It is in very small enclosures of ditch and
quickset. On approaching the Loire to Nantes, the country is leveller:
the soil from Rochelle to this place may be said to have been sometimes
red, but oftener gray, and always on a chalky foundation. The last
census, of about 1770, made one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants
at Nantes. They conjecture there are now one hundred and fifty thousand,
which equals it to Bordeaux.
June 1,2. The country from Nantes to L'Orient is very hilly and poor,
the soil gray; nearly half is waste, in furze and broom, among which is
some poor grass. The cultivated parts are in corn, some maize, a good
many apple trees; no vines. All is in small enclosures of quick hedge
and ditch. There are patches and hedge-rows of forest-wood, not quite
deserving the name of timber. The people are mostly in villages; they
eat rye-bread, and are ragged. The villages announce a general poverty,
as does every other appearance. Women smite on the anvil, and work with
the hoe, and cows are yoked to labor. There are great numbers of cattle,
insomuch that butter is their staple.
Pages:
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352