sions and style of these structures give one an idea of the
former gaiety and magnificence of Spa, though the only use that either
is now put to, is to furnish a room for a protestant clergyman to preach
in, Sundays.

As health, after all, is the greatest boon of life, we loitered at Spa a
fortnight, endeavouring to while away the time in the best way we could.
Short as was our stay, and transient as were the visits, we remained
long enough to see that it was an epitome of life. Some intrigued, some
played, and some passed the time at prayer. I witnessed trouble in one
_menage_, saw a parson drunk, and heard much pious discourse from a
captain in the navy!

We got little Ardennes horses, which were constantly parading the
streets, led by countrymen in _blouses_, to tempt us to mount, and took
short excursions in the vicinity. Sometimes we made what is called the
tour of the springs; of which there are several, each differing from the
others in its medicinal properties, and only one of which is in the
village itself, the rest being a mile or more distant. At other times,
we lounged in the shops, admiring and purchasing the beautiful boxes and
ornaments that are known as Spa work, and which are merely the wood of
the hills, coloured by being deposited for a time in the spring, and
then painted and varnished highly. Similar work is made in other places,
but nowhere else as beautifully as here.

At length _ennui_ got the better of the good air and the invigorating
water, and I sent for my passport and the horses. Francois, by this
time, was tired of cooking, and he carried the orders for both right
joyfully, while my _bourgeois_ received his Napoleons with many handsome
expressions of regret, that I dare say were truer than common. In the
mean time we hurried about with our cards of P.P.C.; bidding adieu to
some, without the slightest expectation of ever meeting them again, and
promising others to renew the acquaintance on the Rhine, or among the
Alps, as events might decide. At half-past eleven all was ready, and
shaking hands with two countrymen who came to see us off, we took our
places, and dashed away from our _menage_ of a fortnight's duration, as
unceremoniously as we had stepped into it.

The dog-star raged with all its fury, as we drove through the close and
pent-up valleys that lie between Spa and Verviers. At the latter place
we began to ascend, until finally we reached a broad and naked height,
that overlook