SAINTE BEAUME D'HONORAT. 205 



^riien u'e came to stone steps, and in some places we 

 skirted the edge of a precipice: but here tliere were iron 

 posts driven into the rock to hold on hv. Castor did 

 not seem to sutler from giddiness; he climbed cle\-erh' 

 up, often looking round in dizz\' places as tlioiigh donbt- 

 ing our skill. In front of us tm a ledge of rock rose 

 the ruins of a tower. We stood at its entrance looking 

 down across the steep rocks intfi the luxuriant \allc\-. 

 (jreen hills crowned with jagged masses of porph\'rTi' rose 

 be^'ond; o\-er the Col Le\'e(.[ue to the east gleamed the 

 snow\' summits of the Alps. And to the west, bathed 

 in misty blue, the Montagues des Maures closed the horiz- 

 on. On the other side of the tower- is the entrance to 

 tlie CAve. Castor was alread\' h'ing down in front of it. 

 He looked at us in a self-satisfied wa^'. and did not think 

 it at all necessar\' to wag his tail when we ga\'e him the 

 rest of the cake. He knew he deserved it, and humility 

 was therefore unnecessar\'. W'e entered the ca\'e. To 

 the right there is a cistern. .At the back a modest 

 altar has been made, and still less pretentious are the 

 images of the Saints \\-hieh adorn the walls, v'^t. llonor- 

 atus is said to have lived here once as a hermit. It 

 was he who in the ^ear 40(S founded on the lies de 

 Lerins the monaster\- which became famous later. For 

 centuries past pilgrims ha\'e toiled each \'ear. on the 

 first Tluirschn' in \fa\ , up this steep mountain-side to 

 honour the Saint. A niche in the cave is said to have 

 formed the hermit's couch. The pilgrims gaze reverenth' 

 at this hollow in the rock, which the-^' consider to be an 

 impression made hv the bod^' of the Saint. 



