as far as Droiturier, and then left us. We made out 28 miles of bad
road, between six in the morning and four in the evening. The hilly
country throughout is extremely well cultivated, and the soil apparently
pretty good. France has indeed shewn a different face from what an
Englishman would expect, after such a draining of men and money.

In our route to-day, the country became very interesting, the swelling
hills were beautiful, and the first clear stream we have seen in France
winded through a wooded valley, along whose side we travelled. Many
little cottages were scattered up and down in the green intervals of the
woods, or crept up the brows of the hills; and after the monotonous
plains we had passed, the whole scene was truly delightful. At the inn
at La Palisse, I met with a very pleasant French lady, who strongly
advised me to avoid Montpellier, as the winds there are very sharp in
winter; she said two friends of her's had been sent from it on account
of complaints contracted there. She recommended Nice.

* * *

(_Thursday_, 17th.)--The road to-day was through ranges of hills, and,
for the latter part of it, we were obliged to have a fourth horse. The
road very heavy in most places, and in some wretchedly ill-paved, with
stones of unequal size, and not squared. From the top of these hills the
view of the several vallies through which we passed was very beautiful,
though certainly not equal in beauty to Devonshire, or to some parts of
Perthshire, and other of the more fertile districts in Scotland: the
soil far from good, and the crops of wheat thin;--yet there is not an
atom of the soil lying waste, the hills being cultivated up to the
summit. The cultivation is still managed by oxen, as is the carriage of
farm produce, and all kinds of cart-work. They have had a sad mortality
among the cattle about St Germain L'Epinasse; and all things appear to
have been affected by this disaster, for we found the milk, butter,
fowls, grain, every thing very dear indeed. In France, when a disease
seizes the cattle, parties of soldiers are sent to prevent the people
from selling their cattle, or sending them to other parts of the
country. One of these parties (a small troop of dragoons) we met on the
road.

On our route to-day, we crossed the Loire at a pretty large and busy
town, called Roanne. The river here is very large, but has only a wooden
bridge over it: there are some fine arches, forming the commencement of
a mos