FRE JUS. 



From Antibes when we see tlie sun sink behind the 

 Esterel, its summits are veiled in darlc bUie shadows 

 and its outline shows in bold relief against the 

 evening sky. But here it is bathed in light; the 

 setting sun casts its ra^•s into the valleys making each 

 hill to stand out; gilds the peaks: draws forth blue half- 

 shadows from the depths; illuminates whole villages; 

 thro-\vs unaccountable lights into the isolated houses, and 

 inialh" tinges everything with a purple glow. Carolus 

 Duran settled at St. Aigulf on this coast, and the place 

 is well calculated to charm an artist's soul with the splen- 

 dour of its colouring. Suddenh' the broad valley, which 

 the ri^'er Argens flows through in innumerable windings, 

 opens out betore us. This valley separates the Mon- 

 tagues des Maures from the Esterel. The pond of Ville- 

 pey and the meandering river gleam like metal mirrors. 

 In Frejus the evening bells are ringing, and from the 

 opposite shore of the Golfe the lighthouse of St. Raphael 

 flashes forth dimmed by the light of the declining dav. 



CHAPTER IV. 



We arc now on classic soil; for Frejus is the old 

 Forum Julii, so named after Julius Caesar. Augustus 

 completed the harbour, which was constructed among 

 the lagunes, and provided the place with a lighthouse. 

 Agrippa built an aqueduct and an amphitheatre. Soldiers 

 of the eighth Legion settled here, and this led to the 

 later name of Colonia Octavianoruni. The town grew 

 rapidly in size and importance; it measured five thousand 

 paces in circumference. I'he harbour was so extensive 



