of having been perforated by the river, must have determined its course in a different direction. It is evident from the rugged parts above the same natural work, that it never has been perfected by manual labour. It is also certain that the Ardeche has not enlarged it, for the arch exhibits no marks of aqueous abrasion; the bridge must therefore be considered a real cavern, like other caverns in the same rock, formed by natural decay on the banks of the river; indeed its tendency to decay serves as a character for that sort of limestone, hence in the language of geology, it is termed cavernous. The grottos near the burgh of Vallon, may be attributed to the same causes, they are remarkable for the singular and varied forms which their stalactites present; the rocks near Ruoms, on the other hand, are not less remarkable for their regular shapes, either cubical or pyramidical.

The geologist and the painter may find ample scope for their respective pursuits in the same department, but several places well worthy of being visited are almost unknown. Such is the domain of Ubas, occupying a

Domain of

circumference of more than seven leagues. It lies in the westUbas. ern extremity of the department, in the district of Saint-EtiVolcano of Prasancoupe. enne-de-Lug-Dares, at eight leagues north-west of the Argentiere, and surrounded on the north, the east, and the south, by the hills, which rise gradually and form the mountain of Prasancoupe, about 3250 feet above the level of the Mediterranean; the name it bears signifies the cup or crater of the meadows, so called most probably on account of the fruitful meadows below it. The same volcano, from the abundance of its lava, may be considered the most important in Vivarais. If the geologists, who examined the neighbouring country, had observed it, the first rank would not have been assigned to the volcano of Loubaresse. The thermal springs that rise in the neighbourhood, account for the wealth in the village of Saint Laurent; if it were not for the reputation in which the waters are held, it might remain deserted in its narrow and sterile valley. The scene changes from the summit of Prason coupe, and lands covered with woods, meadows, abundant streams and cultivated fields, form a contrast to the arid and dismal valley. The worthy descendant of the ancient family, to whom the domain belongs, has set an example that the landlords in the department would do well to imitate; he has improved agriculture by introducing the methods adopted in different cantons in Switzerland and Alsace, and by crossing the oxen with the best herds of Berne. It were to be wished that such improvements were generally adopted in a country that appears to have made little or no progress in agricultural knowledge since the thirteenth century. The domain, like all the western and northern part of the department, abounds in granite and sandstone; it contains besides rich iron ore, coal, clay well adapted for earthenware, and the finest kaolin for porcelain.

The summit of another volcano, the Loubaresse, commands Lonbaresse. the valley of Valgorge; a thousand peaks, its fruitful fields, and the numerous contrasts between cultivated nature and romantic scenery, render it the most picturesque in Vivarias. It was in the castle of Valgorge, on the most fertile part of the valley, that the Marquis of La Fare composed the poems on which his celebrity depends. Although the mines of argentiferous lead are now exhausted in Argentiere, Argentiere. | it finds in its silks and manufactures more resources than ever it obtained in the works from which the name of the town has been de

geographie physique, by Girault de Saint Fargeau, 1827; the Merveilles et les Beauties de la Nature en France, by Depping, 1822.

Consult on the same subject, the notice inserted in the Memoires de la Societé d'historie naturelle de Paris, tom. ii. entitled, Notice geognostique sur la langue de terre comprise entre le Rhone, l'Ardeche, &c.

The family of Agrain des Ubas has possessed it since the eleventh century.

rived. The burgh of Saint-Andeol on the south-east, above the banks of the Rhone, contains twice as many inhabitants as Argentiere, but the latter is the chief town in the subprefecture. It has been affirmed that the burgh was called after Saint Andeol, who suffered martyrdom in the third century. There is a rock in the neighbourhood from which the Tourne, a fountain of cold mineral water escapes; it flows below a religious monument of the Gauls, the ruins of a temple, which appears to Temple of have been consecrated to the God Mithra. Most of the basso- I Mithra. relievos are nearly effaced, but one of them, perhaps the most important, remains in a good state of preservation. It is not difficult to distinguish a bull with a dog biting it on the neck, and a man holding it by a rope; a radiated figure above the same group represents the sun. Monuments of a similar kind may be seen in the royal museum of antiquities at Paris, they have been illustrated by French antiquaries. Aps, formerly the Alba Helviorum, the ancient capital of Helvia, was ruined by the Goths; it is now a mere village. The inhabitants of Villeneuve de Villeneuve de I Berg in the vicinity, rear an immense number of silk worms. Berg. The same town was the birth place of Court de Gebelin, the greatest philologist of the last century, and the one whose researches on language and ancient monuments are the most valuable. Vivien on the banks of the Rhone contains two thousand souls, it was formerly the capital of Vivarais.

