the Straits of Dover and the North Sea. In the
whole of the great oblong represented by my sketch map there is hardly a
point 150 feet above the water level of the main river valleys, while the
great mass of that territory is diversified by no more than very broad and
very shallow rolls of land, the crests of which are sometimes and
exceptionally as much as fifty feet above the troughs, but the greater
part thirty, twenty, or even less. Here and there an isolated hummock
shows upon the landscape, but the general impression of one who walks
across from the valley of the Lys to that of the Scheldt is of a flat,
monotonous land in which one retains no memory of ascent or descent, and
in which the eye but rarely perceives, and that only from specially chosen
points, any wide horizon.

To-day the greater part of this country suffers from the curse of
industrialism and repeats--of course, with far less degradation--the
terrible aspect of our own manufacturing towns. Roubaix and Tourcoing in
particular are huge straggling agglomerations of cotton-spinners and their
hands. A mass of railways and tramways cut the countryside, and the evil
presence of coal-smoke mars it everywhere: at least within the region of
Lille, Tourcoing, and Roubaix.

In May 1794, though a considerable industry had begun to grow up in Lille
itself, the wide, open countryside round the town was entirely
agricultural. Much of it was what soldiers call "blind" country: that is,
it was cut up into fields with numerous hedges; there were long farm walls
and a great number of small watercourses fringed with trees. But, on the
other hand, there was very little wood. Moreover, though there were few
places from which one could overlook any considerable view, the
"blindness" of the field, as a whole, has been much exaggerated in the
attempt to excuse or explain the disaster of which it was the theatre. The
southern part of it is open enough, and so is the north-eastern portion,
in which the first column operated. Of the soil no particular mention is
needed; most of the great roads were paved; the weather had created no
difficulty in the going, and the only trouble in this respect lay in the
northern part, where Clerfayt's command was condemned to advance over
patches of loose and difficult sand, which made the road, or rather rare
lanes, very heavy.

It will at once be perceived that, in view of the operations planned, one
principal obstacle exists in the terrai