226 



Cuimis's Account of Ghent. 



[Oct. 1, 



For the Monthlj/ Magazine. 

 An ACCOUNT of the prvl'cnt state of 

 GHENT, J'roiii thr. rectnt travels of 



CAMUS. 



IN [jaiCing from Antwerp to Ghent, 

 that is, to enter into the country 

 properly rjillci! Flynders, wc mutt crois 

 the Scheldt. The t)de does not. permit 

 this every hour of the day ; aud llie 

 iviiuL do not allow it every day indilVri- 

 miiiately. If they yre contrary, one muifc 

 go up as far aa Maliiic?, or exeii to Uruf- 

 fels, to a\oid the pallHp.e. (Hi tltu other 

 fule of the Scheldt \\v fir(l cnnie near 

 the place called the Hcatl of I'landcrs, 

 to a Inu'.ll village, and, at the diliaiice of 

 four IcHiiues further, to a tow u, the name 

 ol which i.>i St. Nicolas. Troui iicncc to 

 Ghent is itbout cijht k':igues : the dif- 

 tP.nce over the fand makes but two ; the 

 remainder of the road is a magnificent 

 caufcway, often throui;h an avenue of 

 trees. On eacli fide there is an almoll 

 Continued rany:e of neat dwellings, built 

 of* bricks, and ornamented with pardcns 

 and hedj^es cut in a moil pleafmt; tafte. 

 At St. Nicolas, which, as I \mw faid, is 

 only a town, the beds ;ind furniture in 

 the mcaneft inns are m:ihoy,any. 



Auricultnre is in a tine and flourifliing 

 ftate throug,h all the Low Countries, but 

 particularly in Flanders ; and the de- 

 partment of the Scheldt, in which Ghent 

 i» the principal place, is the domain in 

 which it appears to dwell and finile with 

 the iireateil delight. The popuUiti(jn of 

 this department is alfo hnnienfe. It is 

 reckoned indeed but thin in a fijace of 

 about thirty-three fquare leagues, for- 

 merly Called Dutch Tlanders, bec.aufe 

 they reckon only a thoufand and fifty- 

 five inhabitants to a, fquare league ; but 

 in the r<:ll of the department, in a 

 fpace of a hundred and forty-eight 

 fquarc leagues, each league has three 

 thoufand feven hundred and fixty-fix in- 

 habitants. This is not a country where 

 they work with particular neatnefs ; iror 

 do they heft underl'tand the alternate 

 cliange of feed:;. Tlie earth does not 

 rlioofe to nourifti many crops with divers 

 juices in the courfe ot' one and the fame 

 year. 



Nothing can be coiiiparcd with the 

 ability and perfevomuce of the farmers, 

 but the indullry and activity in the towns, 

 particularly of Ghent. A family compo- 

 i"ed of tliirteen perfons, brothers, fifters, 

 and brotl'.ers-in-hur, form a tan-yard, a 

 paternal eib:bli(hment, the fource of all 

 the fortune of the houfe^ where a hun- 



dred thoufand Ikins fill, at the fame tim«, 

 pits ranged in a neat order, firmly lined, 

 and feparated from each other by paths 

 paved with marble. • This falls princi- 

 pally to the lot of the youugeft brothers. 

 They htive been labourers in the tanneiy 

 before they conduct it as heads. Thejr 

 then amule thrmfrlves with elfays to tan 

 v\ith all maaucr of barks, with connnon 

 cinnamon. \A'omens' gloves are made of 

 coat-i'kin tanned after this manner. — ■ 

 Tlicfe gloves, which fell at cighteeu 

 francs a pair, arc greatly impregnateil 

 with the fcciil of the cinnamon. Jn this 

 cfiablinnneiit arc prepared the legs of 

 elaliic boots, from horlcs' hidcrs, whiclv, 

 after ftretchinLi, futlicicntly to receive the 

 heel and inltcp of the foot, contract 

 theinfcKes, and tit the leg like the tinctl 

 flockings. The preparation conlitts in 

 bringing back, or, if one may fay fo, 

 heaping, the fibres one on another in fuch 

 a manner, that a fquare piece of leather 

 fliall, partly, enlarge itfelf lb as to cover 

 the calf, and become very llraight, but 

 thicker, u here it covers the lower part of 

 the leg. As the foot enters, the thickncfs 

 of the leg of the boot decreafes, but re- 

 covers itli'lf when on the leg. 



Other brothers either direct the works 

 of a cotton-manufactorv, for which the 

 Carthufian convent is too little, or fuper- 

 intend the labours of the Bridewell. 

 Every where there are buildings neccfl'ai- 

 ry for all kinds of labour, workhoufos, 

 and ma<:ay.ines in a good condition : the 

 accelVory buildings arc agreeable, the fa- 

 loons ornamented, and the gardens de- 

 lisihtful. Here is the h.nppy family of the 

 Bawens, which has a colony at Pafh, 

 near Paris. It has multiplied and 

 perfected the mull-jennys, or machines 

 for fpinning cotton. It has, at the fame 

 time, f'et up machincj ihr fpinniug of 

 fliix, an operation more dithcult when 

 applied to flax t!;an coltun, becaufe the 

 cotton runs, fo to i'peak, of itfelf, on cv- 

 lindcrs, on which it is carded into lubes, 

 where they collect the firft dreflings of 

 the thread ; whereas it is necedkry to 

 draw the tlax, and even to ticcp it. 



I have to defcribe manv other manu- 

 fattories eftablifhed at Ghent : but I 

 haften to fpeak of the houfe of confine- 

 ment, or the Bridewell, the labours of 

 which are under the direction of the 

 Meflrs. Bawens ; and I recollect that I 

 promifed to compare it with thnt of \'il- 

 vord. Let not the name of a prifon, or 

 bride'.vell, fi-ighton any one. There Are 

 few houfes wluch lb well dtlerve the 



