id to exceed in picturesque beauty the banks of
the Rhine, the river becomes narrower, and as we continue to follow its
exceedingly tortuous course, a rapid succession of lovely sylvan scenery
gratifies the eye.

The heights which border the Seine, and which are constituted of the
chalk formation, are deeply furrowed by a continuous series of
transverse vallies, forming a succession of rounded elevations, which
together, present a remarkable natural phenomena, well worthy the
particular attention of the speculative geologist. Many of these heights
are clad with a rich garb of foliage, as are also most of their
concomitant vales, in some of which a pretty neat village is
sequesteredly ensconced, while its neighbouring hills are adorned by a
chateau, or the semblance of some noble ruin, in the bold indentations
of a grey rocky precipice peering through dense masses of foliage.

As the vicinity of Rouen is approached, the opposite hills gradually
expand, leaving at their base an extensive plain of luxuriant pastures
and waving corn fields, around which the Seine winds in graceful folds,
till, on reaching the environs of Rouen, it encircles islands of the
richest verdure. At this point, the ancient capital of Normandy appears
in view, with its venerable temples, noble buildings, quays, and hosts
of sea and river craft; the whole being surrounded by an expansive
amphitheatre of thickly timbered hills.

The distance from Havre to Rouen by land is fifty-three miles, but up
the Seine it is about eighty miles; the extra length however of the
journey occasioned by the extremely indirect course of the river, is
amply compensated for by the exquisite and ever varying prospects
afforded by the passage up the Seine.

Another extremely interesting and convenient route to Tours might be
pointed out, to such as could bear the fatigues of a lengthened voyage
and long land trip, by way of the channel islands to Saint-Malo, and
thence by diligence, through the romantic primary districts of Britanny,
to Rennes and Nantes, the chief place of the department of
Loire-Inferieure, and one of the richest and most commercial towns of
France; it is situated on the right banks of the Loire, at the
confluence of the Indre and the Severe. From this place the traveller
may reach Tours by the regular conveyances, through Angers and Saumur;
or, by ascending the Loire in one of the neat steam packets which
perform regular trips between Nantes and Orle