country, and is distilled from wheat, and barley, flavoured with juniper berries."

SECTION V.

ANTWERP BRUSSELS, &C.

DR. WALKER." But see, Edward, we are approaching Antwerp, which about 200 years ago was the principal mart in Europe. At the quay the river is twenty-two feet deep at high water: it has good docks and many canals. It contains two hundred and twelve streets, twenty-two squares, and many public buildings, among which the cathedral and exchange are very conspicuous; the former is said to be the finest piece of Gothic architecture in Europe, and the exchanges of London and Amsterdam were built in imitation of the latter. The Scheldt is here four hundred feet wide, and the city presents a scene of bustle and activity not to be surpassed by any in the Netherlands."

Having embarked on board a passage boat, that was going to Brussels, our travellers had a most delightful journey to that noble city, where they intended staying some little time, in order to take a survey of the surrounding country, rendered so interesting by the ever memorable battle of Waterloo. Brussels possesses in itself many objects of attraction, it is large, handsome, populous, and about seven miles in circumference. It is seated partly on an eminence, has seven fine squares, and is remarkable for its great and beautiful market-place. About 10,000 people are employed in manufacturing lace; its minor manufactures are cards, iron, and tobacco.

Brussels is reckoned a cheap place to li

sarics of life, and even many of its luxuries are produced in great abundance in Flanders. The soil of this country is peculiarly fertile, and was formerly enriched with large forests, composed of beech, elm, and oak; these in many parts have disappeared; about Charleroi there are quarries of beautiful granite, as well as coal mines of considerable extent. From Brussels our travellers proceeded towards Charleroi after passing over the field of the battle of Wa

terloo. How changed the scene! Luxuriant fields of corn wave over the graves of thousands of human beings, who fell immortalized in that ever memorable field. Here and there a small stone is seen erected by some friendly hand to indicate the spot where a beloved companion found an honourable grave; but the luxuriant soil has resumed its wonted splendid robe, and many of the spots where particular movements took place, can scarcely be defined. From Charleroi they advanced to Charlemont, which is romantically seated on a mountain near the Meuse, from whence they proceeded southward, and entering the beautiful country of Champagne, they stopped at Mézieres.

Mézieres, a town in the department of Ardennes, is seated on an island formed by the Meuse, over which it has two bridges with a citadel.

CHAPTER XV.

FRANCE.

SECTION I.

GENERAL VIEW OF FRANCE.

PASSING on in a direct line to the south, they were charmed with the rich and luxuriant scenery, which the approach to Rheims presented. The surrounding hills were covered with vines, which hung in gay profusion on every side.

"The surface and climate of this extensive country, must needs be various," observed Dr. Walker, " and we will therefore take a slight view of them,

"The north, west, and interior of France are much diversified, but the plain predominates, and is interspersed with rivers, canals, and the extensive forests of Orleans, and Ardennes: the rest is intersected or bounded by the highest mountains in Europe; the Pyrennees, Alps, Cevennes, Jura, and the Vosges. The air is salubrious; in the north the winters are very cold; the south is so mild that.

many English invalids resort thither. The most elevated part of France is a curved line, extending from the north-west of Roussillon, west of Languedoc, south of Lyonnois, west of Burgundy, north of Orleannois, and along the south of Normandy.

1

"The north-eastern part from Flanders to Orleans, is a rich loam. Further to the west the land is poor and stony: Brittany is generally gravel, or gravelly sand, with low ridges of granite. Chalk runs through the centre of the kingdom, from Germany by Champagne to Saintonge; from this line southward to the mountainous tract is a large extent of gravel, the mountainous region of the south is in general fertile, though the large province formerly called Gascony presents many landes, or level heaths.

"The surface abounds with corn, grapes, fruits, olives, tobacco, hemp, flax, manna and saffron. It is also rich in mineral productions.

"The vegetable world here likewise displays its treasures in great abundance. The oak, and most other forest trees, the orange, the myrtle, the caper bush, the apple, the vine, the olive, and many mulberry trees, in short, fruits and flowers of almost every kind, at least of those that are found in Europe, regale the senses, and gratify the palate of the people of La belle France.

"The trade of France is very great, she exports large quantities of wine, brandy, corn, silks linen, woollen, gloves, lace, cambric, and porcelain; and her imports are, raw silk, wool, hemp, hides, tallow, and East and West Indian produce. Surrounded on the north west, west and south, by the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, her ports are numerrous and excellent. On the Mediterranean, are Marseilles and Toulon. On the Bay of Biscay, Bayonne, in the lower Pyrenees; Bourdeaux; Rochelle, in the lower Charente; Nantes; Vannes; and L'Orient, in Morbihan; Brest. On the English Channel, Morlaix, in Finisterre; St. Brieux; and St. Malo, in the Ille and Vilaine; Cherburg, in the Channel; Caen, Havre de Grace, and Dieppe, in the lower Seine; Boulogne and Calais, in the Straits of Calais.

