re the poet Petrarch
resided. It is a charming transparent stream, abounding with excellent
trout and craw-fish. We passed over it on a stone bridge, in our way to
Orange, the Arausio Cavarum of the Romans, still distinguished by some
noble monuments of antiquity. These consist of a circus, an aqueduct, a
temple, and a triumphal arch, which last was erected in honour of Caius
Marius, and Luctatius Catulus, after the great victory they obtained in
this country over the Cimbri and Teutones. It is a very magnificent
edifice, adorned on all sides with trophies and battles in basso
relievo. The ornaments of the architecture, and the sculpture, are
wonderfully elegant for the time in which it was erected; and the whole
is surprisingly well preserved, considering its great antiquity. It
seems to me to be as entire and perfect as the arch of Septimius
Severus at Rome. Next day we passed two very impetuous streams, the
Drome and the Isere. The first, which very much resembles the Var, we
forded: but the Isere we crossed in a boat, which as well as that upon
the Durance, is managed by the traille, a moveable or running pulley,
on a rope stretched between two wooden machines erected on the opposite
sides of the river. The contrivance is simple and effectual, and the
passage equally safe and expeditious. The boatman has nothing to do,
but by means of a long massy rudder, to keep the head obliquely to the
stream, the force of which pushes the boat along, the block to which it
is fixed sliding upon the rope from one side to the other. All these
rivers take their rise from the mountains, which are continued through
Provence and Dauphine, and fall into the Rhone: and all of them, when
swelled by sudden rains, overflow the flat country. Although Dauphine
affords little or no oil, it produces excellent wines, particularly
those of Hermitage and Cote-roti. The first of these is sold on the
spot for three livres the bottle, and the other for two. The country
likewise yields a considerable quantity of corn, and a good deal of
grass. It is well watered with streams, and agreeably shaded with wood.
The weather was pleasant, and we had a continued song of nightingales
from Aix to Fontainebleau.

I cannot pretend to specify the antiquities of Vienne, antiently called
Vienna Allobrogum. It was a Roman colony, and a considerable city,
which the antients spared no pains and expence to embellish. It is
still a large town, standing among several hil