ies, and still more with a modesty and simple
elegance in their dress, which I had not expected. But I have observed
more than once, that the fashions of the capital have improved as they
have travelled downwards into the provinces. They lose their excess, or
what we should call in wine, their rawness and their freshness. The
bosom which was naked in Paris has here at least some covering, and
there is even some appearance of petticoats. The colours, as being
adapted to the season, purple and straw, I thought elegant. There were
two or three of the younger ladies in the dresses of bacchanals; they
were certainly tasty, but they did not please me.

We left Orleans at an early hour on the following day. The scenery
continued to improve as we advanced farther on the banks of the Loire.
For several miles it was so highly cultivated, and so naturally
beautiful, as to resemble a continued garden: the houses and chateaus
became neater, and every thing had an air of sprightliness and gaiety,
which might have animated even Despair itself. We observed that the
fields were even infested with game; they rose in the stubbles as we
passed along, and any one might have shot them from the road. Though
there are no game-laws in France, there is a decency and moderation in
the lower orders which answers the same purpose. No one presumes to
shoot game except on land of which he is the proprietor or tenant.

I know not whether I have before remarked, that almost every chateau has
a certain number of fish-ponds, and a certain quantity of woodland, and
that these are considered as such necessary appendages, that an house
is scarcely regarded as habitable without them. The table of a French
gentleman is almost solely supplied from his land. Having a plenty of
poultry, fish, and rabbits, he gives very little trouble to his butcher.
Hence in many of the villages meat is not to be had, and even in large
towns the supply bears a very small proportion to what would seem to be
the natural demand of the population.

Of all the provinces of France, those which compose the department of
the Loire are the richest, and best cultivated; and if any foreigner
would wish to fix his residence in France, let it be on the banks of
this river.--Fish, as I have said before, is cheap and plentiful, and
fowls about one-fourth of the price in England. The climate, not so
southerly as to be intolerably hot, nor so northerly as to be
continually humid, is perhaps th