74 Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. 



Art. VI. — Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba, with a 

 notice of its Mines of Iron; by Prof. F. Hall — in a letter to 

 the Editor, dated Porto Ferrajo, Elba, July 24, 1836. 



TO PROFESSOR SILLIMAN. 



Dear Sir, — Being wind-bound, in the capital of this romantic 

 island, and without occupation, I have concluded to spend an hour 

 this morning in telling you something of what I have seen on this 

 side of the Atlantic. You are aware that 1 embarked at New York 

 for Havre; eighteen days brought me there. From that port I trav- 

 elled, in an elegant and commodious steamboat, up the serpentine 

 Seine, through a country whose landscapes are enchanting, and not 

 surpassed in richness and variety, by any in the United States, those 

 of the Hudson, perhaps, excepted. The land, as you proceed up 

 the stream, is first level, or slightly uneven, then more undulating — 

 the waves growing larger and larger till you come into the neigh- 

 borhood of Rouen, where I landed, and where the surface is hilly, 

 and even mountainous. The geological structure of the banks is 

 very apparent and curious. Most of the rock of which they are 

 formed, seemed to me as seen from the boat, to be sandstone. At a 

 considerable distance from Havre, however, the gray carbonate of 

 lime appears, and still farther up, granular gypsum. The rocks all 

 lie in strata nearly horizontal, but of very unequal thickness. I re- 

 mained but a few hours in this ancient city, famous for its manufac- 

 tures, its high houses, its narrow streets, and its cathedral, which is 

 exceedingly splendid, and deserves attention from every traveller. 

 After refreshing myself with a good dinner, and taking a bird's 

 eye view of the wonders of Rouen, I posted off, moonlit, for the 

 French capital. There I met some old friends, whom the grave had 

 not yet claimed, and made a few new ones. Paris is not what it 

 was when I saw it nearly thirty years ago. Improvement has made 

 giant strides in every thing — in the pavements of the streets, in tbje 

 private and public edifices, in the national gardens and squares, and 

 in the royal palaces. I remained in that gay city twenty days only, 

 and then took my place in the diligence for Chalons, on the Saone, 

 passing through Sens, whose archbishop formerly assumed to him- 

 self the modest title of " Primate of the Gauls and Germany," to 

 Avallon. This small city stands on a plateau of granite, and it is 

 the first granite I had observed in situ after leaving Paris. Indeed, 



