244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



I should accompany him and a friend whom he had met on tlie 

 passage, over to Italy. As I had seen much of the neighbor- 

 hood of London, and it mattered little when I saw other 

 parts of the country, I consented to join them, though it had 

 not been a part of my original plan to visit southern Italy. 

 The system of irrigation in Lombardy and other parts of 

 northern Italy I had determined to see, but it had occurred to 

 me that a July sun, and the unhealthy character of the 

 climate would form an objection to going south. 



We accordingly left London on the 11th of July for Paris, 

 by way of Southampton and Havre. At Southampton we 

 visted Netley Abbey, built by Henry the Third, but now in 

 ruins. There is little else of interest in the neighborhood, nor 

 is the country between there and London of special interest, 

 either in an agricultural or a picturesque point of view. The 

 wheat and other crops along the railway, were looking badly 

 on account of the constant cold and rainy weather. 



The passage from Southampton to Harve was one of the 

 roughest and most disagreeable I had ever experienced. The 

 small and crowded boat, the total want of accommodations, 

 the night of storm and darkness, — all conspired to make us 

 resolve never to patronize that line again. But the morning 

 broke at. last, and the high white cliffs of France gave a 

 promise of a better time coming, and we landed safely and 

 thankfully, all the passengers being compelled to pay sixpence 

 steward's fee, in addition to the regular fare, though the 

 steward had done nothing for them ; had not provided them 

 with beds, nor any thing else. One fat lady j)ositively refused 

 to pay, and she was perfectly right, and it was a sulycct of no 

 small amusenieut to the lookers-on, when the officers of the 

 boat refused to let her leave the boat. She raved some fifteen 

 or twenty minutes, but whether she paid at last, or not, I did 

 not learn. The route by Southampton is the longest and least 

 desiral)le of any. I crossed the Channel four times by different 

 routes. It is bad enough at the best, but a shorter Channel 

 route is by far preferable. 



Havre is one of the most important ports of France. Its 

 docks are very extensive, and appear to be well arranged ; its 

 lofty buildings and line open squares make the city attractive, 



