trees. The whole process
is simple and primitive: to obtain the turpentine they out a hole
in the tree, and fasten a dish in it to catch the sap as it oozes
through; and as soon as the dish is filled, they put a wick of
cotton into the midst of the liquor, and burn it as we do a lamp.
The light is not indeed of the most brilliant nature, but it is
at least better than none; and as they have fir-trees in
abundance within their reach, there is no danger of their oil
being quickly exhausted.

MARCH TO BORDEAUX

In this manner was an entire week expended, each succeeding day
introducing us to a repetition of the same adventures, and a
renewal of the same scenery, which had amused us during the day
before; nor was it till the morning of the twenty-third that we
at last began to emerge from the forests, and to find ourselves
once again in a more open country. At first, however, it cannot
be said that, with respect to beauty, the change was greatly for
the better. Upon the borders of the deserts there is a little
village called Le Barp, where we spent the night of the
twenty-second; from whence, till you arrive at a place called
Belle-Vue, the country is exactly in that state which land
assumes when nature has begun to lose ground, and art to gain
it--when the wild simplicity of the one is destroyed, and the
rich luxuriance of the other has not yet been superinduced. So
far, therefore, we proceeded, regretting, rather than rejoicing,
that we had quitted the woods; but no sooner had we attained that
point, than there burst upon us, all on a sudden, a prospect as
gloriously fertile as ever delighted the eyes of a weary
traveller.

BORDEAUX

Instead of boundless forests of pine, the whole face of the
country was now covered with vineyards, interspersed, in the most
exquisite and tasteful manner, with corn-fields and meadows of
the the richest pasturage. Nor was there any deficiency of
timber; a well-wooded chateau, with its lawn and plantations,
here and there presenting itself, while quiet hamlets and
solitary cottages, scattered in great abundance over the scene,
gave to it an appearance of life and prosperity exceedingly
bewitching. Had there been but the addition of a fine river
flowing through the midst of it, and had the ground been somewhat
more broken into hill and dale, I should have pronounced it the
most enchanting prospect of the kind I had ever beheld; but,
unfortunately, both these were wanting. Thou