Leannec, the physician, General Cambronne, were born at Nantes. The statue of Cambronne stands in Cours Henry IV. Marshal Gilles de Retz, the French Bluebeard, was burnt here in 1440. Palais, or Pallet, in this neighbourhood, on the road to Clisson (Route 41), was the native place (1079), of Abelard. The Chateaux of Haute Goulaine and Sailleraye, near Nantes, are worth seeing. Conveyances, by steamer-to Bordeaux, three times a week, in 26 hours, 12 and 15 francs; to Angers (up the Loire), daily, in-hours; and to Tours (36 hours from Nantes). They run slow, especially in summer, when the water is low, but the views are pleasant, To Nort (up the Erdre), daily; above it, in a pretty part where the river is like a lake, is Gâcheric château, where Marguerite de Navarre lived, when she wrote the "Heptameron," a collection of licentious tales. To Paimbœuf (down the river), twice a day, touching at St. Nazaire, &c. To Brest (touching at Belle Isle and Lorient) weekly, in 20 hours; 18 and 25 francs. Coaches to Clisson, les Sables, Napoléon-Vendée, St. Hermoine, Rennes, Brest, in Route, 15; Vannes, Lorient, Quimper, Redon, La Roche-Bernard, in Route 42. [From Nantes, on the road to Sables d'Olonne and to La Rochelle, you come to NAPOLÉON-VENDÉE. 66 kil. south-south-west. HOTELS.-De l'Europe; des Etrangers; des Trois Pigeons. Pop., 5,700. This small capital, of department Vendée, was formerly called Roche-sur-Yon, from an ancient castle on the precipitous rock over the Von, which Oliver Clisson took from the English, 1373, and which came to the Trémouilles and Bourbons, and was razed by Louis XIII. On its site is a large caserne, or barrack, near the statue of Napoléon, put up 1844. Between it and the formal modern town is the old bourg and its steep streets. The Emperor made the town the head of the department, 1805, altering the name to Napoléon-Ville; this was changed to BourbonVendée, 1815, in return for the attachment shown by the Vendéans to that family. It is, for the present, called Napoléon-Vendée. The Prefecture is an immense pile, round three sides of a square, and contains a library of 5,000 vols., &c. In Place Royale are some public buildings and hotels, with a bronze, by Maindron, of General Travot, a native, and the "Pacificateur de la Vendeé, 1838," when the Vendéans again rose in behalf of the Bourbons. The Church is in the Greek style, with a Doric portico, two domes, &c. Behind is the theatre, and a public halle. It has a good hospital and government stud. Coaches to La Rochelle, Les Sables, &c. From Napoléon-Vendée, to the west, you pass FONTENETTES, or Venansault (6 kil.), which has ruins of an abbey, with a good mineral spring in the midst. LA MOTHE ACHARD (12 kil.) is the next place. Then comes SABLES D'OLONNE (15 kil.), a sous-prefécture in department Vendeé (pop., 5,900), bathing place and port, on the sands (sables) of the Bay of Biscay. Batteries defend the harbour, which admits vessels of 200 tons. Hotels. -De France; de Cheval Blanc (White Horse). Coach to La Rochelle, Nantes, &c. Ile Dieu is about 12 leagues north-west.] From Nantes, the next station down the north side of the Loire, is La Bourse, and then Chantenay (2) miles). Basse-Indre (3 miles). Here small frigates and steamers are built, the engines being made at the government factory, on the island of Indret, opposite it, which is covered with tall, smoky chimneys. Coueront (3 miles) takes name from a village on the south bank, formerly the outer port to Nantes. Here Francis II. of Brittany died. St. Etienne de Montluc (42 miles). Savenay (6 miles), a small sous-prefécture in department Loire-Inférieure, of 2,000 souls, where the Vendéans were finally routed, December, 1793. Here the branch lines from Brest to Rennes, via Redon, will fall in. Donges (10 miles) and its salt marshes. Coach to Lorient, &c. (Route 42). [Opposite this station (6 kil.) is PAIMBŒUF, near the river's mouth, a sous-pro fecture and port of 4,500 souls, with a strong mole, 217 feet long, where large ships lie. It is not older than the last century. Coaches go from this to PORNIC, 12 miles south-west, a healthy wateringplace, with an old château, on Bourgneuf Bay, in the Bay of Biscay, opposite Noirmoutiers Island, which had a Benedictine or black (noir) abbey.] Montoir (42 miles). The last station is St. Nazaire (3 miles), a rocky port and packet station, with a pop. of 4,000 fishermen, &c., at the Loire's mouth, commanded by Fort Mindin, on the opposite bank. The dangers are numerous about here. A large floating basin is just completed at St. Nazaire, which furnishes it with a useful harbour, not only for merchantmen, but for small