinary bridge, and alighting at
the foot of the rocks, walked down the paffage. The fnow lies above it near
twenty feet thick; the roof is about fix feet above the ground, and finely turned
in an arch, which appears as if it had been cut and chiffelled by the hand of
man. In fome places there are columns and collateral galleries ; the whole
glittered like a diamond, and was beautifully per\'aded by the light. The
only inconvenience we felt, arofe from the dripping occafioned by the extreme
heat of the day, by which even this great body of fnow was flrongly affedled.
As we emerged with the river from this fingular grotto, we unharboured
three chamoy goats, that had taken refuge in the mouth of the cave, againll
the burning rays of noon: they darted acrofs the plain, and afcended the
fteepeft parts of the rocks, where we foon loft fight of them. Thefe animals
are called Tfards in this country; they are rather fmaller than the fallow
deer, of a muddy reddifh yellow colour, with fnubbed nofe, and fliort black
horns : in fhape they refemble a deer, walking with their heads upright, and
fkipping away with admirable fwiftnefs ; but they do not hound ; they run
when at full ftretch : no beaft of the foreft is of more diflicult aecefs ; they
feldom quit the higheft and moft inacceflible parts of the mountains ; during
the wintry ftorms, they have been feen fixed on the brow of a precipice, with
their
2 2 JOURNEY 1- R O M B A V O N N E
their faces towards the wind, probably to prevent the rain and fnow from
lodging under their hair. Notwithftanding their fufpicious, wild nature,
and their extreme velocity, the hardy mountaineers lind means to deftroy
them : they lie out whole days and nights watching their opportunity, and
making good life of it, when it offers, for they are excellent markfmen :
they have frequently as much difficulty in reaching the dead prey, as in ap-
proaching it while living. The flefli of the Tfcird is much efteemed ; its fkin
makes foft and ufeful gloves.
The fetting of the fun roufed us from the ecflafy in which the contemplation
of thefc awful fcenes had enwrapped every fenfe, and warned us to retire, before
the want of light fliould render thofc paffes doubly dangerous, which we had
found very difficult even in the glare of day. The fun fank behind the
fnowy cliffs in admirable beauty, tingeing the mountains with a rich variety of
fiery hues, which died away into the mofl tender tints of purple.
The mountains abound with game, the rivers with fifli: here are no lords
or manorial rights, and therefore game is the property of every member of
the community that can catch it. Except fome tradls of wood referved
for the ufe of the navy, all the forefts are held in common.
LETTER VII.
ON our return, wc paffed through the plain of Luz into a defile along a
magnificent road opened by Monfieur d'ltigny, the late intendant of
this province. This pafs between two mountains clothed from top to bottom
with dark woods, was extremely narrow, and the Gave rolled below with
horrible noife, amidft rocks and cataradls. The way along the fide of the
mountain was either hew-n out of the live rock, or formed by Ihelving down
whole quarries of flate and fhiver ; a parapet wall in the dangerous places
diminilhed our apprehenfions. At length the dell fuddenly widened, the
mountains retired on each hand, and our eyes were relieved, after fo long con-
fined a profpedt, by the fight of the valley of Argillas, an oval plain of great
extent, bounded in front by moderate elevations, beautifully planted and
richly cultivated.
4 • We
TO MARSEILLES. 23
We then travelled up the courfe of another Gave, for three miles, to the
mineral waters of Cauterets. This town ftands in a wide vale, delightfully
improved and planted: the furrounding mountains are thickly covered with
wood ;* the wells lie in the midft of a beautiful fcene ; two vaft torrents
pour over a ledge of rock, fhaded by an evergreen foreft ; beautiful woody
knolls rife behind, and mountains of great bulk feem to reft upon them as
upon a bafis: one of thefe hills is quite round, and an exa£t reprefentation of
the eminence at the bottom of Ulfe water in Cumberland, called Dunmollin,
which all perfons acquainted with our delightful lakes, efteem a perfect
model of rural beauty. Early on the loth we returned from Cauterets to the
plain, and took the road to Lourdes : this ancient caftle is a confufed pile
of towers and walls rifmg in terraces, commanding the town and valley in
a very grand manner, itfelf the nobleft feature of the view : its ftrong ram-
parts, though no longer elTential to the defence of the country, are preferved
to confine delinquents of high rank.
From hence the journey down the Gave abounded with beautiful profpeds :
Lourdes long remained in fight, till hidden by towering rocks and hanging
woods. We dined at Betharan, a place to which pilgrims refort^ in great
numbers, to pay their homage to an image of the Virgin Mary. The charms
of its pofition, when known, would allure even an indevout traveller, delight-
ing in rural elegance ; for nature has taken unufual pains to deck it out with
her moft fedu£live ornaments : a deep winding river, woody heights, and a
fertile plain, unite In a rich foreground, while different fhades of receding
mountains compofe grand diftances for the remainder of the pidlure. We
continued our ride many miles, through one of the fineft countries I ever
beheld : the number of villages is too great to reckon, yet the fruitfulnefs of
the plain feems to demand even more hufbandmen to gather in its produc-
tions. CorafTe lay near the road, an ancient venerable manllon, where
Henry the Fourth was nurfed. Nothing caii be more pleafmg than the ap-
proach to Pau, the capital of the principality of Beam, and the refidence of
the kings of Navarre, after Ferdinand of Aragon had moft unjuftly wrefted
Upper Navarre from thein.
* The hotteft fpring raifes the quickfilvcr to 118} in the coolcft it falls to 69.
Pau
34 J.t) U R X JE Y F T^ O M B A Y O N N E
Pau Hands on tlic brow of a hill, overlooking the Immenfe plains through
which the Gave meanders; its many flreams join in one large body, before
they pafs under the arches of the bridge below : the fouthern horizon is
bounded by a far lengthened chain of mountains, rifing behind a range of
well-wcodcd hills.
The royal caftle built by king Henry of Albrct, is fituated on the happy
point for -enjoying the whole extent of this admirable profpe£l ; its terraces
communicate with a ihady park, full of noble timber : neither the outward
architecture, nor the interior decoration of this palace, merit any notice ;
nor do the apartments contain any curious tokens of their old inhabitants :
the only relic preferved in it, is the fliell of a tortoife, which the wardens
affured us was the cradle of Henry the Fourth. The city confifts chiefly of
two long ftreets, but is deftitute of ornamental edifices and public monu-
ments ; the only one I faw, was a bad ftatue of Lewis the Fourteenth, which
prefles a pedeftal deflined, as tradition informs us, for the figure of his grand-
father, the glory of the houfe of Bourbon, and the darling hero of this pro-
vince. The Bearnois feem to have been confcious how fliocking it muft
appear to find no memorial of fo good a prince in his own original patri-
mony, for the infcription fays, " This is the grandfon of our good king
Henry."
The principality of Beam is faid by etymologifts to have taken its name
from the city of Bencharrica, once its capital, but now fo completely de-
ftroyed, that nobody can afcertain where it flood. The Bearnois were in all
ages men of an independent fpirit, continually in arms to curb the growing
power of their princes, and to maintain their native rights againfl: encroach-
ments. In the thirteenth century they infilled upon the fovereignty being
eledlive, and though they did not fucceed in that refpedl, they obtained a new-
body of magiflrates, to be formed to control the authority of their prince.
The ancient mode of government, though not the power, fubfifls in the
ftates, which affemble annually to deliberate upon fubfidies, and other concerns
of the province : they are compofed of the bifliops of Lefcar and Oleron,
of whom the firft is prefident of the meeting ; three abbots, twelve ancient
barons, four barons of lefs antiquity, and five hundred and forty gentlemen,
pofTelTors of fiefs, conflitute the firft branch of the ftates ; the fecond con-
fifts of deputies named by forty-two towns.
Centul-
TO MARSEILLES. 25
Centulplius was the nrft fovereign of Beam, and reigned in the tenth
century : his pofterity for many generations paid homage to the kings of Na-
varre, or Aragon. The houfe of Foix acquired Beam, by marriage, about the
end of the thirteenth century ; but in the fifteenth, an heirefs carried it into
the family of Grailly, who affumed the name of Foix. In 147 1, Gafton the
Fourth procured the crown of Navarre for his defcendants, by marrying
Eleanor daughter of John king of Aragon. Their grandfon dying without
iffue, Catherine his fifter fucceeded ; her hufband, John de Albret, was ftripped
of Upper Navarre by Ferdinand the Catholic. Jane daughter to their fon
Henry, and wife of Anthony of Bourbon, was mother to Henry the Fourth,
who afcended the throne of France upon the extinclion of the houfe of
Valois. This principality was not completely Incorporated Into the monarchy
of France, till the reign of his fon Lewis.
The exportation from this province Is inconfiderable, though fome of its
wines are excellent, and proper for long voyages and foreign markets : thofe
of Jurancon hold the firft rank ; they are extremely ftrong and heady.
Coarfe linen is made in great quantities. The grain moft ufed for the nourifh-
ment of the people is Turkey wheat : the plains abound with fruits, corn,
and pulfe ; every neceffary of life is to be had at an eafy rate, and of a
good quality. In the mountains, milk and cheefe fupply the place of many-
articles that are only to be found in the low country. Almoft every valley
has its mineral fprings, and mines of various metals. The natives are an
induflrious, ftrong, ihrewd, and lively race.
LETTER VIII.
A Ride of twenty-eight miles through rich vineyards and foreft lands,
brought us to the city of Oleron, which is fituated upon the banks of
two rivers, among beautiful hills. Its principal Inhabitants are concerned
in a lucrative commerce with the adjacent provinces of Spain, but It is not
in fo flourifhing a condition as it was in the lafl. century.
On the I ath, we left oyr inn before day break, and in an hour's time
D entered
26 JOURNEYFROMBAYONNE
entered the ftreights tli^t fiiut in the valley of Afpe : this narrow glen is many
miles in length, full of neat hamlets and cottages, and terminates in the large
circular plain of Befouf, which is enlivened by the fcattered buildings of feve-
ral villages, and thofe belonging to the king's maft-yards. From hence the
road to Spain has been made by gunpowder, through a huge rock that hangs
over the river. Seven miles further we came to the foot of the Mature
iTEfcout. The mountains are here extremely lofty, rocky, and bare, except
near their fummits, which are covered with filver fu's. For the purpofc
of felling and tranfporting fuch of thefe trees as are lit for mafts, the king
has caufed a way to be cut in the flank of a frightful rocky mountain, that
ftretches out over the bed of a very precipitate torrent : it is rather a chain
of water-fulls than a ftream. Every foot of the road has been gained by
blafting ; in fome places where crevices in the rock have interrupted the folid
communication, bridges are laid, fupported by huge beams driven into holes
in the ftone, and thus fufpended over precipices, which the eye cannot mea-
fure without horror. The ample breadth fcarce feems a fecurity againft the
perils of this road, which is without comparifon the niofl tremendous I ever
ventured to climb. After a long fatiguing afcent, we were relieved by the
levelnefs of a fmall plain at the head of the cataradl, where the wood-hewers
have built their huts. A large extent of wood has already been cleared, and
the fupply of mafts in this foreft is nearly exhaufted. The trees, as foon as
cut, arc trimmed, and flung down with cables to a terrace near the foot of
this upper range of the mountain. There each mafl: is faftened to ropes,
and drawn by oxen down the road by which we afcended, to a tree of
thirty-three inches diameter, the largeft fize this forefl: produces : twenty four
pair of oxen are yoked behind, to keep back the weight, and prevent the maft
from rolling or Aiding down with too much precipitancy ; yet the cattle are
generally obliged to trot, fometimes very faft, fo prodigious is the weight
and power acquired by the timber as it glides down. It requires great flcill
in the drivers to guide their oxen at each turn of the mountain, to prevent
the point of the tree from ftriking the rocks.
The felling and conveying of thefe mafts are performed by contrail, at
twenty-five fous per cubic foot ; but the king is bound to make the roads to
Atas ; there the mafts are thrown into ponds, and afterwards let down into
the river Gave of Oleron, faftened together in rafts: bundles of poles and planks
2 defend
TO MARSEILLES. tZJ
defend them againft the fhock of the rocky fliores, and fcreens of wood are
placed at every turn, to deaden the ftrokes they muft fometimes give: eight
men embark on board each float. It appears to me that the timber might be
conveyed to the plain at an eafier rate, were terraces contrived at different
heights, to which the mafts might be lowered by means of cables and capftans,
as they are in the firft inftance, inftead of employing fo many oxen in the
removal of a fingle tree.
We returned by the valley of Afpe to Pau, and from thence to Bagneres,
having made a tour of three hundred and twenty miles.
LETTER IX.
Bagneres, Sept. 2.
BEING defirous of vifitlng the Pic du Midy, I repaired early to Grip,
at the head of this valley ; from hence I afcended to Tremefaigues, a
heap of hovels near the beautiful falls of the Adour, where I expe(fted to meet
with a guide, but not a man was to be feen ; all were out on the paftures, tend-
ing their flocks, or wandering in the foreft, in queft of the Yfard. My
refolution was not damped by this difappointment : I direded my fteps
towards a plain at the foot of the Pic. No bufhes grow upon this extenfive
tradt of pafture; fhort grafs and low heath are here the fcanty covering of
the earth : a fmall fl;ream of excellent water ifllies from the bottom of the
gigantic cone. Here I found a fhepherd's boy, who engaged to guide me
up the mountain. My fervant and horfes remained at the fpring head,
while I followed my condu6lor up a rugged bank, between huge walls of
fhaggy rocks, where the melted fnow pours down in torrents, on the return
of fpring. Rough and laborious v/as the afcent, while the fun, unobfcured
by clouds, darted his rays perpendicularly on my head. By winding round to
the fouth fide of the rriountain, we at length arrived at the iummit of a
narrow ridge, vvhich runs into the main body of the Pic, as wings are joined
to a manfion by a gallery of communication. Not a drop of water was to
be met with near the path, but I fupplied the deficiency in fome degree, by
frequently applying a lump of alum to my tongue. I had now climbed up
D 2 nearly
28 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
nearly one third of the whole height of the mountain, from the place where
I had left my fervant, and enjoyed here an awful profpcdl down a vaft bafon
on the fcuthern afpe<ft, at the bottom of ^'^hich lay a round lake : the water
was of a bright green colour. Before me an immenfe heap of black rugged
mountains rofe in fublime confufion, one behind another, till the horizon
was bounded by the fnowy table of Gabarnie. Not a trace of man or his
improvements was to be difcerned ; no tree, no paths, no animals ; all
dreary, filent, and favage. Here my guide refufed to proceed, affuring me
that neither he, nor any of his acquaintance, had ever ventured a ftep higher.
When I found that neither bribery nor expoftulation could remove his fears
and prejudices, I engaged in the adventure alone, and began to climb the main
body of the Pic : and now all my preceding toils appeared light, compared
with the difficulties I had to encounter in this afcent, which is fcarce to be
called a declivity, being fo near a perpendicular line : it juft affords flope
enough for a coarfe, flippery grafs to ftrike root, and flop the fhelving fhiver
from being wafhed down to the bottom. Thefe tufts were my ftepping
places, without which it would have been impoffible to proceed, for the foil
Aides away with a touch ; but the blades of this grafs are fo Iharp and ftifF,
that they penetrated my efpartilles, or packthread fhoes, and often gave me
fuch pain, as to endanger my lofmg my hold, and rolling down.
After numberlefs paufes I reached a fmall puddle of water, formed by the
melting of a neighbouring wreath of fnow, the only one left on the moun-
tain : my thirft was exceffive, and I greedily fvvallowed large draughts of
water, though it was hot, brackifh, and naufeous. I foon after gained the
fummit of the Pic, an entire flat, oblong rock, about thirty feet diameter,
inclining towards the fouth. From this pinnacle to the afore-mentioned lake
is one uninterrupted rapid flope : towards the northern and eaftern afpeds
the rocks are perpendicular, and I believe, impervious to man, and beafl:.
