Bordéres Castle, Frechet, Loudervielle, to the Porte de la Pez, near the Pic de Géños (30 kil.)

From Arreau, up the Aure, you pass Cadéac (kil.), which has a feudal ruin, and sulphur waters, and stands under the granite Pic d'Arbizon, 2,723 feet high, to its round top, on which is a needle-shaped rock,, 9,250 feet above the sea; then Vieille (7 kil.), and Tramesaigues (5 kil.), so called from its springs (aqua), and having an old church of the Knights Templars. Hence the path mounts up, to Porte de Plan, near Mont Glarhide (20 kil.); another, to the west, goes by Arragnouet (4,330 feet above the sea, near which is the fall of Couplan, 900 feet down) to Port de Bielsa (24 kil.), and over the Pyrenées, into SPAIN. (See BRADSHAW's Hand-Book to Spain.)

ROUTE 68.

Toulouse to Saverdun, Foix, Tarascon, AX, into Spain.

By rail to Foix (52 miles); thence to Ax, by road (25 miles).

Toulouse Station, as in Route 66. Thence, up the Garonne, you come to

Portet-St. Simon (73 miles), where the Ariége joins. Passing up the latter by the junctions of the Lèze and Stize, you come to

Venerque-le-Vernez (7 miles); and Auterive (6 miles); Cintegabelle (3 miles).

Saverdun (5 miles), in department Ariége, once a fortified town, and also a Roman station, where Greek and Roman coins have been found. Jacques Fournier, or Pope Benedict XII., was born here. Population, 4,100. At Mazères (14 kil. eastnorth-cast), near the Lers, Gaston de Foix was born. He was killed at Ravenna, 1512. It is noted for its wine.

Vernet d'Ariége (5 miles).

Pamiers (5 miles), on the Ariége, is a sous-préfecture (population, 7,910), and seat of a bishop, in a fertile part, and was founded by Count Roger II., a crusader, who built a castle which he called Apamea after a town in Syria. It came to the house of Foix, and was sacked by the Princes of Condé, 1628. The castle site is now the Castellet walk, on a high rock, which commands a fine prospect over the town and river, the plain and the Pyrenées beyond. The town contains a Cathedral, rebuilt by Mansard, except the Gothic tower; with

six other churches, a Carmelite convent, large hospital, and factories of nails and steel. Woollens, serges, cheeses, &c., are made. Hotels. Catala; Douays.

[At 23 kil. east is

MIREPOIX, an industrious place (3,640 population), at the bridge on the Lers, once a strong post of the Albigenses, from whom it was taken in the 13th century, and then given to Gui de Levi, one of their leaders, the Marshal of the Faith, as he was called. It has a curious unfinished church, a large hospice, and covered arcades in the public Place. Lalande, the astronomer, and Marshal Clauzel were born here. Coach to Bram station.

MAZ D'AZIL (25 kil. west of Pamiers), on the St. Girons road, in a fertile hollow of the Arize, was a fortified stronghold of the Protestants, who made a successful defence against Marshal de Themines, 1625, after three assaults and a month's siege. Near this is Carlat, where Bayle, author of the famous "Dictionnaire Critique," was born.]

Varilhes (5 miles), on the Ariége, has a curious grotto near it.

At 5 miles further the rail ends at

FOIX.

HOTELS.-Du Rocher (Rock); De la Poste; Des Voyageurs (Travellers).

Population, 5,510.

This small capital of department Ariége, on a river of the same name, where the Arget joins it, is hid away in a gap among the lower Pyrenées. It was the head of a county which grew out of St. Volusien's abbey, founded by the lords of Carcassonne, and of a castle built to protect it, by the Counts of Foix. Part of the abbey serves as the Préfecture, the rest having been burnt down about 1800. Three Gothic towers of the Castle (used for the prison) stand on a high rock to the west; two are square, and the tallest, or keep, is 136 feet high. It was built, 1362, by the famous Gaston de Foix, who lived here, but mostly at Orthes. He was fond of hunting, kept 1,600 dogs, and wrote a curious old book on the Chase. The earlier counts fought for the Albigenses, against Simon de Montfort and his crusaders. Through his wife, a daughter of Philip III. of Navarre, Gaston suc

ceeded to that kingdom, which afterwards, with the county, came to the French crown, through Henry IV.

