tree.
These upright escrutoires, or writing desks, are in almost every bed-room
of the more respectable hotels: but of course their polish is gone when
they become stationary furniture in an inn--for the art of rubbing, or what
is called _elbow-grease_ with us--is almost unknown on either side of the
Seine. You would be charmed to have a fine specimen of a side board, or an
escrutoire, (the latter five or six feet high) made by one of their best
cabinet-makers from choice walnut wood. The polish and tone of colour are
equally gratifying; and resemble somewhat that of rose wood, but of a gayer
aspect. The _or-molu_ ornaments are tastefully put on; but the general
shape, or contour, of the several pieces of furniture, struck me as being
in bad taste.

He who wishes to be astonished by the singularity of a scene, connected
with _trade_, should walk leisurely down the RUE DE ROBEC. It is surely the
oddest, and as some may think, the most repulsive scene imaginable: But who
that has a rational curiosity could resist such a walk? Here live the
_dyers of clothes_--and in the middle of the street rushes the precipitous
stream, called _L'Eau de Robec_[67]--receiving colours of all hues. To-day
it is nearly jet black: to-morrow it is bright scarlet: a third day it is
blue, and a fourth day it is yellow! Meanwhile it is partially concealed by
little bridges, communicating with the manufactories, or with that side of
the street where the work-people live: and the whole has a dismal and
disagreeable aspect--especially in dirty weather: but if you go to one end
of it (I think to the east--as it runs east and west) and look down upon
the descending street, with the overhanging upper stories and roofs--the
foreshortened, numerous bridges--the differently-coloured dyed clothes,
suspended from the windows, or from poles--the constant motion of men,
women, and children, running across the bridges--with the rapid, _camelion_
stream beneath--you cannot fail to acknowledge that this is one of the most
singular, grotesque, and uncommon sights in the wonder-working city of
Rouen. I ought to tell you that the first famous Cardinal d'Amboise (of
whom the preceding pages have made such frequent honourable mention) caused
the _Eau de Robec_ to be directed through the streets of Rouen, from its
original channel or source in a little valley near _St. Martin du Vivien_.
Formerly there was a much more numerous clan of these "teinturiers" in the
Rue de