passengers of the diligences dine, with the landlady, and our servants; and if we may judge from the noise and laughter we hear, no inconsiderable hilarity prevails at these repasts. My femme-dechambre told me, that the French people only laughed at the bad fare, which made the English cross; an observation highly characteristic of the distinction between the two people, though she who made it, viewed it only as a proof of the blamable want of fastidiousness of the French.

18th. A barouche, with six inside and four outside passengers, arrived here at a late hour last night, and, to our perfect surprise, the courier was told that there was accommodation for them. They were conducted to the reserved bedroom, containing four beds, the distribution of which the newcomers were left to decide; but males and females, masters and servants, were all expected to share not only the same room, but the same pillows, as in the days of patriarchal simplicity. The greater part of a supper ordered for the hungry travellers, was devoured by a ravenous dog, a privileged favourite in this ill ordered establishment, and whose pro

pensity to theft, the waiter assured us, frequently occasioned similar accidents.

I mounted my horse with great pleasure to-day, in order to explore the interesting environs of Vienne, which are only accessible on foot, or on horseback. Some of the tracks we passed, require no small portion of courage to encounter; many of them being steep and dangerous, with a precipice on one side, at the bottom of which rushes a foaming stream; and on the other, a ridge of steep and rocky mountains, rising abruptly, and only leaving space between their base and the precipice, for the precarious passage of a single horse. We were amply repaid by the views which the acclivity of the mountain presented. They were various and beautiful; and the picturesque ruins of the castle of Mont Léans, which we quitted our horses to explore, form a fine feature in the landscape. The castle of Mont Léans stands on a rocky eminence, the base of which is washed by a rapid and winding stream. It is surrounded by wooded mountains, and these are overtopped on its right by the snow-crowned Alps and the Jura, and on the left by the steep and picturesque mountains

of Dauphiné. Many a glowing vineyard and verdant valley is seen from the romantic ruins of Mont Léans; amid which wild shrubs and brushwood have sprung up in abundance, adding much to the beauty of the old castle. In many parts, a huge rock is seen rearing its giant head against the walls, as if to support the mouldering battlements, and wreaths of ivy and wild flowers interlace them together. The castle is supposed to have been built at the time of the Crusades, and must have been a place of considerable strength. No trace road to it remains; and it is only accessible to the pedestrian or equestrian.

of

any

The château de Roussillon, and the tower that stands on the mountain of St. Colombe, as also the château de Seyssuel, formerly strong fortresses, now add considerably to the beauty of the scenery; which offers as attractive subjects to the pencil of the artist or amateur, as can be found in France. The peasantry we encountered in our ride to-day, are peculiarly stupid, and nearly as wanting in intelligence as the flocks they tend.-They speak a patois, which was as incomprehensible to the ears of the

French gentlemen, who accompanied us, as to ours; nor could they understand the questions addressed to them by their compatriots.

Those who are acquainted only with the postroutes in France, can form no notion of the romantic beauty of some of the scenery in the interior of the country. But the badness of the roads and inns in remote places, exclude all but hardy equestrians, or pedestrians, who fear not vile paths and worse inns.

19th. We rode to Condrieux to-day. The town is about three leagues from Vienne, and is situated on the opposite side of the Rhône, which is crossed by large boats, that are worked by ropes sustained by cranes, erected at each side of the river. These boats are of considerable dimensions, and continually passing and repassing, freighted with passengers in

gay costumes, they add greatly to the animation of the picture.-On leaving Vienne, we proceeded along the banks of the river for about four miles, through a country well wooded, highly cultivated, and diversified by hills, rocks, and mountains, which are reflected in the bright waters of the Rhône. We

crossed the river, and proceeded by the St. Colombe side, until we reached Condrieux, passing through scenery even still more attractive than that presented on the Vienne side of the water. In one part, an island is formed by two rapid streams, rushing down from the mountains, and falling into the Rhône. This verdant isle is rich in dwarf trees and luxu→ riant shrubs, which bend, as if to refresh their foliage in the limpid streams that surround them; and as the sun sheds its brilliant beams on this fairy isle, and sparkles on the ripples of the water, it resembles a vast emerald, set in diamonds.

The town of Condrieux is mean, and the houses of the commonest description. The female inhabitants were seated in groups, on stone benches in front of their houses, plying the distaff, knitting, or working, and all singing or talking; while their children, nearly in a state of nudity, gambolled around them.

They appeared much surprised, and not a little amused, at seeing a lady on a side-saddle; as females here mount in a most patriarchal mode, that is, precisely as the men do, of which we have already had frequent specimens.