n so used in the charter for the foundation of the
abbey, dated in the middle of the eleventh century. The very sensible
author of the _Description of Upper Normandy_, is, however, of opinion,
that such application is not warranted; and, after discussing the
subject at some length, he inclines to think it more probable that
Treport may have been termed by the Romans, _Citerior Portus_; though he
candidly admits that he finds no mention of a place so called among
their writers.[138] The modern name of the town he derives from the
Celtic word, _Treiz_; or, as it is sometimes spelt, _Traiz_, _Trais_, or
_Treaz_; a word still in use in Lower Brittany, to signify "_the passage
of an arm of the sea, or of a river towards its mouth_."

According to the same author, there is no reason to believe that Treport
was a place of note, either during the period of the dominion of the
Gauls, or of the Romans. From the beginning of the twelfth century,
however, it has excited, at different times, a greater or less degree of
interest. Various attempts have been made to raise it into commercial
importance; and, sunk as it is at present, "it once could boast rows of
handsome, well-built streets, a considerable number of inhabitants, and
as many as a hundred vessels, fishing-boats included, belonging to the
port."--Henry I. one of the earliest Counts of Eu, turned in 1101, the
course of the Bresle, so as to bring it more immediately under the walls
of Treport: it was he also who dug the first harbor. Another of the same
line of Counts, Charles of Artois, repaired this harbor in 1475, and
undertook the greater work of cutting a navigable canal as far as Eu.
The task, however, was suspended long before its completion; but the
vestiges still remain, and even to the present day pass under the name
of the _Canal d'Artois_. In 1154, a fresh attempt was made, and by a far
greater man, to raise the prosperity of Treport. Henry, Duke of Guise,
caused a basin to be formed here, capable of containing ships of three
hundred tons burthen; and added to it a jetty, defended by strong
palisades. The whole was shortly after swept away; nor did better
success attend the labors of the celebrated Vauban, who, admiring the
situation of the town, undertook, after a lapse of one hundred and
thirty-four years, to repair the works of the Duke of Guise.

But the sea is not the only enemy with which Treport has had to contend:
its misfortunes have also been in great m