"Her inland navigation is also considerable, by means of her fine rivers and her excellent canals. Of her rivers the principal are the Rhone, which meeting the Soane at Lyons falls into the Mediterranean in the gulf of Lyons.

"The source of the Seine is near St. Seine, in the de

partment of Côte d'Or, and passing by Troyes, Melun, Paris, and Rouen, it falls into the English Channel at Havre de Grace; its comparative course is about 250 miles.

"The Loire, rising in the mountains of ancient Languedoc, passes by Le Puy, Foeurs, Nevers, Orleans, Blois, Tours, and Nantes, and after a course of 500 miles, falls into the ocean at Painbœuf.

"The Garonne, rises in the Pyrenees, runs by Toulouse, Agen, Bourdeaux, and below that place falls into the sea. After being joined by the Dordogne, it assumes the name of Gironde. Its course is 250 miles.

"In addition to these natural means of communication, the industry of France can boast of the canal of Briare, otherwise styled the canal of Burgundy, which unites the Loire and the Seine. From Briare, upon the Loire, it passes by Montargis, and falls into the Seine near Fontainbleau. A canal from Orleans joins the last-mentioned canal at Montargis. The canal of Picardy extends from the Somme to the Oise, beginning at St. Quintin. But the chief canal of France is the celebrated one of Languedoc, which forms a junction between the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay. This noble canal begins at Cette, in the Bay of Languedoc, and joins the Garonne below Toulouse. The breadth, including the towing paths, is 144 feet, the depth six feet, and the length 180 miles.

EDWARD." What is the population of France, Sir?" DR. WALKER." About twenty-five millions. And now, Edward, let us stroll into some of the neighbouring vineyards. No French wine has so much celebrity as that of Champagne," continued the Doctor, "it is of two kinds; one of which, called still or quiet Champagne, has gone through the whole process of fermentation; the other, which has the name of sparkling Champagne, has been bottled before the fermentation was complete; this consequently proceeds slowly in the bottle, and causes the wine, on the drawing of the cork, to sparkle in the glass. Frontignac and Muscadel are white wines, the delicious productions of Languedoc.

Burgundy is a red wine of very delicate flavour, which has its name from the province where it is made. The wines of the neighbourhood of Orleans, however, after having been matured by age, are much like Burgundy. Claret is the only French red wine for which there is any great de

mand in England. It is thin and higly flavoured, and is chiefly supplied from the neighbourhood of Bourdeaux. Some of the red wines of Champagne are highly prized for their excellence and delicacy, though they occasionally have a a pungent and sourish taste."

When Buonaparte was on his way to Moscow he passed throuh Rheims, and here, as in all other towns through which he travelled, the inhabitants were obliged to entertain his troops, and in many instances, they were compelled to quit their houses entirely, and find shelter where they could.

"Rheims, you know, Edward," said Dr. Walker, "has been for many ages the place where the ceremony of the coronation of the Kings of France is performed, in the church of St. Remy. Under the altar of this church the body of St. Remigius is deposited, and here too la Sainté Ampoull was kept, said to have been brought from heaven by a dove, at the coronation of Clovis.

"In the neighbourhood of Rheims there are the remains of a Roman ampitheatre, a castle, and a triumphal arch, besides three gates of the city which still bear the names of pagan deities; viz. the Sun, Mars, and Ceres."

On their road to Chalons sur Marne, some part of the traces of our travellers harness gave way; a farmer who saw their distress, hastened to assist them, and with the urbanity which forms part of the characteristic of the French nation, invited them to rest in his house until their equipage was repaired. The offer was too inviting to be refused, and following their host, they reached his house, beautifully seated at the foot of a declivity, covered with vines. The season was peculiarly dry, but to the surprize of Dr. Walker, the vines appeared in great beauty, the reason was explained as they walked in the vineyards, for the farmer occasionally warned them of several trenches, which ran in serpentine directions throughout, not only the vineyard, but the whole of his grounds. Upon arriving at the top of the eminence the farmer shewed them a spring from which he had dug a canal along the ridge of the hill, and from which he had also dug the trenches that so luxuriantly and so easily watered his extensive farm. This they found was the usual way in which the farmers of this country water their grounds in dry weather; by means of little flood gates, these small canals can be stopped at pleasure, when the weather is rainy.