the Houssay road, besides peulvans, or ring stones.

Châteaudun (14 kil. further), a station on the Paris and Tours direct line, and the ancient Castellodunum, and a sous-préfecture of 6,720 population, in the valley of the Loire (see Route 35).

From this, vid Tournoisin, it is 48 kil. to Orléans.-Vendôme is 40 kil. further; and 56 kil. beyond that is Tours (see Route 35).-Blois is 32 kil. from Vendôme.]

Across the wide but well-cultivated plain of La Beauce to

Courville (11 miles), on a hill, in a fertile part of the Eure valley, once a marquisate in the Sully family. Population, 1,650.

[VILLEBON (7 kil. south), has the fine old feudal brick Castle, with towers, moats, battlements, &c., in which Sully, the great minister of Henry IV., died 1641. It preserves its ancient decorations and furniture, with the staircases, chapel, picture gallery, &c., all worth notice.] Courville is near Louis XIV.'s aqueduct, which begins at the next station,

Pontgouin (5 miles), on the Eure, and was completed as far as Maintenon, following a zigzag course of upwards of 30 miles. The châteaux of Vaux and la Rivière, belonging to the Marquis d'Aligre, are near this station.

La Loupe (6 miles), has a trade in grain and cattle, and gave birth to the learned Vincent de la Loupe, of the 16th century. The rail crosses a driedup lake near the station, on an embankment; and beyond it, is one of the greatest works on the linea vast cutting through a rock of silex and ferruginous earth, 2 miles and 854 yards long, and about 50 feet deep. One-half is on a level, the other on an incline; and the whole length is crossed by six viaducts for roads passing over the line. In the middle, where the hill lies deepest, is a tunnel of 5,700 feet, drained by a network of wells and subterranean aqueducts. About 1,200 men were employed for several years on this colossal work, by whom a colony was extemporised, called "Nouveau Monde," near the site of the Duchesse de Verneuil's castle. M. Ducos was the engineer, and Messrs. Hunebelle were the contractors for this work. The next station is

Bretoncelles (6 miles), in the district of le Perche and department of Orne, near Butte, de Château (in Saussaye forest) and the old castle of Launay, now a farm-house. The railway has a rival here in a Roman road, called the Rue Ferrêe (Stone or Metalled Street). It follows the Corbionne, to Condé-sur-Huisne (4 miles), near which is a seat of Comte de Baulny, and the old castle of Montlandon. A short rail was opened in 1873 to Alençon (see page 68), via Mortagne.

[Mortagne (30 kil. west-north-west), a sous-préfecture of 4,900 souls, once a strong place, and the capital of the Perche, is on a hill over the Chippe, and was founded by Yves de Bellême, 968, who strengthened it by a double moat, forts, &c. In the wars of the League it was pillaged twenty-two-times. The streets are steep; has the old Gothic Church of St. Jean, with richly carved culs-de-lampe (pendants) in the vaulting of the nave. The hospice was founded, 1523, by Margaret de Lorraine. There are large market halls, a prison, public fountains, &c. Manufactures of hemp, strong linens, sheep skins, &c. The old church of the Capucins is now a linen factory. Its langues fourrées, or stuffed tongues, are noted.

Hotels.-Des Trois Lions; De la Bouteille. About 6 kil. from it, near the road to Soligny, is the old Romanesque church of Champs, with stained windows.

SOLIGNY-LA-TRAPPE (12 kil. north), in a sandy spot, has remains of the Cistercian abbey of La Trappe, founded in the 12th century, by Rotrou II., Count of Perche, reformed by the severe discipline of Abbé de Rancé, 1666, and suppressed at the Revolution. After taking shelter in Switzerland, the Trappists settled in England, and returned here 1815, but in 1874, on a dispute with the bishop, moved to Meilleraye.]

