Raisins, Currants, &c., are abundantly resorted
to. If some American of adequate capital and capacity would embark in
the growth and curing of Apples, Peaches, &c., expressly for the English
market, drying them perfectly, preparing them with scrupulous neatness,
and putting them up in clean wooden boxes of twenty-five, fifty and one
hundred pounds, I think he might do well by it. For such a purpose,
cheap lands and cheap labor (that of aged persons and young children)
might be made available, while in years of bountiful Peach harvests,
like the last, even New-Jersey and Delaware could be drawn upon for an
extra supply. The miscellaneous exportation of any Dried Fruits that
might happen to be on the market would probably involve loss, because
time and expenditure are required to make these products known to the
great majority of British consumers, and assure them that the article
offered them has been prepared with scrupulous cleanliness. With proper
exertion and outlay, I believe an advantageous market might thus be
opened for several Millions' worth of American products of which little
or nothing is now known in Europe.

We were detained a long hour in Calais--a queer old town, with little
trade and only a historical importance--although our baggage was not
examined there, but sealed up for custom-house scrutiny at Paris. They
made a few dollars out of us by charging for extra baggage, one of them
out of me, though my trunk contained only clothing and three or four
books. Small business this for a Railroad, though it will do in stage
transportation. Our passports were scrutinized--mine not very
thoroughly--we (the green ones) obtained an execrable dinner for 37 1/2
cents, and changed some sovereigns for French silver at a shave which
was not atrocious. Finally, we were all let go.

The face of the country inland from Calais is flat and marshy--more like
Holland, as we conceive it, than like England or France. Of course, the
railroad avoids the higher ground, but I did not see a cliff nor steep
acclivity until darkness closed us in, though some moderate hills were
visible from time to time, mainly on the right. Here, too, as across the
Channel, Grass largely predominated, but I think there was a greater
breadth of Wheat. I saw very few Fruit-trees, though much more growing
Timber than I had expected, from the representations I had read of the
treeless nakedness of the French soil. I think trees are as abundant for
fif