[ 6 ] 
Frances and more particularly on the eastern sea 
coastSs where it rains continually ; while in the in¬ 
terior, though they have less rain, they have thick 
and heavy fogs, during which, as far as I may 
judge from the autumns I have seen, weeks pass 
away without a clear view of the sun. The ex¬ 
treme bad weather we had upon our voyage, and 
the necessity of having our baggage unpacked, 
ivashed and dried, our trunks having been several 
times flooded in the cabbin, compelled us to remain 
eight days at 1/Orient. We did not reach Paris 
till the 3d of December : I mention this, to shew 
how unfavorable the season was for the acquisition 
of agricultural knowledge on our journey. 
L’Orient is an extremely pretty town, and like 
most of those in France, is built of white stone and 
paved with the same. It was formerly the emporU 
urn of the East-Inclia trade, by favor of which it 
flourished—the magazines of the company were spa¬ 
cious, elegant, and well arranged ; but at present 
they are only melancholy monuments of their for¬ 
mer splendor, and contain nothing but a few car¬ 
goes of American tobacco. I could not find that 
there was any manufacture introduced there to 
supply the vacuum made by the diminution of its 
commerce, except a small fabric of China, which I 
visited. It is made with the same materials as are 
used here for making the Seves. These are 
brought from Paris ready mixed for the use of 
the manufacturer, and as fltr as I can judge, neither 
