228 A Twelve Days' Tour 



fine climate. Grapes trained on espalier rails, and approaclaing 

 to maturity, excited in me, I must confess, some little feeling of 

 envy. 



As part of our dessert at the table d'hote to-day, we had ripe 

 green gage pi vims, ripe figs, and fine jargonelle pears. One 

 dish is perhaps worthy a little notice for its peculiarity, and for 

 showing in strong colours the difierence in taste between us and 

 our neighbours. I observed on the table what I thought to be 

 a preparation of blanched almonds, served in syrup. As these 

 were most eagerly sought for by the French visitors, we con- 

 cluded they must be very delicious, and accordingly we de- 

 manded of the waiter that a like dish should be placed in our 

 vicinity, to which we plentifully helped ourselves. Judge of 

 our dismay and wry faces when we found these envied delicacies 

 to be unripe walnuts, with part of the outward green husk 

 pared off, then cut into halves, so as to show the delicately 

 white and immature kernel, and, above all, served up in verjuice 

 or some other vile acid. I shall never forget the nauseous com- 

 pound of bitterness and acidity. To make some amends, a con- 

 fiture of ''cerises tardives^'' (I think our "late duke" cherry) 

 was delicious : the stones were all removed, so that it formed a 

 grateful jelly. We visited the famed abattoirs, which were 

 remarkably clean and very extensive. Numerous calves were 

 here ready for the slaughter ; but we remarked that the taste of 

 the good people of Nantes for beef was at a very low ebb, for 

 only one bullock, and he by no means fat, was to be seen in 

 all this immense place, in which is slaughtered the meat re- 

 quired for a population of 90,000. The sheep were loose- 

 limbed thin-carcassed animals, and a red patch on each cheek, 

 just under the eye, gave them a very goatish appearance. 



There are but two nurseries at Nantes of any eminence, that 

 of Noisette, and that of Bourtrand. I visited the latter, and 

 found his culture almost confined to magnolias, of which he had 

 a very fine stock. I observed a tree or two of the chaumon- 

 telle pear : and, remarking the small size of the fruit, I was siu'- 

 prised by his telling me the climate- was too hot for many sorts 

 of pears, particularly the chaumontelle, which, with many 

 others, was dry and worthless. 



Angers, July 25. — We departed from Nantes this morning 

 at six, and were eleven hours in steaming up the Loire in fi 

 steamer belonging to the " exploitation d'inexplosibles ; " one of 

 these lately belied its name, for it blew up at Angers, and 

 killed several persons. We were much delayed in our voyage 

 by the numerous sand-drifts, on which we often stuck fast ; and 

 numbers of labourers were at work, with wooden shovels, making 

 a channel for the steamers, which, in a few hours, Would again 

 be filled Avith sand. Had it not been for the extreme beauty of 