The streets are narrow, and the houses irregular and ancient. An old stone bridge crosses the river. St. Volusien's church was built by Count Roger II. The Palais de Justice, under the castle rocks is of the fifteenth century. There are barracks, a theatre, college or school, and library of 8,000 volumes.

Small manufactures of woollens, hosiery, &c., with a trade in coal and iron (which are worked in the valleys around), and in cattle, cork, resin, wine, &c.

Conveyances to Toulouse and Bram Stations. There are about a dozen passages from here through the Pyrenées in this quarter, but none fit for carriages.

From Foix, up the Ariége, you pass

TARASCON (16 kil.), where the valley of Vicdessos (noted for the La Ranci iron mines) from the south-west falls in, is the Tascodenitari of Pliny, and has the round tower of its old castle on a rock, with the church of Nôtre Dame near some caves. There are caves or grottoes at Bédeillac (to the right) worth notice. Several forges are dispersed about this entrepôt

The road leads on past the baths of Ussat, and Mont St. Barthelemy, to Cabannes (10 kil.), near Château-Verdun, and a chapel to the Virgin. At Orlu forge (to the left) there is a fine fall of the Ariége. Then you come to

Ax (26 kil. from Tarascon), at the point where the three heads of the Ariége join, in a pretty, healthy spot, noted for its hot sulphur springs (aqua). They rise up on all sides, and are powerful in obstinate cases of rheumatism, skin diseases, scrofula, &c. The season is from June to October.

Hotels.-De France; D'Espagne, where, and at La Tech, about thirty of the springs are in use, either as water or vapour baths, and for drinking. Board, 4 francs; bed and bath, franc. each. Population, 2,000.

HOSPITALET (18 kil.), near the Col de Puymaurins, or pass over the ridge of the Pyrenées, 6,300 feet above sea. To the right is the little Republic of Andorre (population, 15,000); and 20 kil. further on, you come to Puycerda, across the Spanish frontier where the roads from Carcassonne and

Narbonne to Perpignan and Spain. By rail to Le Vernet, 37 miles, or 60 kil., 2 hours to 2 hours.

Narbonne Station, as in Route 66.

Pas ing STE. LUCIE, on an island between the canal and Lake Sigean, and over an iron bridge of 230 feet span, you come to

La Nouvelle (13 miles), a small port of modern date, with a thriving trade with Algiers. Population, 1,520. The Étang de Sigean is the old Rubrensis lacus, near which Charlemagne defeated the Saracens, 737. The line passes Leucate, once a Roman station (so called from the whiteness of the rocks), standing at the head of a lake of the same

name.

Salces (15 miles), which was the ancient Susula, from its mineral waters, has a round donjon tower, built by Charles V., surrounded by low walls with towers and corners, ditches, &c. Two court ladies, implicated in the Brinvilliers poisoning, were condemned by Louis XIV. to perpetual imprisonment in this place. White wine, to imitate Tokay, is made, called Vin de Macoaber. The Agly is crossed by a bridge of 394 feet.

Rivesaltes (6 miles). It stands in the fertile plain of the Agly, having a population of 4,820, and a good trade in muscatel wine.

[At 16 kil. west, up the river, is ESTAGEL, a pretty place, with a trade in wine, oil, spirits, bees, cattle; where Arago, the astronomer, and his brother Jacques, the circumnavigator, were born. Nôtre Dame des Peines hermitage is near, on a rock. Grey marble is quarried. Further up (16 kil.) is St. Paul de Fenouillet, among mountain rocks, on which three old castles are seen; it has a mineral spring, and the grotto hermitage of St. Antoine de Galamus.]

