ss and even elegance which they exhibited. We found the
people remarkably civil, and apparently too much accustomed to English
travellers to trouble themselves about us. The hotel was not of the
best class, and we only saw some very inferior _cafes_, consisting
of one small room, with a curtain before the open door, and on the
outside a rude representation, on a board, of a coffee-pot, and a
cup and saucer. All the shops at Arles had curtains at the doors,
a peculiarity which we had not previously observed in the towns of
France. We went into a handsome church, where we found a few people,
principally beggars, at prayers, and leaving a small donation in the
poor-box, beguiled the time by walking and sitting in the _boulevard_
of the town.

We were glad to embark at twelve o'clock, and soon afterwards we were
again in motion. The Rhone is at this place a fine broad stream; but
its banks were less interesting than those which we had passed the
previous day. We came at length to a large tract of low land, washed
on the other side by the Mediterranean, which we were told was
tenanted by troops of wild horses, known by their being invariably
white. There were certainly many horses to be seen, and amongst them
numerous white ones; but they appeared to be exceedingly tame, and had
probably only been turned out for the benefit of grazing on the salt
marsh. Possibly there might be some difficulty in catching them in so
large a plain, perfectly unenclosed, and they might have bred in these
solitudes. There were also some very peaceable-looking donkeys to
be seen, and now and then a few cows. We did not perceive any human
habitations until we came to the extreme point, where one or two low,
dreary-looking tenements had been raised.

The view for the last hour had been magnificent, extending over a
splendid country to the lower Alps, and now Marseilles appeared in the
distance, spread upon the side of a hill down to the water, and
its environs stretching far and wide, villas and country mansions
appearing in every direction. Upon entering the Mediterranean, we were
struck by the line of demarcation which kept the green waters of the
Rhone and the deep dark blue of the sea perfectly distinct from each
other, there being no blending of tints. Here we were delighted by the
appearance of a shoal of large fish, which were seen springing out of
the water; several approached the steamer, gamboling about in the most
beautiful manner poss