its completion, be considered, the construction of this bridge
may be looked upon as one of the most extraordinary actions of
that extraordinary man.
---------------------------

As soon as we had cleared the entrenchments of Bayonne, and got
beyond the limits of the allied camps, we found ours in a country
more peaceful and more picturesque than any we had yet traversed.
There were here no signs of war or marks of violence. The
cottages were covered with honeysuckle and roses, the gardens
were blooming in the most perfect order; the corn was growing in
great plenty and richness, and the vines were clustering round
their poles like the hops in the gardens of Kent. It is
impossible to describe the feeling of absolute refreshment which
such a sight stirred up in men who, for so long a time, had
looked upon nothing but ruin and devastation. It is true that
with respect to grandeur, or even beauty, the scenery through
which we now travelled was not to be compared with the sublime
passes of the Pyrenees, or with many spots which we had beheld;
but in truth, a hamlet uninjured and tenanted by its own rude
peasantry, a field of Indian corn exhibiting no wasteful track of
foragers, nay, a single cottage with its flowers and evergreens
budding around it, was at this a more welcome object to our eyes
than the wildest mountains or most romantic valleys displaying no
habitations except white tents and no inhabitants except
soldiers. For my own part I felt as if I had once more returned
into the bosom of civilized and domestic life, after having been
for many months a wanderer and a savage.

The road along which we proceeded had been made by Napoleon, and