The road between St. Jean de Luz and Bayonne is very hilly, and was now much broken up by numbers of wheel carriages, passing to and from Spain. On my arrival at the latter town, I found all the inns so crowded, that no accommodation was to be had in them; I therefore presented my letters of introduction to Messrs. Dehne and Bourdehus, extensive merchants, who were extremely civil, and not only procured me lodgings, but insisted on my dining with them. I spent the evening, also, agreeably in their society.

January 19, I waited on General Sols, the commandant, who received me with the politeness of the old French school. After some conversation he shewed me a letter from General Beliard, who it seems wished to follow up his persecution, by recommending the strictest surveillance over me, being, according to his expression, “a dangerous character.” Fortunately however General Sols had made inquiries respecting me of some of the officers of the escort, whose answers did away all the unfavourable impressions that might have been made by General Beliard’s letter. I also waited on General Quesnel, commanding the staff, for whom I had a letter from General Sebastiani, and met with a frigidly polite reception.

January 20. Having received intimation from Marshal Bessières, Duc d’Istrie, that he desired to see me, I accordingly waited on him, and was received with great fierté; but after some conversation his manners altered, and became most gentlemanlike. He mentioned the desertion of Captain A. . . . who had been made prisoner with me, and who had escaped from an escort in the North of Spain, in a manner that gave me reason to fear that myself and another officer might in consequence be deprived of our parole. I therefore avoided entering into the merits of the case, and only replied, c’est un malheur, mais il faut attendre à ces choses. My subsequent conversation with the Duke however removed all my fears, for having introduced subjects with which I happened to be well acquainted, he took an interest in me, and invited me to dinner the following day. On my return to my lodgings, I received a visit from Colonel F. . . . and the commander of the convoy, who behaved in the most handsome manner, and we made out a satisfactory statement of Captain A. . . .’s escape.

January 2l. According to invitation, I proceeded to dine with the Duc d’Istrie, in full uniform. He was very attentive, gave me an excellent dinner and wines, particularly Madeira, of which he had opened a case purposely for me. Our conversation turned principally on the events in Spain, in which he appeared, as might be expected, much interested. On retiring he begged me to call on him, before I quitted Bayonne next day, and he would give me some letters to his friends at Bourdeaux, which would at least ensure me a good dinner and excellent wine; this of course I did not fail to do, when he not only presented me several letters but also an hundred louis-d’or, offering to furnish me with more if I wished; but I declined his obliging offer, and we parted with mutual regret.

During the few days I remained at Bayonne, I visited the environs, and particularly that part in which were several American vessels, lately confiscated, in consequence of the Berlin decree, and re-purchased by the Americans. There were also in the river seven American built schooners, under the French Imperial flag, ready for sailing, and which had been equipped to make a run to the Isle of France with troops, and to bring home the produce of the island. The crews of these vessels were mostly composed of boys, raised by a recent maritime conscription, and of whom it was doubtless intended to make seamen in this voyage de longue course. I felt no small satisfaction, while viewing these schooners, in knowing that the Isle of France was already in our possession, and that the intention of this expedition was therefore entirely frustrated.

The town of Bayonne is about three miles from the sea, at the junction of the little rivers Adour and Neve, which divide it into three parts; the entrance of the port is narrow, and a very dangerous bar crosses it, on which, in westerly winds, there is a most furious surf; but which is not without its advantage, for it shelters the port towards the sea. The commerce of this town was formerly very considerable, but the war and the anti-commercial decrees of Buonaparte, have left it only an insignificant coasting trade.

I must not forget to observe, for the benefit des gourmands, that Bayonne is celebrated for its hams; and I could not quit it without satisfying myself whether it deserved this celebrity. I accordingly had one drest under my own inspection, and as a considerable degree of science is required in dressing a ham, I am sure the lovers of good eating will not be sorry to have my receipt. Boil it in hock, a quarter of an hour to each pound; then put it in an oven and bake it another quarter of an hour to the same weight; and I will venture to say, the epicures will acknowledge that nothing can be more delicious. While I am on the subject of cookery, I may be pardoned for mentioning an anecdote which comes á propos. In a passage to South America, a confident epicure who was continually giving us receipts for dressing the albicore, bonettas and sharks, we occasionally took, and as continually expatiating on the excellence of the dolphin (of which we had not yet caught one) when properly drest, I begged him to give me his receipt, which he did at full length, and when he had finished his tedious detail, I told him my receipt began in a very different manner. After his expressing much anxiety to know my plan, and keeping him long in suspence, I told him I always followed Mrs. Glass’s receipt, which begins with, First take.*

* On the following day we actually did take a dolphin, and the dressing of it was left to me. I ordered it to be simply boiled in salt and water, and to be stewed up with abundance of melted butter in a sauceboat, with plenty of Cayenne pepper to mix with it; and though this was so simple a process, I found it was more universally relished than that of the officer’s, which was very complicated, and attended with great trouble.

While at Bayonne, and happening to be in company with Colonel Natalis of the Engineers, I observed an officer regarding me steadily, and who at last asked me if I had ever been in Egypt? On my answering in the affirmative he recalled to my recollection my having been sent in advance, with a detachment of British troops and some Arnauts, by order of Colonel Stewart, when we surprised and captured a convoy of twenty-two boats, near Ramaniah, which were conveying stores to the French army. It was a most fortunate capture for our officers, who were almost barefooted, for we found in the prize, boots and shoes, with which we immediately fitted ourselves. This officer, who was in one of the boats, expressed his gratitude for the protection the English afforded him against the savage ferocity of our Turkish allies.