Nogent-le-Rotrou (44 kil.), a sous-préfecture in department Eure-et-Loire, of 7,000 population, on the Huisne (which has a fall at the entrance of the town), under a rocky hill, crowned by remains of a Castle of the Counts of Perche, and the famous Duc de Sully, whose tomb, with that of his wife, is at the Hôtel Dieu, founded by Count Rotrou. The

old church of St. Hilaire, and the remains of St. Denis's monastery, deserve notice. Excellent trout and cray fish are caught in the pretty valley of the Arcisse.

[BELLESME (about 20 kil. west-north-west), in a forest, has the Herse mineral waters (2 kil.) near it, discovered 1607, rising out of a fountain marked by a Roman inscription (?).]

Le Thiel (6 miles), formerly Tilium, was burnt by the English in 1424, and again by Sully, who took it for Henry IV., in 1594. It stands in department Orne, which we now leave for that of Sarthe, and pass through a pastoral country, to

Connerre (5 miles), is near Dollon, so called after a dolmen or cromlech, of one stone, 20 feet long, resting on eight others. Before you reach this, you leave on the right, at Croix-de-Fer, another dolmen called the Pierre-de-Vouvray, near which coins have been found; some of a Gaulish character, called pixtilos.

Pont de Gennes (6 miles), was originally Pons Hiogenæ, after a Roman bridge, since replaced by a later one, on the Huisne, near the new railway viaduct.

St. Mars la Bruyère (4 miles), is in a wide tract of what was once a mere heath (bruyère). Yvre-l'Evêque (23 miles), was a country-seat of the bishops of Mans, in a large park.

like gate, with two solid high-peaked towers, now used for prisons, Hôtel de Ville, and a fine Gothic Church of the 16th century, looking like a cathedral. It is 190 feet by 0, and 80 high to the vault, or about 160 to the low spire over the west front, which, as well as the sides, is supported by tall buttresses. The windows are finely stained. Notice also the Halles in the town, built 1535. The English, under Salisbury, took La Ferté, 1424, and it was given up to the Prince of Conti, 1590. Population, 2,620. Linen is made. Coach to Mamers.

[About 19 kil. west, is BONNÉTABLE, a town of 5,100 population, in a fertile spot, having the old Castle of its seigneurs, surmounted by six towers, and ornamented inside with wood carvings and portraits.

MAMERS (32 kil. north-west), a sous-préfecture of 5,800 population, in department Orne, on the Dive, having a Church founded 1145, and restored 1831, and an old convent, now the mairie, &c. Some ditches, called after Robert le Diable, are traced; and at 6 kil. off, is a Roman camp. To the north are the ruined walls and arches of Persaignes Abbey, founded 1145, by the counts of Alençon, who were buried here till 1377. Abbé Rancé, who reformed the Trappists, was a monk in this abbey.]

Sceaux (5 miles), on the Huisne. The next station,

We follow the Huisne to Pontlieue (so called from an old bridge) in the suburbs of Mans, of which the

magazines, &c., is 44 miles from the last station.

LE MANS,

A buffet, 130 miles from Paris, 101 from Rennes. Here the branch line to Alençon and Mézidon (on the Cherbourg line) turns off (see Route 16).

HOTELS.-Le Dauphin; De la Boule d'Or; De France; De l'Europe; De l'Ouest; Du Maine.

OBJECTS OF NOTICE.-Cathedral-Churches of La Couture and Nôtre Dame.

Population, 46,981. This chief town of department Sarthe, seat of a bishopric, &c., on a hill-side, by the Sarthe, near the junction of the Huisne, or Huîne, was the Roman Suidunum, or capital of the Cennomanni (whence the modern name), afterwards of the province of Maine, which was held by Geoffrey Plantagenet, whose son, Henry II., was born here, 1133. It was, of course, often attacked in the early times of French history, until the English were finally dispossessed in 1447. In 1793, it was occupied by Larochejaquelin and 60,000 Vendéans, who were driven out with great slaughter by Marceau. The Chouans also took it at their rising, in 1799. On the 11th and 12th of January, 1871, in the height of winter, the strong position taken up here by General Chanzy and his army of the West, was carried by the Germans under Prince Frederick Charles, being the last great action of the war.