men-of-war. It is a rectangle of about 45 acres, with 14 to 25 feet water, having two jetties up and down the stream, at the entrance, defended by a strong mole. Vessels enter and leave at high tide. As soon as the tide begins to ebb, the gates are shut, and not opened till it flows again to the level of the water retained in the basin. Steam packets to Vigo, Lisbon, Cadiz, Gibraltar, and Malaga, the 5th, 15th, and 25th of every month. Two dolmens, or Druid stones, are found near St. Nazaire; and, at 12 miles to the north-west, are Batz, Guérande, &c., and their salt works. GUÉRANDE (pop., 8,000) is a good specimen of a genuine Breton town, with gable houses, old stress, a Gothic church, &c. West of this, on the coast, is the bathing-place of CROISIC. It has a large stone spire church; and, 18 kil. off it, is Le Four rock and lighthouse, 98 feet -high. Belle Ile, &c., are in the distance. ROUTE 37. Poitiers to Niort, Rochelle, and Rochefort. By rail, to Rochefort, 138 kil., or 84 miles. Three trains daily, 4 to 5 hours. Poitiers, stat., as in Route 35. Then to St. Benoit, where our branch line turns off to Coulombiers (12 kil.) To the north of this is CROUTELLE, a place noted for the cunning of its people, so that "finesse de Croutelle" is a proverbial expression in vogue. Lusignan (10 miles), on the Vanne, in a pleasant spot, in department Vienne, has a good view from the site of its great Castle, which was taken and razed by the Duke of Montpensier, 1574, and which gave name to Guy of Lusignan., the Crusader, who became King of Jerusalem and Cyprus. The family tombs are at the capital of Cyprus, and his descendant, the King of Sardinia, still claims those dominions through him. Good macaroons are made, and there is a trade in grain, seed, &c. Population, 2,500. Rouille (3) miles). and mules, the breed of which are of noted excellence. Three old châteaux, Lezay, Marais, and Boissec, are within a short distance.] St. Maixent (4 miles). Coach to Parthenay (30 kil.), as in Route 41. [At 14 kil. north is CHAMPDENIERS, which has ma nufactures of hats and tiles; and stock fairs, which the Spanish dealers attend, to buy mules, &c.] La Creche (6 miles). At 83 miles further is NIORT, 49 miles from Poitiers. Des Postes ; Du Raisin-de-Bourgogne (Burgundy Grape); Cafés.-Français (in Rue Royale); des Colonnes, &c. This capital of the department Deux-Sèvres (formerly of the Niortaise district, a part of Poitou), on a hill-side over the Sèvre-Niortaise, has good promenades, and is, on the whole, well laid out. Notre Dame, one of its two churches, was built in the Gothic style by the English, with a tower, 295 feet high. The Hôtel-de-Ville was the palace of Eleanor d'Aquitaine, and has an ancient horloge, or clock-tower. But the greatest curiosity is the Château, of which the donjon is now the maison d'arret, or prison. Madame de Maintenon's father was in confinement here when she was born. Other objects of notice arethe college; musée and school of design; a bibliothèque of 20,000 vols. (many rare) besides valuable MSS.; the theatre; public baths; large barracks; hospital for 400; the Fontaine de Vivier, an artesian well, 108 feet deep, which supplies the town; and the Passage du Commerce, a covered way, in Rue Royale. A pretty spot in the neighbourhood is the Cambon brook; some Druid stones are also to be seen. Manufactures of chamois leather for gloves and breeches; flannel, &c., and angéliques (a sweetmeat); and a trade in grain, wine, vegetables (which are plentiful). Its fairs for cattle, horses, and goods in La Villedieu-du-Perron (4 miles). general, were so famous, and at the same time so [At 22 kil. south-west is convenient for match-making, that the ages of marMELLE, a sous-préfecture of old houses, in depart-riageable girls were reckoned by the number they had ment Deux-Sèvres (pop. 2,600), on a hill, in a attended-"Elle a tant de foires, plus seize ans”—(She fertile spot over the Béronne, which dries in is so many fairs more than sixteen years old). Two summer. It has a college, a pepinière, remains | large fairs are now held at Champdeniers above-menof old walls, a tower called Mallezeard, and the tioned. sulphur spring of Fontadau, which is found useful in cutaneous diseases. Woollens are manufactured; and it possesses a trade in grain, wool, trefoil seed, cattle, and especially in asses Conveyances to Napoleon-Vendée, Nantes, Fontenay, &c. [FONTENAY-LE-COMTE (31 kil. north-west), a souspréfecture in department Vendée, prettily placed on a hill over the river Vendée, in a plain where streets are regularly laid out; the houses are not four great roads meet. Population, 7,960. The more than two