The granite and gneiss that bound the department on the north-west, the psammites and schistus that rest on these rocks, the limestone that descends in a parallel direction, and the volcanic belt that terminates suddenly in the basalt of Rochemaure at the banks of the Rhone, as if the river had been a barrier to the torrents of lava, meet near Aubenas, where alluvial deposits, occasioned by the erosion of the vallies which intersect these lands, form a very fruitful soil. It might be said, judging not only from the walnut, chesnut and mulberry trees, but also from the vineyards and crops, that few parts of France are so productive; thus Aubenas, a town of 3500 inhabitants, is the mart for the chesnuts and wines in Ardeche; a fair,'to which many persons resort, is held twice a year in the

same place for the sale of silk. Privas, the capital of the de- 1 Privas.

partment, is not remarkable for its edifices, indeed, with the exception of a prison, it possesses none of any consequence; the impor tance of the town depends on the commerce and industry of the inhabitants. The village of Cornas and the burgh of Saint-Peray, at no great distance from the Rhone, are encompassed with fruitful and valuable vineyards. The course of the river leads to Tournon, which communicates with Tain on the opposite bank by means of a suspension bridge, that is neither so light nor so elegant as others in the neighbourhood of Vienne. An old castle rises above the town, it was built in the time of Charles Martel; it is at present only remarkable for the view it commands-a view extending along both banks of the Rhone; on the right, and in the department of Drome are seen the famous hills of Hermitage, the vineyards of Côte-rotie Brune and Côte-rotie Blonde; the trade in these wines is principally carried on at Tournon. The ruins of an old bridge are situated on the Doubs in the nighbourhood, according to different writers it was built in the time of Cæsar. The first iron wire bridge made in France, was erected in the small town of Andance. Annonay, well | Annonay. known for its fine paper, is the most industrious town in Ardeche, a pre-eminence owing partly to its position at the confluence of the Cance and Deume. It possesses in addition to the paper mills, cloth, silk and cotton manufactories, bleach-fields, wax and leather works. The population amounts to 8000 individuals. It was the birthplace of the virtuous Boissy d'Anglas and of Mongolfier, the inventor of the balloon and the hydraulic ram. Two monuments raised to the memory of these dis

tinguished men, attest the gratitude of their fellow citizens, but reflect little honour on the artists by whom they were executed.

Character of

Climate.

The department has produced several great men, but it canthe people. not be remarked without pain that the mass of the people, both in the country and in the towns, are as uncultivated as their mountains, and as superstitious as the ancient Helvians from whom they are sprung. The climate of the same department is very different in different places. A fructifying heat is felt on the banks of the Rhone; the vallies round Saint-Julien and Annonay are temperate, but in the Cevennes on the west, winter lasts eight months, and the ground is often covered with deep snow.

of Coterminous to Ardeche, and traversed by the same mounUpper Loire. tainous chains, the department of Upper Loire exhibits the same volcanic phenomena, as wild scenery, as romantic beauties. Mezin, a mountain of igneous origin, is adorned with majestic columns of basalt; it rises to the height of 2600 feet above the granite base. The volcanoes called the Tartas, the Infernels and Mouns Caou or Mont Chaud are more remarkable than the others situated on the same line as the Mesin. Basaltic jets appear to have obstructed the course of the Loire at Goudet and at Solignac, and of the Allier at Monistrol, Prades and Chasez. The volcanic rocks take at Pradelles a north-west direction, they may be discovered near Lonjac, Poulaquet, Voute, Brioude and Blesle; the lava that flowed from them, appears to have been broken or cut by rivers. Conical masses of scoria rise in several places above the basaltic columns; the Bard near Allegre, perhaps the most remarkable of these masses, reaches to the height of 3737 feet; it is said that the marks of a lake long since dried, are still apparent on its truncated summit. The site which the lake of Bouchet occupies, may be considered an extinct crater; it is about ninety feet in depth, and nine hundred in diameter. But the most singular volcanic rocks are those of Corneille, rising like an enormous cube in the neighbourhood of Puy, the rock of Polignac covered with the ruins of an ancient castle, Saint Michel, exhibiting the appearance of a round tower, and Roche Rouge at a league and a half from Brives, a volcanic pyramid more than a hundred feet high, encompassed with a belt of red granite seven feet in breadth, and mixed with granite blocks on the surface from the base to the summit, a curious example of the action of subterranean fire by which the products have been overturned. If it were certain that the hand of man had not contributed to the regularity of a natural temple, it might merit particular notice; a current of lava near the village of Goudet on the banks of the Loire, has assumed the most capricious forms; a round tower is terminated by a conical roof, and the peristyle of an edifice is supported with columns thirty feet in breadth and a hundred and eighty in height.

