Here Was A Noble Bridge Over The River, But It Is
Now In Ruins.
On the other side, a branch of the Sorgue runs
through part of the city.
This is the river anciently called
Sulga, formed by the famous fountain of Vaucluse in this
neighbourhood, where 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.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 518 of 535
Words from 138683 to 138942
of 143308