stories high. A large fountain stands college or high school is well-built. The fountain, in Place d'Armes, or Place Colbert, so named after which gives name to the town, is rather elegant. the founder of the town. There is an extensive Nôtre Dame Church, is a fine Gothic structure, suburb rising up beyond the line of fortifications. with a well proportioned spire of 269 feet, a good The church of St. Louis, near the college, was reportal, a copy of Raphael's Transfiguration, and built in 1839. There are also a Hôtel de Ville, a one of Lefevre's best productions, over the altar. musuem in Rue de l'Arsenal, an observatory, an exTrade in grain, timber, and wine. change, navigation and other schools, foundling Hotel.-Du Chapeau Rouge.] hospital, cemetery, and the civil hospital, built by Frontenay-Rohan (3) miles). the intendant Bigon, who greatly improved the town, Epanes (2 miles). 1688-1710. The botanic gardens of the school of medicine are near the garden of the Maritime Préfect. A small mercantile port lies outside Porte Martron. But its most important feature is the Arsenal or Military Port, the entrance to which (by order) is Mauze (4 miles), a little village, noted for its breed of asses, and having a good trade in spirits, wine, and linseed oil. The high road to Rochefort turns off here. Surgeres (4 miles). Coach to St. Jean d'An- through Port du Soleil. It includes the large chan gely. [ST. JEAN D'ANGELY (30kil. south-east), a sous-préfecture of 6,200 souls, in a pleasant part of the Boutenne, having an old Benedictine abbey (now a school), and a large trade in cognac brandy.] Aigrefeuilles (9 miles). Here is the junction with the branches to Rochefort, on the south (A.) and to La Rochelle, on the north (B.) ROUTE 37-A. To Rochefort. The next station is tiers de construction (building slips) and floating basin; ateliers des fonderies, for cannon and steam engines; forges and sheet iron works; ateliers d' ajustage, or fitting shops; shops for capstans, radders, blocks; masthouses, workshops, saw mills, moved by Saubreuil's machinery; corderie, or rope house, 1,300 feet long; salle d'armes or armoury, and gun wharf; magasin de vivre, or Victualling Office, an old building, in which are 40 ovens, and machinery for making biscuits; store houses, 1,300 feet long; the Commandant or Préfect's hotel; three casernes, or barracks, for the sailors and marines; and a large new dock, now making, in addition to two others. The Bagne, or convict depôt, the inmates of which were sent off to Cayenne, 1852, is now turned into magazines. Outside the town is the hôpital de la Marine, a large building or mass of buildings, by Touffaire, with 1,200 beds in Cire (miles). And at 9 miles from Aigre- it, a museum of natural history, a library of 5,000 feuilles, is ROCHEFORT. 293 miles from Paris. The debarcadère is near Porte de Charer te. HOTELS.-Des Etrangers; Du Grand Bacha. Excellent vegetables and fish are to be had. Rev. M. Peraux is Protestant pastor here. This is a sous-préfecture of 19,000 souls, seat of a maritime prefect, and a naval dock-yard, in a flat part of the Charente, 16 kil. from the sea, at Rade des Basques, or Basque Roads. It was founded, 1666, by Colbert, the minister of Louis XIV. The English (who formerly held all this country, till the time of Charies VII.) attempted to capture Rochefort, in 1757, but without success; and it was here that Lord Cochrane, in 1809, burnt part of the French fleet. It is fortified and protected by forts on the river, up Which large ships may come to the quays. The oldest volumes, besides the public library of 10,000. An avenue called the Cours d' Ablois leads up to it. Rochefort stands in a pestilential marsh, which, however, has been so well drained, at least, in and around the town, that deaths, which were 1 in 11, have fallen to 1 in 26. There are some iron and copper works in the town, with an horlogerie or clock factory; and a trade in wine, cognac brandy, grain, wood, fish, salt, &c. The Charente, though deep, is not navigable for large ships, except at high water; while the largest have to wait for the equinoxes, to ascend or descend it. A ride or walk over the flats brings you to Foutras, on the sea side, in view of the Basque Roads, and of Oléron, Aix, and de Ré beyond. It was here, near Aix, that Napoleon, 15th July, 1815, gave himself up to Captain Maitland, in the Bellerophon, stationed off the coast to prevent his escape to America. Captain Doré, now a senator, had formed a plan for smuggling the fugitive away, but could not pass the British squadron. Between Aix and Oléron, in a spot guarded by two forts, vessels take shelter from the