Three bridges cross the Sarthe. Pont Yssoir joins Gourdane quarter to that of the Prè; Pont Perrin leads to St. Jean, and Pont Napoléon is opposite Place des Halles, the largest square in the city, where the hotels and cafés are found. Another square, called Place des Jacobins, and planted with poplars, was the site of a convent, and of a Roman amphitheatre; Place du Greffier is a walk by the Sarthe, near the quais, with prospects of the fertile country beyond, and the station at one end of it. The best part of the town is up the hill, that on the river being a collection of narrow, steep, and dirty streets. The houses are of stone and slate; many old buildings are in Grande Rue, Place du Château, Rue des Chanoines, &c. An ancient seat of the Knights Templars yet remains, and there are four or five modern fountains, one of which was opened 1854, on a part of the ancient town walls.

St. Julien's Cathedral, 446 feet long, is on the site of a Roman temple, of which traces are said to be visible in the oldest part, the Norman nave, which is of the 10th and 11th centuries, and has a good south door. The fine lofty choir and the transepts are of the 13th to the 15th centuries, the former being 106 feet high. A square tower, ornamented with niches, &c., stands over one transept, 217 feet from the ground, or 331 from the river. The fine rose and other windows are beautifully stained; in one of the thirteen side chapels are monuments of Richard Cœur de Lion's queen, Berengaria, whose tomb was brought here 1821, from the abbey of Epau (now a linen factory, 4 kil. off), which she founded; and of Charles IV. of Anjou, L. Dubellay, &c. A carved house in Grande Rue is called Queen Berengaria's. Near the cathedral is the Grabatoire, a house with spires and a peaked roof, once used by the canons. The first bishop of Mans was St. Julien, in the 3rd century. At No. 1. in Rue St. Michel, close by, lived Scarron, the comic writer, who held a canonry here, till he married his wife, who afterwards, as Madame de Maintenon, became mistress and wife of Louis XIV.

La Couture Church is partly Norman and partly Gothic, of the 11th and 13th centuries; it has a good west portal (with carvings of the Judgment), and an ancient crypt. The Abbey buildings near it are used as the préfecture, which contains a library of 45,000 volumes, with 500 MSS., also a gallery of

paintings (including a portrait on copper of Geoffrey Plantagenet), and a museum of natural history, armour, Roman stones, &c., besides an Egyptian mummy.

Nôtre Dame du Pré church, of the 11th century, is cruciform, and has a carved doorway; it is one of the curious buildings here. At St. Benoit's is a good painting of a Dead Christ. St. Vincent's abbey church, with an excellent front, is used for the priests' seminary. Near it is the bishop's new Palace, in the Renaissance style, by Delarue. St. Pierre's old church is altered into a school; the residence of the monks of the Oratory is used for the college, and contains a collection of coins; while that of the Visitation is employed for the Palais de Justice, prison, &c. An old seat of the counts of Maine is now the Hôtel de Ville; they still show remains of an earlier building, which it replaced. The circular corn hall, on the Grande Place, was rebuilt 1822, on the site of a wooden one, which was as old as 1568. There are a good theatre, built 1842, by Delarue; and public baths. Ledru Rollin, author of the Decadence de l'Angleterre, was born here.

Manufactures of cotton, woollen, wax candles, black soap, leather, paper, and beer,

Conveyances: By rail to Tours and Angers. [The branch rail to Angers, 60 miles long, down the Sarthe, passes

La Suze (12 miles.) Avoise (11 miles).

Sablé (7 miles), an old town on the Sarthe, which is crossed by a marble bridge, uniting the two parts of it. Above stands a château, built by Mansard, for the brother of Colbert, the statesman. It commands a noble prospect. The town belonged to Geoffrey of Anjou, and was taken by Henry IV. in person. Gloves, linens, &c., are made, and marble is worked. Population, 5,680.

Hotel.-De Nôtre Dame.

Morannes (9 miles), and Tiercé (9 miles), whence it is 12 miles to Angers. (See Route 36).]

