An Etcher's Voyage of Discovery. 311 



and come to enjoy the peace she had created. May the 

 ship that brings her paddle prosperously across the wide 

 Atlantic, and the good woman find her way in safety to 

 her own cottage, and to the loyal heart that yearns and 

 waits for her so wearily ! 



'Fair stands her cottage in its place 



Where yon broad water sweetly, slowly glides ; 

 It sees itself from thatch to base 

 Dream in the sliding tides.' 



The character of the river became more and more 

 strikingly picturesque as it advanced towards the Loire. 

 Promontories of rock jutted into the stream, which took 

 sharp curves under steep and richly wooded banks, and 

 went to sleep in out-of-the-way corners, where it made 

 wonderfully perfect and tranquil harbors for the canoe. 

 Sometimes there would be a ruin on some height, which 

 though on a small scale was not without grandeur, and 

 afterwards the rich meadows and woods descended to the 

 level of the water. Then came a long decline where the 

 water rushed over a thousand dangerous crests of rock, 

 and after that a pool so long and sleepy and quiet that 

 it seemed as if the river had finally made up its mind 

 not to flow any more, but to lie for ever in that place 

 like a fish-pond. However, when it did awake and start 

 again, it started with such freshness and energy that the 

 interval of rest had evidently done it good, and it went 

 gambolling amongst the rocks in a manner which, if not 

 absolutely alarming to the canoist (one never confesses 

 to feelings of serious alarm) did at least call for the best 

 exercise of his skill. 



In this manner we came to one of the very loveliest 



