16th October the coffin was opened, when the body was found in an excellent state of preservation. On that same day the remains were embarked on board the Belle Poule, and on the 18th the ship set sail. On the 30th November it reached Cherbourg, where the body was transferred to the steamboat Normandie, which conveyed it up the Seine to Courbevoie, where it was placed on a most magnificent car.
Toulon: Cab Fares. The Arsenals.
[Cab fares.]—The course, 1¼ fr.; the hour, 2 frs.
The strongly-fortified port of Toulon occupies a plain rising gradually from the sea to the lofty ridge of Mont Faron, which runs east and west, and sends out lower branches, enclosing the town and harbour on either side. On the summit, immediately behind the town, are Fort Croix and large barracks; to the east is La Platrière, 1000 ft., and immediately behind it [Mt. Coudon], 2305 ft. To the west is the Cap Gros, 1735 ft, and behind it Mt. Caoume, 3268 ft. On every commanding position is a fort; while from the water’s edge at the west end of the port rises Fort Malbousquet. Similarly situated on the eastern end is Fort Lamalgue, the last held by the English in 1793. The Petit Rade offers a spacious and most secure roadstead. From it are walled off, at the east end, the Port Marchand and the Vieille Darse, or town-docks, whence the steamers sail. Then follow the Government docks of Vauban, Castigneau, and Missiessy, all communicating with each other by swing bridges, and surrounded by well-built quays. The most conspicuous features of Toulon are the [arsenals] and the establishments connected with them, which are on a scale of almost unrivalled magnificence, occupying 717 acres, and employing above 10,000 men. Near the west end of the Port a large gateway with marble columns forms the entrance into the “Arsenal Maritime,” covering 240 acres, and containing a general storehouse, 100 forge fires, two covered building-slips, a ropery 1050 feet long, and an armoury with at the entrance two caryatides and a colossal eagle by Puget. Adjoining is the Arsenal de Castigneau, constructed on piles along the bay towards La Seyne, with the bakery, ironworks, and ship-equipment departments.
Although Toulon, rather a dirty town, is crowded with marines and sailors, it maintains by the constant influx of the peasantry all the characteristics of a town of Provence. Theatres of every grade abound, from the Grand Opera House down to the poor little café chantant, where gaudily-dressed females electrify the audience with popular ballads. The most pleasant lounge in winter is on the Quai du Port, as the wharf fronting the town-dock is called. As long as
the sun is above the horizon it shines there, consequently during the cold season it is crowded with all kinds of people, most of whom, unfortunately, are poisoning the air with execrable tobacco. On it are good cafés and restaurants, and booksellers’ shops where plans of the town and neighbourhood are sold. This now gay sunny promenade was in November 1793 the scene of one of the most horrid butcheries of human life recorded in history, when the infuriated Republican soldiers, mad with vengeance, slaughtered above 6000 of their countrymen, not sparing even those of their own party, in their blind rage. Sir Sydney Smith, amidst the flames of burning ships and dockyards, and the shrieks and imploring cries of the terrified populace, succeeded in rescuing and embarking some 1500. Napoleon, then a lad of 23, by whose military genius the discomfiture of the English had been effected, exerted himself to the utmost, but in vain, to stay the carnage.
Toulon: Town Hall.
Among the houses which border the Quai du Port is the [Town Hall], adorned with two admirable caryatides by Pierre Puget. In front is the statue representing Navigation, and at No. 64 of the street behind is the corner house Puget built for himself. It contains four stories of nearly square windows, those in the lowest and highest rows being the smallest. The small side has three windows in each row, and the large four, the windows of the first three rows over the doorway being in couples. On the angles are shallow grooved foliated pilasters, and under the eaves a projecting dentil cornice.
The most sheltered street in winter, and the coolest in summer, is the Rue Lafayette, a broad avenue lined with shops and shaded with immense lime trees. It commences at the east end of the Port and bends round to the Place Puget. About half of the street is occupied by a fruit, flower, and vegetable market. In the second story of the narrow five-storied house, at No. 89 (the Port end), is one of the cannon-balls fired by the English during the struggle of November 1793. (See above.) At the Port end of the street is the “Place,” whence the omnibus starts for Mourillon; also the church of St. François de Paule. The interior contains pictures and statues of some merit. The reredos of the altar to the left represents one of the interviews between J. C. and Marguerite Alacoque, while that of the altar to the right represents Mary announcing herself to the girl swineherd at Lourdes to be the “conceived without sin.”
Toulon: Sainte-Marie-Majeure.