more than his whole year's income; it becomes his interest, therefore,
to hide the dead body, rather than pursue the living villain; and, as
whoever has property, be it ever so small, has peasants about him who
will be glad to obtain his favour, he is sure that when any of these
peasants see a murdered body, they will give him the earliest notice,
and the same night the body is for ever hid, and no enquiry is made
after the offender. I saw hang on the road side, a family of nine, a
man, his wife, and seven children, who had lived many years by murder
and robberies; and I am persuaded that road murders are very common in
France; yet people of any condition may nevertheless, travel through
France with great safety, and always obtain a guard of the
_Marechaussee_, through woods or forests, or where they apprehend there
is any danger.

_P.S._ The following method of buying and selling the wine of this
province, may be useful to you.

To have good Burgundy, that is, wine _de la premiere tete_, as they term
it, you must buy it from 400 to 700 livres. There are wines still
dearer, up to 1000 or 1200 livres; but it is allowed, that beyond 700
livres, the quality is not in proportion to the price; and that it is in
great measure a matter of fancy.

The carriage of a queue of wine from Dijon to Dunkirk, or to any
frontier town near England, costs an hundred livres, something more than
four sols a bottle; but if sent in the bottle, the carriage will be just
double. The price of the bottles, hampers, package, &c. will again
increase the expence to six sols a bottle more; so that wine which at
first cost 600 livres, or 25 sols a bottle, will, when delivered at
Dunkirk, be worth 29 sols a bottle, if bought in cask; if in bottles, 39