and joining hands
encircle the column, the whole surmounted by a statue of Victory. At No.
1, upon the Place, is the chamber of notaries, where landed property and
houses are sold by auction.

We must now return to the Rue St. Denis, and follow it until we come to
the Rue de la Ferronnerie, which is to the left, into which we must
proceed, and shall find that the second turning to the left is the Rue
des Dechargeurs, and at No. 11 is an edifice of the seventeenth century,
which is now the Depot general des Bonneteries (Hosiery) de France.

Returning a few steps northward, brings us to the corner of the Rue St.
Honore, and against No. 3 is a bust of Henry IV, and a stone with a
latin inscription, indicating that it was exactly opposite that spot
that he was stabbed by Ravaillac. The street was very narrow at that
period, and at the moment when the deed was perpetrated, the carriage of
Henri IV was stopped by a number of carts which choked up the passage. A
little street nearly opposite, takes into the Marche des Innocents,
which occupies an immense space formerly the cemetry of the Innocents.
In the middle of the area is a fountain built by Pierre Lescot, in 1551,
and is decidedly a most beautiful object, which is not sufficiently
noticed by strangers, as it is surrounded by a crowded market and not at
all hours easy of approach; the court-yard of a palace would be a more
appropriate situation for this elegant edifice, and I particularly
request my readers to pay it a visit. Around this fountain is certainly
the largest and most frequented market in Paris, not only each
description of vegetables, poultry, and almost all kind of eatables are
sold here, but cloth, a large building being purposely constructed for
that object 400 feet in length; another division is for every
description of herbs, the northern side is devoted to potatoes and
onions; a triangular building a little farther, is on purpose for
butter, eggs, and cheese, whilst another edifice is for fish. At a short
distance, in the Rue Mauconseil is the great hall for the sale of
leather, which was formerly the Hotel de Bourgogne, where the players
used to perform scriptural pieces in the 15th century. To the west of
the Marche des Innocents is the curious street de la Tonnellerie, an
open passage running, through the ground floors of some of the houses,
inhabited mostly by dealers in rags, cloth, and old furniture; in this
street is the bread market, where it i