Leaving the station at Le Mans, the rail crosses the Sarthe, and the canal at its side, by a viaduct, 538 feet long, on four arches, the two largest of which are 56 feet span. Then pass the old château

Domfront-en-Champagne (12 miles), near the forest of Milesse, where an ancient way is traced. It was attacked by the Chouans in 1796, but unsuccessfully.

Conlie (2 miles). Here traces of the earliest inhabitants of France have been found. Passing a cutting, 45 feet deep, and then a bank as high, we come to another cutting, or tranchée, 5,900 feet long. Near this is Tennie church and castle, which Sir John Fastolf, the English governor of Alençon, took in Henry VI.'s reign. At Rouez are some old abbey and castle ruins.

Sille-le-Guillaume (7 miles), on the slope of a hill, where seven roads meet, in a forest, is a very ancient place, and has several remains of towers and walls, among which is the massive Donjon, 125 feet high, to the spire top, and 10 feet thick. The ancient church, begun in the 13th century, is close to it. A fine view from here. [ST. JEAN-SUR-ERVE, 20 kil. south-south-west, on the Erve (in department Mayenne), is so called after the ancient Arvii, whose capital was about 8 kil. south, down the river, near the grottoes of Saulge, or Caves de Margot, which are in the limestone cliffs on its banks; one is about 64 feet in diameter.] Rouesse-Vasse (3 miles), was the feudal possession of the very ancient family of Vassé, the last of whom emigrated in 1791. Here was the MS. of le Sieur Joinville's life of St. Louis, and a collection of armour, which was sold off by the sansculottes, at 2 sous a piece, payable in assignats.

Voutre (5 miles), in the department of Mayenne. Along the route are the Coervon hills, a range of felspar and petrosilex. Cross the Erve, and through the Rouzières cutting, to

Evron (5 miles), in a basin of limestone hills. Much lime is burnt here. It is an ancient place, called Ebronium, where St. Hadouin founded an abbey, of which the Church, one of the best in Mayenne, remains, dating for the most part rom the 13th century, though St. Crépin's chaper (where several paintings have been discovered) is three centuries earlier. Its spire declines from the

built for defence in early times. A beautiful basrelief of the Sepulchre is placed over the altar. Évron has also a large new halle or market; and a Benedictine abbey, a modern pile, occupied by the Sisters of Charity.

Coaches to Jubelin, Mayenne, and St. Suzanne.
[ST. SUZANNE (7 kil. south-east), up the Erve,
stands on a rocky height, in the Coervon hills,
over the gorge of the river. It has a modern
château incorporating the old donjon, &c.;
and the ancient ramparts are rather remark-
able, as being vitrified, like some of the Pictish
forts in Scotland. Six or seven menhirs or
Druid stones are found near this place.
To the north-west of Évron, past the pretty
château of Mazanger, is

JUBELIN, or Jublains, on the site of the square
castellum of Noiodunum, a Roman station.
The walls are made of blocks of granite, which
abound hereabouts.

Mayenne (25 kil.), a station 25 miles from Laval, by the branch line from La Chapelle (as below), and a sous-préfecture in the same department, among the hills, on the river Mayenne, is irregularly-built, and remarkable only for the old château of its seigneurs, now a linen factory. Linen goods, of various kinds, are made and bleached, and iron is forged near it. Population, 10,370.

Hotels.-De la Belle Etoile De l'Europe; Du Petit Pavillon.

AMBRIÈRES (10 kil. north), an ancient place on the Mayenne, fortified by William the Conqueror, to defend the Normandy frontier. It has an old bridge, a pretty spire church, and a halle on the castle site. Population, 2,400.] Neau (4 miles), formerly Néel, on the Jouanne. Here is a quarry. of grey marble. At Brée is a castle which belonged to Hubert de Brée, a crusader. At

Montsurs (3 miles), or Mons Securas, is another feudal ruin, which, like all in this quarter, figured in the wars with the English; and the Chapel of the Three Marys, of the 14th century. From La Chapelle, 2 miles beyond, a branch line turns off to Mayenne. (See above).