4jG HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



extended their grounds and walls ; 1000 francs are now 

 given for half an acre of comparatively poor soil, and this 

 i> a high rate of purchase-money in France. The fruit is 

 carried to Paris, by the females of the village, of all ages ; 

 and these set off, in bands, by 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning; 

 for all the wholesale markets of the capital are held at very 

 early hours. 



Towards evening we returned to Paris on foot, highly 

 satisfied with our day's excursion. 



Srj)t. 26. — Being in daily expectation of a letter of per- 

 mission from the French Government, to view the royal 

 pepinieres and gardens, feelings of delicacy still operated 

 in preventing us from entering them in the mean time, 

 which we might otherwise have done without hesitation. We 

 therefore dedicated this day to some of the sights of Paris. 



The Catacombs 



had excited our curiosity on a former day, when passing 

 by the Barrier d'Enfer to the garden of Cels. We now 

 returned to this barrier about mid-day ; and after a little 

 delay, during which we were joined by several English 

 ladies and gentlemen, and French boys and girls were ur- 

 gent enough that we should purchase wax-tapers from 

 them, the director of the subterranean repositories appear- 

 ed and threw open a door. We descended a narrow wind- 

 ing stair, which is about 54 French feet in depth, and con- 

 sists of 70 steps. At the bottom our conductor paused, 

 and made us light our tapers; he then counted his party, 

 and told us some confused story of an Englishman who 

 had l;i i year lost himself in the labyrinths we were about 

 to entetL and whose body was not yet found. This was 

 probably a rhetorical flourish, intended to impress with 