Le Vernet (2 miles), on the Tet, about 21 miles from Perpignan, to which omnibuses run pro tem., over the Aurelian way (which still forms the high road into Spain), past the fine castle of Castillet.

(A) Into Spain, by the high road, viá

Bellegarde.

The first place from Perpignan, is
VILLEMOULAGNE (13 kil.)

Le Boulau (8 kil.), on the Tech, where the way (B) to Mont Canigou turns off.

L'ÉCLUSE (5 kil.), the old Clausura, with a decayed fort.

BELLEGARDE (5 kil.), a fort on the frontier very of Spain, erected to defend the pass of the Pyrenées, here called Col de Perthus. The town, built 1674 by the Spaniards, was surrounded with bastions by Louis XIV., in one of which General Dug mmier, killed, 1794, in the Spanish war, was buried; but his remains, with those of General Dagobert, are now at Perpignan. Here Pompey, on the Summum Pyrenæum (as he called it, though it is in reality one of the lowest points), built a column, stating that, "from the Alps to the further end of Spain he had reduced 867 cities to the Roman rule;" which, with the altar added by Cæsar, is gone. At 24 kil. further is Junquera, the first town in SPAIN, on the road to Figueras and Barcelona. (See BRADSHAW'S Hand-Book to Spain.)

(B) Up the Tech, by Céret and Mont Canigou.

Distance, about 31 miles.

From Perpignan to Le Boulau (as above). Then

comes

CÉRET (8 kil. south-west), up the Tech, above the curious one-arch bridge, 149 feet span from rock to rock, 80 from the water, only 14 broad, buii. 1336. It is a sous-préfecture of 3,519 souls, and ai old place with modern faubourgs beyond the oi walls. It has a large public fountain. St. Feréc hermitage is near. The Commission of 1660 T here, to settle the boundaries of France and spai FORT-LES-BAINS (7 kil.). so caliel from a mo tain fort, and the sulphur springs vejov 11. use patients afflicted with rheumatisn. paraiva Fish and game are plentiful. There is a lui hospital here.

ARLES-SUR-TECH (6 kl. of the ancient ebe of St. Benoit's Abbe fiones 77, 197. of which is 1 gr a 100 brought from komea tion, 2,000

Aoki' wat ng pelip!

the Fushi AURAY ******
down: wluasi int St 10 y
patue and warmed ridges, and build
to the top of

Mont Candyou, the highest peak of the kasĂ
nées, 1,454 tires, or 9,298 feet above i
and visible 30 leagues round. It is
with snow seven months in the year
shows signs of having been formerly work
for minerals. The mountains in this qual
are not bare, but edged with forests of pakom
oak, ash, chestnut, cork, &c.]

LE SAUVEUR-LE-TECH (8 kil.)

PRATS-DE-MOLLO (5 kil.), a small fortified moun tain-post, strengthened by old Gothic walls and the fort of La Garde, built by Vauban. Popu lation, 3,500. A path leads over the ridge of the Pyrenées to Campredon, on the Spanish side dis kil.), on the river Ter. To the west near the head of the Tech, are the warm mineral waters of Lak Preste, close to the grotto of Britchos, and to quarries of veined marble and breccia.

PERPIGNAN.

HOTEL.-De l'Europe.

Population, 23,460. This chief town of department Pyrenées Orientales (or East Pyrenées), seat of a bishop, fortress of the first class, &c., was formerly (i.e., after the decay of Rucino), the capital of Roussillon, a province held by the Visigoths, between the 5th and 8th centuries, then by the king of Arragon till it came to France, 1659, by the treaty of the Pyrenées; but the people are almost Spanish in their manners, appearance, and language. Of Rucino, just mentioned, all that remains are a town and chapel, half-way between Perpignan and Canet, towards the sea.

