between Rondun and La Bréharaye. At this place we quitted the
department of the Isle-et-Vilaine. Crossing the Cher, we arrived at
Derval, and from thence at Nozai, passing several large lakes,
and then over the river Don. The whole of this distance, with the
exception of the hill already mentioned, is composed of flat sandy
plains, mostly uncultivated, and the road is very rough.

From Nozai to Ancenis we crossed the river Isac; from thence to Redon,
Herié, to La Croix Blanche, along the bank of the river; and after
mounting another steep hill, we descended into an extensive plain,
leading to Gesvres and Nantes.

The whole of this country north of the Loire, from Rennes to Nantes,
the triangular point resting upon Angers, is the country of the
Chouans, which it is necessary, in reference to the Vendean war, to
distinguish from the country south of the Loire, in the department of
the Loire Inférieure, called le Bocage, or la Vendée. Although the
latter was the scene of the more desperate warfare between the
republicans and the royalists, yet the former had its share of
bloodshed and misery. The whole country on both banks of the Loire, as
far as Angers, is classic ground to those who revere the efforts by
which the Vendeans so long resisted the republicans.

The city of Nantes is the chief seat of the Préfecture of the
department of the Loire Inférieure, standing on the right bank of the
river, surrounded by its ancient rampart, of a circular form, and in
good preservation: on the opposite bank stand the ruined tower
and mouldering bastions of Permil. This spot is interesting to an
Englishman, from the memorable events to which the fatal pretensions
of Edward the Third gave rise, and which occupy the pages of French