aditions which continue to be handed down from father
to son relating to the great Camisard war of the Cevennes.

CHAPTER VII.

EXPLOITS OF CAVALIER.

The country round Nismes, which was the scene of so many contests
between the Royalists and the Camisard insurgents at the beginning of
last century, presents nearly the same aspect as it did then,
excepting that it is traversed by railways in several directions. The
railway to Montpellier on the west, crosses the fertile valley of the
Vaunage, "the little Canaan," still rich in vineyards as of old. That
to Alais on the north, proceeds for the most part along the valley of
the Gardon, the names of the successive stations reminding the passing
traveller of the embittered contests of which they were the scenes in
former times: Nozieres, Boucoiran, Ners, Vezenobres, and Alais itself,
now a considerable manufacturing town, and the centre of an important
coal-mining district.

The country in the neighbourhood of Nismes is by no means picturesque.
Though undulating, it is barren, arid, and stony. The view from the
Tour Magne, which is very extensive, is over an apparently skeleton
landscape, the bare rocks rising on all sides without any covering of
verdure. In summer the grass is parched and brown. There are few trees
visible; and these mostly mulberry, which, when, cropped, have a
blasted look. Yet, wherever soil exists, in the bottoms, the land is
very productive, yielding olives, grapes, and chestnuts in great
abundance.

As we ascend the valley of the Gardon, the country becomes more
undulating and better wooded. The villages and farmhouses have all an
old-fashioned look; not a modern villa is to be seen. We alight from
the train at the Ners station--Ners, where Cavalier drove Montrevel's
army across the river, and near which, at the village of Martinargues,
he completely defeated the Royalists under Lajonquiere. We went to see
the scene of the battle, some three miles to the south-east, passing
through a well-tilled country, with the peasants busily at work in the
fields. From the high ground behind Ners a fine view is obtained of
the valley of the Gardon, overlooking the junction of its two branches
descending by Alais and Anduze, the mountains of the Cevennes rising
up in the distance. To the left is the fertile valley of Beaurivage,
celebrated in the Pastorals of Florian, who was a native of the
district.

Descending the hill towards Ners, we were overt