The Pic du Midy is a cone placed on the point of union of three inferior
mountains, by which it is fupported, as by a triangular pedeftal. I found
that I had employed near three hours in the afcent: the height of the moun-
tain was meafured in the year 1 740, by the Academicians, and determined
by the barometer to be 1441 toifes, equal to 92,17 Englifli feet, above the
level of the fea. When I had refl:ed my weary limbs, and recovered from the
difagreeable fenfations of exceflfive heat, by expofmg myfelf to a gentle breeze
that
TO MARSEILLES. 29
that blew over the furface of this elevated rock, I ftrove to enjoy, as much
as poffible, the charms of the moft extenfive and fuperb view the imagination
can conceive, or the eye admit. To the fouth, fouth-eaft, and fouth-weft, a
line of innumerable mountains faded away into clouds at each extremity,
where I thought, I could trace the outlines of both feas; but as the heat of
the day had covered the very diftant objedts with a dim vapour, I may have
been deceived, and only fancied I faw what I knew exifted in thofe quarters.
On the northern afpe£t lies a plain, confined only by the rotundity of the
globe, and the inability of the eye to take in a greater proportion of its cir-
cumference : infinite was the variety of colours that enlivened its furface,
among which none was fo gay as the golden hue of the ripe corn. I
followed the diredllon of the principal roads, traced the courfe of rivers from
their head, and difcerned each town and city, that lies upon their banks :
Tarbes, Aufch, and Pau were the moft confpicuous; but had I been provided
with a good fpying glafs, I am confident, I might have diftinguiflied Touloufe,
Montauban, and many other places equally diftant. I could not perceive
the leaft diminution in my freedom of refpiratlon, nor any material differ-
ence in the degree of heat I felt there, and that I had experienced in the
plain below, except what was occafioned by the fine zephyr, which cooled
the air, and rendered the downright beams lefs irkfome. I lay an hour
ftretched thus above the world, then feeling myfelf reftored to vigour, de-
fcended to the plain In the fpace of an hour and thirty-five minutes. Thrift,
blue-bottle, and meum, were the only flowers I faw on the higher cone : the
plain abounds with pinks and dwarf-iris»
LETTER X.
Bagneres, Sept. 17.
ILaft week made an excurfion to Bagneres de Luchon. At Sainte Marie,
above Campan, we turned to the fouth-eaft, along a delightful valley, fur-
rounded by green hills and woody mountains. We baited at the Pas de Sude,
in a fpacious plain in the center of noble forefts of filver firs : the lower branches
of
30 JOURNEY FROM B A yONNE
of thefc aged trees are thickly hung with long mofs, as delicate as flax. Beyond
this girdle of woods and mountains lies the valley of Aune, of which the
principal town is Arreou, fituated on the river Neftc, and completely hemmed
in bv towering mountains. It was formerly reforted to by patients labouring
under nervous and fcrophulous complaints, which were frequently removed
by the ufe of a cold mineral bath : but Margaret queen of Navarre caufed it
to be filled up and deftroyed, out of refcntment, as the popular traditiori
goes, becaufe a favourite female attendant of hers, over whofe condud Ihe
had always watched with maternal folicitude, was debauched here, while the
queen was in the bath, the firft moment tliat flie had loft fight of h^r. Had
we arrived at Arreou a day fooner, we might have partaken of the diverfion
of a bear-hunt ; for that morning all the youths of the valley had aflemblcd,
and killed a very large one, that did not yield till he had received eight Ihots in
his body. The method of conducing this chafe, is to trace the animal to his
haunt by day-break ; and as he never moves afterwards till night, the hunters
have time to colledt their numbers, and furround the covert : the line of cir-
cumvallation being perfeded, the game is roufed by the din of fifes, drums,
kettles, fhouts, and all manner of harfh and hideous noifes : aftonifhed and
terrified with this horrid ferenade, the bear ruflies out of the wood, to feek
fome more peaceable retreat ; but as foon as he iflues from the thicket, the
difcharge of muflcctry commences: if miffed, he runs upon the man that
fired, but repeated fhots call his attention to another and another object, till
one ball better aimed than the reft, difpatches him. Bears feldom attempt to
bite, but feek to annoy the enemy with their claws.
From Arreou we clambered over a dreary mountain, and then followed the
courfe of a rivulet down into the vale of Luchon. Bagneres de Luchon is a
fmall town, irregularly built, in the corner of a plain, which is about two miles
in diameter : the profpe£l: Is extremely circumfcribed, for the furrounding
chain of mountains is of great height : fnow lies all the year upon their
peaks. A ruinous tower on a pointed rock, ferved formerly as a guard to
the pafs into Spain, which is a gloomy, narrow dell, a mere crevice in
the mountainous line : were it not for this break, the boldeft traveller would
find it almoft impradicable to pafs this natural barrier of the two kingdoms.
The baths are at a fmall diftance from the town, and near the fprings which
iffue out of a rock : the hotteft bubbles up in a hole not a yard wide, and
its
TO MARSEILLES. 3I
its waters are as black as ink : the little pebbles at the bottom are Incruftated
with a filvery micatious fediment. Thefe fountains are tliree in number,
varying materially in their degrees of heat, but all foapy and fetid, ftrongly
recommended in cutaneous cafes. One of thefe wells is feparated, by a plank
placed edgewife, from a copious ftream, which gufhes out of the fame cliff; but
inftead of being hot and fulphureous, is the coldcft and pureft water in the
whole valley ; their ftreams are fufFered to unite foon after, to fill the tepid
baths.
' We returned from Bagneres de Luchon by the plains, purfuing the courfe
of the river Aune, down a rich dale to the village of Cierp, where the higher
ridge of mountains terminates towards the north. At this point a landfcape
prefented itfelf, which may claim a very high degree of pre-eminence among
the fublime fcenes of nature : an amphitheatre of mountains, beautiful both
in form and woody covering, clofe in the horizon on the fouthern afpcd ; a
defolate caftle, wildly feated on a rock, varies the outline of the lower hills ;
a fecond mighty chain of mountains on the eaft fide is broken by a chafm
lined with white cliffs, through which the Garonne iffues majeftically out of
his native wildernefs, to flow henceforward without impediment, through
rich and boundlefs plains, and to tranfport their produ£lions many hundred
miles to the ocean. The river is even here of a noble breadth and depth,
and carries barges of confiderable burden. Towards the north the valley ex-
pands on each hand, cultivation and population increafe, the mountains feem
to draw back, and every thing announces a quick change from wild nature
to the improvements of human induftry.
Lower down, we palTed in fight of Saint Bertrand, the capital city of the
country of Comminges, fituated on a round knoll, backed by woody moun-
tains. The fteepnefs of the hiil, the ferpentine courfe of the river, and tlie
maffy fteeples of its cathedral, give it a ftriking refemblance to the city
of Durham.
This town takes its name from St. Bertrand its bifhop, who in 1 1 00 built
it near the ruins of Lion de Comminges, an ancient town deftroyed in 585,
by Gonran, king of Burgundy, for having received withia its walls an im-
poftor that pretended to be of the blood royal.
Our journey in the afternooa lay over immenfe heaths, clotted with oaks,
to the ruins of Mauvefm, once a caftle of ftrength, eredcd by the Englifh, to
overlook
32 JOUHNEYFROMBAYONNl
overlook and defend the boundaries of their pofleflions. Near the foot
of the eminence on which this commanding tower rifes conrpicuoiis on every
fide, ftands the Ciftercian Abbey of Efcaldiou, embofomed in woods ; three
beautiful vallies meet at this point amidft rich meadows w\atered by the
river Larros. The monks enjoy an income of fifty thoufand livres a year ;
the commendatory abbot has about ten thoufand. They are lords of feven
villages and a vaft trait of foreft, but derive fewer advantages from their
woodlands than might be expetiled, on account of the right each community
has of cutting the timber and coppice neceflary for its repairs and fuel : the
woodmen in this country plant out thick oak, beech, and chefnut tixes,
about ten feet high and two inches in diameter, and firft cut oft' the heads.
Thefe trees grow aftonifhingly ftrait, lofty, and found, though expofed to
violent ftorms of wind and heavy falls of fnow. We foon after came to
a place where nets were fet to catch ftock-doves, which come from the eaft
about the time that the millet feed is ripe, and fly in large flocks after rainy,
hazy weather. Incredible numbers are caught during the fcafon, which is
at the height^ in Odober. The time of our departure from hence is fixed for
the 2 2d infl:ant. We flaall quit this valley with regret, and long remember with
gratitude the pleafant hours we have fpent here.
The pleafures of Bagneres bear little aflinity to thofe which are ufually to
be met with at the mineral waters in England ; here are few afl'emblies, parties
of dancing or cards, and few great entertainments ; the company divides itfelf
into fmall fets, and mofl: of the amufements are of a rural kind ; the accom-
modations are comfortable, and the necefl"aries of life good and plentiful.
The greateft inconvenience we have experienced, is the difficulty of getting
remittances of money.* Travellers muft either bring with them the fum in
cafh which they expedl to fpend during their refidence here, or have it fent by
the carriers from their correfpondents at Bourdeaux, or Touloufe, an opera-
tion attended with expence and delay.
* Since I left the South of France, the inconvenience here complained of, has been efFedlually
ranoved by the judicious andextenfive plan fettled by MeiTieursRanfom, Morland, and Hamtnerfley,
for accommodating travellers with money, in all parts of Europe : Bagneres and Bareges are
both comprized in their circle of correfpondence. Any perfon, who from bad health or curiofity
Ihall be induced to vifit thefe remote provinces of France, may now procure from that houfe circular
exchange notes, payable to his order for whatever fum he fhall depofit in their hands ; he will receive
the amount of thofe notes at any of the places mentioned in their lift of correfpondence, without
commiflion or charges, and at the cumnt ufance courfe of exchange on London, at the time of payment.
LET-
TO MARSEILLES. ^3
LETTER XI.
Touloiife, September 24, 1776.
WE left Bagneres at the appointed time, and travelled to Touloufe along
the banks of the Garonne.
Touloufe is an ancient city, which, like all places that boaft of remote anti-
quity, has its origin and early hiflory obfcured Wfth fables. ^- The Romans
decorated it with many noble ftru£tures, but no other veftiges of them are
left, than the brick arches of a fmall amphitheatre. Tt Hands in the center
of an extenfive plain, which yields large crops of corn and millet; vineyards
are fcarce in the environs, and the wine they give is of a low quality.
The circumference of the city is about four miles : its ftreets are roomy,
and houfes well conftrudled ; feme of them are grand and fpacious, but
there is a gloominefs in the colour of the brick with which they are built,
and a want of motion in the ftreets, that cafts a damp upon my fpirits, and
excites ideas of mifery.
The manufactures of Touloufe are of fmall importance, nor is its trade
confiderable. The genius of the citizens inclines more to letters than to
commerce ; the law draws to it every perfon, that can amafs wealth enough
* The Volfci Teclofages inhabited this part of Gaul at the time of the firft Roman invafion
in the 636th year of Rome. It continued to form a province of the Roman empire, till Honorius,
finding himfelf hard prefTed on every fide by fhoals of barbarians, endeavoured to fave the main body
of his dominions from deftruction, by yielding a few difirant members to fome nations in pre-
ference to others, and thereby fowing diffcntion among them ; with this view he, in 400, ceded
the province of Narbonne to the Goths. In the eighth century they were fubdued by the Sara-
cens, who in their turn were driven back into Spain by Charles Martel, and his fon Pepin,
Charlemagne eflablifhed earls at Touloufe, who foon after became fovereign princes ; their
pofterity reigned four hundred years; but in 1208 Raymund the Sixth drew upon his head the
vengeance of the Holy See, by affiding his fubjecls the heretics of Alby, againft whom the Pope
had publiflied a Crufado. The chief of the holy confederacy was Simon de Alontfort ; he de-
feated the earl, and as the reward of his valour, received the earldom from the hands of his fellow
foldiers : Amaury de Alontfort, his fon, being too weak to preferve his father's conquefts, fold
them to the king of France, who forced Raymund the Seventh to fign a treaty, by which he
abandoned all his poffelTions, except the diocefe of Touloufe, and that alio eventually on failure of
his iflue. By the death of his only daughter, the earldom fell to the crown of France, in confe-
quence of the aforefaid agreement.
E to
34 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
to purchafe a feat on its benches: the church alfo fwallows up a large portion
of the inhabitants ; poverty and idlenefs feem the lot of the inferior clafs.
Nothing contributes more to check the fpirit of trade, than the temptation
which the Capitoulat, or chief municipal magiftracy, holds out to every wealthy
merchant : this office imparts the rank and privileges of nobility, not only
to the perfons invefled with the dignity, but alfo to their defcendants,
and is therefore the conftant obje£t of ambition to every thriving father of
a family ; when once attained, the channel through which the wealth flowed, is
fhut for ever, and thus the plant is left to wither on its ftalk, juft at the
moment when it began to acquire ftrength and juices fufficient to cnfure a
fucceffion of ufeful fruit. * Yet the Garonne prefcnts powerful incitements
to commercial induflry, and Touloufe feems deftined by its fituation to ferve
as a ftaple town between the upper and lower provinces, that line its fhores
for many hundred miles.
The mills of the Bafade, with their wears, are a grievous impediment to the
navigation of the river ; for goods muft be unlhipped and carried through
the town, to be reimbarked above the falls, which occafions both expence and
lofs of time. The ftates of Languedoc have endeavoured to remedy this
defed, without deftroying the mills, which are eflential to the purveyance
of a city built in a plain, where windmills would remain ufelefs half the year,
from want of wind. A canal has been dug to open a communication between
that part of the Garonne v.-hich lies above the Bafade, and that which is below
the dams, in order that loaded boats may pafs up and down the whole courfe
of the river without interruption ; but the in-draught of the mill is fo ftrong,
that few bargemen will venture to fteer for the upper mouth of the new cut,
and therefore the fuccefs of the proje<3: remains problematical : a large marble
bafTo relievo of genii, feas, and rivers, is, however, eredted to commemorate the
era of this jundlion. It is alfo propofed to continue the work till it joins the
laft bafon of the royal canal of Languedoc, which will facilitate the conveyance
of merchandize not intended for fale in Touloufe.
The bridge over the Garonne, which is here 820 feet wide, is the work of
Francis Manfard ; the ftyle of architedure is bold, out the holes which he
has opened in each pier, to give an eafier paflage to the waters in great floods,
are difagreeable blots in the mafs.
* Some families of high rank and great ilhillration defccnd from Capitouls.
2 The
T O M A R S E I L L E S. ^^
The Touloufains are fo noted for devotion, that I was not furpriied to fee
their city crowded with churches, and half its extent occupied by convents
flocked with many coloured inhabitants ; but fanility has been more predo-
minant than tafte for the fine arts ; and although whole legions of faints are
here depofited in golden fhrines and marble tombs, fmall expence has been
beftowed in procuring good pictures or ftatues to reprefent thefe patrons and
protestors : it cannot here be faid that the coftlinefs of the materials is eclipfed
by the excellence of the workmanfhip.
Befides a regular army of priefts, friars, and nuns, Touloufe has a^fpiritual
militia, anim-ated with equal if not fuperior zeal for the intereft of the church :
this corps confifts of a large number of laymen aflbciated under the denomi-
nation of penitents : kings, ftatefmen, and generals, have thought it an honour
to have their names enrolled on the lift ;, but times are altered, and I believe
men of fober judgment, and juft notions of religion, wilh thefe excrefcencies
of the ecclefiaftical trunk were lopped off, rather than encouraged. Touloufe
has long been diftinguilhed for her unconditional fubmiffion to the di<Sates
of the court of Rome, and has too often cemented the connecfiion with the
blood of human facrifices. This was the birth-place of the Inquifition ;
and in our days, the proceedings that attended the condemnation of John
Galas prove that the feeds of the fanaticifm, which produced that cruel
tribunal, are not yet deftroyed in this province. The true ftate of this melan-
choly event is ftill hidden behind clouds of doubts and conjectures, nor
ha,ve I been able to procure any fatisfadtory lights on the fubjedt. A fenfible,
uninterefted fpectator of the whole tranfa<ftion afiured me, that he had ftrong
reafons for fufpe£ting that John Galas had, by fome unlucky blow or pufh,
been the innocent caufe of his fon's death : the expreffions uniformly made
ufe of by that unfortunate parent, agree with this furmife.
