cession I visited, where the total number of beds is thirteen, of which however only four can be regarded as distinctly determined and available for working. They are all very irregular, varying from a few inches to 12 or 15 yards in thickness, but the average thickness may be taken at from 3 to 5 feet. The two groups are about 150 fathoms apart, and the pits hitherto sunk have been almost all on the beds to the south. The associated rocks are chiefly gritstones, more or less coarsely grained, and often stained with iron and coal. Shales occur near the coal-seams, and the presence of coal is often indicated by wet hollows. One such hollow ranges east and west, parallel with the strike of the coal and between the north and south groups. There is probably here a thick mass of shale, and possibly an east and west fault, but the fault is not proved.

The coal in this district has been partially worked for many years, and a large quantity has been got from numerous shallow pits opened on the crop of some one of the seams, and following the coal down till the pit has fallen in. It is supposed that scarcely any shafts have been sunk more than about 100 fathoms. A pair of new vertical pits has been put down in a convenient spot near a good road by the present manager, and one pit has cut the coal at ten fathoms. The coal appears to be of inferior quality, but is in demand for lime-burning in the vicinity. Numerous crops of this and other beds are easily shown by opening costeaning pits in the fields, or examining the roadside cuttings. The cost of sinking a shaft (measuring 10 feet by 7, and divided by a brattice) is not more than £4 a fathom for shallow depths, but a deep pit (say 100 fathoms) would probably average £24 per fathom, including timbering. As much as fifteen fathoms per month could be sunk in the kind of rock hitherto met with in the district.

The qualities of the coal in the northern and southern beds are somewhat different; the former being sold as a smith's coal and the latter for kiln work. Each appears sufficient for the purposes to which it is applied. In appearance the coals are dirty, tender, very flaky, not very bituminous, and rather sulphury. They burn, however, with tolerable readiness and with some little flame, and do not leave a large quantity of ash.

The principal demand for this coal has hitherto arisen from numerous lime-kilns in the neighbourhood constructed on a

large scale. These are said to require at least 20,000 tons a year, and no doubt a market exists for an additional quantity, taken for the use of Nantes and various towns in Brittany accessible by water carriage. It is however difficult, if not impossible, to decide whether a very greatly increased supply would be met by a corresponding demand, although it certainly appears that the supply is insufficient. The coal is not much, if at all, used for domestic purposes. The present sources of supply are the mines worked on concessions at Chalonne on the Loire towards the east and at Langhien towards the west. The capital invested has hitherto been too small to admit of any successful competition with operations conducted with due economy and on a large scale, should any such be undertaken.

The high-roads in the district are excellent, but the crossroads utterly impassable in bad weather, and bad even in

summer.

The price of English coal at Nantes and Ancenis is as much as 24s. per ton (May 1853). The coal of the district is not very well adapted to the manufacture of gas, and its use must be chiefly confined to railway and steam-boat purposes, if found to be an available fuel. It could probably be sold at Nantes at a low price, provided a market could be found.

No large amount of capital and no operations on an extensive scale are either desirable or likely to bring out a successful result in the case of this property. If in careful hands and with a sufficient capital to try the experiment fairly, and provided there turns out to be a real opening for a large consumption at Nantes and Brest for steam purposes, very handsome profits might be securely realized on a small outlay, but until the coal has been tried and has proved to answer the purpose, it would be unsafe to promise any important result. If put into hands unaccustomed to the country and people, it must prove a failure, and a great increase of supply, without first ensuring a market, would probably involve a heavy loss.

The beds of coal seem to occur between a band of fine pure limestone coming out to the south, and old shales and slaty rocks to the north. The limestone forms hills, and is extensively worked for burning. Sixty or seventy huge cones for burning the lime, each provided with winding roads running up its sides, or with great bridge-like approaches from the hill-side,

form a curious feature in the landscape. These are in groups of three, four, or half a dozen, and are picturesquely placed enough, the limestone being harder than the adjacent rocks. The kilns are placed near the limestone to avoid the expense of carriage, and the owners of these kilns live on the spot and look after their property.

It is a pretty sight to stand on one of the bridges between two huge kilns and look at the yawning chasm, partly formed by nature, but greatly enlarged by man, on both sides of which are numerous groups of quarrymen actively boring, blasting, and removing the massive limestone, carting it into little wagons, and bringing it up the inclined planes to feed the insatiable mouths that stand ever open for the reception of fresh supplies. Here and there a jagged odd-shaped rock projects from the earth, and may be seen to be a cherty or flinty portion of the rock left behind by the water when eating out a passage between the limestone on the two sides. At a distance one sees curious banded portions, and on approaching nearer a large number of white crystalline streaks, which the practised eye of the geologist at once recognises as connected with fossils, the remains of the inhabitants of the ocean, when these hard rocks were mere soft plastic mud, itself derived for the most part from animal structures.