high winds which blow from the Atlantic. It was here that Lord CochFane (now Dundonald) nearly destroyed the French fleet in April, 1809. They had received notice of his preparations, but contented themselves with drawing He broke cables and booms across the harbour. through these, and darted in among the French with his frigates and fire ships. A panic seized them; they cut their cables and ran aground, so that next morning only two were afloat. Cochrane signalled to Lord Gambier, the commander-in-chief, "Half of the fleet can destroy the enemy. Eleven on shore." Gambier hesitated; and hence, only five ships were destroyed; but the French were thoroughly disheartened. Lord Gambier was afterwards tried by court-martial, and honourably acquitted. Conveyances by coach, to Tonnay-Charente, Marennes, Royan, Bordeaux, Saintes, &c.; by steamer, daily, (up the Charente) to Saintes and Rochelle. [At 20 kil. to the south-west, is MARENNES, a sous-préfecture of 4,600 souls, in a marshy spot, noted for its oysters, beans, and peas. It has a trade in salt, wine, brandy, &c., and is near the mouth of the Seudre, opposite the long and flat Ile d'Oléron, the Roman Uliaris, which supplies good vegetables, brandy, and salt, (pop. 16,000). Under the English rule, this island had a bishop, and the people were so enterprising, that it gave name to the Ley d'Oléron, or Laws of Oléron--a code of maritime laws, at one time adopted by all Europe, and ascribed without authority to Richard I. At 10 kil. south-east of Marennes, is the feudal Tour de Brou, as old as the 6th or 7th cent. About 23 kil, south of Marennes, is ROYAN, a bathing-place at the Gironde's mouth, with the light tower of Cordouan outside, 207 feet high. As a stronghold of the Huguenots Royan was taken by Louis XIII. A steamer runs hence to Bordeaux in the season. From Rochefort, on the Bordeaux road, you come to TONNAY-CHARENTE (8 kil.) on the north bank of the Charente (here crossed by a fine suspension bridge from rock to rock, under which large merchantmen may easily pass), which has an old château, and a great trade in wine and Cognac Brandy, which is exported hence to England. Pop., 3,400. English Consul, J. F. Close, Esq. Hotels.-Du Faisan; du Point du Jour (Break of Day). SAINTES (30 kil.), a sous-préfecture of 10,500 souls, and a very old town, once the capital of the Santones, who gave their name to it, and to the province of Saintonge, which, as part of Guienne, came to Henry II. of England, through his wife Eleanor. Northmen took it, 850; and for a few years, latterly, it was the chief town of the department. The Though pleasantly seated under a hill on the Charente, it consists mostly of small dirty streets and poor houses, with a good walk on Quai Blair. Among its Roman remains are, a plain Triumphal Arch (lately restored, and removed to a more convenient site), on the Roman way to Poitiers, built of large uncemented stones, and dedicated to Germanicus, Tiberius, &c., by C. J. Rufus, a priest; also parts of a small Amphitheatre, once about 70 feet long, in a valley outside the town; with traces of a circus near it. Fragments of baths have been found on the river. which is crossed by a suspension bridge, at the Cours Royale, built 1841-2, in place of the old stone one. The Cathedral church, with its fine pinnacled steeple, was rebuilt, 1568 (on the site of Charlemagne's), except a good portal of the 14th cent., which has several niched figures, &c., in its roof. St. Eutrope's church, near the amphitheatre, has an excellent spire, built by Louis XI., and an early Norman crypt. To an old abbey here, Eleanor retired, after her separation from Louis le Jeune, her second husband. The Hôtel de Ville was the bishop's palace. There are also a college, with a museum and library of 25,000 vols. attached; a district pepinière, or nursery; salle de spectacle, &c. Bernard de Palissy, who, after many trials and failures, made his discovery of enamelled pottery, was born here, about 1563. Trade in cognac brandy, wine, grain, cattle, stone, &c. Hotels.-Des Messageries; du Bateau à Vapeur (Steamboat). Rev. J. Dolon is Protestant pastor here. Conveyances to Angoulême (by Cognac, up the Charente), Bordeaux, &c. [At 10 kil. north-east, is ST. VÉNÉRAND, which has a spring rising in a rocky gap, and running through a narrow valley. Not far from it, at Doubet, are a château and a small part of a Roman fountain and aqueduct, which carried the water here to the arena at Saintes. At 20 kil. to the west, near Sablonceaux, are some other Roman works-a stone tower, called the Pile de Pirelongue, 103 feet high, and 19 feet square at the base; with another tower or turret, called Turris Longini, 13 feet high, in the middle of the Camp de César,-At Prieuré des Arènes 6 kil. south, near the Bordeaux road, are remains of a Roman villa, baths, &c.