By and bye, a cloud appears resting upon the earth in the distance; and this is speedily seen to be overtopped by the tower of a cathedral, and a château as heavy and massive as that of Angers. On the left stretches out the district of Saint Sébastien, studded with country houses; and presently we find ourselves voyaging almost in the track of the bark which was wont to approach the holy temple with an enormous wax taper instead of a mast.

NANTES, the chief lieu of the department of the Loire Inférieure, stands upon the right bank of the Loire, at the confluence of the Erdre and Sèvre, twelve leagues from the sea, and twenty-two leagues from Angers by the Paris road. It is a great and important city; but we could discover very few of the handsome streets and squares of which French travellers boast. Some of the streets, however, are exceedingly interesting from their antique appearance; and one in particular, occupied exclusively by dealers in cloth, resembles a dark grotto. The houses, built chiefly of wood, and in the most irregular of all possible forms, lean over towards each other till they nearly meet in a pointed arch at the top; while the warehouses below resemble a series of caverns, into which no beam of daylight was ever able to penetrate.

The day being Sunday when we arrived, we had an opportunity of seeing the population in their gayest attire, and were particularly struck with the profusion of gold or gilded ornaments worn by the women even of the poorer classes. The young girls especially wore enormous earrings, set with stones that looked just as well as rubies and sapphires. Great golden crosses dangled from their necks; and a small key, suspended from the waist, indicated either that they actually possessed a watch, or would be thought to do so. The doubt was suggested to our mind by the fact that most of their mammas really sported this proud

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COSTUME OF THE NANTAISES.

ornament. The wearers appeared to belong to the same class who in London may be seen going "a-pleasuring," with a large baby in one arm, and a basket of bread and cheese, or cold veal-pie, in the other; while the husband trudges after, dragging four or five "pledges" at his heels in a little coach. These pleasurers go a step farther than is required in Scripture, earning their enjoyments, as well as their necessaries, by the sweat of their brow.

Some of the women wore a kerchief-turban of the gaudiest colours that could be selected; some a lofty pointed cap of plain muslin; and some a head-dress, which should also, we presume, be called a cap, laced and ribanded in all manner of zig-zags. The gown, in occasional instances, was an inch or two shorter than the petticoat; while neither reached beyond the middle of the leg; but the damsels so attired belonged, in all probability, to some other district, for, in general, the Nantaises are dressed with a decorum bordering upon prudery. This praise, however, if it be a praise, does not extend to their fashion of riding, which runs counter to all our notions of feminine propriety. On horseback, the two sexes have only one attitude between them; and you may see the farmer and his farmeress jogging to market, both astride on their respective steeds. The

CHATEAU DE NANTES,

as being the most remarkable building in the townand the nearest, besides, to where we happened to lodge -demands our first attention. This was the ancient residence of the Dukes of Brittany; where Henri IV promulgated the famous Edict of Nantes, and at the sight of whose gigantic towers, the same monarch cried outcomparing it mentally, no doubt, with the humble abode