Mineral Different mineral substances are found in the primitive and products. secondary lands; granite, serpentine and marble are rendered useful, excellent mill-stones are extracted from the beds of sandstone near Marsanges, Navogne and Retournac; the best coals are worked at Frugeres, but the department possesses enough of other sorts to furnish an annual supply of 11000 chaldrons for a period of 600 years. Sulphuretted antimony is found in strata or in veins in the district of Brioude, and

A very apposite remark, which has been already made by different writers, may be here repeated; it is that the names of the volcanoes in Vivarais and Velay are not of Roman origin. Cæsar observed that there was a great analogy between the dialect spoken in these countries and the Latin, as if the latter was derived from it. Thus it is easy to account for the resemblance which the names mentioned in the text, bear to words of the purest Latinity. Tartas or Tartarou, Infernels or Infernes, may serve to recall the Latin words Tartarus and Infernus, Coueron is not unlike coquere (to boil,) Tanargue resemble Tonitru agger (the field of thunder.)

several places abound apparently in sulphuretted lead. One or two remarks on the principal towns may enable the reader to estimate the commerce and industry of a department from which more than three thousand individuals migrate every year, and find employment as tradespeople or workmen in the different French towns.

Puy, the ancient capital of Velay, is finely situated in a pic- I turesque valley, watered by the Loire and by two small rivers,

Puy.

the Borne and the Dolaison; it stands at the base of Mount Anis, which stretches to the volcanic rocks of Corneille. The streets are so steep that the noise of carriages or wagons is never heard; the lava with which they are paved, and with which the houses are built, gives it a gloomy and dismal appearance. There is no town in France where religious ceremonies are more strictly observed, or where more time is lost in unnecessary and tiresome forms. Saint Michel, an eminence in the lower part of Puy, is commanded by a church to which the people ascend by a stair of 260 steps cut in the solid rock. The cathedral stands in the highest part of the town, and a lofty perron of 118 steps leads to it. The situation of the building, its architecture and the height of the pyramidical steeple, render it one of the most majestic Gothic monuments in Europe. The front is adorned with a sort of mosaic, and the interior appears like a large chapel, in which the arches are formed by a junction of several cupolas. The most valuable relic is a miraculous Image of image of the Virgin,-a small cedar wood statue, according the Virgin. to tradition, carved by the Christians of Mount Lebanon, and brought to France in the eighth century, but more probably a figure of Isis, which the pious crusaders mistook for the mother of Christ; at all events, it is begirt with fillets after the manner of Egyptian statues. But as it has been long an object of veneration, it may be considered a Christian relic; several popes and eight or ten kings of France have prostrated themselves before it. The tomb of Duguesclin, which adorns the church of the ancient Dominicans, the theatre, supposed to be an ancient temple of Diana, and the museum of natural history are not unworthy of notice. Cardinal Polignac, the author of the Anti-Lucretius, and Julien the sculptor were born in the town; now the capital of a department, it exports several manufactures, particularly different sorts of lace, and it has for more than a century furnished horse-bells to the wagoners and muleteers in the south of France. The neighbouring village of Expailly is known to mineralogists from a stream, in which sapphires, garnets and hyacinths are found. Among the ruins of the ancient castle at Polignac, raised on the site of a temple, consecrated to the Celtic Apollo, may be seen the head of the god, carved on a disc of white marble, serving as a cover to the aperture of the cave from which the Gallic divinity used to deliver his prophecies. The small town of Crapone in the same district carries on a trade in cloth and lace. Yssengeaux has its lead mines, it is besides the seat of an agricultural society. Brioude, at no great distance from the Allier, is situated in a fruitful district.

of the Lozere.