The ground between the Loire and the northern limits of the little coal basin consists of low undulations, ranging nearly east and west. The coal itself is worked on two of these, between which is a swampy bit hardly deserving the name of a valley. A good many high chimneys belonging to little steam-engines now neglected, dispute the title of the scenery to that essentially rural character which it would otherwise undoubtedly possess. These, with numerous small windmills and a perfect forest of fruit-trees, which at the time of my visit (on the 2nd May) were all white with flower, give great beauty to the landscape, which is indeed quite deserving of notice as an admirable specimen of Loire scenery. In this part of the country hedges exist everywhere, and are exquisitely fresh and green-not too straggling, at least in spring, and breaking the usual monotony of the fields of France. The land is highly cultivated, looking for the most part like a garden; and as I had left behind in England, and even on the Rhine whence I had just come, a climate as severe

as winter and much less pleasant, the sudden transition to the warm breath of spring was not the least delightful part of the trip.

My business in this part of the country detained me but one day, examining old coal-pits and new ditches and roads, to see how far it might be desirable to bring capital to bear on the supply of mineral fuel which nature has here provided. The supply is not only small in comparison with coal deposits found elsewhere, but it is also highly irregular. The beds, sometimes only a few inches thick, occasionally swell out to a dozen yards, and it would not be easy for a person unaccustomed to examine coal to recognise in the flaky shining powder brought up, or the earthy stain seen at the surface, any valuable indications worth following. There is, however, no doubt a good deal of mineral fuel, and of a quality quite worth having, particularly when we consider the price of English coal (the only kind available) at the nearest points.

The annexed cut (fig. 1) will give an idea of the position of the coal in this district, and the way in which the shales and impermeable soft beds are indicated by the wet hollows on the surface. The two principal groups of coal-seams inclined at a considerable angle are also shown.

Fig. 1.-Section across the coal-field of Ancenis.

From the coal-field we drove to the little town of Nort, very prettily placed, with several windmills on a small hill by its side, on the banks of a stream very little known, but well worthy of a visit from the true lover of the picturesque. Just as we reached the bridge which here spans the river with three small arches, the steam-boat, which daily travels between this place and Nantes during most part of the year, was not only starting but had actually got under way, but at a sign made by one of my companions and a great shouting from everybody near, the captain was polite enough to put back and enable me and my two companions to come on board. We found plenty of room, and

indeed the vessel claimed to be possessed of a license to carry 250 passengers, a notification of which was proudly placed on the paddle-boxes, but I doubt whether the odd fifty would have found such accommodation as a seat in any part of the vessel. However that may be, there was abundant room for our party, and we were soon paddling away towards our destination. At first and for some miles the scenery was pretty but by no means striking, there being a large sheet of shallow water with low hills rising in the distance, and small villages or large houses dotted about on the banks. After about a third of the way had been accomplished the river banks closed in, rocks began to show themselves on each side, the shores assumed a different and bolder character, and we entered on a succession of the most charming groups of picturesque objects, consisting of rocks, trees, houses, châteaux, little chapels, round towers, and ruined sheds, that can be imagined. The river here winds a good deal, and the character of the scenery is in all respects that of enclosed water, so that for a distance of at least twelve miles we seem to pass through a noble and beautiful lake, its shores covered occasionally with low wood, but more frequently cultivated like a garden. There were pleasant country houses of all dimensions and all varieties of taste on both sides; with villages not less picturesque than those on the Moselle, placed just where they ought to be well seen and well sheltered; and at intervals there were breaks into the country beyond, heightening the effect without altering the character of the scenery.

I am tolerably well acquainted with river scenery, and am by no means one of those who have but a single standard of comparison, referring everything to the Rhine—a reference more common than it is reasonable. I was certainly not prepared for this little treat, and it thus came upon me by surprise; but I do not think I exaggerate when I say that it is better worth seeing and studying for its effects than half the river and lake beauties that people travel far to look at, and I would strongly recommend every one who is near Nantes to make a little effort in order to judge for himself how far my picture is true. I admit that the weather was pleasant, the time of year favourable, the sky as well as the earth gay, and that during the whole time of our descent through the best part of the river, the clouds produced a succession of fine effects of light and shade, and a