till a strong party favourable to him among the military; yet that if
they can once be set down at their own firesides, they will never wish
to quit them, but that the danger will be, while they remain together in
great bodies.

To-day we saw several soldiers wounded, and returning to their homes in
carts; they were fierce swarthy looking fellows, but very merry, and
travelled singing all the way. To-morrow we expect to be at Nevers. At
Cosne, the only objects of curiosity to the traveller are the
manufactories of cutlery and ship anchors. The cutlery seems as good as
any we have seen, but far inferior to even our inferior English cutlery:
It is also dear. Thousands of boxes, with cutlery, were, immediately on
our arrival at the inn, presented to us. Their great deficiency is in
steel, for their best goods are nearly as highly polished as in England.
We bought here some very pretty little toys for children, made of small
coloured beads. We start to-morrow at six.----Distance about 19
miles to Cosne.

* * *

This day's journey (the 12th), was the most fatiguing and the least
interesting we have had. The country between Cosne and Nevers is, with
the exception of one or two fine views from the heights on the road, the
poorest, and, though well cultivated, has the least pretensions to
beauty of any we have seen, particularly in the vicinity of Pouilly. It
seems also to be nearly as poor as it is ugly. The soil is gravelly,
with a mixture of chalk, and there occurs what I have not yet elsewhere
seen, a great deal of fallow land, and even some common. The face of the
country is considerably diversified by old wood, but we have only seen
one plantation of young trees since we left Paris. The instruments of
agriculture and carriage the same as before mentioned. The farm horses
good. There seems a scarcity of milk, but this may be from the winter
having set in. At the inn here I met with a young officer, who although
only (to appearance) 17 or 18, had been in the Spanish war, at Moscow,
and half over the world. He struck his forehead, when he said, [4]"Nous
n'avons plus la guerre." There were at the inn here a number of officers
and soldiers of the cavalry. Their horses are not to be compared with
ours, either in size or beauty, and those of their officers are not so
good, by any means, as the horses of our men in the guards.----
Distance, 34 miles--to Nevers.

* * *

We went to walk in the town this morning, the 13th. The