238 Account of the Climate, SfC. of the North of France. 



decayed animal matter that is so abundantly mixed with the 

 soil. Frogs are very abundant, but though they are regu- 

 larly brought to the market in Brussels, I never saw or could 

 hear of their being used as food in this country. At some 

 places leeches are bred in the marshes, and, during the war, 

 a great deal of money was made by the sale of them. A 

 common mode of collecting these animals deserves to be 

 noticed, as it explains a fact which has often caused suspicion 

 and blame to attach to upright leech-dealers in the interior, 

 and in Scotland not less than elsewhere. A number of per- 

 sons, commonly young women, are employed to wade in the 

 water with their feet and legs uncovered, and when they 

 come out after a short stay, these parts of their body are 

 found covered with leeches, which are then removed and se- 

 cured in vessels provided for their reception. This operation 

 they repeat as often as may be requisite for obtaining the de- 

 sired quantity, and, far from suffering any injury from the loss 

 of blood, these Flemish water nymphs informed me that their 

 health was always improved by it at the time ; that their 

 complexions became clearer, and that afterwards they got 

 more into a state of en bon po'mt. It must be obvious, that 

 leeches, caught in this manner, must acquire a small quantity 

 of blood, but, when afterwards they are sold for use, and 

 when some of this blood, still remaining, happens to be eject- 

 ed on the application of the animal, it is forthwith taken for 

 granted that the dealer has acted dishonestly in selling used 

 leeches for fresh ones. 



Hares, partridges, and snipes, are in great plenty. Quails 

 were once common, but are now become exceedingly rare. In 

 the river are trout, which I have seen from two to three pounds 

 weight, but their flesh is not delicate, approaching somewhat 

 to that of the pike, which is, no doubt, owing to the gross 

 slimy quality of the water. Artificial flies for the purpose 

 of fishing are here unknown ; — an excellent proof this that ne- 

 cessity is the mother of invention, for here artificial flies are 

 unnecessary. At almost every step along the river is to be 

 found the fly most proper for ensnaring the trout, and as it is 

 neither small nor delicate, and as the river moves slowly, it is 

 not soon torn from the hook. The fly is often seen to rest on 



