m
Ni
il
which the river Ain runs through beds of
alluvium. We crossed the river at a bridge
which mves its name O to the town of Pont
d’Ain, where we slept.
From Pont d’Ain to Montluel, about
twenty-five miles, the soil is bare and
stony. About two miles beyond the latter
place, the soil improves, and the appearance
of the buildings indicate the affluence
of the possessors ; but from the confines of
Geneva to this place, a distance of about
seventy-five miles, we had not seen a single
gentleman’s house, nor any house which
might be supposed to be the residence of
an opulent farmer. The mode of cultivation
was very indifferent; I saw a team
of six oxen, headed by one horse, ploughing
in a field where the soil did not appear
particularly stiff.
Approaching to Lyons the soil was
more highly cultivated: barley was in full
ear, (April 17,) and ready to bloom ; the
foliage of the trees was expanded, and numerous
nightingales were singing in th e
bushes by the road side.
Many gentlemen’s houses, with extensive
gardens and vineyards, announced onr
proximity to an opulent city, as we proceeded.
We arrived at the Hotel du Parc,
in Lyons, at seven o’clock, where we remained
six days, and were very well satisfied
with our host and hostess.
I shall leave to other travellers the task
of describing a city so well known as
Ly o n s; but as it is one of the principal
manufacturing towns in France, I shall
state the advantages of its situation, and
other circumstances which may enable the
reader to compare it with the large manufacturing
towns in Great Britain. The magnificent
rivers, the Rhone and the Saone,
which flow on the north and south side of
this city, offer natural facilities for commerce,
which are possessed by few towns so far
removed from the sea. These rivers open
a direct communication with the Mediterranean
and with the interior of France.
Lyons is built at the extremity of an extensive
and fertile plain, but immediately under
a range of mountains that shelter it from
the north and north-east. Their sides are
richly adorned with wood, and thus form
a beautiful back ground to the view of this
city seen from the south. Numerous
villas placed on the different eminences,
afford delightful summer retreats to the
T 2