The vaults of the Gordeliers are famous for the dried corpfes there depofi-
ted; but thofe preferved in the fubterraneous galleries of Naples, and Syracufe,
are lefs disfigured.
The church of the Garmelite nuns Is neat ; that of the Vifitatlon ele-
gant.
The eight Gapitouls affemble in a fpacious town-hall, faid to be the gift of
Glemence Ifaure, a learned lady and encourager of the liberal arts, who is
fuppofed to have fiourillied in the 14th centuxy, and to have founded annual
E 2 prizes
36 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
prizes for poetry : thefe rewards are ftill diftributcd by the academy of the
Jeux Floraux, and confifl in fprigs of gold and filver flowers. In the fame
building is a gallery of portraits of illuftrious perfonagcs, natives of the
province, but the fame of feveral that I faw there feems to be confined within
the limits of its territory. The chronicles of Touloufe, which are fhewn
here, have been regularly kept fince the year 1285 ; they contain many
fmgular traits of hiftory, and are embellifhed with miniature rcprefentations
of feveral public ceremonies ; the entry of Lewis the Eleventh, while Dauphin,
is one pf the moft curious : in order to obtain for his mother the diflindion
of a canopy, which the magiftrates refufed to grant her, lie took her up behind,
him, and rode thus into the city, iharing with her all the honours paid to his
own perfon.
Henry duke of Montmorency was beheaded in a court of this town-hall
in the year 1632. He was a fpirited, popular nobleman, and, as fuch, an
obftacle to the defigns of Cardinal Richelieu : by various artifices he was
feduced into rebellion, defeated at Caflelnaudary, taken prifoner, and brought
hither to meet his fate.
LETTER XIL
Montpellier, Odober 8, 1776-.
BETWEEN Touloufe and Carcaflbnne the country is difagreeably open,
without wood or hedges ; the towns and villages are placed on hills ;
the plains are arable, and through the middle of them runs the royal canal,
which forms a communication between the Atlantic and the gulf of Lyons.
It was executed under the diredlion of Paul Riquet, of Beziers, at the expence
of eleven millions of livres, of which the king and the province bore equal
fhares. The firfl ftone was laid in 1667 ; and the canal opened in 1681, but
it took many years to complete it. The length from Touloufe to Beziers,
where it joins the river Orbe, is 125435 French toifes, equal to 152 Englifh
miles. The fyftem of inland navigation has been fo much improved of late
years, by the experiences and combinations made by fome fublime geniufes
in that line of mathematics, that I make no doubt but this canal would be
ihortened
TOMARSEILr,ES. 37
iliortened many leagues, were it to be undertaken afrefli. It is full of angles
and turns that do not appear neceflary; and on the contrary, in one or two
places has been driven ftrait at an enormous expence through numberlefs
obftacles, when a Ihort fweep would have conveyed the waters, with greater
eafe and oeconomy, to the place of their deftination. There are fifteen locks
upon it in the fall towards the ocean, and forty-five on the fide of the Mediter-
ranean. The higheft point between the two feas is at Naurouge, which is
elevated one hundred toifes above the level of each fhore. The canal is
carried over thirty-feven aquedudls, and croifed by eight bridges. To pre-
serve a conftant fupply of water near the centre in dry feafons, a great bafon
is formed at St. Ferreol, which receives the produce of all thq fprings that
rife in the black mountain.
The profits of this undertaking accrue from the conveyance of goods and
paflengers; the former pay by the league, the latter by tlie day. Three
hundred and fixty boats navigate the canal, and perform annually fix voyages :
the proprietors of the works receive a thoufand livres a voyage, which makes
up a fum total of two millions one hundred and fixty thoufand livres ; tli^
current expences and repairs amount to one million fix hundred and ten thou-
fand livres, and confequently there remain five hundred and fifty thoufand
net profit, for the dividends. This account may perhaps fiiU lliort of the
truth, as there are always fecrets in trading companies, which it is hard
to dive into.
The diocefe of Carcaflbnne, though fiir from a fertile country, is in a
flouriiliing condition, and its inhabitants comparatively rich ; this good for-
tune is owing to the fuccefs of its cloth manufafture. The woollen trade
has long been attended to in this place, but in the laft age the Dutch found
means to fupplant the French in the Levant, by lowering the price of drapery ;
being themfelves able, by means of a large capital, to bear the lofs which this
diminution occafioned, as long as any rivality fubfifted. The rcftoration of
this beneficial branch of commerce appeared to the fagacious Colbert a tafk
worthy of his compreheniive and perfevering genius : he accordingly encou-
raged the attempts of feveral enterprizing citizens, and foon had the fatisfac-
tion of feeing a conftant and lucrative mart for French cloths opened in the
Ottoman empire : the manufacturers of Carcaflbnne have been acquiring frelh
vigour every year fince his adminiib-ation ; the trade that other nations
ufed
38 JOURNEY FROM BAYQNNE
ufed to carry on with the Turks has funk in the fame proportion. Towards
the clofe of the laft century, according to the information given by Mr. De
Bafville in his memoir, drawn up for the duke of Burgundy, the fum brought
into Carcaflbnne in return for its exported woollens, amounted to nine mil-
lions and a half of livres. I am affured thele looms now fend out annually
cloths worth fourteen millions, and furnilL the home trade with cloths to
the amount of two millions more.
This city contains fixteen thoufand fouls ; it confifts of two parts, divided
by the river Aude ; the high town ftands on a rock, furroundcd with
antique walls, and defended by a venerable old caftle ; the low town is regu-
larly built in a fquare form. This' place had once fovereigns of its own :
the laft earl, having fided with the Albigenfes, was flripped of all his pof-
feflions, which were given to Montfovt, and by that family transferred to the
crown of France.
From hence to Narbonne we travelled through a bleak country, extremely
unpleafant to the eye; the want of Ihade, and the ftrong refledlion of the fun,
render it intolerably hot in fummer ; during the winter months, it is expofed
to fevere cold and high winds. The foil in general is rocky, or a red gravel.
The moft northerly olive-trees in France grow here. We firft defcried
the Mediterranean from the hills near Nai-bonne, which city ftands in a
low plain, expofed to inundations by its vicinity to feveral rivers that flow
towards the fait lakes.
We entered this city through a gate built with the fragments of Roman
altars, mutilated ftatues, infcriptions and trophies. The ftreets are narrow,
and an air of poverty reigns throughout. The church alone feems to engrofs
the wealth of the place ; its archbiflioprick is numbered among the richeft
benefices in the kingdom; the palace of the prelate refembles the gloomy
fortrefs of an ancient feudatory prince, rather than the refidence of a French
archbifliop in thcfe days of peace and elegance. Many fine remnants of
Roman fculpture, and literature, are prcferved in the courts, and there the
Narbonefe may indulge their vanity in furmifes concerning the ancient mag-
nificence of their city, whatever may be its appearance in its prefent reduced
ftate. Narbonne became a Roman colony 115 years before Chrift, and
gave its name to a large divifion of Gaul. The abode of proconfuls and pre-
fects, the mafters of the world, or at leaft their deputies, was fure to receive
every
TO MARSEILLES. 39
every embellifhment, and mark of diftindion, which thofe proud inhabitants
could beftow : the pleafures of Rome were undoubtedly tranfplanted hither,
and fumptuous buildings raifed for the fake of enjoying them. The numerous
fragments, that occur in every part of the town, atteft the grandeur and
tafte of its ancient decorations ; but time, and the fury of barbarians, have
left none of thofe edifices ftanding.
The cathedral is remarkable for the loftinefs of its roof, but the ftyle of
architediure is heavy. In the choir is the maufoleum of Philip the Hardy, fon
of St. Lewis; he died at Perpignan in 1285, while he was employed in
defpoiling his excommunicated relation, Peter of Aragon, of his dominions.
Narbonne was formerly governed by fovereign vifcounts, but the kings of
France acquired it in the i6th century. Its trade chiefly depends upon the
exportation of its wheat, which is much efteemed for feed-corn, and, except
olives, is the only important production of the diocefe; it is fent by a canal to
the fea, where it is fhipped for thofe provinces along the coaft, that are deficient
in that firft neceflary of life. The falt-pans on the lakes bring in a confide-
rable revenue to the farmers of the revenue : the wafte grounds about
Narbonne abound in aromatic plants, from which the bees extract a white
aftd highly perfumed honey ; its gentle laxative quality recommends it to the
apothecaries in preference to other honey.
The fields in the low grounds are divided by rows of mulberry trees, and
mounds overgrown with thickets of tamarifks; the plough ufed here confifts
merely of a flender handle, and a coulter, proportioned however to the light-
nefs of the foil. Beyond this plain the country is mountainous, and dreary,
as far as the banks of the Orbe.
We left the ftrait road to vifit the Mai pas, a paflage, where the canal of
Languedoc is carried 147 yards through the heart of a mountain : the work
is nobly executed ; a bold lofty arch is thrown over the water, to prevent
the materials of the excavated hill from falling, and a parapet is raifed along the
water edge for a towing path. While the workmen were opening this
fubterraneous cut, they accidentally ftruck upon a channel made by the Ro-
mans, to drain a lake that once filled a vaft hollow on tlie fummit of the
mountain. From the Mai pas to the furface of the river Orbe there is a
fall of fixty-feven feet, which renders ten locks neceflary for the raifing
©r low^ering the barges.
Beziers
40 JOURNEY FROM B A Y O N N E
Beziers commands a grand extent of profped, but the ground Is too bare
of wood. The climate of this city is much celebrated, as well as the fertility
of its territory : Vaniere often fmgs the praifes of this his native fpot, in his
Pracdium Ruflicum, a dida£lic poem, which appears cold and dull to foreign
readers, but has many charms for thofe pcrfons that are acquainted with this
country, and qualified to judge of the truth, with which he has penned his
defcriptions. The roaring winds that blow for a long continuance at diflerent
feafons of the year, are no doubt conducive to the purity and falubrity of the
air, but their violence renders Beziers a very unpleafant place of abode
while they laft. The cathedral and the palace of the Blfliop are admirably
lituatcd oppofitc to the finefl part of the hills and a beautiful reach of the
river.
The Romans, who perfedly underftood the advantages of fituation, fent
a colony to Beziers ; on the difmemberlng of their empire, it fell into the
hands of the Goths ; the Saracens difpoffefled them, and fortified this poft
with great care. The obflinate refiftance they made here againft Charles
Martel, incited that general to deflroy the place after he had driven them out.
Beziers rofe from its afhes, and afterwards was governed by a race of inde-
pendent fovereigns. In 1209 the vifcount of Beziers joined his ftandard to
that of the earl of Touloufe in fupport of the Albigenfes ; this drew upon
him the refentment of the -Crufaders, who took his capital by ftorm, and
maflacred its inhabitants in great numbers, without diftindion of fex or age.
The kings of France foon after became poflefled of the territory.
This is far from a commercial town ; nature is fo bountiful to Beziers,
and fupplies it in fuch abundance with all the neceffaries of life, that the in-
habitants feldom feel any incitement to induftry. 'Tis the fting of penury
that roufes and infpircs us with the daring fpirit of mercantile entcrprize.
Thefe people find enough at home to anfwer every purpofe of their exiftence,
and therefore neither trade nor manufadlures are heard of among them. This
is the account I received from various quarters, but were I to judge of the
affluence of the citizens by their rueful countenances, and their ill-built, dirty
ftreets, I fhould be tempted to write them down for the pooreft fet of men
in the whole province. The diocefe produces a great deal of oil, wine,
filk, and corn.
After traverfing a barren country fome leagues in extent, we defcended
with great pleafure into the rich plains of Pezenas j it is fpacious, finely culti-
vated,
TO MARSEILLES. 4I
vated, and inclofed by hills dotted with fingle houfes and villages. Pezenas is
not remarkable for good buildings ; the number of its inhabitants is fmall.
We foon exchanged the agreeable fcenes of this delicious plain for rocky
mountains, bleakly piled one upon another, and produclive only of fhrubs,
which ferve for fuel. Near Loupian we came down to the edge of a large lake
that communicates with the fea ; the view here ftretches acrofs a noble
bay ; the branches of the olive tree and the vine hang over the waves, while
dillant towns feem to float upon their bofom. The approach to Montpellier
is uncommonly majeftic.
LETTER XIII.
Montpellier, Nov. i, 1776.
TH E city of Montpellier covers a round knoll. Its walls are handfome
and well preferved; they were built in 1208, by a fon of James, the
victorious king of Aragon, to whom this prince had given the kingdom of
Majorca and the earldom of Montpellier as an appanage. The fquare
walk, called le Peyrou, upon the brow of the hill, is one of the grandeft in
Europe ; it is raifed upon feveral terraces, and adorned with a ftatue of
Lewis the Fourteenth, a triumphal arch eredled to the memory of the
fame monarch, and a rotunda, in which fcrupulous architeds will find
little to admire ; it ferves to receive the waters brought from afar, along a
noble aquedud of two ranges of arches, and is here mentioned with praife
as the part of a beautiful pid:ure. Nothing we find among the ruins of
Roman grandeur can have a more fublime eSect, than this vafl line of arcades
llriding over the hills and dales. The Peyrou commands a view of fea and
land, that even draws the attention from its decorations; the lake of Magre-
donne is feen divided from the Mediterranean by a long ifthmus, through
the middle of which the royal canal is continued eaflward from Agde; the
boats upon it feem to be failing in the open fea ; villages are fcattered along
the edges of the lake, and the mountain of Cette towers beyond, like an
ifland feparated from the continent by a broad channel.
F The
42 JOUKNEY FROM BAYONNE
The walks anJ other embellilhments give the exterior parts of this city
the appearance of a metropolis, but nothing within correfponds with this
idea; for the ftreets are narrow, crooked, and fteep; the houfes, though
fohdiy buik, are plain, and without any ftriking ornaments of architedure.
The number of inhabitants exceeds fixty thouland.
The ftates * of Languedoc aflemble here every winter, and during the
meeting Montpelher is a place of great gaiety ; at other feafons the refort
of foreigners gives it an air of life and activity, which is feldom to be met
with, except in Tea ports. Its climate has long been celebrated for whole-
fomenefs, and incredible numbers of invalids have vifitcd it in hopes of
relief from their complaints, or at leaft of finding an atmofphcre more con-
genial to their delicate frames; but I fufpedl its merits have been over-rated,
for in autumn and winter the winds are continual and very fliarp; at the
fame time the fky is clear, and the rays of the fun powerful ; therefore in
eveiy place fheltered from the north wind, the degree of heat is confiderable,
and perfpiration excited by very moderate exercife : the cutting blaft, which
is felt at every corner, cannot fail of producing pernicious confequences
to a body thus fuddenly expofed with all its pores open. In fummer, the
influence of the marihes muft be felt; indeed the faces of the people that
inhabit the low grounds along the coaft, bear fad teftimony to the pernicious
qualities of their air and foil ; their hue is a difmal green, and agues harafs
them half the year. I have not yet feen a woman in Montpelher with a
fine fet of teeth ; their decay is by fome obfervers attributed to the effluvia
of quickfilver, of which incredible quantities are employed by the furgeons;
others lay the blame upon the vapours of verdigreafe ; but I incline to think
that the proximity of the marfhes is the principal, though not perhaps the
fole caufe.