A chain extends from east to west, and the highest part of Department it, or the Lozere, gives its name to a department. The mountains of Margeride cross it from south-east to north-west, and the heights of Aubrac are divided into two principal branches. Three rivers, the Allier, the Lot, and the Tarn, rise in the same country; they are embellished with waterfalls, rugged rocks, and wild scenery, that attest the desolation occasioned by subterranean fires. The Pas de Pas de Souci. Souci on the Tarn, is formed by two hills almost touching each other at their summits; it might seem as if they waited for the hand

See the Description Statistique du Department de la Haute-Loire, by M. Deribier de Cheisac, and the description Geognostique des Environs du Puy-en-Velay, by Bertrand

Roux.

of man to unite them, and thus erect a bridge 1800 feet in height. In one place the waters are ingulfed between two immense rocks, the Aiguille and Roc-Sourde; repelled from these barriers, they resume their course, and make the air re-echo with their noise. The abundance of water renders the department humid, and the mountains lengthen the duration of winter. Spring and summer are generally rainy seasons; storms are not uncommon in summer, and the heat is rarely oppressive. The soil does not produce enough of corn or wine for the consumption of the inhabitants. The wealth of the country consists in mines, which yield silver, antimony, and lead. Cattle and woollen stuffs form the two principal branches of commerce.

de Randon.

Mende. [ Mende, the capital, is situated in the centre of the department; the valley on which it stands, is intersected by a great many streams, that water the villas and country seats in the vicinity. The town is encompassed with ramparts; the streets are crooked, but adorned with several fountains; the cathedral is remarkable for the boldness of its steeples. The serge manufactured at Mende is exported into the north and south of Europe. Pope Urban the Fifth was born in the neighbourChateauneuf hood of the town, which, it has been affirmed, was the Auderitum of the Romans. Chateauneuf de Randon, a burgh on the heights towards the north-east of Mende, contains hardly 2,500 inhabitants; it was formerly a strong place, and a town of some celebrity, from the siege which the English maintained against Duguesclin. The Frenchman died beneath its walls, and the English general, who promised to surrender if he did not receive assistance within a certain time, laid his sword and the keys of the town on the coffin of his adversary. The same year in which that event took place, an act of heroism Luc. was achieved near the village of Luc, on the eastern frontier of the department, by the ancestors of some Frenchmen now alive. The English had invaded Gevaudan and Vivarais, with a considerable force; murder and desolation indicated their march, until it was suddenly impeded at the fort of Luc, which commands the road into Upper Auvergne. Two thousand men attempted to besiege it, but three brave knights, to whom the fief belonged in common, defended themselves so valiantly that they at last repelled the enemy." The English, however, were ashamed of their defeat; they returned, and the three knights might have perished, had they not been unexpectedly assisted by ten of the most intrepid proprietors in the neighbourhood; by their means they gained a decisive victory. The castle of Luc is still remarkable for its antiquity; according to ancient chroniclers and rural traditions, it was founded before the country was conquered by the Romans. Langogne, a small place of 2500 souls, possesses different cloth manufactories. The village of Bagnol-lesBains is much frequented on account of its mineral waters. Marvejols, destroyed by the duke of Joyeuse, and rebuilt by Henry the Fourth, is a neat town with broad and straight streets. Florac, in a narrow valley on the left of the Tarnon, surrounded with meadows and fruitful fields, derives little advantage from its situation.

Department

Three streams rise on the eastern sides of the Cevennes; of the Gard. the Gardons of Anduse, Mialet, and Alais, so named from the principal places they water. Their junction forms the Gard, also called the Gardon; in some places it loses itself in gravel pits, in others, destructive inundations make the labourer pay very dear for the pieces of gold it brings along with it. Alais, watered by one of the branches already mentioned, is considered a very ancient town; The three knights were M. M. de Polignac, Bourbal de Choisinet, and d'Agrain des

Alais.

Ubas.

I

* These men were Malet de Borne, d'Apcier, Moranges, Malmont de Soulage, Modine, Durour, Balazuc, Vernon de Joyeuse, Longueville, and Regletton.