The town stands on the Tet, 11 kil. from the Mediterranean, in a wide fertile plain, terminated by the Pyrenées and the Spanish frontier to the south (25 kil.), Mont Canigou to the south-west (35 kil.), and the Corbières to the north. There is a seven-arched bridge over the Tet, whence there is a good prospect; and another of one arch over the Basse, which is a branch of it. Gardens of vines, olives, pomegranates, oranges, &c., are seen outside the brick ramparts. The streets are narrow, dark, and paved with pebbles, and the houses Spanish-looking, having wooden balconies, &c.

Outside Porte Nôtre Dame is the ancient brick château of Castillet, built about 1319, by Sancho, king of Majorca, on a high rock, and now used as a prison. It is deeply machicolated, and somewhat in the Moorish style. Porte Canet leads out to the Blanqueries, where the tanners live. Place de la Loge, is so called from an old carved Gothic building, restored 1843, for the Hôtel de Ville, and formerly used as a theatre. In Place de la Liberté was the Jesuits' Convent, destroyed at the Revolution. Near the church of St. Jean le Vieux (the old), built in the 11th century, cross-shaped, with a square tower, is the

Cathedral of St. Jean, begun by the kings of Majorca (who held the town from James I. of Arragon, in the 13th century), and finished by Louis XI. (who took it in 1474, from Jacques II.) Length, 254 feet; breadth, 64; height, 92, the vault being unsupported by pillars. It has a good screen of white marble, and a very ancient font. The old churches of the Cordeliers, Carmelites (on the Esplanade), and Dominicans, deserve notice. St. Jacques has a brick tower, restored 1843.

The Citadel, on a sligh rise above the town, was built by Vauban, and includes a large place d'armes, barracks, and the donjon castle of the Comtes de Roussillon, &c., consisting of eight square towers, joined by high walls; besides an old chapel, which serves for the magazine. A library of 16,000 volumes, and a museum of pictures, &c., are placed in the old University buildings, founded It also contains by Pedro of Arragon, 1349. Galileo's thermometer, a present from Arago.

There is a pepinière, or nursery, besides public baths, theatre, a college, priests' seminary, and two hospitals, that for the military being in Rue St. Martin. At the Jardin de Pharmacie is a Virginian tulip tree, planted 1769, sixty feet high. Since 1800, a government bergerie, for breeding merino sheep, has been established here. H. Rigaud, the painter, and Madame Tastu, the poetess, were born in this town.

Linen and woollen stuffs, playing cards, bricks, oil, eaux-de-vie, &c., are made; and there is a trade in cork, wine, iron, &c.

Coaches to Spain, for which the Spanish consul will visé passports (at 5 fr.) Rail to Port Vendres, Ille, &c. Four routes may be taken into Spain :1. That by Port Vendres and the coast. 2. On the Aurelian way, or high road, vid Bellegarde (A). 3. Up the Tech, by Céret and Mont Canigou (B). 4. Up the Tech, by Ille, Prades, and Mont Louis (C). [From Perpignan to Port Vendres by rail, passes Elne (8 miles), near the Tech, the ancient Illiberis, which was once strongly fortified, and has a Romanesque church of the 11th century, with two towers and an elegant cloister, as late in some parts as the 15th century. Then Palau-del-Vidre (mile), Argelèssur-Mer (3 miles), and Collioure (3 miles), a port fit for small craft only; population, 3,300. It was the Roman Cauco-Illiberis, rebuilt by the Counts of Roussillon.

Port Vendres (2 miles) on the Mediterranean, near Cape Bearn, the Portus Veneris of the Romans, surrounded by hills, and improved for deep vessels by Louis XVI., to whom there is a pillar of Roussillon marble, 108 fee high. It is a fourth class fortress. Here the cactus begin to show. A pass leads south, by the Col de Danyuls and the coast to Rosas, in Catalonia.]