The college of phyfic has long enjoyed great renown, and boafts of having
taught or enrolled among its members many of the greateft phyficians France
has produced in the late and prefent centuries. Its privileges are extenfive,
* The ftates are compofed of three orders, the church, the nobility, and the commons ;
the firft confifts of three archbifhops and twenty bifhops ; the fecond of one earl, one vifcount,
and twenty-one barons, the third of the deputies of diocefes, and magiftrates of towns. Their
bufmefs is to grant money to the king, to parcel out the contributions, to infpcct the accounts
«f preceding years, and to watch over the privileges of the province.
and
T O M A R S E I L L E S. 4J
and fome of the moft honourable are faid to have been obtained by the
favour of that wanton philofopher Rabelais, for vi'hich reafon his gown is
put on every new fellow by way of inftalment. If the conftant concourfe
of patients, and the beft opportunities for acquiring the knowledge of
fimples, contribute to the increafe of fkill in a medical focicty, no fcliool
feems to have thefe helps in greater perfedlion than Montpcllier ; but of
late years many fick perfons have applied to other fources of health, and
the confumptive Englifh have been induced by fafliion and the temptation of
a milder climate, to breathe out their fmall remains of life on the warm
fhore of Nice.
Botany may be ftudied here with peculiar convenience, as the wafte
lands about the city afford famples of a greater number and variety of plants
than can be found affembled in the fame compafs on any other foil in
Europe. The king's botanical garden was firft planned by Dulaurem, phy-
fician to Henry the IVth ; it is well taken care of, and ftudents are ac-
commodated with every facility for acquiring the knowledge of vegetable*.
The gardener is wont to make an annual vifit to the Pyrenean mountains,
with a band of pupils, to examine the rare plants that grow in thofe elevated
regions, and which are not produced in the plains and hills of Languedoc.
Perfumery, fcented waters, and cordials of various forts are prepared here
with great fkill ; filfe cochineal, and a medicinal conferve, is made with the
kermes, or gallnut of the holm oak ; wax is L'anched in confiderable quan-
tities ; verdigreafe * is the particular manufadlure of this town ; oil f and
corn are fent out of its diocefe in great quantities. It produces fome excel-
lent forts of wine : fuftians, and other cloths complete the lift of its commo?
dities.
* It is made by putting fome quarts of wine in a large earthen jar ; over the liquor are fixed
crofs flicks to bear a layer of raifins 5 over thefe is laid a thin plate of copper ; this is repeated
till the pot is filled ; all air is then excluded for twelve days, by means of a tliick draw cover.
At the expiration of this term the copper plates are taken out, dried gradually in the fhade, and
then the verdigreafe which has been produced upon them is fcraped ofF.
t In December when the olives become black and {hrivcUed, they are beat down upon cleao
cloths, and carted to the mill, where they are thrown into a circular trough, in which a per-
pendicular ftone turns. By the weight of this machine the fruit is cruflied, and kneadeJ to a
pafte, then put into bafkets of matting, with a hole at their top; thefe bafkets are piled up
under a prefs, and boiling vi'ater is poured upon them ; the hot liquid brings out the oil, and car-
ries it away with it into a tub, where the water finks, and the oil is Ikimmed ofF with a ladle.
F 2 LET-
44 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
LETTER XIV.
Montpellier, Nov. 3, 1776.
MONTPELLIER did not exift, when Charlemagne deftroyed Mague-
lonne, a city built in the middle of the lakes, the retreat and bulwark
of the Saracens. The bifhop and his clergy had already taken refuge at
Suftantion, a village about a mile from the hill, where Montpellier was gra-
dually formed into a town, by the concourfe of people that preferred this
lofty fituation to the low country, both on account of fafety, and of health.
From fome holy virgins, who either diredled their choice, or did adually
refide upon the hill, the new fettlement took the name of Mons Puellarum,
the mountain of the maids. Maguelonne was, however, rebuilt in the twelfth
century, but again finally abandoned in 1536, and the epifcopal fee fixed
at Montpellier, w^hich had belonged to the crown of France fince the year
1340.
The people of Montpellier took an aftive part in the rebellions that dillurbed
the reign of Lewis the Thirteenth, and diftinguifhed themfelves by their
attachment to the reformed religion. The king befieged them in perfon,
and having forced them to furrender, erected a ftrong citadel, to curb their
refradtory fpirit, and fecure their obedience to his authority. This fortrefs
has been improved according to the modern fyftem of defence, and has
often been of eminent fervice both to the monarch and the fubjedls, in
preferving internal peace, and keeping at a diftance the calamities attendant
upon civil difcord, which defolated the other di{lri£ls of the province.
The number of Hugonots is ftill great in this neighbourhood, notwith-
ftanding the revocation of the edidt of Nantes: perfecution has not had the
full effedt that was expedled, and the milder arts of toleration begin to be
put in practice ; perhaps indulgence, and the allurements of ambition, may
imperceptibly undermine that well-cemented edifice, which has refilled fo many
open aflaults and furious fhocks from the hands of priefts, and monarchs.
Perfecution is no converter, and mild treatment can alone weaken the im-
preflions of education, and bring men to balance in their minds the weight
of fpiritual opinions againfl that of temporal advantages : when zeal abates,
as
TO MARSEILLES. 45
as it foon will, if no longer animated by perfecution, indifFerence will quickly
Aide into its place, and extinguish even the embers of that once outrageous
fire. It is by thefe means that a long eftablifhed fedt is extirpated. The
fable of the fun, wind, and traveller, is perfeftly applicable in the prcfent cafe,
and I make no doubt but the French miniflry have learned wifdom of their
fabulifts.
From the rapid progrefs made of late years by the fpirit of toleration
and humanity, it is to be prefumed that the torch of fanaticifm will never
more be lighted up in our own country. It is time that the few remaining
profeffors of the old religion of Britain fhould enjoy their obfcure lot in
peace, and as they contribute doubly to the fupport of the Hate, be no
longer excluded from that protedlion which it affords to all other diflenters,
Chriftian, or anti-chriftian. The animofities of ancient parties fhould die
with the families and interefts that gave them birth : the condudl of the
king's Roman Catholic fubje<3:s has been fo long uniformly loyal and peace-
able, their numbers are fo fmall, and their impoflibiiity of giving any dlG-
turbance to government, were they even willing, is fo well acknowledged,
that nothing feems better proved, than the propriety of knocking off the
ignominious fetters with which they are ftill loaded : but in oppofition to
this adl of humanity, it is afferted, that their principles and dodirines ai"e
hoftile to civil and religious liberty. I fliall not enter into an argument
on religious liberty, becaufe, it is certain, that the Roman Catholics will
never have it in their power in Britain to force any man to go to mafj,
and therefore no danger can accrue from their fentiments in abflract matters
of faith. But, furely, it is the height of abfardity to aflirm that religion to
be inimical to liberty, which is profeft by fome of the freeft people in
Europe. There are cantons in Swizzerland,. republics in Italy, and indivi-
duals in Coriica and Poland, as tenacious of their freedom as the moft ftub-
born Briton can be ; yet, they believe in tranfubftantiationy make the fign
of the crofs, and acknowledge the pope to be the head of the church.
Have we forgotten that we owe the ineftimable bleffings of juries to Alfred
who was fubmiffively attached to the papal authority ? How often did n«t
our barons and commons rife in arms, and fight for public liberty, before
they had learned even- to doubt of his infallibility, and furely the men
that drew up Magna Charta were papills. Let England remember, at leaft-,
that
^6 J U R N E y r r. O M B A V O N N E
that licr Roman Catholics are neltlier intruders, nor innovators ; but the
defcendants of her okl inhabitants, of thofe who for ages fought her battles,
and lavished their blood and fortunes in fupport of that glory and freedom,
of which their pofterity is forbid to partake.*
Several of my mornings were devoted to rambles over the adjacent coun-
try ; a hue extent of heath and foreft, afl'ords ample room for the moft
eccentric wanderer, and the want of inclofures leaves almoft every where
free paffage through the vineyards and olive-grounds. The great variety of
plants, and the aromatic fccnts that rofe under my footfteps, with the quick
fucceffion of land and fea profpeds, fhifting as I moved up each hillock,
rendered me infenfible to heat and fatigue. Near Perrol there are fmall
pools of water, impregnated with a ftrong vitriolic tafte, and kept in conftant
ebullition by the fixed air ; they are ufed as baths. Near Saint George's I
ftrayed into a circular valley, exadly fimilar to the crater of a volcano, but
inftead of being covered with puqilc a(hes, and ftrewed with horrid lumps
of black lava, It was overgrown with arbutus, and other beautiful tall flirubs :
pleafant paths have been formed through the thicket by the fliepherds, who
lead their flocks to bronze under this evergreen ihade.
The mountain of St. Loup, and the ruins of the caftle of Monferrand,
feated on its moft ihaggy pinnacle, were the objefts of another excurfion.
St. Loup is efteemed one of the moft elevated points in the front row of the
Cevennes, of which it commands a moft extenfive view. The lower region
is woody and romantic, the upper rocky ; but the light in which it claimed
my attention was the probability, built upon its form, that a volcano had once
exifted at its fummit; a deep circular hollow near a mile in diameter, the
whole of it in tillage, is fhut up to the north by a very high ridge of
rocks, which on the outfide are fo precipitate as to deny all accefs, but on
the infide flope eafily to the bottom of the crater. The wall or cruft towards
the fouth is much lower, and broken in one part; a breach that may be
perceived in every extinft volcano, being the paffage efFeduated by the over-
boiling torrent of lava, through the weaker part of the fhell. The river Lers
burfts out of a cavern at the foot of this mountain, and immediately turns a
* Thefe letters were written long before the 2d ef June, 1780, but I cannot prevail upon
xnyfelf io ftrike out this paffage, though it looks like a fatire upon my country.
2 mill.
TO MARSEILLES. 47
mill. The water is as clear as chryftal, and its bottom entirely covered
with grafs, which the cattle dive for and pluck up by the roots.
LETTER XV.
Nime?, Nov. 5, 1776.
TT U N D, the only place of note on the road to Nimes, is renowned for
Jt J the excellency of its mufcadine wines.
Aiguefmortes appears in the marfhy plain to the right i the alterations
eccafioned by the lapfe of ages in its harbour and neighbourhood, have
furnifhed fubjedl of meditation for many modern philofophers, who have
ftriven to explain the natural hiftory of our planet, and account fyftema-
tically for all its wonderful changes and convulfions. Saint Lewis embarked
at Aiguefmortes, for his expedition againfl the MufFelmen : the communica-
tion was then open from hence to the fea for large veffels ; but the kings of
France, having foon after got pofreffion of Provence, where they were
provided with more convenient ports than this, neglected Aiguefmortes fo
entirely, that its canals filled wi«h fand, and its haven became a fedgy pool :
the number of its citizens decreafed annually from fieknefs, or defertion ;
the few inhabitants, that ftill remain within its walls, are bribed to flay by-
the advantageous privileges which the town enjoys, and by the profits arifing
from the great fait- works of Peuais. The laft event that figures in the annals
of Aiguefmortes, is the landing of the emperor Charles the Fifth, in the
year 1539, and his magnificent reception by his generous rival Francis the
Firft.
Nimes is a large city, built within a femlcircular range of rocky hills ::
violent north-eaft winds blow for many weeks after the. equinox, without
intermiffion, and difpel the unwhoretome vapours, ivhich have been colledted
in this confined atmofphere during the fummer : all is open to the fouth,.
as far as the Mediterranean, which is thought by fome philofophers to have
wafhed the foot of the rocks of Nimes in ancient times ; but this retreat of
the waters mud have taken place long before the Romans had extended their-
48 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
conqueRs to Gaul, as is evident from the obfervations of Pliny : that fagacious
people would undoubtedly have availed themfelves of fuch an advantage as
a harbour, had there exifted one at or near a place which they treated with
diftinguilhed marks of predilection. A colony was fettled here by Marcus
Agrippa, the fon-in-law of Auguftus* : fucceeding emperors took a delight in
embellifhing Nimes with both facred and civil edifices; no place on our fide of
the Alps retains fo many, or fuch perfeil monuments of ancient tafte and mag-
nificence, befides innumerable fragments, which have been made ufe of in
building walls and gates in ages of barbarifm.
The amphitheatre is one of the bell prefervcd works of the kind now
extant ; its form is, as ufual, elliptical : "]" on the outfide are two orders, Tuf-
can and Doric, each of fixty arcades, divided in the firft gallery by pilafters,
in the fecond by columns ; above all is a battlement or parapet, that either
formed the pedeftal of a third order, or crowned the fecond ; perhaps the
building was never raifed higher, for there appear at this height, Avhich is
fixty-eight feet from the ground, projecting ftones, bored through to receive
the poles from which the awning was fufpended over the fpeCtators. Four
gates gave admittance into the area, which is at prefent crowded with houfes.
I was told that upwards of three thoufand perfons dwell within | its walls,
moft of them manufacturers, and profeffing the reformed religion. Above
the houfes, the feats and vomitoria are ftill entire, as are alfo the mafks
* As the coin ftruclc in this colony exhibits a crocodile tied to a palm-tree, and the heads of
Caius and Lucius Csfar, fons of Agrippa, it is probable that the veterans who formed this fettlcment,
were drawn from legions thatJiad ferved in Egypt and Syria, under the command of Agrippa, or
his fons.
t The longeft diameter of the area meafures four hundred and fixteen French feet, the
fhorteft three hundred and eighteen.
The fubftrudtions that fupport the feats and galleries are eighty-feven feet thick, fo that the
whole diameter of the amphitheatre is one way five hundred and ninety, and the other four hundred
and ninety feet.
I have followed the meafurement of Monfieur ClerifTeau, given with the plans and elevations
of the monuments of Nimes, becaufe he is an archite(5l, and either took the meafures himfelf, or
copied them from the papers of the late Comte de Caylus. They do not thoroughly agree with
thofe marked in other books.
J The king has lately (1786) ifllied an cdiiSl for deftroying thefe hovels, clearing out the
area, and putting this noble edifice into proper repair.
and
MARSEILLES.
49
and baffo-relievos that adorned the keyftones of the arches. The amphitheatre
has fufFered lefs from the wear of time than from fire, for Charles Martel is
reported to have fille^ it with faggots, which he caufed to be Hghted, in hopes
of deftroying this foUd building, which being turned into a fortrefs by the
Saracens, had long refilled his alTaults, and coll him numbers of his braveft
foldiers ; but the blocks of Hone were fo maffive, and the work fo firmly put
together, that the flames had fcarce any efFed: upon it, except blackening the
furface.
The temple, ufually afcribed to the worfhip of Diana, fubfifts with half its
ftone roof yet remaining. It is of the compofitc order, but in a heavy ftyle
of archite£ture : the fituation is pi£lurefque, on the brink of a large fpring
ifliiing out of the rock into a femi-circular bafon fifty feet deep ; the waters
are conveyed from hence through a public garden, in various channels,
adorned with balluflrades, vafes, and ftatues : this labyrinth of flreams is faid
to be laid down as nearly as poflible upon the ancient Roman plan. Num-
berlefs fragments of ornamental archite£lure have been found in cleaning the
old canals, and copies of them employed in decorating the modern parapets.
The ftylobate, which probably ferved as a common pedeftal to a line of
columns, has been imitated, and is much admired for the elegance of its run-
ning pattern.
On the fummlt of the craggy hill, that overhangs the city, ftands the Tour
Magne, a pyramidical tower of feveral ftories, to each of which a winding
ftair-eafe afforded accefs. The building contains below one large vaulted room
of an irregular Ihape, with a conical roof ; above it are fix fmall cells, round
at the bottom like a kettle, with apertures only at top, and not communicating
with each other. Antiquaries differ as to the ufe made of this tower, while
fome call it a public treafury, others a granary, a third pronounces it to
have been a light-houfe, and others a maufoleum. The view from hence is
delightful, comprehending the whole city, its almoft boundlefs plains, the
fea, the mountains of Dauphine-, and the ftill more dirtant heights of Provence.
