grass, heavy and luxuriant. With the exception,
however, of the grain crops, which are generally drilled, the fields are
not nearly so clean as in the best parts of England.

The farm steadings and implements of husbandry in all parts of Flanders,
are greatly superior to those in France. The waggons are not only more
numerous on the roads, but greatly neater in their construction than in
France; the ploughs are of a better construction, and the farm offices
both more extensive, and in better repair. Every thing, in short,
indicated a much more improved and opulent class of agriculturists, and
a country in which the fundamental expenses of cultivation had long been
incurred.

Near Cambray, the wages of labour are one franc a-day. Near
Valenciennes, and from that to Mons, they are from 1 franc to 25 sous,
that is, from 10d. to 12-1/2d. From Mons to Brussels, and round that
town, from 1 franc to 30 sous, that is, from 10d. to 15d. The rent of
land was stated in French Flanders at 20 francs, and the price 1000
francs _per marcoti_; and from Valenciennes to Mons, from 35 to 50
francs; but we could never accurately ascertain what proportion a
marcoti bore to the English acre.

The size of the farms is exceedingly various in the districts of
Flanders which we have visited. From Cambray to Valenciennes, they were
called from 200 to 300 _marcotis_; but from Mons to Brussels, an
exceedingly well-cultivated district, they seldom exceed from 50 to 100
_marcotis_; which, as far as we could judge, was not above from 25 to 50
acres. That the size of the farms is in general exceedingly small,
appears obviously from the immense number of farm-houses which are every
where to be seen. The course and mode of cultivation appears to be
precisely the same on the great and the small farms.

The state of the people, both in French and Austrian Flanders, was most
exceedingly comfortable. Not the smallest traces of dirt are to be seen,
either in the exterior or the interior of the peasants dwellings. Their
dress, as in France, is in general neat and substantial, covered with a
light blue smock-frock, and without any appearance of abject want. The
women in general appeared handsome, and very well clad. Every thing, in
short, bespoke a rich, prosperous, and happy population.

BRUSSELS is a large, populous, and in many respects a handsome town. It
stands upon the side of a hill, the lower part being the old town, and
the higher the fashionable