reach of the head of his
competitor, which circumstance, having with due nicety ascertained, he
clenched his fist, which in weight, size, and firmness, was not much
surpassed by the hard, and ponderous paw of a full-grown tiger, and with
all the force of that propulsion, which a formidable set of muscles
afforded, he felled his rival to the ground, and not knowing that he was
fallen, discharged many other blows, which only served to disturb the
tranquillity of the air. The recumbent hero, whose head was framed for
enterprises of this nature, soon recovered from the assault, and, after
many unavailing efforts in the dark, at length succeeded in opening one
of the vessels of the broad nose of his brawny assailant, whose blood,
enriched by good living, streamed out most copiously. In this condition
we saw these orbless combatants, who were speedily separated from each
other. Some of the crowd were endeavouring to form a treaty of
pacification between them, whether they succeeded I know not, for we
were obliged to leave the bridge of battle, before these important
points were arranged, to join a pleasant party at Mons. St. J----'s, an
opulent banker at Caen, to whom I had letters of introduction from Mons.
R----, the banker of Paris.

After spending the short time, during which I was detained at Caen, very
pleasantly, I resumed my seat in the diligence for Cherbourg, in which I
found a very agreeable woman, her two daughters, two canary birds, a
cat, and her kitten, who were, I found, to be my companions all the way.
After we left Caen, the roads became very bad. Our ponderous machine,
frequently rolled from one side to the other, and with many alarming
creakings, threatened us with a heavy, and perilous overthrow. At length
we arrived at Bayeux, where we dined, at the house of a friend of my
fair fellow traveller, to which she invited me with a tone of welcome,
and good wishes, which overpowered all resistance. We sat down to an
excellent dinner, at which was produced the usual favourite french dish
of cold turbot, and raw artichokes. After our repast, a fine young
woman, the daughter of the lady of the house, in a very obliging, but
rather grave manner, poured out a tumbler full of some delicious potent
liqueur, which, to my no small surprise, she presented me with; upon my
only tasting it, and returning it, she appeared to be equally surprised,
and confused. Her mother, observing our mutual embarrassment, informed
me, th