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.
The voyage on the subsequent day was more agreeable than the preceding one.
The country between Macon and Lyons is much more beautiful and diversified
than that which we have hitherto seen and resembles much the picturesque
scenery of the West-Indian landscape. One part between Macon and Trevoux
resembles exactly the island of Montserrat.
Within two miles of Trevoux we were hailed by some grisettes belonging to
the inns at that place, in order to invite us to dine at their respective
inns. There was one girl exceedingly beautiful whose name was Sophie,
daughter of the proprietor of the Hotel des Sauvages at Trevoux. She, by
her grace and coquetry, obtained the most recruits and when we disembarked
from the boat, she led us in triumph to her hotel. From her beauty and
graceful manner, Sophie, in a country where so much hommage is paid to
beauty, must be a most valuable acquisition to the interests of the inn,
and tho' she smiles on all, she takes care not to make herself cheap, and
like Corisca in the Pastor Fido she holds put hopes which she does not at
all intend to gratify. After passing by the superb scenery on the banks of
the river (which increases in interest as you approach Lyons), the Isle
Barbe and la Tour de la belle Allemande, we arrived at Lyons at 5 p.m.
and debarked on the Quai de la Saone.
