“The famous octuple lock at Béziers only required half-an-hour to accomplish, and it is one of the most wonderful features of this canal, it is like going down a steep ladder from the top of a cliff to the valley below. Our passage must have been a source of amusement to the natives, judging by the crowds which met us at each stopping place. I never could quite understand the exact cause of this. I asked M. Moffre, to whom I have already alluded as the obliging and amiable chief, but he did not satisfy me by saying, ‘It is the first steam yacht we have had, except one which belongs to the Emperor of Austria, and which passed through five years ago.’ ... “From Carcassone we descended rapidly by multiple locks to the plain of Agde, having always as a grand background to the south the range of the Pyrenees, but this plain is anything but picturesque, being rocky and barren. Here we pass what the ignorant and misguided people of Riquet’s days thought would be a barrier to his great work. A sharp spur of the ‘Montagnes Noires’ here juts out into the plain, which looks like ‘thus far, no farther,’ but he was equal to the task, and set to work to tunnel an imitation of the only tunnel existing in those days, the grotto of Pausillipo at Naples, which he visited on purpose, and it is exactly similar and about the same length. Who does not remember the odd mysterious passage, high enough to pass a line-of-battle ship through? A part, unfortunately, has given way, and necessitated arching the roof, which has somewhat marred the effect, but it is still interesting and imposing. From here, a sharp descent through several multiple locks, brings us to the level of the Mediterranean, whose blue waters are seen in the distance; and on Saturday, the 10th of December, being our fourteenth day since leaving Bordeaux, we emerged from the canal into the Etang du Thau, at the mouth of which is Cette, giving access to the Mediterranean.”