principle is to produce as much grain as possible with as little exhaustion of the soil. The secret of this they find in the alternate system, and they multiply the advantages of that system by a more frequent alternation than can be attained under the old system of alternating from year to year only.

"The following is the distribution of crops on a small farm of 33 arpents (each arpent answering as nearly as possible to an English acre) of a mixed clayey and sandy soil:-10 arpents of rye, 4 ditto of wheat, 3 ditto of oats, 3 ditto of buckwheat, 2 ditto of barley, 3 ditto of flax, 3 ditto of clover, 3 ditto of potatoes, 1 ditto of carrots, 1 ditto of lucerne and recoltes derobées'

"This forms the first or principal crop; but there is also a second crop, consisting of 12 arpents of turnips, after the rye and barley, and 1 arpent of carrots, sown with the flax. Flemish agriculture regards clover, flax, buckwheat, and beans, as crops that give rest to the soil.

"It will be seen that in the above distribution 9 arpents are devoted to crops of this character; while in the first crop there are 4 arpents of racines and tubercles (the carrots and potatoes), and in the second 13 arpents of the same species; both kinds of crops being calculated to prepare the soil for a repetition of the grain crops. This mode of distribution also provides plenty of forage for the cattle. The system, however, is one which demands a large quantity of manure-considerably more than could be produced on a farm of that size. It is in this respect that the intelligence of the Flemish cultivator is developing itself. It is only very lately, however, that he has become sufficiently alive to the necessity of procuring artificial manure, or of increasing the means of producing it on his farm.

"When considering the state of agriculture in the Pays de Waes, it will be found that much of the extraordinary fertility of that rich and productive district arises from the great pains taken by the cultivators to procure manure. Besides making the most of the ordinary manure of the farm, and obtaining artificial manures from the neighbouring towns, they have also, of late years, begun the use of guano; but the spread of this manure has been much prevented in Flanders, as well as in the rest of Belgium, by the shameful adulteration to which it has been subjected. The evil has reached to such a height that the Government have been compelled to interfere, in the hope of being able to make arrangements with respectable firms, from whom the real guano can be obtained."

Through a portion of the country thus referred to the tourist travels on this route. Every station on this line is a busy centre of industry. But whilst the quotation we have just given is being read, the train moves on, and quickly reaches its final point in the station of

Ghent, where omnibuses wait to take the traveller and his baggage to his hotel. (See GHENT.)

ROUTE THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE MEUSE.

(From the French to the Dutch Frontier.)

English tourists have not hitherto sufficiently estimated the beauty and the variety of the scenery on the banks of the Meuse. This may be attributed to the fact of the valley being somewhat out of the beaten track of travel; but now that a railway has been opened along the most beautiful part of the banks, there is no doubt that many travellers who passed along unheeding, will avail themselves of the new facilities now offered for viewing some of the most picturesque scenery in Europe.

The Meuse, one of the principal navigable rivers in Belgium, rises in France, in the department of the Haute Marne, a few miles from Langres, and enters Belgium, above Givet, between the villages of Heer and Agimont. The French portion of this river is uninteresting. The ordinary traveller will first meet the stream at Namur, where the Sambre and the Meuse join their waters. From Namur to Liege he will see the most remarkable portion of its banks, but if he desires to spend more time over it, he may, from Namur, ascend the stream to Dinant, or further, as he pleases; and then, descending it again, pass on beyond Liege to Maestricht. In our description of the Valley of the Meuse, we shall pass along the river from the French frontier to that of Holland.

Agimont is the first village on the Meuse after it quits the frontier of France. Here may still be seen the ruins of an ancient castle, the tower and portions of wall are still standing on the summit of a rock. On the opposite side is seen the village of Heer. From the highest point of this village there is a panoramic view of the course of the river, with Givet and the ramparts of Charlemont prominently seen. The next village is that of Hermeton, on the left, near to a stream of the same name, sometimes called-why, does not appear-Fombay. It was here that the bishops of Liege demanded the tonnage-dues from the boatmen; but the latter, considering the tax to be unjust, took every means to evade payment, and hence many a contest in ancient days. After passing Hermeton, we arrive at Hastière, divided by the Meuse into two parts, known as Hastière Lavaux and Hastière-par-delà-the latter is on the right. In the first of these villages, which has 450 inhabitants, there are some paper mills and other manufactories; the latter, now an unimportant hamlet,. once boasted a celebrated abbey. This was demolished by the Calvinists, all that now remains of its former grandeur being a few remnants of the walls.

Waulsort is the next village. Florennes Eilbert here founded,

in 944, an abbey for Benedictine monks, to expiate his sin in having caused the destruction of a church and a village. This abbey, which has since been rebuilt in the original style, is at present a fine chateau. On the right of Waulsort, still descending, we

reach the hamlet of

Falmignoule, remarkable for the ruins, seen on the top of the hill, of an ancient fortified castle, called Château Thierry, so called after Thierry, Marquis of Namur, who erected the chateau in 819, In 1554, after having been in the possession of many remarkable persons, it was taken and dismantled by the French. These ruins, which form one of the most picturesque features of the banks of the Meuse, at present belong to the family of Beaufort-Spontin. Leaving these ruins on the right, and following the course of the stream for some time, we arrive opposite the

Chateau de Freyr, a magnificent residence, placed at the bottom of the valley, in the midst of splendid gardens, from which the wild and mountainous scenery of the right bank of the river is seen to great advantage. It was in this chateau that the treaty of commerce between Louis XIV. and Charles II. of Spain was signed. The treaty is known as that of De Freyr. In addition to the chateau and its grounds, there is a grotto here, of great antiquity, but which was lost sight of for many years, and only brought to light in 1819. This curious structure is situated eighty feet below the surface of the Meuse, the entrance to it is through a passage formed of rock and shells, the extraordinary disposition of which bear testimony to the geological revolutions which the locality must have undergone. The Grotte de Freyr is composed of eight separate apartments, filled with curious geological specimens. It derives its name from Freda, or Frea, the Venus of the North, who, it is said, had a temple in this locality. It is likewise stated, that the grotto had been used for the celebration of some religious ceremony; and that when it was discovered in 1819, a Roman vase, or urn, was found cemented in the wall.

