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THE MAINE.

A few leagues to the north of Angers the Loir and the Sarthe, on their way to the Loire, join forces; and before entering the town are met by the Mayenne. The three rivers, then assuming the name of the Maine, run through Angers, and plunge in one stream into the waters of the great monopolist.

We left the ancient capital of Anjou by no means unwillingly; for it was hardly possible to breathe in it for the dust, which swept in whirlwinds through the narrow streets, and promised faithfully abundance of mud for wet weather. The Maine at first appeared to be a very uninteresting river; the banks consisting of a plain on either side, little elevated above the water. Soon, however, it makes a more romantic bend; and the old convent of Beaumette appears, rising on a ridge of rocks, which, with some assistance from human art, wall it round like a fortress. This was the beloved retreat of King René, whose memory is yet dear to the Angevines. He was an amiable but unfortunate man, with a feeble mind, and an excellent heart. He never formed a wish that was gratified, nor a project that did not fail. Titular Prince of Jerusalem, Naples, Sicily, Majorca, Lorraine, Bar, Anjou, and Provence -the last was all that remained to him for his death-bed.

The rocks soften down on the right, and the village of Bouchemain appears-a collection of poor and small, yet snug houses, with a little tapering spire in the midst; and soon after the hamlets of the Pointe announce that we have

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gained the confluence of the two rivers, and that we are once more to wander on the bosom, or on the banks of the majestic Loire.

The bourg of Savenières on the right bank is worth a visit, on account of the ruins in its neighbourhood of the château of La Roche-au-Moine, which was built by the orders of Philip Augustus for the purpose of disputing the Loire with the château of Rochfort, on the opposite bank, in the hands of John Lackland. We now reach the island of Behuard, celebrated in the chronicles for its sanctity. It is said, that at the introduction of Christianity into these countries there was here a temple of Belus, which was destroyed by Saint Maurille, who raised an altar to the virgin on the spot. The site of the church of Nôtre Dame, however, resembles more one of the favorite haunts of Druidical superstition. An immense schistous rock elevates its brow in the middle of the island, surrounded by woods and groves; and on this rock, at least thirty feet high, the church is built, the sharp point of the cliff rising nearly two yards, in the interior, above the pavement. In the twelfth century this shrine of the virgin enjoyed a high reputation; nor was the goddess slow in making a proper return by means of signs and miracles. The trouble of these manifestations no doubt fell to the share of the monks of Saint Nicholas; but the holy fathers, it is to be hoped, rendered themselves justice by deducting a proper commission from the offerings of the pilgrims.

Rochfort is on the left, upon a height near a great plain chiefly of sand, where there appears an object which the traveller hardly knows what to make of at a distance. Let him by all means yield to the temptation which he feels to disembark; for a scene more striking in itself, and more interesting in its associations, can hardly be met with.

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