Arriving at the first post, we crossed the river Vilaine, and between this and Rondun passed the river Bruck, and ascended a high mountain between Rondun and La Breharaye.  At this place we quitted the department of the Isle-et-Vilaine.  Crossing the Cher, we arrived at Derval, and from thence at Nozai, passing several large lakes, and then over the river Don.  The whole of this distance, with the exception of the hill already mentioned, is composed of flat sandy plains, mostly uncultivated, and the road is very rough.

From Nozai to Ancenis we crossed the river Isac; from thence to Redon, Herie, to La Croix Blanche, along the bank of the river; and after mounting another steep hill, we descended into an extensive plain, leading to Gesvres and Nantes.

The whole of this country north of the Loire, from Rennes to Nantes, the triangular point resting upon Angers, is the country of the Chouans, which it is necessary, in reference to the Vendean war, to distinguish from the country south of the Loire, in the department of the Loire Inferieure, called le Bocage, or la Vendee.  Although the latter was the scene of the more desperate warfare between the republicans and the royalists, yet the former had its share of bloodshed and misery.  The whole country on both banks of the Loire, as far as Angers, is classic ground to those who revere the efforts by which the Vendeans so long resisted the republicans.

The city of Nantes is the chief seat of the Prefecture of the department of the Loire Inferieure, standing on the right bank of the river, surrounded by its ancient rampart, of a circular form, and in good preservation:  on the opposite bank stand the ruined tower and mouldering bastions of Permil.  This spot is interesting to an Englishman, from the memorable events to which the fatal pretensions of Edward the Third gave rise, and which occupy the pages of French and English history, during a period of more than a century[6].

[Footnote 6:  In 1343, Edward the Third laid siege to this place.  Froissart mentions the English army being drawn out on a hill, in battle array, near the town.  The ground rises a little in this direction, but, I should suppose, it must have been on the right bank, as the country there is hilly, and this ancient fortress must have defended the passage of the river.  “The king himself,” says the Chronicle, “with the rest of his army, advanced towards Rennes, burning and ruining the country on all sides, and was most joyfully received by the whole army who lay before it, and had been there for a considerable time.  When he had tarried there five days, he learned that the Lord Charles of Blois was at Nantes, collecting a large force of men at arms.  He set out, therefore, leaving those whom he had found at Rennes, and came before Nantes, which he besieged as closely as he could, but was unable to surround it, such was its size and extent.  The marshals, therefore, and their people, overran the country and destroyed it.  The king of England, one day, drew out his army in battle array on a hill near Nantes, in expectation that the Lord Charles would come forth and offer him an opportunity of fighting with him:  but, having waited from morning until noon in vain, they returned to their quarters:  the light horse, however, in their retreat, galloped up to the barriers, and set fire to the suburbs”.