through Belgium and Part of Prance. 421 



to a strong yellow loam, and capable of bearing any sort of 

 crop. Along this road, I observed a greater number of gentle- 

 men's seats than along any of the other Continental roads which 

 I have yet travelled. At about six miles from Antwerp I 

 observed, in passing, a very neat garden, with several small 

 houses built in the English fashion : these, I afterwards learned, 

 belong to a Mr. Fenner, an Englishman. The country, as you 

 approach Mechlin, becomes more undulated; and, upon the top 

 of a gentle eminence, two miles before you reach the town, the 

 prospect before you is magnificent, and extends over the sur- 

 rounding country, which you can see for several miles beyond 

 Brussels. As you descend towards the town, you enter a noble 

 avenue of fine elm trees, with the beautiful steeple of the cathe- 

 dral, as it were in perspective, at the end. It is the finest ap- 

 proach to a town I have ever seen, except some of the approaches 

 to Rouen in Normandy. Mechlin seems a place of consider- 

 able importance, and has a convenient communication with 

 other places, by means of a fine canal which runs past it on one 

 side, and a large river which is within about about a mile or 

 so on the other. After leaving the town, you cross the canal, 

 and the road beyond it lies close to its banks, nearly all the way 

 to Brussels. The country here begins to be a good deal un- 

 dulated ; and many villas are placed along the roadside. Near 

 Brussels, on a gentle eminence to the right, stands the palace of 

 Lacken, at present occupied by the King of the Belgians. 

 The entrance to the town itself is not good on this side, as the 

 road lies low, and the houses are rather meanly built. 



Brussels is large, and contains some good streets, especially in 

 the neighbourhood of the park, in which stands the palace. 

 There are some magnificent buildings contiguous to the park ; 

 and the fine iron railings and gates, being gilt at their tips, 

 have a gay appearance. Along the principal boulevards there 

 are some good houses, and their pleasant situation always insures 

 their being filled with persons of rank, a great many of whom 

 are English. The situation of the residences, from the Boule- 

 vard de Waterloo round as far as the Porte de Lacken, is by 

 far the pleasantest I have ever witnessed : it lies very high, is 

 open in front, and commands an extensive view of the neigh- 

 bouring country. 



The nursery gardens in and about Brussels are not numerous ; 

 and of these none contain anything that is either new or 

 rare. The market-gardens are more numerous, and supply the 

 market with excellent vegetables, especially Brussels sprouts, 

 which certainly are here exceedingly fine. 



At a few miles from the town, there is a nursery belonging to 

 a M. van Volexem, where there is one of the finest collections 

 of ornamental trees and shrubs I have ever seen. The pro- 



