If there was reason to complain of the juvenility of Havre, there is sufficient antiquity at Lillebonne to satisfy the most exacting, for the presence of a Roman theatre indicates the former existence of an important Roman city, and there is some reason for believing that this _Julia Bona_ of the Romans was built where the chief town of the tribe of the Caletes stood. The heavy squared stones that formed the seats were to a great extent carried away to the other side of Caudebec to build the Abbey of St. Wandrille, and one can only get a small idea of the perfect building from the rough inner stonework of the two lowest tiers. Even these were only revealed through the excavations which took place between 1812 and 1840. Many of the discoveries made in the excavations are to be seen in the museum at Rouen. Of exceptional interest to Englishmen is the castle of Lillebonne, for in the great Norman hall--now also demolished--William the Conqueror gathered together a great assemblage of his viscounts, his warrior bishops, and men of lesser potency, and before them all announced his intention of invading England. The reception of this portentous declaration was mixed, many of the barons being unwilling to consent to so hazardous an enterprise, in spite of the enthusiasm of the Duke’s particular friends. Notwithstanding this lukewarmness, William’s determination eventually carried away all opposition, and the invasion ‘scare’ became an accomplished fact. That the historic hall should have survived until a wealthy cotton-spinner, who had purchased the castle, destroyed it in cold blood is distressing to the visitor who longs to feast his eyes on the building that once held that stirring council. What he sees to-day is the ruins of the thirteenth-century castle built on the site of the Conqueror’s stronghold, and the great round donjon did not come into existence until long after William had been gathered to his fathers. The church has a beautiful crocketed spire of the fifteenth century, similar to the one seen at Harfleur. As one climbs out of the valley the road winds in different directions, and gives charming views over the Seine, with its passing steamers, and the distant green country beyond. Two pretty villages, La Frenaye and St. Arnoult, are passed, each with its mossy thatched roofs and quaint little church, its particularly attractive half-timbered houses, and here and there an outside wooded staircase; then follows a winding descent into that most romantic of towns-- CAUDEBEC-EN-CAUX