274 iioirncri.TUKAi. tour. 



are all picked from the stems, awl set out in baskets like 

 button-mushrooms. Both the peas and broad beans were 

 old, and came to market ready shelled. The potatoes were 

 chiefly of the red sort, some round, and some of the long 

 kidney shape ; at the table d'hote, we found the kidney- 

 shaped to be the best. Kohlriibe was plentiful on the stalls; 

 it therefore appears that it is pretty commonly cultivated in 

 Brabant. 



In the fruit-market there was a considerable show of ar- 

 ticles, consisting of apples, pears, peaches, and grapes. 

 The apples were not yet ripe, and they did not promise 

 any thing remarkable. The pears consisted chiefly of ber- 

 gamots of very ordinary appearance, and of small rousse- 

 lets deserving the same character. At the best stalls, how- 

 ever, two or three other kinds appeared. Among these 

 were still some specimens of the Beau present^ the season 

 of this fruit, however, being nearly past. If this beau 

 present be really distinct from the epergne or our jargo- 

 nelle, it is certainly well worthy of the attention of the So- 

 ciety. The Caillot-rosat was of large size, but not very 

 good to eat, perhaps owing to the unfavourable summer. 

 The Fondante de Brest was the only other pear worth no- 

 ticing ; and in this we recognised the Cheneau of the old 

 monastic garden at Bruges, p. 31. The peaches were few, 

 and of very indifferent quality. The grapes, also, were 

 but inferior, — certainly not such as would be presented at 

 any gentleman's table in Scotland, if he possessed a vinery 

 of his own ; yet here they were greedily bought up by our 

 emigrant nobility and gentry ! Green or fresh cob-nuts 

 m i< common ; and also new filberts. A long and narrow 

 plum, of a reddish purple colour and of good flavour, was 

 very abundant It resembles the Hungarian or blue egg- 

 plum, and is nearly allied to the Wentworth : it was here 