Q LET-
JO J O U -R N E Y F n O M B A Y O N N E
LETTER XVI.
TH E glory of Nimes is the Mailbn Qiiarrec, a barbarous appellation
for one of the moft perfe<ft famples of an ancient temple, that the fury
of barbarous conquerors, or flill more favage zealots, has fpared. It is a temple
of the Corinthian order, with fix columns in each front, and nine on the flanks,
the whole railed upon a bafemcnt ftory, five feet fix inches from the ground.
The columns on the fides, and thofe in the fouth front, adhere to the wall;
thofe in the north front form a pronaos or portico, extending under the roof as
far back as the fourth column ; here is the entrance of the temple, ornamented
with pilafters; the door was formerly the only opening through which light was
admitted, but windows have fince been broken in the fide walls. * The cxa.(X
meafures are given below for the fatisfadtion of artifts : for thofe perfons who
French feet. iii.
* Length of the whole bafement ftory — »_— i ■ io8
Breadth of ditto ■ . 34 3
Length of the temple and portico ■ ■ 8i 6
Breadth of ditto ^— 42 6
Outfide length of the teniplc, with the portico ■ • ■ 53 ^
Outfide breadth of ditto ■ — — 37 9
Infide length of ditto — — — 48 10
Infide breadth of ditto — — — — ■ 32 6
Thicknefs of the walls —— — — 2 10
Diameter of the columns — — 2 8
Diameter of their bafe — — — — 4 O
Intercolumniation of the fides 5 o
Height of columns — — bafe 2 6
fhaft 23 O
capital 3 2
Height of pediment . — — — — — — 14 9
Breadth of the door 1 .. — — 10 2
r 5 4
Intercolumxiiations of the front — — — — — — 4 ^ g
L 4 10
Height of the bafement and ftcps _— _ ^__^ ^ 6
Height of architrave — — ■ 2 3
Ditto of frize — ■ -^— — — . i 9
Ditto of cornice — ■■ ■ —— — — 2 3
are
TO MARSEILLES. 5I
are not converfant in the rules of architedture, it will fuffice to fliy that the
elegance of proportion, the exquifite tafte difplayed in every ornament, the
lightnefs of the whole building, and the harmony with which all the parts
are connecfled. Hand unrivalled by any work of the moft refined art north of
the Alps ; but I do not think it is entitled to rank before every edifice that
ftill perpetuates the glory of ancient architects in Italy, Greece, and Afia,
It is apparent from the holes by which the brazen letters were faftened to
the ftone, that there was once an infcription on the frize, torn down for
the fake of the metal. The words of this infcription had remained a myftery,
never fatisfaftorily explained by any antiquary, when Monfieur Seguier, of
this city, thought of tracing the form of the letters by means of the relation
which the holes bear to each other : the following lines were the refult of this
ingenious procefs.
C.CA.E.S.A.R.I.A.V.G.V.S.T.I.F.C.O.S.L.C.A.E.S.A.
R.r.A.V.G.V.S.T.I. F.C.O.S.D.E.S.I.G.N.A.T.O»
P.R.I.N.C.I.P.V.S. I.V.V.E.N.T.V.T.I.S.
From this difcovery he drew an inference that the temple was eredled in
the reign of Augufl:us, and was not a monument raifed by Adrian to the
memory of Plotina, as moft preceding antiquaries had believed it to be.
Being convinced of the truth of his hypothefis, he fupported it by the fol-
lowing arguments : the Pantheon built by Agrippa fhews us that eveiy thing
beautiful in architecture was to be expeQed from the genius of the artifts of
that age, and the magnificence of the. great men that employed them: the
Maifon Quarree is a moft admirable piece of ftru£ture, and therefore may
with ftriCt propriety be afTigned to that asra ; the names both of Agrippa and
of his fons were probably held in high veneration by a colony to whofe fettle-
ment and profperity that general had contributed fo effcntially ; nor could the
Nemaufenfes pay their court more eSedtually to the emperor, than by honour-
ing as divinities thofe youths whom he looked upon as the pillars of his
imperial houfe ; but from the total qhange of interefts and affedtions in the
fucceeding reigns, it would have been the height of imprudence afterwards
to have paid this homage to Caius and Lucius Csefar ; and for that reafon,
the infcription being explained as above, the temple could not be dedicated
later than the- time of Auguftus.-^-'"^ "*^^'^ ''^ '"
• .'^G ■ 2 h^loqqtii a Thefd
53 J O U R N r Y FROM B A Y O N N E
Thefc are plaufible arguments, but in my opinion, there are others to be
deduced from internal evidence, that completely overthrow them. By the
comparifon which I draw between tliis building and the undoubted monu-
ments of the Auguftan age, I am fully perfuaded that they are not coeval, but
that the fpace of, at leaft, a century intervened between the different epochas
of their eredlion. In the Maifon Quarree I perceive a profufion and minute-
nefs of ornaments not to be found in the more fimple archltedture of the
Auguftan times ; there is alfo a great variation in the proportions. Tlae
explanation of the dedicatory infcription given by Monfieur Seguier, would
have had more weight with me, had I not feen clearly that the difpofitlon of
the holes was not always uniform upon a repetition of the fame letter ; and
that there were alfo feveral fupernumerary ones, of which he made no ufe
in placing his letters : he accounted for this redundancy by fuppofing them
to be what painters call penUment'i ^ or miftakes which the workmen afterwards
redtify by cutting others. The infide of this elegant ftrufture has been re-
paired in a bad tafte, in order to accommodate it to the purpofes of the
Chriftian worfhip ; the Auguftinian friars are the prefent pofleffors ; and
this adoption has preferved fo valuable a relick of antiquity from the ruin
which has overwhelmed fo many magnificent edifices.
Monfieur Seguier embraces almoft every branch of the polite arts as well
as of natural hiftory, and by his extenfive acquirements in fcience, comes
near the idea of univerfal knowledge ; with thefe merits he unites the moft
imaffeded polltenefs and pleafing communicativenefs. We experienced this
amiable difpofitlon during a long ftay in his Mufa^um, which contains many
fine affortments in natural hiftory : the moft complete and fingular, is a col-
ledion of plants and fifties impreffed upon a black, flaty, fofiile fubftance.
LETTER XVII.
WHILE the Roman government retained its vigour, Nimes continued
to flourifti as one of its moft favoured tranfalpine fettlements : the
Antonines, whofe family is fuppofed to have belonged to this colony, patron-
ized
M A R s i: I
S3
ized It in a dlftlngulfhed manner; but when Rome fank beneath the
weight of thofe torrents of barbarians that poured upon her from the forefls
of the North, Nimes was one of the firfl cities that felt the fatal effects
of her debility ; its riches aHured each rapacious invader, and repeated devafta-
tions foon laid its glories in the duft. Nimes had fuffcred fo much when
the Vifigoths obtained pofTeflion of this part of Gaul, that they gave the
preference to Touloufe for the refidence of their monarchs : they converted
Nimes into a frontier garrifon, built towers upon the amphitheatre, and,
overturning mofl other monuments of elegant tafte, employed their fragments
as materials of defence, without paying the leaft attention to their beauty.
The amphitheatre thus metamorphofed flood feveral fieges, each of which
contributed fomething towards disfiguring it. Under the Carlovingian kings,
vifcounts were appointed to keep the country in due fubjedion, but they foon
took advantage of the decline of that royal houfe, to afllime independence :
from them the fovereignty of Nimes paffed to the earls of Touloufe, and
followed the fate of their other dominions.
The reform of Calvin was early introduced into this city, where it flruck
deep and vigorous root ; the Hugonots lived here in a manner independent
of the regal authority, till Cardinal de Richelieu fubdued them. A very large
proportion of the Nimois, and of their immediate neighbours, flill profefs the
proteftant religion ; to which they and their forefathers have adhered up-
wards of two hundred years with unremitting zeal, in fpite of all the efforts
of priefts and monarchs. In the general wars of religion, they bore an adlive
part, and alfo frequently rofe up againft government, when the reft of France
was in profound peace.
The troubles of the Cevennes in the beginning of this century filled this
part of Languedoc with bloodfhed and defolation. The proteftants, whofe
imaginations were exalted to a degree of frenzy by the preaching of their pro-
phets, and the fenfe of their own diftrefsful fituation, made no fcruple of cxer-
cifing the mofl fhocking barbarities upon their enemies and perfecutors : on the
other hand, the king's officers and foldiers retaliated thefe outrages, not only
upon the Hugonots taken in arms, but alfo upon the whole body of peaceable
inhabitants profeffing that dodrine. A difpaffionate reader of fuch narratives
is apt to accufe the hiftorians of each party of monftrous exaggeration, hu-
manely thinking that favage beafls alone are capable of perpetrating fuch
deeds of blood.
But
54 JOURTTEYFROMBAYONNE
But the crimes of that war lofe their blacknefs, if compared with the cruelties
of the Mlchdade in 1567, when the Calvinifls fuddenly took up arms at Nimes,
and made a general mafTacre of the catholics. This atrocious fa£l has been
alleged in alleviation of the Saint Barthelcmi, which happened five years after-
wards ; but there can be no juft parallel drawn between the fudden though
outrageous fanaticifm that feiied the Nimois, and led them to cut the throiitJi
and deftroy the property of their fellow citizens, and the cool, premeditated
plan of Charles the Ninth, founded upon the bafeft treachery and hypo-
crifv, under the fan£tion of oaths and ficraments.
After the revolt of the Cevennes was quelled in 1705, this province was
fuffered to enjoy fome repofe, but proteftant conventicles and preachers obtained
no further degree of toleration : marriages contra<Sted between proteftants con-
tinued to be deemed illegal and invalid ; their meetings, though held in the
moft retired parts of the country, were difturbed by attacks from the civil and
military power, and many of their minifters yearly hurried to the gallies. Of
late years a greater latitude of indulgence has been given ; the troops afFedl to
miftake the place of rendezvous, or previous notice is fent to the aflembly.
The benevolent fpirit of Lewis the Sixteenth will probably incline him to pafs
fome law, by which their marriages may be rendered legal, and the birthrights
of citizens be extended to their offspring.
The diocefe of Nimes is extremely fertile in corn, wine, oil, and other valua-
ble produftions. The inhabitants.of the epifcopal city, in number above forty
thoufand, apply with great induftry to commerce, efpecially that of filk : their
manufactures would flourifh flill more, could they be freed from numberlefs
duties and oppreffive monopolies, which at prefent harafs the trader, and
check the fpirit of enterprize. Catherine of Medicis is faid to have introduced
filk-worms into France ; but the firft eftablifhment of a filk manufafture ^\i-
pears to date no higher than the reign of Henry the Fourth, or his fon Lewis
the Thirteenth.
L E T-
TO MARSEILLES. ^^
LETTER XVIII.
Nimes.
WE are juft returned from an excurfion to Aries, where the beauties of
fituation, and numerous remains of antiquity, made us ample amends
for our fatigues. We travelled part of the way in a rich plain, where a
great number of fowlers were ftationed, turning fmall mirrors in order to
dazzle the larks, and draw them down within reach of their guns. A range of
gravelly hills then intervened between this flat country and the boundlefs levels
that line the courfe of the Rhone. We ferried over a branch of this river into
the ifland of the Camargue,* and then pafled by a bridge of boats into Aries,
which rifes nobly from the water edge up a gentle acclivity. Its circumference
is not great, nor the prefent population numerous; the appearance it now makes
is widely different from what it was, when Conftantine the Great, and after
him his fons honoured it with their prefence. Then theatres, palaces, and am-
phitheatres were raifed on every fide, to receive and entertain thefe mighty
guefts, and Aries became the center of government, the rival of Marfeilles in
the trade of Italy : thither the inhabitants of the northern diftridts came to
purchafe the gaudy fuperfluities of luxury, and from thence carried back into
their forefts, new wants and the vices of more refined nations. The urbanity
which a fplendid court is wont to difflife around the place of its refidence,
polifhed the manners of the Arelatians to a fuperior degree above the citizens
of other towns ; and if I may credit the report of travellers, who have re-
mained there long enough to form acquaintances, this fottncfs of manners, and
eafe of behaviour, are ftlll perceptible in the focieties of its nobility ; holding
a pleafmg medium betwixt the formality of the long robe, that leads the fafliion
at Aix, and the familiarity, which at Marfeilles is acquired by hal)its of traffick.
The glory of Aries faded with that of Rome ; and from the day that
Honorius fubmitted to the dictates of the barbarian powers, this city became
involved in continual difquietudes and diftrefles ; befieged, plundered, depo-
*The Camargue is an ifland eighteen miles in length, formed by two branches of the Rhone.
It is extremely fertile, and feeds an incredible number of horfes and cattle wliich are almoft wild;
The horfes are active and hardy, but unruly and ugly.
4 pulated.
$6 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
pulated, by every paffing fwarm of conquerors, it fell to ruin, commerce
fled from its deferted wharfs to feek profperity in other ports; the canals
that were wont to beftow fertility upon its fun-burnt plains, and to convey
their rich produdions to a ready fale, were left without repairs or fupport,
and foon choaked up with fand, forming heads to numberlefs torpid pools,
the ncfts of infection and difeafe.*
Aries thus abandoned to mifery, languiflied many centuries, but even at
its moll difiiftrous period, while its ruined edifices were yet reeking with
the fire which the Saracens had kindled, Bofon, the brother-in-law of Charles
the Bald, chofe it for the capital of a kingdom which he had eredled out
of many ufurped provinces. After paffing through two families, this title
devolved upon the imperial houfe of Swabia, a great but unfortunate race of
princes, that failed in the year 1268. Long before this epocha their power in
Provence had been reduced to an empty name ; for on one hand the earls of
Provence had ufurped whatever territory lay convenient for them ; and on the
other, feveral of the moft powerful cities had, in imitation of thofe of Lombardy,
caft off the yoke, and formed themfelves into republics. The people of Aries
afferted their independence about the year 1220, and chofe annual podeftats
to govern them. — At the end of thirty years this infant and ill-eflabliflied
commonwealth was obliged to fubmit to the authority of Charles, the firft
earl of Provence, of the houfe of Anjou, too formidable an antagonifl to be
refilled with any reafonable hopes of fuccefs. The kings of France fucceeded
in later times to the rights of the earls of Provence ; and the emperor
Charles the Fourth made over to his nephew Charles the Fifth, king of
France, all the claims he might have upon Aries and its territory.
The ftreets of this city are narrow, but the houfes in general are well"
built ; it abounds in rich clergy and poor nobility ; trade feems at a low ebb.
In the fame fquare with the cathedral and the archiepifcopal palace, flands
the town-hall, a fhewy infulated building ; its ftaircafe is ornamented with
pieces of antique fculpture and the call of a female figure, which was dug up
here in the laft century, and furniflied matter for many differtations, tending
to afcertain the divinity it was meant to reprefent ; the flatue was fent to
* Since the French monarchs have poffefled Provence, thefe evils have been in fome meafure
remedied ; but there are yet many paxts of the environs of Aries that are exceedingly feverifh
and unwholefome in fummcr.
Ver^
TO MARSEILLES. 57
Vcrfailles, where Girardon the fculptor made a Venus of it. A votive altar
infcribed to the Bona Dea by her pricftefs, is remarkable for an oaken crown,
that furrounds the infcription, and two human ears with ear-rings. The apart-
ments are noble ; in one is a fine portrait of Cardinal de Richelieu.
Many infcriptions are alfo preferved at the archbifhop's, and before his
gate Hand a mutilated column, and an Egyptian obeliik of grey granite, with-
out hieroglyphics ; it is forty-feven French feet high, on a bafe raifed feven
feet from the ground, and is fuppofed to have been brought from Egypt
about the year 354, when Conftantius celebrated the Circenfian games at
Aries with great magnificence. It lay buried in rubbifli many ages, till a
reviving tafte for the arts brought it out of its obfcurity in the fixteenth
century, but it was not raifed till the year 1676, when it was placed upon a
pedeftal with great ceremony, and loaded with a moft flattering infcription in
honour of the king.
