Spiers: Memoranda of an autumn tour in 1836

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CONT. AUG. 15 MON.

Jamblinne of whom such amusing mention is made by Inglis in his said solitary walks. He was accompanied by his 2 sons good looking young fellows & he himself just such a chasseur in appearance as we should have imagined, quite a foxhunting country gentleman. Altho' eleven years had elapsed since Inglis' visit to him he remembered every circumstance perfectly well, but he had never heard of or seen the book in which he is so principal a character, neither had he heard of the author or of his death.

We were detained by our amusing chat with the Baron an hour later than we intended. However, at five o'clock shouldering our knapsacks off we started on our route. We stopped on the bridge to verify Inglis' description "The view from the pont de la Meuse at Namur, is singularly beautiful; you look up the river & down the river, and see as sweet a diversity of natural beauties as it is well possible to conceive. A view upon a river is not the most beautiful when the banks rise abruptly from the water; it is this difference between the scenery of the Rhine & the Meuse that in my mind establishes the superiority of the latter. The hills which border the Meuse, all generally retiring, - having some pretty meadows betwixt them & the stream:- whereas the steeps which enclose the valley of the Rhine are generally in contact with the water."

We left the town by a boulevard avenue filled with gay promenaders. It skirts the heights above the valley of the river for a mile or so & below are numerous little gardens & country houses. "There is no walk in Europe more beautiful than that along the banks of the river Meuse to Liège. Here lying in a sheltered nook, you come upon some little village with its simple church spire & trees and houses, all mingling together: there some antique chateau stands perched upon an impending rock, round whose base the river sweeps broad & smooth. Now the rugged banks rise precipitously from the stream, covered to the summit with every species of tree & shrub,

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