hammering away, that in England both operations were performed by one man, upon which he looked at his assistant,who looked at him-both grinned at each other-shook their black locks—and then proceeded with their work. The shoes he was putting on were very little heavier than those used in England, a set of four weighing six pounds. The nails, however, are in France not only driven into the foot at a different angle from that in which they are inserted in England, but the head of each is forced into a square hole, made exactly to fit it, by which arrangement, being flush with the shoe, they do not, it is urged, wear off; on the other hand, they of course cannot, as in England, prevent the horse from slipping. Above the bent bodies of the smith and his mate I observed, suspended to the forge, a quantity of artificial roses, mixed up with an assemblage of smart ribands, blue, white, and red, which, I was informed, had been placed there on the fête de St. Eloi, the patron of blacksmiths, and that according to custom they would remain until the annual return of the same fête, when they would be replaced by new ones.

"In England," thought I to myself, "the patron of a blacksmith is whoever has last given him a pot of beer."

There are two sorts of water in the establishment, one from pumps, used for washing the harness and carriages, the other from the Seine; the latter, every four-and-twenty hours, is turned into large open tanks, to which the horses are led to drink three times a day, it being a rule that no one is allowed to approach it until he has been in the stable two hours after his work.

On entering the infirmary I found a veterinary surgeon, with a pair of very long yellow mustachios, with his coat off, and with a sort of apron round his body, busily employed in drenching a sick horse with an enormous quantity of warm bran tea, his assistent being quite as vigorously occupied with the animal elsewhere. The poor thing's head was tied to a ring in the wall, and a noose having been passed round his upper jaw, it was, by a third assistant, hauled upwards towards another ring, inserted at a great height, by which means the doctor was enabled with perfect ease to pour wholesale down his throat the smoking draft; in fact, there was no resisting the double treatment to which he was simultaneously subjected; and as I could evidently do no more than earnestly hope it

might cure him of whatever were his afflictions, I walked away, and was conducted by my obliging attendant to an immense magazine, five stories high, in which, piled on each floor, four or five feet high, I found a stock of black, sweet, but light chaffy oats, sufficient to keep the whole establishment for more than a year; indeed, the building was so ingeniously and so admirably ventilated, that I was assured, with common precautions, corn could be kept in it for ten years. At some distance from this building was, also under cover, a very abundant supply of hay, tied up in bundles, bottes," ready for use.

66

It is under the treatment I have described that the omnious horses of the west end of Paris serve the public. The establishment reflects great credit upon the community in general, and upon M. Denault and M. Moreau in particular. By their unceasing care the horse's life is a wholesome, healthy, and happy mixture of enjoyment and work; indeed, sweet, clean, and comfortable as are their stables, their harness is so easy and loose, the Paris air is so fresh, everything is so gay, there is so much for them to look at, and, apparently, wherever they go, and especially wherever they stop, there are such innumerable subjects-all apparently of such vast importance for them to neigh about, that I really believe they are, if possible, happier in the streets than at home. It is true they do not go as fast as the omnibus horses of London, and that at Paris a mah is considered to estimate time at somewhat more than its real value who, to purchase a few minutes, would inflict pain and suffering upon a race of animals, especially created for his happiness and enjoyment. But, without checking fast driving in England, it is surely the duty of the public, if they determine to enjoy it, to obtain, by dint of a few moments' reflection, sweet air, pure water, and kind attentions for those noble creatures whose superior physical strength it is alike their duty and their interest to foster rather than exhaust.

With this moral in my mind, I very gratefully thanked M. Denault for the obliging attention he had shown me, to which he replied by insisting on giving me an introduction to the manufacturer of the company's omnibus carriages, as also a note to the principal superintendent of the company's largest establishment of horses at the opposite or east side of

Paris, beyond the limits of the city, and of the Barrière de Charenton.

ENTREPRISE GÉNÉRALE DES OMNIBUS.

AFTER taking leave of M. Denault I was conducted by his piqueur to a large gate, over which was inscribed "Entreprise Générale des Omnibus."

On ringing the bell, a side door opening into a large court flew open, and almost at the same moment there stood right before me, in a white cap, an old withered concierge, with a face not very unlike that of Cerberus, who was evidently unwilling to admit me until she had been informed that I had come there by order of M. Denault, upon which, relieving her conscience by a very slight shrug, and then turning her bent back upon me, she hobbled into her lodge, and my conductor, seeing he had effected his object, with a friendly salute returned to his stables.

