s leader. He said that it was only necessary to use it for the
first two or three leagues--which was the most difficult part of the
route--and that, for the remainder, about five English miles, our "fine
Norman horse" was perfectly sufficient. This fine Norman horse was
treated most unmercifully by him. He flogged, he hallooed, he swore ...
the animal tript, stumbled, and fell upon his knees--more than
once--from sheer fatigue. The charioteer hallooed and flogged again: and
I thought we must have taken up our night quarters in the
high-way;--when suddenly, to the left, I saw the fine warm glow of the
sun, which had set about twenty minutes, lighting up one of the most
perfect round towers, of an old castle, that I had yet seen in Normandy.
Voila FALAISE!--exclaimed the ruthless charioteer; ... and in a quarter
of an hour we trotted hard down a hill (after the horse had been twice
again upon his knees) which terminated in this most interesting place.

It will be difficult for me to forget--after such a long, wearisome, and in
part desperate journey--our approach to Falaise:--and more especially the
appearance of the castle just mentioned. The stone seemed as fresh, and as
perfectly cemented, as if it had been the work of the preceding year.
Moreover, the contiguous parts were so fine and so thoroughly
picturesque--and the superadded tradition of its being, according to some,
the birth place--and according to others, the usual residence--of WILLIAM
THE CONQUEROR ... altogether threw a charm about the first glimpse of this
venerable pile, which cannot be easily described. I had received
instructions to put up at the "_Grand Turc_"--as the only hotel worthy an
Englishman's notice. At the door of the Grand Turk, therefore, we were
safely deposited: after having got rid of our incumbrances of two
postilions, and two hundred weight of refined sugar. Our reception was
gracious in the extreme. The inn appeared "tout-a-fait a la mode
Anglaise"--and no marvel ... for Madame the hostess was an Englishwoman.
Her husband's name was _David_.

Bespeaking a late cup of tea, I strolled through the principal
streets,--delighted with the remarkably clear current of the water, which
ran on each side from the numerous overcharged fountains. Day-light had
wholly declined; when, sitting down to my souchong, I saw, with
astonishment--a _pair of sugar-tongs_ and a _salt-spoon_--the first of the
kind I had beheld since I left England! Madame Davi