The

Leaving both chateau and grotto of Freyr to follow the fantastic meanderings of the stream, we find, on the right, one of the most picturesque scenes imaginable. Immediately above the little village of Anseremme, on the right, the river Lesse joins the Meuse. grotto of Han is one of the attractions of this spot, and may be visited conveniently from Dinant; it is one of the chief attractions on the river Lesse. The grotto is entered by means of a boat, the proprietor of which serves as a guide. This natural curiosity exhibits a series of large caverns, each one bearing some particular name. The guide is always provided with torches, which show the wonderful formation of the rocks, roof, and sides. On the way through this wonderful place, some of the chambers are passed over a bridge, capable of accommodating only one person at a time, and

beneath, at a fearful depth, rolls a torrent, which in its passage makes a frightful noise, echoed and re-echoed like thunder, by the rocks. Other chasms are passed by climbing almost perpendicular projections of rocks; and one chamber, called the Chambre des Renard, is only to be passed by crawling on hands and feet. But to describe in detail the many wonders contained in this grotto would occupy more space than can be devoted to such a purpose, and even then no idea of the frightful grandeur of it could be conveyed. Those who have courage for such tasks may explore it for themselves.

Leaving the grotto of Han, and the river Lesse, we return to the Meuse, the first point of note on which, after passing the chateau of Roche Bayard—a delightful spot, often chosen by artists as a subject for pictures-we arrive at

Dinant (Hotel de la Porte). This town was formerly called Dinant, a name nearly resembling that of the chaste goddess, to whom a temple was dedicated near this place. Dinant is a place of but little importance, except to the traveller in search of the picturesque and beautiful, from whom it deserves especial notice, standing as it does at the foot of high rocks, on the bank of the charming Meuse. Dinant has had its troubles; Philip "the Good" gave it up to pillage for three days, and ordered 800 of the inhabitants to be tied two and two, and thrown into the river, in revenge for their having hanged certain messengers whom he had sent demanding the surrender of the town; the fortifications were at that time destroyed, by order of the same monarch. The emperor, Charles the Bold, allowed them to be rebuilt; but they were no sooner completed, than the people of Dinant again offended, and were again severely punished. Amongst the objects best worthy of notice in the town, are the church of Notre Dame, a curious old structure, which replaces a more ancient church, destroyed in 1225, by the falling of an immense mass of rock. Next to the church the citadel claims attention. The first fortress which was constructed on the rock commanding Dinant, was erected in 1040; this was rebuilt in 1530, by Erard de Lamarck, and was replaced, in 1818, by a citadel constructed according to the modern rules of the art of fortification.

Dinant has suffered much from inundations caused by the repeated overflowings of the Meuse. In the year 1309 many houses were destroyed by the rising of the waters, and several of the inhabitants were drowned. Subsequently, in 1460, a great portion of the town was several feet under water, and in 1573 the bridge across the river was carried away by the force of the current, and the water again rose to a considerable height. The particulars of this inundation will be found recorded in several parts of the town; the date appears prominently on one of the pillars in the nave of the church

E

of Notre Dame. The town suffered from another destructive inundation in 1658; this is recorded in an inscription on the front of a house in the Rue Neuve; it is as follows:-"1658, En Fevrier la rivière m'a baysez." Mention is made of other and frequent overflowings of the stream, more particularly of those which took place in 1734 and 1812.

On quitting Dinant, the first place is the tower Crevecœur, and some remains of the fortress erected, in 1321, by the inhabitants of Bouvignes. The tower of Crevecœur commands the formerly important town of Bouvignes, which now only has 800 inhabitants. At this place they tell of the heroic death of the ladies called les Chatelaines de Crevecœur, who, when the town was sacked by Henry II., to avoid violation threw themselves from the highest walls of the tower. Looking back up the river upon Bouvignes and Dinant, the scene is one not surpassed in the whole course of the stream.

About three miles from Bouvignes is the fortress of Montaigne, constructed in the twelfth century, on the site of an ancient Roman camp. This was destroyed during the contention between the Liegeois and their partisans and the house of Burgundy. The ruins form a very beautiful object in the landscape.

Vis-a-vis d'Anhee. Here there is a pretty church, containing a few pictures. The formidable castle of Poilvache, memorable in the wars of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, is now in ruins. It was in the latter period that it was taken by Henry II. We pass successively

Houx and Yvoir. The latter possesses a curious fountain, which emits a stream of pure water at every precise interval of seven minutes. We next see, on the left,

Annevoye, Rouillon, and Rocher aux Corneilles, and several villages in succession, until we reach

Namur. (See NAMUR.)

There is a regular steamboat communication between Namur and Liege, and also a railway between these towns. The traveller who

is in great haste will prefer the latter mode of transit.

After quitting Namur, as the dome and steeples of the numerous churches become lost in the distance, we arrive at a long line of rocks of a most picturesque form and aspect, on the left of the stream; they are called Les Grandes Malades, so named after an hospital established for the reception of patients affected with contagious diseases. From these rocks most of the black marble in such general use throughout the country is procured. On the summit of the Grandes Malades there is a village of 300 inhabitants, called

Bourges. It was in this locality, in the year 1578, that the governor-general of the Netherlands, the vanquisher of Lepanto,