154 ORANGE GRO\']-:S OF HVEKES. 



Apples of the Hesperides or tlie golden gleam of its 

 shimmering soil which procured for these islands the name 

 of '-lies d'or"? No one can decide .that now. When 

 Francis I created the Marquisate of the "lies d'or'', these 

 islands sa\\ brilliant times. No\\' the\' are inhabited onh- 

 b\- poor lishermen and market gardeners. Those fruits 

 from which the (lolden Isles seek to derive their name 

 have now almost vanished from the neighbourhood. But 

 at one time the Orange groves of H^'eres had a great 

 reputation. More than 200.000 Orange trees covered 

 the district and \\ ere \\-ell calculated to awaken the 

 wonder of tra\'ellers. 



Chroniclers relate how Charles IX of France, standing 

 in astonishment before the largest Orange tree, requested 

 his two companions, the King of Navarre and the Duke 

 of .Vnjou, to help him to span round the tree. But the 

 six princeh" arms, we are told, failed to stretch so 

 far! In remembrance of this illustrious embrace "Caroli 

 regis amplexu glorior" was cut into the bark; and the 

 inscription grew and increased ^\'ith the \'ears. \\'ho 

 nov\' can tell whether tins stor\' rests on an\ basis of 

 fact! — However it is certain that the Chroniclers were 

 led hv their li\eh' Provencal imagination to over estimate 

 the thickness of the trunk. The finest (Grange trees now 

 known in Europe arc in Sardinia. Some of these are 

 thought to be more than seven hundred years old. \'et 

 onh at this great age do their trunks measure more than 

 a single man can s])an round with his arms. \\ hen 

 Charles IX \'isited I h'eres in 1564 he could not have 

 lound so thick a stem, since the Orange trees were lirst 