The chef of the establishment, a short intelligent-looking gentleman, with a bushy, brushy beard, walked towards me; and as, although he said nothing, his attitude was very clearly interrogatory of what I wanted, I very briefly explained that I wished to be permitted to walk over his workshops. He replied very kindly that I might go wherever I liked; and exactly as I desired, he then left me to speak to a workman who was evidently waiting for him.

In the yard before me there stood, with high poles, and rounded tires to the wheels, several new omnibuses, elegantly constructed and handsomely varnished, divided inside into seats for seventeen persons (the two next the door are not separated), with breadth of passage in the middle sufficient to allow passengers ample room to enter and depart without rubbing against the knee-pans of those who are seated. To the roof was affixed a brass rod or hand-rail, to ensure rickety old gentlemen against reeling sideways into ladies' laps, and vice versa. For the purpose of entrance were two broad easy steps; and on the left-hand back panel shone a transparent tell-tale dial, the black fingers of which,-in obedience to a

string which, whenever any one enters, the conductor is obliged to pull, and which also strikes a bell " one,"-informs passengers inside, the public outside, and the proprietor at the end of the course or journey, how many fares have been received. In Paris omnibuses have no doors, or rather the door is formed by the conductor, who stands on the upper step of the entrance, leaning against a broad strap, which in an instant he can unhook, for the ingress or egress of the public.

In another part of the yard I observed near the wall three old, worn-out, dead, but not buried, "diligences," which in their day had been considered not only as vast improvements of the old form, but as imitations of the English mode of travelling. They were composed of four different sorts of carriages stuck together. The rear one, which was very low, held eight persons, four on each side, sitting with their shoulders towards the horses. The middle one six, sitting opposite to each other, three with their faces, and three with their backs, towards the horses. The front chariot three, above whose heads there grew out, like an immense fungus, a nondescript sort of cabriolet, with leather head and apron, for four more. Behind this rude thing was a frame-work to enable baggage to be piled up to a fearful height. As might reasonably be expected, the under part of these antiquated quadruple vehicles was as clumsily constructed as the superstructure I have just described. The wheels were low and heavy; the tires, in five separate pieces, flat, and of double the present breadth: the springs unelastic: the pole stuck out little above the horses' knees.

By the side of these old-fashioned travelling-machines were, in various stages of construction, several new carriages, with improved wheels, axles, and poles, handsomely stuffed and painted, but on the same principle-rather inconsistent, I thought, with that of a republic-of dividing the travelling community into four separate uncomfortable compartments or cages; thus creating much unnecessary weight and expense. The carriages were certainly handsomely varnished; but, as compared with the light omnibuses at the other end of the yard, were like heavy over-dressed dowagers sitting behind the rising generation, " tripping on the light fantastic toe."

I was looking at several workmen, who, cooped within one

of these heavy vehicles, were ornamenting its drab cloth lining with handsome broad lace, when I observed the concierge opening the great gate to admit what at the moment formed, I thought, rather an affecting picture, namely, a lame 'bus coming into hospital. In some chance-medley it had been severely wounded in its side, and was now dragged forward by a low, punchy, light-hearted, merry little horse, who, on depositing it in the yard, was no sooner tied by his halter to a ring in the wall than, suddenly looking behind him, first on one side and then on the other, he began to neigh, as if he was determined that every living being in the establishment should know exactly how the accident had happened" quorum pars magna fui"-in short, what an amazing deal, in some way or other, he had had to do with it. Nobody, however, listened to or even looked at him but myself.

From the yard I proceeded into the workshops, in which, with the assistance of a powerful steam-engine, a number of artificers were at work. Several circular saws, with a whizzing noise, were cutting out the main-frames of omnibuses in embryo, while three or four turning-lathes were as busily employed in preparing useful and ornamental work of different descriptions, the whole of which was quietly but very neatly executed.

On entering the department of Vulcan, in which were several forges at work, I could not help being struck with the difference between French and English smiths, with the latter of whom I have had some little acquaintance. Both raise their sledge-hammers with equal vigour; but the effort of the French striker" seems to die away before it reaches the anvil; whereas in England with the momentum it invariably quickens. The same difference was apparent to me in heavy filing. The French workman makes a great effort to get the file into its position, and afterwards half gives it up. The English smith prepares gently, and then works spitefully. In two words, the French smith appears to work very neatly indeed, but, as we should term it, to niggle..

On entering a large shop, warmed by a stove, in which a number of men were busily employed in painting and in lining omnibuses, I observed a fine, tall, ruddy-faced, good humouredlooking man, with white mustachios, in a blue linen smockcoat and trowsers, who had at his back, towering a couple of