as a holy
day, dedicated to God for bodily rest and spiritual refreshment.

"Then I turned away in sadness, from these gay and thoughtless lays,
Longing for my own dear country, and the voice of prayer and praise."

CHAPTER III.

Leaving Marseilles--Toulon--Hyeres--Frejus--Coast scenery--The Hotel
Windsor--An unexpected meeting, and a pleasant walk--Isles de Lerins
--The Mediterranean--Defective drainage--Mosquitos and Nocturnal Pianos
--Christmas Day--Cannes--The Pepper tree--The English cemetery--Antibes
--Miscalled Health Resorts--Grasse--Orange blossoms--Leaving Cannes.

The _mistral_ blew us away from Marseilles, which we left on the
afternoon of the 25th by the two o'clock train for Cannes. The route lay
through rocky defiles, with numerous tunnels, for we were cutting
through the promontories on the sea coast, of which we occasionally
caught magnificent glimpses.

Of Toulon, the great naval arsenal of France, we saw but little as we
passed quickly through its suburbs. Here it was that Napoleon, then a
young lieutenant-colonel of artillery, first made his mark in the
capture of the place by storm from the English in 1793. Englishmen,
however, do not forget that it was accomplished only after a long and
stubborn defence of its garrison, consisting of only a tenth of the
storming party.

The little islands off Hyeres look like gems in the clear dark sea. They
were known in ancient times as the Stoechades, signifying "the
arranged" islands, a name indicative of their position in a line from
east to west. The town of Hyeres seems tempting enough as a place of
quiet residence, but the air is very unhealthy from the marshes in the
vicinity.

So far our journey has been pretty close to the sea, but now we quitted
the coast for a time, winding through the Montagnes des Maures, with an
endless succession of tunnels, yet still obtaining frequent peeps at the
coast scenery.

At Frejus we were greatly pleased at the beautiful ruins of the ancient
Roman amphitheatre, quite close to the station: the railway being on a
viaduct here enabled us to get a good view, looking downwards. This
amphitheatre, though not nearly so large as the coliseum at Rome, is far
more perfect. This was the port where, in 1799, Napoleon landed on his
return from Egypt; and from whence, fifteen years later, he embarked
when banished to Elba. Frejus was the ancient _Forum Julii_ established
by Augus