1 82 SCIENCE SKETCHES. 



ago, and they called it Iciodorum. They found it 

 again in the year 287, when they came up to convert 

 the Gauls to Christianity, a thing which they had 

 neglected to do upon their first visit. The Romans 

 brought with them a pious monk, Saint Austre- 

 moine by name ; and the people of Iciodorum cap- 

 tured him, and he was duly roasted in accordance 

 with their heathenish customs. So, as the blood of 

 the martyrs is the seed of the Church, Issoire came 

 in time to be famous as having the largest church 

 and the best parish schools in the whole region of 

 Auvergne. 



Issoire has a long, long history, which is duly 

 set forth in Joanne's " Guide-Book. " Its story is 

 one of castles and robbers and chivalry, with here 

 and there a fair dame and an ancestral ghost, per- 

 haps, but of this I am not so certain. Once Issoire 

 fell into the hands of the famous knight Pierre 

 Diablenoir, the Duke of Alengon. After plunder- 

 ing all the shops, burning the houses, killing most 

 of the people, and scaring the rest off into the 

 woods, he set up in the public square a large col- 

 umn bearing this simple legend, " Ici fut Issoire!" 

 ( " Here was Issoire.") Were it not for this touching 

 forethought, we might be to this day as ignorant of 

 Issoire's location as we are of the site of Troy. 



But the years went on, the wars were ended, the 

 rain fell, the birds sang, the grass grew, the people 

 came back, and Issoire arose from its ashes. To- 

 day it is as dull and cosy a town as you will find in 

 all France. It has now, according to Joanne, a 

 population of 6,303 souls, and a considerable trade 

 in grain, shoes, millstones, brandy, and vinegar. 



