THE RHONE AND SAoNE. 261 



junction of the Durance, is a very fine old French town. 

 It was a formidable place in the time of the Romans; and 

 many a bitter conflict has been witnessed in its vicinity 

 between the inhabitants and their invaders, whether 

 Romans, Goths, Burgundians; or in later times, the 

 warlike counts of Toulouse. All the public buildings, 

 the cathedral the churches and library, rich in books 

 and manuscripts, are in unison with the antiquity and 

 importance of the fine old town, and deserve an attentive 

 and minute inspection. 



In the department of the Var, which is washed on its 

 southern boundary by the waters of the Mediterranean, 

 the rivers are not numerous. There is a small stream 

 near the town of Cannes, called the Saigne, which has a 

 range of about twenty miles, and which is tolerably well 

 supplied with fish. 



Cannes will be ever memorable, as the spot where 

 Napoleon landed on his return from the Isle of Elba. 

 From one of the eminences near the town, he was seen to 

 cast an anxious eye over the interesting shores of the 

 Mediterranean, and the blue mountains of the distant 

 Corsica, the place of his nativity, which he was destined 

 never to look upon again. Cannes is also at present of 

 some little interest to the English, on account of the 

 residence of Lord Brougham, and several other British 

 families of wealth and distinction. 



At the small town of Le Muy, the angler will fall in 

 with two small rivers, the Argens and the Nartubie, 

 which unite their waters at this place, and enter the sea 

 a few miles below, near Frejus. The Argens receives 

 the little stream called the Aille, a short distance from 

 the town of Le Muy. This place is remarkable for an 

 old tower, in a chamber of which seven resolute con- 



