which they unite at each end, and unite most pleasingly; so that,
immediately on leaving this brilliant bustling scene, you enter into the
gloom of a lofty embowered arcade, resembling in appearance, as well as
in effect, the public walks at Cambridge, except that the addition of
females in the fanciful Norman costume, and of the Seine, and the fine
prospect beyond, and Mont St. Catherine above, give it a new interest.
On the opposite side of the Seine, the inhabitants of Rouen have another
excellent promenade in the _grand cours_, which, for a considerable
space, occupies the bank of the river, turning eastward from the bridge.
Four rows of trees divide it into three separate walks, of which the
central one is by far the widest, and serves for horses and carriages;
the other two are appropriated exclusively to foot passengers. In these,
on a summer's evening, are to be seen all classes of the inhabitants of
Rouen, from the highest to the lowest; and the following sketch, which
you will easily perceive to be from a pencil more delicate than mine,
gives a most lively and faithful picture of them. It may indeed be in
some measure in the nature of a treatise _de re vestiariá_, yet such
details of gowns and petticoats never fail to interest, at least to
interest me, when proceeding from a wearer.

[Illustration: View of Rouen, from the Grand Cours]

"Our carriage had scarcely stopped when we were surrounded with beggars,
principally women with children in their arms. The poor babes presented
a most pitiable appearance, meagre, dirty to the utmost degree, ragged
and flea-bitten, so that round the throat there was not the least
portion of "carnation" appearing to be free from the insect plague.
Their hair, too, is seldom cut; and I have seen girls of eight or ten
years of age, bearing a growing crop which had evidently remained
unshorn, and I may add, uncombed, from the time of their birth. It is