[54] It is almost unnecessary to say that Saint-Pierre here refers to the _mascaret_, or “bore,” of the Seine. “Héva died of sorrow for the loss of her mistress. But the Nereids, to reward her for her fidelity, raised to her memory on the shore a tomb of black and white stones, which are visible from a great distance. By a celestial artifice, they also enclosed in them an echo, that Héva, after her death, might both by sight and hearing forewarn the sailor of the dangers of the sea. This tomb is yonder precipitous mountain, composed of funereal strata of white and black stones. It still bears the name of Héva.” * * * * * Cape La Hève, the ancient promontory of the Caletes, is one of the jetties, or breakwaters, of the great embouchure of the Seine; in the tenth century, it extended far into the sea, and made an integral part of the bank of l’Eclat, which is now separated from it by a channel upwards of 2000 yards in width. The bank, as its name indicates, has been broken up by a sudden eruption of the currents, or by an earthquake. Nor has ocean ceased its ravages, for it is calculated that its waters encroach seven feet upon the land every year. [Illustration: LIGHTHOUSES OF CAPE LA HEVE.] If we may credit an old chronicle, the origin of the two lighthouses of La Hève is very ancient. They date back to the epoch when Harfleur was the rendezvous of Spanish fleets. The tower which then surmounted the groyne (_groing_) of Caux had been constructed in 1364; a fire was kindled on its summit in all weathers, and it was called the _Tour des Castillans_. Not a vestige was extant when the incessant representations of merchants and seamen determined the Government of Louis XV. to comply with the instance of the Chamber of Normandy by constructing the lighthouses which now illuminate the port of Havre. The buildings represented in the accompanying illustration were erected in 1774. Surmounted at first by _chauffers_ in which coal was burned, each of them was crowned in 1781 by a lantern containing an illuminating apparatus of sixteen spherical reflectors, some lit up by three, and the others by two broad wicks. There were forty burners in the apparatus. The double paraboloidal reflectors of Bordier-Marceat, six to each lighthouse, were substituted for these faulty appliances in 1811 and 1814, and their number increased to ten in 1819. Finally, in 1845, the towers were restored and modified in their superstructure, so as to fit them for receiving the lenticular apparatus, and lanterns of 12 feet in diameter.[55] In the meantime, suitable dwellings for the light-keepers were erected between the two towers. Each keeper has two apartments, a closet, a store-room, and a wood-shed, which stands in an enclosed court. He is not, therefore, indifferently accommodated.