-Vestiges of a temple have been found at St. Saloine.] PONS (22 kil.), in a pretty valley on the Seugne, has the tower of its old château left, 83 feet high, which the Huguenots held against Louis XIII. It possessed three churches, &c., before the Revolution; and has three or four small bridges (ponts), which may have given it its name. MIRAMBEAU (23 kil.), has a church, built by the English, and a ruined château, which belonged to Mirabeau's family, whence there is a fine prospect. Capital of department Charente Inferieure, (part of Toitou), seat of a bishop, and military division, &c., and a port of the third class, on a small inlet of the Bay of Biscay, opposite Iles de Ré and d'Oléron, enclosing the Roads, which are entered by the strait called Pertuis d'Antioche. It belonged to Henry II. of England, through his wife Eleanor; was taken from the English by Duguesclin, 1372; and became the head-quarters of the Huguenots from 1557 till 1629, when Richelieu (Louis XIII. being present) took it after a memorable siege of thirteen months, which brought down the population from 27,000 to 5,000). He effected its capture by running a great dyke across the harbour, which kept out the English fleet sent to their assistance, under Buckingham. This dyke is still seen at low water, between Point Coreille and Fort Louis, being nearly a mile long, with a passage in the middle for shipping. Vessels of 500 tons may get into the Harbour, which consists of two docks surrounded by quays and houses, whence the Maubec canal, crossed by three bridges, runs up the town. The fortifications were planned by Vauban. Of the five old gates, one called Port de l'Horloge, is a clock-tower of the 16th cent. The streets are well built, and most of the houses have covered porticoes. Above Place du Château, where the old castle of Vauclair stood, is a fine prospect of the sea; there is another at the mole outside the At the Hôtel de Ville, a building in the Renaissance style, they show Henry IV.'s chamber, and the chair and portrait of the mayor, Guiton, who led the people in the great siege, Besides the cathedral (which is of no mark), and three or four churches (St. Sauveur's Gothic tower, 216 feet high, is used for a shot factory), the bishop's palace, priests' seminary, &c., there are, a bourse or exchange, St. Louis' hospital, a public library of 20,000 volumes, botanic garden and museum, the arsenal and salle d'armes (armoury), new abattoirs, good bathing rooms (built 1827), and a Protestant chapel. It was off here (as Admiral de la Gravière relates in the Revue des deux Mondes, 1858) that three French frigates, in 1799, came out to chase an English frigate, which quietly waited their approach. The whole population of Rochelle crowded on the walls bitter mortification, the French Admiral, doubting to see and enjoy the promised victory, when to their of success, signalled to retreat. The three Frenchmen were thus obliged to come back without their prize, who amused herself by chasing them in. Rochelle salt (a purgative) was discovered here by Seignette, the chemist. Reaumur, the philosopher (whose division of the thermometer is in general use in France), Billaud-Varennes, the Conventionist, President Dupatz, and Admiral Duperre, were natives. fish, &c. Pottery, glass, refined sugar, &c., are made, Trade in wine, spirits, wood, salt, iron, cheese, oil, and a little ship-building is carried on. Rev. MM. Fau and Delmas are Protestant pastors here. fort, in 1 hour. Coaches to Luçon, Les Sables d' Conveyances. Four trains daily, to and from Roche Olonne, &c. [Ile de Ré, 4 kil. from the nearest land, from which it is divided, on the north, by the Pertuis Breton, is 27 kil. long, and, in the middle, only two broad, being sandy throughout, but yielding good wine and salt. It is strengthened by forts, and a citadel at St. Martin, which Buckingham tried to take, 1628. At an old abbey here was found, in 1730, the tomb of Eudes, Duke of Aquitaine, and his wife, he having a copper crown on. The people (17,000) are fishermen, &c.] From La Rochelle, the next place on the road, is MARANS (26 kil.), a port in a marshy spot, connected with the sea by canals and the river Sèvre. Pop. 1,404, trading in corn, wine, and a farinaceous food, called minot. It stands in department Charente-Inférieure. LUCON (27 kil). a bishopric since the 14th cent., and small town (pop. 4,300), in a marshy spot, having a Gothic cathedral, with a tower spire of 212 feet. Trade |