Notes 071 England cmd France. 15 



The houses and pubUc buildings are almost universally 

 built of stone, or of brick, and covered with slate or tile ; 

 except only the cottages and out-buildings, in some partic- 

 ular sections of the country, are sometimes covered with 

 thatch, to the thickness of a foot ; this thatch being com- 

 posed of straw, and an otherwise useless wild grass, called 

 ling. Timber, in those countries, being comparatively 

 scarce, shingles of wood seem never to be used, or to be 

 quite unknown. The straw-thatched roof seldom or never 

 takes fire in that moist climate. A new article for roofs 

 has been lately introduced, consisting of large sheets of felt, 

 formed of the coarsest wool, or of woollen rags ; these, being 

 saturated or dipped in asphaltum, are said to be both dura- 

 ble and cheap. The walls of large public buildings are 

 strengthened at frequent intervals, and at all outward an- 

 gles, by strong projecting abutments, or upheld by other 

 effectual modes ; many of the churches being built in form 

 of a cross, — the walls of large churches or cathedrals being 

 strengthened by ranges of massive columns within : these 

 being strongly connected with the side walls at top, serve 

 not only to support the roof, but to keep also the walls in 

 place. Still more durable structures are the large and an- 

 cient abbeys. These, so far as I have seen, are built of 

 extraordinary strength, with compound or double side 

 walls ; these parallel or double walls being firmly united 

 by numerous transverse and massive partitions, or strong 

 sub-dividing walls, a range of numerous small compart- 

 ments, or cells, or cloisters, being thus formed within the 

 walls. Such were the sanctuaries or abodes of the monks 

 of former days. 



The stone whicli is principally used in London, is a spe- 

 cies of sandstone, soft at first, and easy to extract from the 

 quarry, and to work ; and on these accounts even far more 

 extensively useful than harder granite. The high chalky 

 cliffs which bound the British channel on both sides, appear 

 to be but a variety of this same sandstone. From Havre 

 to Paris, and on both sides of the river Seine, a good por- 

 tion of the country appears to be underlaid with this same 

 stone — a considerable portion of Paris being built up from 

 stones obtained from vast quarries, or subterraneous cav- 

 erns, which have been formed beneath the city itself; the 

 openings of these caverns being now principally closed, by 

 order of government. In the suburbs, and particularly on 



