The west front is entirely unworthy of the other proportions of the structure, and decidedly the most brilliant and lively view is that of the apside and its chapels. There is an odd fourteenth-century tower, above which is suspended a clock in a cage of iron. The whole design or outline of the exterior of this not very ancient cathedral is in the main Spanish; it is at least not French. This Spanish sentiment is further sustained by many of the interior accessories and details, of which the chief and most elaborate are an altar-screen of wood and stone of great magnificence, a marble _retable_ of the seventeenth century, a baptismal font of the twelfth or thirteenth century, some indifferent paintings, the usual organ _buffet_ with fifteenth-century carving, and a tomb of a former bishop (1695) in the transept. The altars, other than the above, are garish and unappealing. A further notable effect to be seen in the massive nave is the very excellent "pointed" vaulting. There are, close beside the present church, the remains of an older St. Jean--now nought but a ruin. The Bourse (locally called _La Loge_, from the Spanish _Lonja_) has a charming cloistered courtyard of a mixed Moorish-Gothic style. It is well worthy of interest, as is also the citadel and castle of the King of Majorca. The latter has a unique portal to its chapel. It is recorded that Bishop Berengarius II. of Perpignan in the year 1019 visited the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, and on his return built a church or chapel on similar lines in memory of his pilgrimage. No remains of it are visible to-day, nor can it be further traced. Mention of it is made here from the fact that it seems to have been a worthy undertaking,--this memorial of a prelate's devotion to his faith. [Illustration] XIV STE. EULALIA D'ELNE Elne is the first in importance of the dead cities which border the Gulf of Lyons. It is the ancient _Illiberis_, frequently mentioned by Pliny, Livy, and, latterly, Gibbon. To-day it is ignored by all save the _commis voyageur_ and a comparatively small number of the genuine French _touristes_. Formerly the ancient province of Rousillon, in which Elne is situated, and which bordered upon the Spanish frontier, was distinctly Spanish as to manners and customs. It is, moreover, the reputed spot where Hannibal first encamped after crossing the Pyrenees on his march to Rome. Like Bayonne, at the other extremity of the Pyrenean mountain chain, it commanded the gateway to Spain, and even to-day is the real entrance of the railway route to Barcelona, as is Bayonne to Madrid.