The French army in Egypt in
the division Lanusse in the battle of the 21st March, 1801, (30 Ventose)
and that consequently we were opposed to each other in that battle, as I
was then serving as a Lieutenant in the Queen's Regiment, commanded by that
excellent and amiable officer the Earl of D[alhousie] in General Doyle's
brigade.
The voyage on the Saone presents some pleasing and picturesque points of
view; the coteaux on the banks of the river are covered with vines. We
arrived at 8 o'clock in the evening to sup and sleep at Macon and put up at
the Hotel des Sauvages. We had a most sumptuous repast, fish, flesh,
fowls, game, fruit and wine in profusion, for all which, including our
beds, we had only to pay 2-1/2 francs the person.
There is a spacious Quai at Macon, which always adds to the beauty of a
city, and there are some fine buildings, public and private. I need not
enlarge on the excellence of the Macon wine. The country girls we observed
on the banks of the river as we floated along, and the grisettes of the
town who were promenading on the Quai when we arrived, wore a peculiarly
elegant costume and their headdress appeared to me to be something
Asiatic.
