ck dinner was ready at the Hotel Royal; and it need not be
added that the boys also were ready. Half an hour later the whole party
had been loaded into stage-coaches, which, in an hour and a half, set
them down on the battle-field of Waterloo. For two hours they wandered
about the field, or rather up and down the two principal roads which
pass through it. On the highest ground of the field, where there is a
mound two hundred feet high, surmounted by the Belgic Lion, Mr. Mapps
gave a brief account of the great battle, pointing out the spots of the
greatest interest, including the road by which Blucher arrived. The
subject is too vast for these pages; but it will be alluded to in the
summary of French history in a subsequent volume.

There are several monuments, and columns, and obelisks on the
battle-field, which mark the fall of distinguished men or their
burial-places. Beneath the great mound are buried thousands of all the
armies represented in this historical conflict, which settled, for a
time, the fate of Europe. The field is the harvest-ground of a multitude
of beggars, relic-hunters, and guides, who bore visitors almost to death
with old buttons, musty rags, flattened bullets, bones, and other
articles, which they produce as keepsakes of the battle. The stock of
these things probably failed long ago, and the traveller may well be
suspicious of the genuineness of anything which may be offered to him by
these leeches.

At six the stages conveyed the tourists to the Groenendael Station, on
the railway to Namur, where they arrived after a ride of an hour,
express time. This place is the "Belgian Sheffield," being largely
engaged in the manufacturing of arms, cutlery, and hardware. Its
vicinity contains rich mines of iron, coal, and marble. Many battles and
sieges have occurred in this place; and Don John of Austria, sent by
Philip II. to subdue the country, was buried here. The city contains a
population of twenty-six thousand, and is beautifully located at the
junction of the Meuse and Sambre Rivers. The train stopped here but an
hour; and the students roamed through some of the principal streets,
which, however, were too much like those of places they had visited
before to excite any especial interest.

Two hours later, they arrived at Liege, which was to be the eastern
limit of the excursion. As before, Mr. Fluxion had preceded them, and
engaged accommodations at the hotels. The students were very tired, and
no