rowly escaped a serious
accident in passing the bridge of Meulan, the boat coming into contact
with one of the piers; fortunately, the danger was espied in time.
There was now not the slightest chance of reaching Paris before the
following morning; but we regretted nothing except the want of light,
the gathering clouds rendering it impossible to see any thing of the
scenery, which, we were told, increased in beauty at every mile. We
consoled ourselves, however, with tea and whist in the cabin; in fact,
we played with great perseverance throughout the whole of our journey,
the spirits of the party never flagging for a single instant.

We found a good hotel at the landing-place, at which we arrived at a
very late hour, and starting the next morning by the early train
to Paris, passed by the rail-road through an extremely interesting
country, leaving St. Germain-en-Laye behind, and tracking the windings
of the Seine, now too shallow to admit of the navigation of boats of
any burthen.

The construction of this rail-road was attended with considerable
difficulty and great expense, on account of its being impeded by the
works at Marli, for the supply of water to Versailles. The building
of the bridges over the Seine, which it crosses three times, was also
very costly. The carriages of the first class are very inferior to
those of the same description upon the rail-roads in England, but they
are sufficiently comfortable for so short a distance. We were set down
at the barrier of Clichi, an inconvenient distance from the best part
of Paris. Here we had to undergo a second inspection of our baggage,
and I became somewhat alarmed for the fate of my medicine-chest. We
had taken nothing else with as that could be seizable, and this was
speedily perceived by the officials, who merely went through the form
of an examination.

The divisions in one of my portmanteaus had excited some suspicion
at Havre, one of the men fancying that he had made a grand discovery,
when he pronounced it to have a false bottom. We explained the method
of opening it to his satisfaction, and afterwards, in overhauling
my bonnet-box, he expressed great regret at the derangement of the
millinery, which certainly sustained some damage from his rough
handling. Altogether, we had not to complain of any want of civility
on the part of the custom-house officers; but travellers who take the
overland route to India, through France, will do well to despatch all
th