h game, without
permission to destroy it, for one man's diversion. Ought not these
capitaineries to be extirpated?

May 27. At Versailles. After breakfasting with Count de la Rochefoucauld
at his apartments in the palace, where he is grand master of the
wardrobe, was introduced by him to the Duke de la Rochefoucauld. As the
duke is going to Luchon in the Pyrenees, I am to have the honour of
being one of the party. The ceremony of the day was the king's investing
the Duke of Berri with the _cordon bleu_. The queen's band was in the
chapel during the function, but the musical effect was thin and weak.
During the service the king was seated between his two brothers, and
seemed by his carriage and inattention to wish himself a hunting. The
queen is the most beautiful woman I saw to-day.

May 30. At Orleans. The country around is one universal flat,
unenclosed, uninteresting, and even tedious, but the prospect from the
steeple of the fine cathedral is commanding, extending over an unbounded
plain, through which the magnificent Loire bends his stately way, in
sight for 14 leagues.

May 31. On leaving Orleans, enter the miserable province of Sologne. The
poor people who cultivate the soil here are metayers, that is, men who
hire the land without ability to stock it; the proprietor is forced to
provide seed and cattle, and he and his tenant divide the produce; a
miserable system that perpetuates poverty and prevents instruction. The
same wretched country continues to La Loge; the fields are scenes of
pitiable management, as the houses are full of misery. Heaven grant me
patience while I see a country thus neglected, and forgive me the oaths
I swear at the absence and ignorance of the possessors.

June 11. See for the first time the Pyrenees, at the distance of 150
miles. Towards Cahors the country changes and has something of a savage
aspect, yet houses are seen everywhere, and one-third of it under vines.
The town is bad; its chief trade and resource are wines and brandies.

June 14. Reach Toulouse, which is a very large and very ancient city,
but not peopled in proportion to its size. It has had a university since
1215 and has always prided itself on its taste for literature and art.
The noble quay is of great length.

June 16. A ridge of hills on the other side of the Garonne, which began
at Toulouse, became more and more regular yesterday; and is undoubtedly
the most distant ramification of the Pyrenees, reaching into