The silver hat-strings are much in use at present:  they sell them by the weight.  The tabby doublets wt the silk [called wats][232] furring wtin are also in faschion:  wery warm in winter, cost 20 franks.  Men and women from the least to the greatest, yea not the wery keel wifes and fruit wifes, but they have manchon muffes.  A man cannot get a good one under a pistol:  some of a meiner size are sold for 6 or 4 francks.  Our best furrings comes out of Musco’e.  Chamois gloves and linnens mad of goats skines, which are found better in Poictou then in any other province of France, are not in so great cont[233] wt them as wt us; yet they find them wondrously warm; some thinkes them strenthning and corroborative of a feeble hand.  We have sein som buy them to lay swallings of their handes.  Perruvicks, besydes they are most faschious, they are destructive both to the body, since they are wery unwholsome, engendring humeurs; as also to the purse, they being extravagantly dear thorow all France, especially at Paris, wheir its a wery mean one a man will get for 4 pistols; and a man can have no fewer then 2 at a tyme, on to change another.

    [232] Interlined.  Wats, ouates.

    [233] Estimation.

We have spoken wt some Catolicks that have bein at Geneve.  The disciplin is very strick their yet.  A Catholick if a craftsman they suffer him to excerce his trade 3 moneth:  they’le let him stay no longer.  If a man swear their, he’el be layd in prison, lay their 24 howers wtout meat or drink.  A man cannot speak wt a woman on the Street wtout giving scandal.  The Sabath is keipt as we do, nothing to be sold their on it, as thorow France its the greatest market day of the week, the peasants bringing in al they have to sell in abondance.  Its the resort of al the banished Germans, Italians and other strangers that would enjoy the excercise of their Religion freely and purely.

In shaving a man, its impossible for a Frenchman to cut a man; they have such a net way of baging the flech:  also it would do a man good to be washen wt their water, whiles rose water, whiles smelling of musck:  tho their fingers stinkes whiles, the French dighting their staille[234] wt their fingers, thinking it prodigality to do it wt paper:  yett ther Kings of old did so, to teach their peaple frugality:  hence it is that the Frenchman wil not eat til he wash:  wil not eat wt ye til ye wash:  for my oune part I would not eat wt a Frenchman til he wash.

    [234] Foundation, breech.

Fresch egges are wery dear wairs in France.  At Paris they are 5 pence a peice, at Poictiers a shiling a dozen.  They fry their egges differently from us:  they break them first in a plate:  in the meantym they fry a considerable lump of butter, then pours in the egges salting and spicing them.  Their hens are not so fertile as ours.