Having received a feuille de route, on the 27th I commenced my journey to Bourdeaux on horseback. The road to St. Vincent, the first stage, is a deep sand, and was now almost impassable, being so much broken up by the passage of waggons, &c. St. Vincent contains nothing worthy of notice, and St. Juan, the second stage, consists only of a few straggling houses. At the latter I put up for the night, and found the landlord of the inn civil, and more particularly attentive when he learned my country. He provided me with a tolerable supper, and I had nothing to complain of except a legion of rats, that amused themselves dancing about my room all night.

January 28. As I found the high road crowded with soldiers and carts, whose rencontre every moment was far from agreeable, I inquired of my landlord if I could not avoid it, and learned that by crossing the country about two leagues, I should get into the old road, which would shorten the distance to Bourdeaux, and that, though deep, I should be able to get on very well on horseback. He also offered to send his son to shew me the way, and having taken a glass of brandy with the obliging old gentleman, and received his bon voyage, I proceeded across a heath, and through a little wood, till I reached the road, where my guide left me, and I entered into an immense forest of firs. Most of the trees, I observed, had large slices of the bark stripped off from top to bottom for the purpose of procuring the turpentine.

I soon arrived at a beautifully romantic village, called Castels, situated in a ravine, near a cascade. The houses were of wood, and the whole had a neat and cheerful appearance, which, as well as the civility of the aubeigiste, induced me, though it was only noon, to rest here the remainder of the day. It was the fête of the patron saint of the village, and groups of peasants were collected, dancing and running for small prizes. The neat and simple costume of the paysannes in particular struck me. My landlord, however, assured me with a sigh, that this appearance of cheerfulness covered a great degree of misery, from the total stagnation of trade, leaving them no means of exporting the produce of the pine forests, in which consisted their sole riches. At the same time, the price of corn had nearly doubled, and sugar and coffee, which in this part of the country long habit had almost rendered necessaries of life, from twenty to twenty-four sols the pound, were now five and six francs. Here I could not help reflecting, that sugar and coffee, being luxuries, might at all events be dispensed with, and therefore their high price could only be felt by the superior class; but the dearness of grain, on the contrary, falls entirely on the lower order, for grain is an article of absolute necessity, that cannot be dispensed with. I may here also observe, that the exorbitant price of sugar, and coffee reducing the consumption, reduced the revenues and prosperity of the country, in a proportion that the framers of the decrees of Berlin and Milan seem not to have been aware of.

With respect to the produce of the pine forests in this department, I received some information here, which I trust will not be found uninteresting.

The species of pine which composes the forests of this and the neighbouring department, is that named in France the Pin Maritime, which thrives in the most sandy soils. When the tree has attained from three to five feet circumference, a hole is bored at the bottom of the trunk, an inch deep and three inches in diameter; below which a small excavation is made in the ground to receive the resinous sap of the tree, which distils from it. The wound is made at the commencement of spring, and is enlarged upwards several times during the summer, and in successive years. The substance received into the reservoir is boiled to a certain consistence, to form what is called in commerce brac suc; and is converted into resin, by the following simple process. While boiling, it is suffered to run from the boiler into a wooden trough, filled with water, from whence it is again returned into the boiler, and this continual transversement gradually combines the water and the brac, until by their intimate union they become resin.

Tar is the produce of the sap of the pine, combined with resin by the action of fire.

Besides resin and tar, the pine affords turpentine, and lampblack, which is produced by the combustion of the resin.

On the 29th I resumed my journey through a very deep sand, which doubtless was the reason for changing the great road, and reached a place, called Harrie, consisting of a few houses, where I baited the horses, and again proceeding, arrived in the evening at La Bohat, the whole day’s journey being through pine forests. Though my fare at the auberge was far from sumptuous, the civility of my landlord and his wife, who produced the best their humble but romantic mansion afforded, reconciled me to remain here the night. They, expressed their surprise at seeing a person of my appearance travelling in so wretched a country, and I found next morning that as they seldom had such visitors, they were determined to make the most of me, and to be well paid for their compliments to myself and my country. I at first thought of remonstrating on the exorbitance of their charges, but when I recollected that the honour of England was concerned, I determined to pay as they charged, commne un Milord Anglois; a title which the innkeepers in France not seeming to understand properly, generally act as if they supposed lord to mean l’or, and consequently that an Englishman, being a heap of gold, ought not to be let to pass without a handsome contribution.

January 30. This day's journey lay through a more open country, but very swampy; with numbers of small sheep scattered over it, jumping from hillock to hillock to graze. The boys who herded them at first greatly surprised me, by the apparent length and slenderness of their legs; but on approaching, I found they were mounted on stilts, fastened with a strap to each thigh, by which means they were elevated three or four feet from the ground, and were enabled to walk dry over the little pools of water. As the stilts do not sink deep in the sandy soil, they manage them with great dexterity, running and jumping with vast activity; and have also a greater command in the superintendence of their little flocks. While thus occupied, they are also employed in knitting stockings. I this night slept at a place called Bard, and in the morning commenced my last day’s journey to Bourdeaux.