to be nearly two
thousand years. Within the Chateau at Clisson are some very old ones,
but the finest I observed were at the Moulin aux Chevres.

CHAP. VI.

LIMITS AND GENERAL APPEARANCE OF LE BOCAGE. MODE OF WARFARE PRACTISED
BY THE VENDEANS.

My opportunity of becoming acquainted with that singular district
called Le Bocage, will be best understood by very briefly sketching my
route through it. I traversed it, and the district called Le Loroux,
by the route of Montaigne and Lege, and on my return I passed through
Clisson, Vallet, and Loroux, along the banks of the Loire. By pursuing
this route, I had every where the interesting opportunity of exploring
the scene of that destructive warfare which had ravaged the towns and
villages of this part of France.

At one period, the war of La Vendee extended to the north of the
Loire, as far as Rennes, forming a triangle, the eastern point of
which rested on the town of Angers. To the south of the Loire it
spread nearly as far as la Rochelle; and as in this part also it
extended nearly to Angers, the tract over which it spread its ravages
formed nearly a square. The district called Loroux runs parallel with
the Loire: Le Bocage, which occupies both districts, and the whole
country south of that river, is comprehended under the general
appellation of La Vendee. Under the old divisions of France Le Bocage
formed part of the province of Poitou, and Le Loroux part of the
provinces of Anjou and Bretagne: but when, at the revolution, France
was divided into departments, these two districts were denominated La
Vendee, Les deux Sevres, La Loire Inferieure, and Mayenne and Loire.

La Vendee is an extremely interesting district, not merely on account
of the singular and heroic warfare that was carried on there so
long, but also from the appearance of the country, and the manners,
opinions, and general character of its inhabitants; and Le Bocage is,
in all these respects, the most interesting part of La Vendee. In
Le Bocage, the war was carried on with most wonderful vigour and
pertinacity, as well as with almost unparalleled destruction and
cruelty. Those who are acquainted only with the other parts of France,
can form no idea of the aspect of this district, or of the manners of
its inhabitants; they differ so widely and essentially, that they seem
to belong to another portion of the globe. It has always been regarded
as the most fertile country in France; and, before the r