In the herb-market tM'^o pillars, the remains of a portico, yet fupport the
angle ftones of a Corinthian frize much broken ; by the help of holes cut
upon it, Monfieur Seguier has difcovered that the building was eretfled
in the time of the firft Chriftian emperor. The only remnants of the theatre
are two compofite columns belonging to the fide of the ftage.
The amphitheatre is of a fmaller dimenfion than that of Nimes, but, like
it, is disfigured by the miferable dwellings of the poor : it never was finilhed,
the work having probably been interrupted by the prohibition iflued againft
gladiatorial fhews foon after Chriftianity afcended the throne of the Crcfars.
Through a ftrong attachment to thofe fanguinary entertainments tranfmitted
from father to fon fince Provence belonged to the Romans, or at leaft, fince it
was fubject to the kings of Aragon, the people of Aries retained the tafte for
bull-feafts down to the prefent age ; wild bulls were frequently driven from
the Camargue, and combats exhibited in the ancient amphitheatre before a
vaft concourfe of fpedlators, who were agitated by the fame fierce emotions,
and exprefled them with the fame frantic acclamations, that refounded in the
fliews of ancient Rome, and are ftill to be heard in the bull-feafts of Spain.
The frequent lofs of human lives induced government to abolilli thefe favage
fports at Aries.
This amphitheatre confifts of two orders or ftories of arcades, divided below
by Tufcan pilafters, above by columns, of which the order cannot be dif-
H covered.
^8 JOURNKY FROM EAYONNE
covered, as their upper part is wanting : all the fhafts arc lefs imperfedt at the
fame height, and the fixty arches of this ftory remain without any flone work
above them, which proves beyond a doubt that the building w^as never
finidicd. There is no trace of feats, podium, or other interior works neceifary
for an edifice of this kind ; it is placed on an eminence, and the architedl
has excavated the hill in fuch a manner as to form a fubterraneous or bafe-
ment floor, by means of vaft galleries, halls, and I'ecelfes, which are either
cut in the rock, or built with fquare ftone. The entrance into this dark
labyrinth is in the fide of the hill : it is not eafy to give a rational guefs at
the ufe of thefe vaults, which have no communication with the upper (lories ;
they probably were intended for magazines and cellars.
Without the walls of the city is a rocky hill called the Elifcamps, almoft
wholly covered with flone coffins, in fome of which were depofited the afhes
of pagans, in others the bodies of Chriflians: the adjoining church belonging
to the Minimes, is full of ancient farcophagi, funeral infcriptions, and figures :
one fmall maufoleum remains on the hill, with fome of its colombaria or
niches, wherein the urns were placed, yet entire. In the midfl of the ceme-
tery, an obelifk marks the grave of four conluls of Aries, vidlims to the
plague of 1720, which from Marfeilles fpread its deflrudive contagion,
though not with equal fatality, along the coall of the Mediterranean, and
into the inland diflricSts of Provence.
We were delighted with the drefs of the women we met returning from
market ; it reminded us of the airy garments upon the dancing nymphs of
Herculaneum. Thefe peafant girls wear light, open mantles, loofely flowing to
their knees, over a fliort petticoat, that dif covers their taper legs and filk ftock-
ings ; bracelets of gold beads adorn their wrifls ; a filk handkerchief con-
fines part of their jet black locks, without hiding their keen eyes and ani-
mated countenances : this eafy habit fuits admirably with the elegance of their
form and the fupplenefs of their limbs.
L E T-
MARSEILLES. 59
LETTER XIX.
Avignon, Nov. 10.
REMOULINS is the firft port from Nimes, and near it the river Gar-
don has worn itfelf a deep bed in the heart of a wild, mountainous
country ; the fides of the dell through which it flows are joined together by
a bridge of three rows of arches, one above another, built by the Romans to
fupport an aquedudl that conveyed the waters of two fprings from Ufez to
Nimes. Many fragments of this aqueduct, which was above fcventeen miles
long, are ftill (landing in various parts of the hills. The above-mentioned
bridge, Lnown by the name of the Pont du Gard, is entire. The loweft ftage
or order refts upon the rock, and contains fix arches, to which a collateral
bridge was added in the year 1747, wide enough for carriages. The fecond
row is compofed of eleven arches, fix of which are pei^pendicular to thofe of
the firft ; a confiderable part of the piers of this middle order had been
fcooped out to afford a paffage for horfemen, but when the bridge below was
doubled, this way was built up. The uppermoft range confifts of thirty-five
arches, and above it is the channel for the water covered with large flags.*
The only infcription yet difcovered confifts of the four letters A. M. A.
which have occafioned a great variety of opinions and explanations among
* Meafures. Loweft Row.
Diameter of the arches 58 French feet ; the middle one, under
pillars 18 which the river paffcs, is 70 wide.
Height 83
Height of parapet 8
Middle Row
Diameter of the arches 56
of the pillars 15
Height 67
Height of the parapet 6| ^
Uppermoft Row
Diameter of the arches 17
pillars s\
Height 32
Height of the channel for water 3^
H 2 the
6o JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
the learned. * Some attribute the work to Agrippa ; others to Adrian, and
others to the Antoniiics: it certainly docs not belong to a later period, for its
folidity, juftnefs of proportion, and fimplicity of ftyle, are too ftriking to
leave a fuipicion in our minds that it could be defigned or built by the
artifts of fubfequent ages. While I contemplated this ftupendous pile,
ftretching fublimely from rock to rock acrofs the valley, and the broad ftream of
the Garden rolling with eal'e through its wide arches, I felt my mind rtrongly
imprefled with veneration for thofe extraordinary men, who had the fpirit to
plan, and the force to rear fuch coloflal monuments of their art. No diffi-
culties could difmay them, none could occur that were not removed by
their perfevering efforts ; the life of a Roman foldier was fpent in continual
toils ; his vi(florious hands, that had bowed the ftubborn barbarian to the
yoke, were afterwards employed in fecuring the tranquillity and obedience
of the conquered province, by raifing ftupendous mounds and fortiiications,
or in procuring wiih incredible pains the conveniencies and luxuries of life
for the fettlements eftablifhed within them : fcarce is there a corner of the
world, which was known to the ancients, where the traveller does not to this
day, meet with ftately memorials of their indefatigable and elevated genius.
Soon after quitting the vale of the Gardon we reached the top of the hills,
from which we overlooked the whole Comtat Venaiffin, and the city of
Avignon. The Rhone itfelf is fo broad and majeftic a ftream, that it fuffices
alone to give dignity to a landfcape ; the awfulnefs of an immenfe plain
terminated by the blue mountains of Dauphine, excites fublime ideas, and
rivets the attention upon the general effedt of fo vaft a fcene, without
fufFering it to wander, and wafte itfelf on minuter lights flowing from the
various objedls that compofe it.
A grand monaftery of Benedidine monks at Villeneuve commands a nearer
view of the river and city. At every ftep we advanced as we defcended the
hill, new beauties of profped difplayed themfelves, till at laft we reached the
banks of the Rhone, where a venerable old tower nods over the moft rapid
of currents.
* Not one of the applications that I have feen agrees with thefe initials ; thofe who read the
name of j^lius Adrianus in them did not know that Adrian is always written on his medals
with an H. Perhaps it may be decyphered tlius, Jqnedudum Mdlficabat Agrippa^
Here
O M
R S E 1 I> L E S. 6 1
Here once was fixed the extremity of the bridge of Avignon, begun in the
year 1 1 77 at the foUcitation of Benezet, a young fhepherd, who pretended
a miffion from heaven for colle£ling alms towards building a bridge acrofs the
Rhone. The legend fays that he enforced his preaching by miracles, and
raifed fuch a fum as proved fufficient not only to complete that undertaking,
but alfo to endow a hofpital, and create a fund for the future repairs of the
bridge. Whatever we may think of the miracles of this young archite£l, the
chronicles of Avignon atteft the reality of his exiftence : perhaps the artful
magiftrates, feeing the neceffity of a bridge, and confcious of their own inabi-
lity to erecb one, brought forward this pious artifice to captivate the benevo-
lence, and excite the generofity of a devout and unenlightened age. This
bridge was the boaft of the country, but the Rhone has long torn down and
buried in its whirlpools the greater part of it ; at prefent a perilous ferry
affords the only accefs from the weftern fhore.
LETTER XX.
Avignon.
AVIGNON is about three miles and two furlongs in circumference,
furrounded by handfome battlemented walls and turrets, not unlike thofe
of Rome; its ditches are fhaded by pleafant avenues of elms. The number of
inhabitants is not proportioned to the extent, for it amounts only to thirty
thoufand fouls, of which above a thoufand are ecclefiaftics, and fome hundreds
Jews. From the oppofite hills this city feems a foreft of fteeples, the bells of
which are never at reft ; by day and night fcarce a minute can be counted
undifturbed by fome bell or other, either roufing the monks and nuns to their
duty in the choir, or giving the more w^elcome fummons to their repafts j
this incefiant tinkling made Rabelais call it the IJle fonnante^ an appellation I
felt all the force of during every night of our ftay. One of thefe bells is
of filver, and rung upon no occafion but the death of the Pope. Clergymen
and friars fwarm in the ftreets, as may well be expedled in this little Rome, but
they have not brought with them the Roman tafte in building and decorating
either their own abodes, or the temples of the divinity. The ftreets are nar-
4 row
62 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
row and dirty, as muft needs be the cafe, where all manner of filth is
emptied out of the windows : the difmal lanes, in which the Jews are ftyed,
are abfolute finks of naftinefs and infection : nothing lefs than the fierce and
fteady winds that predominate here for many weeks at a time, could purify
fo fetid an atmofphere, and preferve the town from plagues, and epidemical
difeafes.
The public edifices are large, folid, and' as grand as the tafte of the age
could make them, for moft of them were built in the fourteenth century,
while the Popes refided here ; they occupy the moft elevated point within
the walls ; the cathedral is fmall and dull, offering nothing to the curiofity of
the traveller, fave a filver altar, many coftly veftments, and the tombs of Pope
John the Twenty-fecond, and Bcnedid: the Twelfth *. The church of the
Cordeliers is noted for the boldnefs and loftinefs of its roof, but much more
for the tomb of Petrarch's Laura, who during her life, and after her deceafe,
received the tribute of his mufe in more copious numbers than were ever in-
fpired by any ancient or modern fair one : he fang her charms, and his love,
in four hundred fongs or fonnets. Petrarch is claflcd by the Italians in the
firft rank of poets, rather on account of the purity of his language, and the
terfe propriety of his expreffion, than either the originality and nre of his
imagination, or the variety of his ideas : fo greatly do his merits depend upon
the manner in which he has clothed his thoughts, that it requires great habit
of the Italian tongue to feel their A-alue, and therefore few foreigners can tafte
his beauties in the original, or admire him when tranflated. Laura and her
hufband, Hugh de Sade, reft in an obfcure corner of the church, under a mo-
nument diftinguifhed only by an obliterated fcroll, and a mullet, which was
the arms of the family. Francis the Firft, himfelf a poet and a paffionate ad-
mirer of the fair fex, caufed the tomb to be opened in his prefence, and hav-
ing read the verfes Petrarch had depofited with the remains of his adored
miftrefs, clofed down the lid, and infcrlbed it with fome lines of his own
compofition. Another gallant and rhyming monarch, Rene of Anjou, has
left many produ£tlons of his at Avignon, both in poetry and painting, but
they are more curious on account of their fingularity, than of their excellence.
* John the Twenty-fecond began his reign in 1316, died in 1334. Benedidt the Twelfth
was eledcd 1334, died 1342.
The
TO MARSEILLES. 6;^
The Romans made this one of their ftatlons ; from the deftrudion of their
empire to the fourteenth century, Avignon experienced numberlefs viciffitudes
of fortune, and changes of mafters, in common with the reft of the country.
In the year 1348 Joan queen of Naples, and countefs of Provence, being
driven out of Italy, and unable to recover her Neapolitan crown through want
of money, fold, or mortgaged this city to the Pope for eighty thoufand florins
of gold, not thirty thoufand pounds fterling. The fovcreign pontiffs fixed
their feat here during a period of feventy-two years, and from hence ruled
Europe with defpotic fway, though at the fame time they were mocked, and
rejedled by the fadious people of Rome, and durft not truft their perfons
within the walls of their own capital. Gregory the Eleventh, in 1377,
yielded to the perfuafions of S. Catherina of Sienna, and the folicitations
of the penitent Romans, and furmounting both his fear and refentment, eila-
blifhed once more the pontifical refidence at the Vatican. Since that time
this territory has been governed by Legats, or Vicelegats. The Comtat
Venaiffin had belonged to the Pope fince 1273, being a gift of Philip the
Hardy, king of France.
The vices of an ecclefiailical government, always flu£tuating and ephemeral,
operate even at this diftance to the difcouragement of induftry, trade, and
population : the inhabitants fcattered over the face of one of the richeft plains
in the univerfe, are not fufficiently numerous to cultivate it tlioroughly ;
trade is not carried on with that emulation and activity, which ought to be
infpired by the proximity of fo noble a river, and fo happy a fituation, in the
center of a fertile countiy, and upon the great roads of communication be-
tween the Mediterranean and the capital of France. Smuggling indeed is
purfued in a very fpirited manner with the adjacent provinces, but whether
to the real advantage of the Comtat or not, is hard to determine : it either
encourages idlenefs, or diverts the attention of the atlive part of the com-
munity from labours that would redound more to their own happinefs, and
the welfare of the ftate. But can it be expedled that an Italian prelate and
his crew of fubaltern priefts, fliould feel themfelves fufficiently interefted in
the profperity of a country, where their power is fliort lived, and which
they always confider as foreign to them, to meditate, much lefs to execute
projects for its amelioration ?
Tliefe
(>4 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
Tliele and other reafons have led many fpeculators in pohtics to think, that
the people of the Comtat would be great gainers, were the king of France to
fet afidc the deed of fale by queen Joan, and incorporate it unalienably with
the reft of his kingdom. I am clearly of another opinion ; for what would
the people gain ? More neighbours to fill their plains and increafe their cul-
ture — greater crowds on their roads, and clamour on their wharfs — more
buftle in their flreets, and more adtivity in their hufbandry — fome of their
flimilies would be illuftrated by dignities and titles, and fome enormous for-
tunes raifed by trade, or the handling of the public revenue : — But with all
thefe benefits, allowing them their higheft value, muft they not receive a
fvvarm of devouring locufts, an army of tax-gatherers and monopolifers ? Muft
not their taxes be prodigioufly augmented, their fait, their tobacco, raifed
to fuch a price as to exclude the poorer clafs of citizens from a dally enjoy-
ment of them ? Muft they not fubmit to the peremptory fway of intendants,
fubdelegates, military governors, and a long train of oppreffive minifters,
inftead of the drowfy, but mild adminiftration of their prefent mafters, who
want the power, if not the will, of raifmg more than the ftipulated contribu-
tions ? The inhabitants are too few for the extent of country, are indolent,
and do not make the moft of the riches nature prefents on every fide : I
grant it, but they are already entitled to all the privileges of Frenchmen, if
they choofe to claim them, and at the fame time they enjoy almoft the inde-
pendence of republicans. The firft neceffaries, and many of the fuperfluities
of life, are cheap here ; impofitions are few and light ; the hufbandman is
not dragged from his plough to garrifon unwholefome fortreffes, or pine in the
cold and wet, to guard a coaft againft invaders : no diftridls are here referved
for the diverfion of their fovereign, nor are their harvefts devoured before
'their eyes by myriads of ufelefs animals, which it is a capital offence to de-
ftroy, or even to moleft. Then where iliall I find a fet of men that polTefs
fuch means of happinefs as the cultivators of this delicious plain ?
