Having stayed 2 dayes in Saumur I hired horse for Poictiers, only the fellow who aught the horse running at my foot.  We rode by Nostre Dame and along the side of Loier as far as Monsereau.  Heir I’m sure I was thrie miles togither under the shade of wast valnut tries on each syde ladened wt fruit, great abondance of which I meit all the way thorow.  At Monsereau I left Loier, and struck south east be the banks of the river of Chasteleraut in Turrain, of whilk Tours is the capitall, the most renouned toune of France for manufacturies of silks of all sorts.  We dined at Chinon, standing on that river 5 great leagues from Saumur.  As we ware about a league from Chinon, I leiving my guid a considerable distance behind me, thinking that I bit always to keep close be the river syde, I went about a mile wrong.  The fellow thinking I was in the right way he strikes in the right; I begines to look behind me.  I cannot get my eye upon him; stands a long tym under a shade very pensive.  First I saw some sheirers (for in France it was harvest then, being only the beginning of July wt the Scots) at their dinner.  I imagined that the fellow might have sit doune wt them to take scare.[92] After waiting a long tyme I began to steep back, and drawing neir the sheirers I could not discover him, whence a new suspition entred in my head, because I had given him at Chinon, on his demand, 14 livres of 17 which I was to give him to defray all my charges to Poictiers, that he had sliped away wt that that he might bear no more of my charges, being sure enough that he would get his horse when I brought it to Poictiers.  All this tyme I never dreamed I could be out of the way, yet I spered at the sheirers what might be the way to Richelieu, who told me I was not in the way.  Then I know the fellow bit to be gone that way, whence I posted after him, and about a league from that place I overtook him laying halfe sleiping in a great deall of care, the poor fellow wery blaith to sy me.  I demanded what was his thoughts, whether he thought I was a voler that had run away wt his horse.  He said he quaestioned not in the least my honesty but he began to suspect I might have fallen amongs robbers.

    [92] Share, pot-luck.

Thus we came to Chopigni,[93] a pretty village a league from Richelieu, and about 5 a cloack we entred Richelieu, a toune that give yeell consider its bigness it hath not its match in France.  For being about a mile in circuit, besides a wery strong wall, it hath a considerable ditch environing it having something of the nature of a pond; for it abounds wt all sorts of fisches.  The French calls it une canale.  Being entred the toune ye have one of the prettiest prospects thats imaginable.  It hath only one street, but that consisting of such magnifick stately houses that each house might be a palace.  Ye no sooner enter unto the toune but ye have the clear survey of the whole wt its 4 ports; which comes to pass by the aequality of the houses on both sydes of the street, which are ranked in such a straight line that a Lyncaean or sharpest eye sould not be able to discover the least inaequality of one houses coming out before another.  They are all reased also to the same hieght, that ye sall not sy one chimly hier then another:  for they are al 3 story hy and built after that same mode window answering to window; so that ye sall sy a rank of about a hundred windows in a straight line.