The next little square at which we arrive is the =Marché aux Herbes=. Its W. side is occupied by the ancient but uninteresting Grande Boucherie. Turn to the L. by the corner of the Boucherie, with Our Lady and Child in a niche, and cross the bridge to the other side of the Lys. On the left are two handsome old houses. In front rise the gateway and bastions of the OUDEBURG, or Castle of the Princes. This was the primitive palace of the Counts of Flanders in Ghent. The irregular little square in front of it is known as the =Place Ste. Pharailde=. The =castle= has recently been cleared from the numerous modern houses which encumbered and hid it. The first stronghold on this site was erected in 868. The existing ruins of the =gateway=, with round Romanesque arches, date back to 1180; the square =keep= behind is of the 10th century. In this palace Jacob van Artevelde entertained Edward III. When Edward returned to England, he left Queen Philippa here, and during his absence she bore (in the Monastery of St. Bavon) her third son, John of Gaunt, who took his well-known surname from the place of his birth. It was on Edward’s return to Flanders, accompanied by the ladies of Philippa’s suite, that he found the French fleet drawn up near Sluys to prevent his entry into the port of Bruges, on which occasion he gained the first great English naval victory. The Castle, which is now in course of partial restoration, is closely bound up with the greatness of Van Artevelde and the heroic period in the history of Ghent. Walk round it to note its extent and its commanding position at the point where the bridge crosses the Lys to the main part of the town. The opposite corner of the Place Ste. Pharailde has a _Renaissance gateway_, re-erected in imitation of the original by Arthus Quellin, and adorned with sculptures of Neptune, the Schelde, and the Lys, the sources of Ghent’s greatness. It leads to the Fish-market. Around are several good old houses. Continue along the quay on the same side of the river as the Oudeburg, as far as the Pont du Laitage, just before reaching which you pass on your left two 17th century houses with reliefs, (the Works of Charity, a Flying Hart, etc.). Cross the bridge and turn to the R. as far as the =big cannon=, known as _Dulle Griete_ or Mad Margaret, dating back to the 14th century. By the touch-hole are the Cross of St. Andrew and the Arms of Phillipe le Bon of Burgundy. Turn into the large square in front of you. The building which faces you at the end of the street as you advance (with a tower at the corner and high gables) is one of the best old mediæval houses in Ghent, the Collacie-Zolder, or Municipal Council-Room, of the 13th or 14th century. It has an interesting little pulpit or balcony at its corner, with a bell, from which addresses could be made to the people. The towers that face you a little to the L. are those of St. Jacques, to be visited presently.