“Thus far our journey has been in all respects
favourable. You saw us proceeding with weather which was only too fine,
inasmuch as it soon became hot and dusty, such weather bringing with it a
plague of flies, who insisted upon being inside passengers, and whenever I was
inclined to doze, and indeed could not keep awake, some one of the Egyptian
enemies presently awakened me by alighting upon the most prominent feature of
my face. We had a short and pleasant passage the next morning, and remained one
day at Calais for the purpose of engaging carriages for the journey: Kenyon having recom-
| Ætat. 64. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 375 |
“I am now writing at Blois, on Friday, Sept. 28. Our
faces were turned homeward when we left Nantes on Sunday last. Sept 23. We had
then accomplished the two chief objects of our journey; that is, we had been to
Mount St Michael’s and to Carnac, the only two days concerning which
there could be any solicitude concerning the state of the weather. In both
instances we were most fortunate. We came to the mount during the neap tides,
and in a clear day, escaping thus all dangers and inconveniences that, at
ordinary tides, the state of the weather might have occasioned, and fogs at any
time. Cuthbert and I had seen our own St
Michael’s Mount in 1836. The French is the more remarkable, because of
its position, which is always a waste either of water or of sand. The mount
itself is not much higher, if at all, I think, than the Cornish Mount, but the
superstructure of building is much greater, including a small fishing town, a
large prison, a garrison, houses for the governor and other officers, and, on
the summit, a church. Our own mount, on the contrary, is far the more beautiful
object, and except a few mean houses at the landing places, there is nothing to
excite any uncomfortable reflections. The rock itself reminded me of Cintra in
this respect, that it consisted in great part of rocks piled on rocks, and on
the summit the
| 376 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 64. |
“Another place which we were desirous of seeing was the great Druidical monuments, known by the name of Camac, from the nearest village. They are the most extensive Druidical remains that have yet been discovered, the stones at the lowest computation not being fewer than four thousand, and extending in parallel lines over a great extent of country; none of these are so large as those of Stonehenge, and they are all single stones. But there are many of considerable magnitude, and many have been destroyed before a stop was put by authority to such destruction, and many are built up in walls; but there remains enough to astonish the beholder.
“To-day we have seen the Castle of Amboise, which Louis Philippe began to repair when he was Duke of Orleans; but which, though it is a beautiful place, commanding fine views, and in itself a comfortable palace, there being nothing too large to be inconsistent with comfort, he has never set foot in himself. I can account for this only by supposing that as the very beautiful chapel which they are repairing contains the intended mausoleum for himself and his royal family, that consideration may dispose him to regard it with a melancholy feeling, which he is not willing to induce.
“To-morrow we shall see what is most worth see-
| Ætat. 64. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 377 |
“The other places of most interest which we have seen are Havre, by which port I propose returning, Honfleur, Caen, Bayeux, Granville, St. Malo, Nantes, Angers, Saumur, Tours. Normandy and Bretagne we have seen satisfactorily, and were as much delighted with Normandy as we were surprised by the miserable condition and more miserable appearance of our Breton cousins: they seem not to partake in the slightest degree of that prosperity which is every where else apparent in France. Louis Philippe is both Pontifex and Viafex maximus, if there be such a word. The roads are undergoing, at the expense of government, a most thorough repair, greatly to our annoyance in travelling over them in the course of remaking. I know not how many suspension bridges we have seen, finished or in progress, and every large place bears evident marks of improvement upon a great scale.
“ I hope to be at Paris on the 4th or 5th of October.
There our party separates: Kenyon and
Captain Jones proceed to the Low Countries; Robinson remains awhile at Paris; Cuthbert, I, and Mr. Senhouse make our way by one steamer down the Seine
| 378 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 64. |
“I have had no opportunity of purchasing any books, there being no old book shops in any of the great towns through which we have passed; but at Paris my only business will be to look for those which I want.
“And now, my dear old friend, God bless you! Remember me to your dear daughters, and believe me always.