LET-
T O M A R S E I L L E S. 65
LETTER XXI.
Avignon.
HO W many times and how ardently have I not longed for a fight of
Vauclufe ; how many times have I not lamented that I had pafTed
repeatedly through France, without extending my journey as far as the banks
of the Sourgue, and the heavenly fields celebrated by Petrarch !
I have feen Vauclufe, and am difappointed. A huge cavern yawning at
the foot of a perpendicular wall of bare rocks, and a large body of water iffu-
ing through the chinks of the flone, from an unfathomable pool that fills the
cave, are undoubtedly bold, horrid features of nature; but I have feen the like
in many mountainous countries in much greater perfedion : here is not a
fmgle tree, not a bufli to enliven the dull uniformity of the cliff, nor any
lofty barrier of rock, over which the fi:ream may rufli in gi-and cafcades ; the
landfcape is dreary and frightful, without romantic beauty. From the ruins
called Petrarch's Villa, the view extends over a fine country, but that imme-
diately under the eye is not agreeable, though watered by the Sourgue
meandering through the meadows. Vauclufe itfelf has not indeed anfwered
my too fanguine expectations ; but it is not fo with the delightful vale I
traverfed before I reached this head of the Sourgue. A fhady avenue of elms,
poplars, and mulberry trees, led me infenfibly from the gates of Avignon into
the heart of a moft fertile garden, for I can give no other name to a vafl:
trad of level ground, where innumerable canals of the moft limpid water
impart a due degree of moifture to thoufands of inclofures, covered with
the greateft variety of produdions ; artificial and natural graffes, pulfe,
fruits, and corn are fo intermingled, as to compofe a lively many-coloured
parterre : a chain of hills covered with vines, and crowned with tufts of
trees, ferv^e as the border to this rich expanfe. I have alfo vifitcd Orange,
once the capital of a fovereign principality poffeffed by the families of Baux,
Chalons, and Lift of Naffau : at prefent it is reunited to the royal domain.
While France direded all its efforts towards the deftrudion of the Spanifh
power, the Stadtholders of Holland were maintained in their poffeffion of
this little ftate ; but as foon as William the Third declared himfelf the oppofer
J and
^6 JOURNEY FROM DAYONNE
and enemy of Lewis the Fourteenth, that monarch confifcated the principality
of Orange ; each fuhfcquent peace ftipulated its reflitution ; but at laft, on the
death of the king of England in 1702, Orange was declared to have efcheated
to the crown of France. This forced fubmiflion, and the demolition of the
protcftant churches, caufed a rapid emigration, and foon reduced the city
to a ftate of poverty and folitude. Orange was a poft of confequcnce under
the Romans, who called it Colonia Secundanorum, and ereQed many fump*
tuous edifices for the ufe and entertainment of its inhabitants: part of them
are ftill to be feen. The principal monuments are, ift. A triumphal arch of
the Corinthian order, now menacing ruin, the pillars that have been built to
fupport it being too weak for the piirpofc : it is decorated with trophies of
various kinds, compofed of mafts, fails, and prows of gallies, fhields, coats
of mail, helmets, and weapons : on the fhields are infcriptions not fatisfadtorily
decyphered by the learned. On one is mario, on another sacrovir, a third
has avod, and a fourth dacvdo, mofl likely the names of foldiers or archi-
tects. The antiquarians of the country infill upon it that this monument
tvas deftined to commemorate the fignal vidtory obtained by Caius Marius in
the 61 ft year of Rome, over the joint armies of the Gimbri and Teutones ;
they found their arguments upon the word Mario engraved on the fhield,
and the head of a female figure reprefented looking out of a window, whom
they take to be Martha the Syrian prophetefs, that accompanied Marius in
his Gallic expedition : but there feems to be little reafon for a trophy being
eredled at Orange on account of a victory gained near Aix ; befides, the naval
ornaments, and the tritons at the corners, point out a combat at fea, or upon
the Rhone. — Other writers conjedture that it was raifed upon the defeat of
the AUobroges, twenty years before. This arch is fixty feet in front, and
profufely covered with fculpture, but the workmanfhip is not delicate, nor the
defign agreeable ; the ftyle belongs to the age of Adrian and the Antonines.
In that of Marius, and the conquerors of the AUobroges, archltedure was
in a rude ftate at Rome, and a monument eredted by them would have been
as plain and modeft as this is overcharged with ornaments and oftentatlous.
But Rome had not then deviated fo much from the auftere fimplicity of her
republican principles, as to fuffer her generals to ered trophies of their
vidories. 2d. The ruins of a theatre vulgarly called Le Cirque. This build-
ing conveys a better idea of an antique theatre, and explains more clearly
its
TO MARSEILLES. 6/
its forms and diftribution than any remains now extant; ; for in all, except
thofe of the theatre at Tuormina, the fcena is wanting. Here it is infinitely
more perfect than in Sicily, and confifts of two walls thirteen feet afunder ; the
outcrmoft is of the ftupendous height of one hundred and fifteen feet, being
three hundred and thirty in length, covered in its whole extent by a broad
coping ; the mafonry is regular, and unimpaired. Below the coping or cor-
nice is a row of projedling ftones, bored through for the reception of tent
poles, to hold the awning over the fpe£tators. Next is a cordon, and at an
equal diftance beneath, another line of ftones that feem intended to fupport
the joifts of a floor : under them is a range of twenty-one falfe arches, the
center one of which exceeds the reft in height. Below is a third ftring of
toothings, and then, refting on the ground, an arcade of feventeen arches or
doors, at different intervals, and various elevations ; the middle one is much
higher and wider than the others. Within this vaft line of building, a fecond
wall rifes to the height of the cornice, that covers the falfe arches ; the middle
part of it is indented in a femicircular form, and was probably the pulpitum^ or
part of the ftage principally devoted to the adlion, as two narrow fide doors
give admittance into it from the galleries, that filled up the fpace between the
walls. This interior wall is joined at each end to a large fquare tower
advancing into the orchejlra or pit, as far as the extremity of the benches, which
may yet be traced in a vaft femicircle on the declivity of the hill, to a height
equal with that of the front wall ; they were all fo contrived as to afford the
fpedator a complete view of the ftage from every part of the femicircle.
The company entered by great gates on each fide between the benches and the
towers ; the a£lors and workmen were admitted through the center door, which
anfwered to a hall under the ftage, and through four fmaller doors, that
opened into the lateral towers. The remaining twelve openings in the outer
wall ferved as entrances into magazines. This lofty pile crofTes at right angles
a fmall oblong pkiln, even yet unincumbered with buildings ; it has all the
appearance of having been the ftadium or field, where the Circenfian games
were exhibited ; many parts of the wall, fuch as imperfedt arches, interrupted
cornices, and toothings, indicate that there were galleries, and feats affixed to
it for the purpofe of beholding the races and other entertainments. The wall
thus ferved a double purpofe, and while it backed the fcena of the theati-e, was
employed alfo in fupporting fcaffclds for the fl^ews of the Circus : it does not
I 2 f^^em
6S JOURNEY FROM BAYOKNE
feem natural that this majeftlc ruin fhould have acquired tlie uncommon
name of a circus, had it never been any thing but a theatre, and therefore I
am of opinion that the name has been handed down from the time of the
Romans by a regular tradition.
The veftiges of an amphitheatre, part of an aqueduift, fome mofalcs, and
a few infcriptions, complete the lift of antiquities of Orange.
LETTER XXII.
Marfeilles, Nov, 14.
FROM Avignon we crofTed a marfliy country and the river Dufance
to St. Remy, a town built about a mile from the ruins of Glanum
Livii. I was not able, during our fhort ftay, to difcover any other veftiges of
the city than the two pieces of antiquity which had induced us to quit the pofl:
road ; one is a maufoleum, the other a triumphal arch ; they ftand a few
yards diftant from each other, but it does not appear to me that there ever was
any connection between them, as is pretended by fome authors, who think
that they were ere£led by the fame perfons, and in the Auguftan age. In
my opinion they were built at very different periods of the art, the fculpture
and architedlure of the arch being much more chafte and perfect than thofe
of the maufoleum ; the latter is compofed of a pedeftal, ornamented in baffo
relievo with combats of cavalry and infantr)'', over which hangs a net full
of fifhes, and borne up by genii and mafks ; at each angle is placed an Ionic
pilafter ; this pedeftal fuftains a fquare mafs, pierced through with an arch
in each front, flanked by Corinthian columns ; the architrave is charged with
this infcription :
SEXLMIVLIEICFPARENTIBVSSVIS.
Sextus, Lucius, and Marcus, fons of Caius Julieius, eroded this to their
parents.
The frize is adorned with fnakes and winged dragons ; above, is a circular
pedeftal and colonnade of twelve fluted Corinthian pillars, fhort and thick
in their proportions ; the entablement is covered with a conical dome : under
it appears a togated and Vijlolatedfi^nxt of very different ftature, without heads,,
pro-
TO MARSEILLES. 59
probably the effigies of the perfons to whofe memory this tomb was confe-
crated. The whole building is light and pleafmg to the eye, but upon an
examination of its feparate members, will be found faulty in many of its pro-
portions ; the colunms are too fhort for their diameter, the roof is too
heavy ; perhaps, as was frequently the cuftom of the ancient maftcrs, the
archite<3: facrificed all confideration for the minuter parts to the general effedl ;
and calculated the proportions fo as to produce a proper fenfation on the
beholder at fome certain point of diftance, where the fituation of the ground,
or the projc<!ilion of adjacent buildings, obliged him to take his ftand to view it.
The arch has fiiiFered feverely by time and dilapidations ; all the upper
part is deftroyed, and only the gateway and a portion of the fide-walls fubfift.
In both fronts the imports, from which the arch fprings, reft upon pilafters,
and on each fide of them are fluted columns of the Corinthian order, with their
pedeftals, w^hich fupported the general entablature, but fcarce a third of the
fhafts remains. Between each pair of columns ftands the figure of a flave,
one male, the other female, and in the triangle above the arch are the frag-
ments of two winged vidtories : the ceiling of the gateway is delicately
wrought in hexagon compartments. All that is yet left of this venerable pile
befpeaks the happy tafte of architecture, that flourifhed under the firft Roman
emperors ; the fcience was then fimple and correal, not yet fophifticated by
that furcharge of ornament which debafed and disfigured it in the following
ages.
The country from hence grew bare and rocky ; the banks of the rambling
Durance ftony and difagreeable.
We pafl^ed through Lambefe, a town belonging to the houfe of LoiTaine ;
here the committee of the States of Provence is held : the ftates themfelves
have not been called together fince the year 1639 ; but to fupply their place
with greater convenience to government, the king ilTues out a commiffion
annually to the archbifhop of Aix, two bifhops, two gentlemen, the confuls
of Aix, and thirty-five deputies of diftridls, ordering them to aiTemble under
the direclion of the military commandant, and the intendant of the province..
In this meeting are fettled the free gifts to the king, and all extraordinary im-
pofitions ; the method of impofing and colleding the taxes is regulated by
the number of families in each diflritl.
Aix J.
7© JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
Aix, the capital of Provence, and the feat of Its parliament, lies in a
bottom ; the grounds that encircle it, are beautifully diverfified. Its fize is
not confiderable, but the ftreets are of a convenient breadth, the fquares vs'ell
planted, and the buildings folid ; the town is plentifully fupplied with flreams
of water, flowing on all fides from the impending hills.
The Cours or Orbitelle is a magnificent walk above three hundred yards
long, formed by a triple avenue of venerable elms, that fcreen two rows of
regular and (lately houfcs; it is refrefhed by four fountains ; one of its extre-
mities is clofed by the front of a church, the other admits a cheerful view of the
country. The cathedral is a clumfy gothic pile ; the cupola of its baptifmal
font is fupported by fix columns of marble and two of granite, found among
the ruins of a Roman palace. Here, and in the other churches of the city,
are to be feen the tombs of feveral earls of Provence, and fome good pictures
by French painters; in that of the Minims is a fmall elegant monument ercdled
by Frederic the Second, king of Pruffia, to the memory of his friend the
Marquis d' Argens, author of the Lettres Juives.
The civil buildings of this place are not remarkable, nor are there any great
remains of antique magnificence, though this was the firft fettlement made
in Gaul by the Romans : one hundred and twenty-four years before Chrift,
C. Sextius Calvinius condudled an army hither, to fuccour the people of
Marfeilles againft the Salvii, a Celtic tribe. The difcovery of fome tepid fprings
determined the conful to fix a ftation in this valley, and thefe warm baths,
which by habit, were become a neceffary part of the exiftence of a Roman,
foon brought an affluence of inhabitants to the colony. The barbarian
conquerors of Rome, who defpifed this luxury, overturned the fumptuous
edifices that defended the w^aters and the bathers from injury, and buried the
fprings under a mountain of ruins and rubbifh : it is not above a century
fince they were accidentally brought again to light : they are fcarce warm, and
almoft taftelefs, but are drunk in fpring by a concourfc of people, upon whom
they operate as gentle deterfive phyfic.
A rocky road over parched-up waftes leads acrofs the hills towards Marfeilles.
It is impofTible for either poet or painter to give an adequate idea of the
wonderful view that burft at once upon us when we gained the fummit.
The brown crag, that crowns the height where we flood, flopes gently from it
into thickets of evergreen flowering jOhrubs: thefe cover a large circle below,
and
TO MARSEILLES. 71
and terminate irregularly in fields of various culture, where the olive and
other fruit trees are at firft thinly dotted upon the grounds, but by degrees
thicken into clumps, and foon into groves, till they form at laft one wide
expanded foreft ; beyond them, the apparent plain, for in reality it is a heap
of little hills, is interfedled in ten thoufand diredions by walls, near each of
which ftands a fmall pavilion called a baftide, as white as milk, ftrikingly
oppofed to the greens and yellows of the gardens that furround it : a dark bor-
der inclofes this fpace, and feparates it from the fea, that immenfe body of
waters which feems to be raifed half-way up to the firmament j the line of its
horizon is loft at each extremity behind far diftant groupes of mountains ;
on its furface numberlefs fhips are fcattered like white fpots, changing their
place with a motion not to be followed by the eye. In a femicircular bay,
deeply cut into the fhore, lies the city of Marfeilles, huddled together, and
defended by the iflands, that feem to block up the entrance of its narrow
channel. I defcended with reludlance from this commanding ftation, and
foon after beheld myfelf immured between high walls, fufFocated with duft,
and poifoned by the ftench of the manure, which innumerable mules convey
from the city to the vineyards.
LETTER XXIII.
Marfeilks.
WE have fettled ourfelves for a month in a villa without the gates ; — and
from our windows enjoy a profped: of great part of the city, bay, and
iflands, with a fine ftretch of fea and coart.
You who are acquainted with all my taftes and afFedlions, may eafily con-
ceive how my heart muft dilate, while I gaze upon fo admirable a picture
in this cleareft of atmofpheres : you alfo well know with what enthufiafin
I am fired when I read or talk of the exploits, the arts, the learning, and the
virtues of ancient Greece ; and can therefore imagine with what veneration
I view this Grecian colony, and meditate upon its hiftoiy, and that incom-
parable fyftem of adminiftration, which obtained the praife of the moft judi-
cious authors among the ancients. Even now Marfeilles commands our
4 refpeit
72 JOURNEY FROM BAYONNE
refpe^t as a great commercial port ; few cities can vie with it in extent
of enterpiize, in the various commodities difplayed upon its wharfs, or in
the number of veffels that fail from hence to all parts of the world ; but
thefe advantages are not entirely its own ; it is now but an adive member
of a great monarchy, and I am confidering it, as it once was, miftrefs of
itfelf, and the benefadlrefs of. furrounding nations.
