I doubt, however, whether we should have travelled hither, had we not been attracted by the celebrity of the castle, called Chateau Gaillard, erected by Richard Coeur-de-Lion, in the immediate vicinity of Le Petit Andelys.—­Our guide, a sturdy old dame, remonstrated strongly against our walking so far to look at a mere heap of stones, nothing comparable to the fine statue of Clotilda, of which, if we would but have a little patience, we might still procure a sight.—­Our expectations respecting the castle were more than answered.  Considered as to its dimensions and its situation, it is by far the finest castellated ruin I ever saw.  Conway, indeed, has more beauty; but Chateau Gaillard is infinitely superior in dignity.  Its ruins crown the summit of a lofty rock, abruptly rising from the very edge of the Seine, whose sinuous course here shapes the adjoining land into a narrow peninsula.  The chalky cliffs on each side of the castle, are broken into hills of romantic shape, which add to the impressive wildness of the scene.  The inclosed sketch will give you an idea, though a very faint one, of the general appearance of the castle at a distance.  Towards the river, the steepness of the cliff renders the fortress unassailable:  a double fosse of great depth, defended by a strong wall, originally afforded almost equal protection on the opposite side.

The circular keep is of extraordinary strength; and in its construction it differs wholly from any of our English dungeon-towers.—­It may be described as a cylinder, placed upon a truncated cone.  The massy perpendicular buttresses, which are ranged round the upper wall, from which they project considerably, lose themselves at their bases in the cone from which they arise.  The building, therefore, appears to be divided into two stories.  The wall of the second story is upwards of twelve feet in thickness.  The base of the conical portion is perhaps twice as thick.—­It seldom happens that the military buildings of the middle ages have such a talus or slope, on the exterior face, agreeing with the principles of modern fortification, and it is difficult to guess why the architect of Chateau Gaillard thought fit to vary from the established model of his age.  The masonry is regular and good.  The pointed windows are evidently insertions of a period long subsequent to the original erection.

The inner, ballium is surrounded by a high circular wall, which consists of an uninterrupted line of bastions, some semi-circular and others square.—­The whole of this part of the castle remains nearly perfect.  There are also traces of extensive foundations in various, directions, and of great out-works.  Chateau Gaillard was in fact a citadel, supported by numerous smaller fortresses, all of them communicating with the strong central hold, and disposed so as to secure every defensible post in the neighborhood.  The wall of the outer ballium, which was built of a compact white and grey