,
though the revolutionary anecdotes which we have heard of them at
Grignan might create some prejudice to their disadvantage, I think, in
truth, that I never beheld a more squalid, uncivilized,
ferocious-looking people. A grin of savage curiosity, or a cannibal
scowl, seems almost universally to disfigure features which are none of
the best or cleanest; and their whole appearance is as direct a contrast
as can well be imagined, to the hale, honest Norman, or le franc Picard,
as he is proverbially styled. We turned our backs upon them with
pleasure, after casting back one lingering look at the noble old Circus;
and soon found ourselves in the centre of the extensive plain in which
Avignon stands. The forwardness of the climate, and the skilful system
of irrigation pursued here, afforded us, at this early time of the year,
the spectacle of hay-making in many places. An English farmer might be
shocked by the rudeness of the method here pursued, the hay being mostly
carried in sail-cloth sheets, and turned with large wooden forks. With
respect to the former practice, I have nothing to say; but, having
attentively observed their method of using these forks, I am confident
that they are better adapted to the purpose of turning the hay than our
heavy prongs of ash and iron. They are at once lighter in hand, and,
from the length of their teeth, they take up a larger portion of hay at
once; and must therefore be well calculated for making the most of the
fine weather, which, in our climate, cannot always be calculated upon,
and occasions a scarcity of working hands.

At three or four miles from Avignon, and before any other part of the
town becomes visible,[27] the legate's palace appears conspicuously

Rising with its tiara of proud towers
At airy distance, with majestic motion;

and a more splendid Gothic building, both as to outline and dimensions,
cannot be imagined. On a nearer approach, a long and wide reach of the
Rhone, winding round the base of this noble pile, and reflecting its
figure in a deep mirror, adds greatly to its effect. In Mr. Cooke's
work, the palace is represented nearly in this direction, from a point
somewhat diverging to the right of the road, so as to introduce a broken
Gothic bridge, and a part of the Roche Don, or Roche Notre Dame (for I
believe it bears both names). The rest of the town of Avignon, placed as
it is on a low level, affords no striking coup d'oeil, from the
direction in whi