Six hundred years before Chrift, the inhabitants of the Ionian city of
Phocea, having joined in the general but unfuccefsful infurredlion of the
Greek colonics in Leder Afia, againfi: the Perfia'n king, fled to their fhips,
and, rather than meet his vengeance, abandoned for ever the abode of their
forefathers. They were long tofled about on the waves, and wandered to
many ports in queft of a retreat, where they might enjoy the bleflings of
liberty, and the fruits of their induftry : chance, or fome reafon unknown
to us, brought them to the fhores of Gaul, where they built a city, called
Malfylia. Their manners, inftitutes, and language continued for many ages
to be Grecian ; their fame, as a trading nation, was equal to that of Carthage,
and the fpirit, with which their navigators explored unknown coafls, was
celebrated by the unanimous voice of antiquity. Their political inftitutes
and internal adminiftratlon, were ftill more admired ; the wifdom, which
direded their councils, preferved harmony at home, and eluded the malice,
or repelled the infults of the neighbouring barbarians : but their fafety arofe
from a fenfe of their favours, rather than the terror of their arms ; the Gauls
were indebted to the Maflylians for inftrudion of every kind ; the Maffylians
were their mafters not only in morals, politics, and learning, but they alfo
taught them how to procure the neceffaries and comforts of life with more
eafe and certainty, and in greater abundance. Thefe benefits infured them
the refped and gratitude of the Gauls, till commerce, which feldom fails to
corrupt the people it enriches, introduced vices that polfoncd the fources from
whence the profperity of the ftate had arifen. Then the Gauls began to per-
ceive a change in the charadcr of the Greeks, lefs probity in their dealings, and
more ambition marked by the tranfadions of commerce; this gave birth to
jealoufies, and no doubt provoked the Salvians to thofe hoftilities, which
obliged the fenate of Marfeilles to call in the Romans, and thus afford that
^il-ufurping power a pretext for croffing the Alps. In the civil wars of
Rome, Marfeilles took part with Pompey, was befieged, ftormed by Csfar,
and reduced to the ftate of a tributary.
la
TO M A R 3 K I L 1. E S. 73
In the decline of the Roman empire, Marfeilles, having loft all virtue and
energy with its independence, dwindled away to a mere ruin ; nor did it re-
cover any degree of confequence till one of the kings of Aries, in the ninth
centur)'', beftowed it as an appennage upon a younger fon. It remained un-
der the government of vifcounts, or of its own magiftratcs, till the earls of
Provence conquered it.
Marfeilles ftands upon a declivity and embraces the port, which runs
about one thoufand fix hundred paces into the land. The old town is the
moft elevated, but it is ill built, filthy, and gloomy. The ftreets of the new
town are fpacious, and full of neat, good habitations. The Cours is a very
noble ftreet, planted with a double row of trees between lines of houfes
built upon a fymmetrical defign, and ornamented with porticos and columns.
In the evening, efpecially that of a holiday, it is crowded with people, and
forms one of the moft variegated and lively fcejies I ever beheld. This cli-
mate is exceflively hot in fummer, though tempered at certain hours by the
breeze off the fea ; in winter the north-eaft winds that blow for many weeks
together, are the moft cutting I ever felt ; but when they ceafe, the winter
days of this country are as pleafant as the fineft fummer ones in our northern
regions.
In moft of the churches are paintings of merit by Puget and other mafters
of the French fchool ; but Puget's fame arifes more defervedly from his ad-
mirable works in fculpture, of which many are to be feen in this his
native city. The efcutcheon of the royal arms over the door of the town
hall, is a piece of exquifite tafte and delicacy of touch.
The abbey of St. Vidor contains a great quantity of tombs, and ancient
infcriptions, in honour both of chriftians and pagans. It is one of the oldeft
monaftical foundations in France ; feveral eminent perfonages have belonged
to its fociety, and there imbibed the principles of thofe virtues, and the rudi-
ments of that knowledge, which afterwards raifed them to the higheft dignities
of the church.
The harbour is fhut up with a chain, and fhips of war or hea-\^ burden
ufually ride at anchor in the road between the iflands and the main land, but
there is always a great crowd of fmaller veflels in the port ; the ufual number
to be feen amounts at leaft to five hundred, and it is computed that near foui*"-
thoufand fhips and barks enter this port in the courfe of a year. Along the
K fine
74 JOUR KEY FROM BAYONNE
fine quay that lines it, the ftir and buflle is prodigious ; a moving pidlure that
is enlivened by tlie great variety of dreffes, the gefticulations and expreffive
countenances of the perfons that compofe it.
The galley flaves, except when employed at work, chained in pairs, pafs
their tinie in a part of the quay, lying near the gallies, which are ufed
merely as places of confinement ; this diftrid, I am told, is a kind of market
for ftolen goods, as well as a receptacle of all forts of idle and profligate com-
pany. No place abounds more with dlflblute perfons of both fexes than
Marleilles, and in the abundance of proftitutes, that appear in the ftreets, it is
almoft upon a par with London.
The fortifications that defend the city on the land fide, are fuch as no
military perfon would think able to refill the attacks of a regular army ; and
yet the emperor Charles the Fifth was foiled in his endeavours to break,
through them, and obliged to make a difgraceful retreat into Italy. Several
forts guard the entrance of the harbour, and high upon the point of a moun-
tain ftands that of Notre Dame de la Garde, better known by the mention
made of it in the voyage of Chapelle and Bachaumont, than by its ftrength,
or even its image of the Madonna, the patronefs of the Marfeillefe failors.
The Lazaretto is an extenfive infulated building. As the Levant trade,
which is the great concern of Marfeilles, fubje£ts it to the dangers of the
plague, and velfels are continually arriving from the fufpicious ports of
Afia and Africa, the greateft care is neceflary to prevent this exterminating
contagion from being communicated by any infefted fliip. The laws of
quarantine are no where better regulated, or more ftridlly enforced, than in
this Lazaretto ; nor is this to be wondered at, for the defolation of the year
1720 may be faid to be yet frefli in the memory of the inhabitants; fome
furvivors remain to paint the horrid fcene, and keep alive the fears of thofe
that are too young to have been witneffes of that dreadful vifitation of the
hand of God. Above fixty thoufand perfons died of the diforder in the
city of Marfeilles ; but the lofs has been repaired, and it now reckons near
ninety thoufand fouls within its walls. Of this multitude almoft every indi-
vidual appears to have a concern in trade : I never faw a feaport, where there
was fo much noife and buftle, but indeed I know no people of fo lively,
clamorous a turn, or fo prone to boifterous joy, as that of Marfeilles. The
Proven9al is all alive, and feels his nerves agitated in a fupreme degree by
4 accidents
O MARSEILLES.
75
accidents and obje<3;s that would fcarce move a mui'cle or a feature in the
phlegmatic natives of more northern cHmes ; his fpirits are flurried by the
flighteft fenfations of pleafure or of pain, and feem ahvays on the watch to
feize the tranfient impreffions of either; but to balance this deftrudlive pro-
peniity, nature has wifely rendered it difficult for thofe impreffions to fink
into their fouls ; they eafily receive, but as eafily difcard and forget, thus
daily offering a furface fmoothed afreih for new pains and pleafures to trace
their light aftedions upon. But this by no means excludes warm attachments
and folid friendfhips ; when time and habit afford leifurc for the impreffion
to penetrate deep enough, it will, no doubt, acquire and retain as firm a hold
in their breaft as in any other, and perhaps be ftamped with flill greater
warmth and energy.
The commerce of Marfeilles is divided into a multiplicity of branches ;
a variety of commodities are fabricated here, or brought from the other ports
and inland provinces of France to be exported, and numerous articles of
traffic are landed here in order to be difperfed in this and other kingdoms. It
is prefumed that one year with another bufmefs is tranfaded upon this
exchange for near fifteen millions flerling. The exports to the Levant amount
annually to thirty-one millions of livres ; the imports from thence are valued
at fifty. Thofe from the Wefl Indies and Cayenne are calculated at fevcn-
teen millions of exports, and twenty-one of imports. About three millions
and a half are employed in the Eafl-India trade, fix in the corn trade, and
about twenty-nine in that with Spain and the reft of Europe. Four millions
worth of fait cod and train oil comes from North America ; oils from Sicily,
&c. to the amount of fourteen miUions, exported again in foap to nearly the
fame value ; as alio various manufadlures to the amount of two millions
and an half. Add to this circulation the dealings in infurances, and profits
upon bullion, and you will have a rough, but comprehenfive fketch of the
commerce of Marfeilles,
I N I S.
INDEX OF PLACES,
IN THE JOURNEY FROM
BAYONNE to MARSEILLES.
A Bbey of Efcaldiou, 32
J^ St.Viaor, 73
AJour river, 7, 11, 12, 16
Aiguefmortes, 47
Aix, 55 66, 70
Amphitheatre of Aries, 57
Nimes, 48
Orange 68
Touloufe, 33
Archjtriumphal, of Orange,
66
St. Remy,
68
Arks, 55, 57
Arreou, 30
Afte, 15
Avignon, 61
Aune river, 31
B
Bagneres de Bigorre, 12,
Bagneres de Luchon, 29,
31
Barton river, 17, 18
Baths of Bagneres de Bi-
gorre, 14
Bagneres de Lu-
chon, 30
Baths of Cauterets, 23
•^— Aix, 70
S. Sauveur, 18
Bareges, 17
Bareges, 17
Bayonne, 6, 7
Bear-hunting, 30
Betharan, 23
Beziers, 40
BidafToa river, 6
Botanical garden, 43
Bridge of Avignon, 61
M — Aries, SS
Touloufe, 34
Bull-fights, 57
Campan, i6
Canal of Languedoc, 36
Camargue ifland, 55
Carcaflbnne, 36
Cauterets, 23
Citadel of Montpellier, 44
Cloth manufafture, 25
Cours of Orbitelle, 70
■ Marfeilles, 73
D
Dufance river, 68
E
Elifcamps, 58
F
Fountain of Nimes, 49
G
Gabarnie, 28
Gardon river, 59
Garonne river, 31
Gave river, 26
Gedres, 19
Grip, 16
H
Hufbandry, 13
I
Inquifition, 35
L
Lambefe, 69
Larros river, 32
Lake of Magredonne, 41
Lers river, 46
Lieris mountain, 15
Lourdes, 23
Lund, 47
M
Maguelonne lake, 41
Malpas, 39
Marfeilles, 70
Mauvefin, 31
Maufoleum of S. Remy,
68
■ of Aries, 58
Medals of Avignon 66, 9
Mature of Efcout, 26
Montpellier, 41
N
Narbonnc, 39
Nimes, 47, 53
Ninette river, 5
Nive river, 7
O
Obelifk at Aries, 57
Olcron, 25
Orange, 65
Orbe river, 36
Orthez
Pau, 24
Peyrou of Montpellier, 41
Pezenas, 41
Plague of Marfeilles, 58
Pic du Midy mountain, 27
Pont du Gard, 59
Pyrencan mountains, 6
R
Rhone river, 55, 61
St. Bertrand, 31
St. Loup mountain, 46
St. Remy, 68
St. Sauveur, 18
St. Jean de Luz, 5
Snow bridge, 21
Sourgue river.
States of Languedoc, 42
Beam, 24
Bigorre, 8
■ Provence, 69
T
Tarbes, 8, 10
Temples of Nimes, 49
Aries, 56, 57
Theatre of Orange, 66>
Touloufe, 33
Tour Masne,
49
V
VaucKifc, 65
INDEX OF PERSONS,
IN THE JOURNEY FROM
B A Y O N N E
T O
MARSEILLES.
A
AGiippa, Marcus, Ro-
man general, 48
Argens (Marquis U') au-
thor, 70
B
Bafques, a people, 6
Benezet, St. 61
Benedi£l XIL pope, 62
Bigorrians, a people, g
Bolbji, king of Aries, 56
Catherine, queen of France
4-4-
Charlemagne, emperor, 44
Charles, earl of Provence,
Charles Martel, 33, 49
Charles V. emperor, 47
Conftantine, emperor, 55
Conftantius, emperor, 57
Clemence Ifaore, 35
Francis L king of France,
47, 62
G
Gregory XL pope, 63
H
Henry IV. king of France,
HonoriuSj emperor, 55
J
Joan, queen of Naples, 63
John XXII, pope, 62
Laura de Sade, 62
Lewis, St. king of France,
Lewis XI. king of France,
Lewis XIII. king of France,
44
Lewis XIV . king of France,
24, 66
M
Margaret queen of Na-
varre, 30
Marius, C. conful, 66
Montfort, Simon dc, 38
Montfort, Amaury de, 33
Montmorency, Henry de 36
Petrarch, 62
Philip the Hardy, king of
France, 63
Phoceans, a people
Puget, fculptor, 73
R
Raymond, earl of Touloufc,
T,. .33
Rene, king of Naples, 62
Riquet, Paul, 36
Richelieu, cardinal, 36, 57
Sextius, C. conful, 70
CONTENTS
OFAJOURNEYFROM
BAYONNE to MARSEILLES.
Introduction — page 3
Letter
I. Paffage of the Bidaflba — S. Jean de Luz — the Bafques — their language — Bayonne— journey
to Tarbes ■ — _»_« r
II. Tarbes — ftates of Bigorre— hiftory of Bigorre — charafter of the people — — g
III. Journey to Bagneres — hufbandry — Bagneres lo
IV. Baths — 13
V. Journey into the heart of the Pyrenean mountains — convent of Medous — valley of Campan
— grotto — cafcades of Grip — fource of the Adour — Bareges — its waters — vale of Luz —
baths of S. Sauveur I^
VI. Pafs to Gabarnie — fource of the Gave — bridge of fnow — pafs to Pierrefitte i8
VII. Plain of Argillas — baths of Cauterets— caftle of Lourdes — pilgrimage of Betharan— Pau
— the caftle — ftates of Beam 22
Vin. Olcron — valley of Afpe — Mature of Efcout — method of cutting the mafts— return
to Tarbes . 25
IX. Excurfion to the top of the Pic du Midy 27
X. Journey to Bagneres de Luchon — foreft of firs — Arreou — bear-hunt — baths of Bagneres
de Luchon — vale — vale of the Garonne — S. Bertrand — abbey of Efcaldiou — Stock-
doves 29
XL Journey from Bagneres to Touloufe — defcription of the city— difpofition of the inhabitants
— mills — new canal — ^bridge — devout turn of the people — clergy — penitents — origin of
the inquifition — vaults of the Cordeliers — Capitouls Jeux Floraux — town-hall 33
XII. Journey to Montpellier — royal canal of Languedoc — CarcaiTonne — cloth manufacture —
Narbonne — trade — the Malpas — Beziers — Pefenas 36
XIII. Public v/allcs of Montpellier — ftates of Languedoc— climate — commerce 41
XIV. Hiftory — mountain of S. Loup a±
XV. Journey to Marfeilles — Lund — Aiguefmortes — Nimes — amphitheatre — temple of Diana
— fountain — Tourmagne — — aj
XVI. Maifon Quarree — cabinet of M. Seguier — rg
XVII. Hiftory of Nimes 52
XVIII. Excurfion to Aries — its hiftory — buildings — antiquities— ^amphitheatre — cemetery called
Elifcamps — drefs of the wamen -^
XIX. Pont du Gard — the Rhone — Avignon . . ^o
XX. Defcription of the city— its hiftory 5i
XXI. Vauclufe — Orange — triumphal arch — theatre 65
XXII. St. Remy — maufolium — arch — Lambefe — Aix — walks — churches — mineral waters
view towards the fea , ,._ 58
XXIII. Marfeilles — hiftory — defcription — harbour — ^Lazaretto— charader— trade 7 1
V
DC 607.3 S97PS
D 000 000 971 2
m
Wi
m
Aa.
i
m:
?ii'"
li
m
fe
m
'im
m
mm
i^^i
■fmn
KVTOij
;i|;:)it^
1>A'
Ue
!s^