ess
is the marvel of the people. A French Lady who came with us from Liege
had seen some and expressed her utter surprise, and as if she was
speaking to one who doubted the fact, she repeated, "C'est vrai!
actuellement rien qu'un petit Jupon--mais comment!" and then she lifted
her eyes and hands and reiterated, "petit jupon--et comment,"
concluding, as if she almost doubted the evidence of her own senses, "Je
les ai vus moi-meme."

At Bruxelles at least we expected to see a numerous and genteel Table
d'hote, and in this hope took up our quarters at a magnificent Hotel in
the Place Royale--very fine indeed, and very full of English, much too
full, for though we saw a few in the passages, or eyed them as they
peeped out of their doors, and sat down with about 15 or 20 at table,
"They spoke not, they moved not, they looked not around." By dint of
asking for salt and mustard, and giving my next neighbour as much
trouble as I could to show I had a tongue which I should be happy to
use, we towards the 3rd Act of the Entertainment began to talk, and
ascended gradually from the meats to the wines (here, it is true, there
was some prolixity), and then to other subjects pretty well, though the
burthen of my companion's song was that "the French were all d---- d
rascals and ought to be well licked." We tried the Play; there we found
a few English officers and one English lady, few of any other nation,
not 50 altogether, in a house dismal and dirty. There is a delightful
sort of wood and promenade called the Park....

[Illustration: DUTCH SHIPS.]

CHAPTER V

THE LOW COUNTRIES

Dutch arks--Walcheren memories--Earth-covered ships--Cossacks and
keys--Brother alleys--Bergen op Zoom--Cossack shopping--Goat
curricles--Treckschuyt travelling--Booksellers' shops.

After Brussels the travellers proceeded to Holland, and saw Antwerp on
their way. They had now gone beyond the country which Napoleon's
victories had made famous, and the chief military interest of the
country through which they passed, just eleven months before Waterloo,
was derived from two very melancholy events for an Englishman to
record--the Walcheren Expedition and the storming of Bergen op Zoom.

LETTER XII

BERGEN OP ZOOM, _July 31st_.

...On leaving Bruxelles the country immediately loses its character, and
becomes entirely Dutch, by which we exchange for the better, leaving
dirty floors, houses, and coaches for as much cleanliness as soap and
water