d red wood-cuts. Poor Damon cut but a sorry figure in this
goodly company; for though adorned with a crook secundum artem, he
looked more rawboned and ugly than Holofernes, and more villainous than
the wandering Jew: fully justifying the scorn with which the
stiff-skirted Henriette seemed to treat him. It is almost misplaced
however to enumerate such follies in a place, which on a fine day
presents perhaps one of the most varied and magnificent views in the
world: and which a person who had only an hour to spare in Lyons, ought
to visit, to the exclusion of every other object of curiosity. By
changing one's position from the terrace of the church to some rude and
imperfect remains of Roman masonry on the western side of it, a complete
panorama of the surrounding country is obtained. The Rhone and Saone are
both seen inclining towards each other from the north and north-east,
like the two branches of the letter Y; the former issuing like a narrow
white thread from the distant gorges of the Alps, and widening into
broad reaches through the intermediate plain; and the latter issuing
suddenly from among the hills of the Mont d'Or: till after inclosing the
peninsula in which the principal part of Lyons is situated, and which
lies like a map under your feet, they unite towards the south; and the
broad and rapid body of water formed by their junction, loses itself at
length among ranges of hills surmounted by Mont Pilate, a lofty mountain
near Valence. Towards the east, north-east, and south-east, the view is
of the same description as that from Rochepot; a wild chain of Alps seen
over a plain of great extent and richness. In a western direction, the
broad hilly features of the adjoining country are enlivened by a
continual succession of vineyards, woods, gardens, and villas of all
sizes, absolutely perplexing to the eye from its undulating richness:
with which the sober gray of distant ranges of mountains contrasts well.
One cannot form a better idea of this part of the view, than by fancying
the most hilly parts of the country near Bath, clothed in a lively
French dress; the only deformity of which consists in the high stone
walls that enclose every tenement, and whose long white lines cut the
eye unpleasantly. Most persons can point out the Chateau Duchere, which
is visible from this spot at the distance of about a mile on the
north-west side, and was the scene of a sharp action between the French
and Austrians in 1814.

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