and the P^/renees, in 1825- 71 



{the 22d) at half-past 5 o'clock, and got to Fountainbleau about 

 1 to breakfast ; proceeding to Montargis to dinner, about half- 

 past 7, — the travelling most provokingly slow. During the 

 night I was awakened from sleep by a tremendous row be- 

 tween the rest of the passengers and the postilion, who had been 

 coolly walking his horses for a league or two, whilst he on foot 

 was enjoying the fineness of the night. Got on to Pouilly to 

 breakfast. Between Neuvy and Pouilly I saw, for the first time 

 this year in France (so backward I suppose is the spring), a wild 

 flower in blossom : it was Helkhorus Jwtidus. This was the 

 flrst decided vine country we had come to, but here all the ri- 

 sing grounds were closely planted with that shrub. Between 

 Pouilly and La Charite I observed also, for the first time since 

 leaving Paris, bullocks commonly used for ploughing and draw- 

 ing loaded carts ; but all these — the wild flowers, the vines, and 

 use of bullocks — became more common as we got towards Lyons. 

 The bullocks are yoked quite in the Roman fashion : a beam of 

 wood is fixed across the brows of each pair of oxen, and is tied 

 to their horns ; and to the centre of this beam, between the 

 two animals, is attached the extremity of the pole of the cart. 



^' We arrived at Lyons last night about 12 o'clock. The 

 road down Mount Tarare is very beautiful, and in many re- 

 spects resembles Glen Farg in Perthshire ; but the descent is 

 much more rapid. Lyons is the richest town in France, and is 

 famous for its silk manufactures, and on that account the inha- 

 bitants hate the English, and take every opportunity of cheat- 

 ing them. An English Jew is an upright man in comparison 

 with the Lyonais. Moreover, the most respectable houses think 

 it a kind of duty to charge the English two or three prices. An 

 English gentleman whom I met to-day at the table d'hote informs 

 me, that even the bankers do not refrain from this system. He 

 wished to pay in some money at Lyons, and get their bill on 

 Paris : a banker at Liverpool would give one on London, pay- 

 able at sight ; but here, when my informer first called, they 

 told him they would not give a bill for less than ten days. This 

 he refused ; but when he resolved to accept these terms, and 

 called again, they saw he was anxious, and they raised the term 

 to fourteen days. Again he called, and they raised it to twenty ; 

 and the last time he went to them, they told him they would 



