of basso-relievo heads, medallion-wise, cut in stone, evidently intended for portraits.  They are assuredly not older than the reign of Francis I. and may be even as late as that of Henry II.  Among these rude medallions, is a female head, with a ferocious-looking man on each side of it, either saluting the woman, or whispering in her ear.  But the most striking objects are the stone figures of two men, upon a circular tower, of which one is in the act of shooting an arrow, and the other as if holding a drawn sword.  I got admittance within the building; and ascending the tower, found that these were only the trunks of figures,—­and removable at pleasure.  I could only stroke their beards and shake their bodies a little, which was of course done with impunity.  Whether the present be the original place of their destination may be very doubtful.  The Abbe de la Rue, with whom I discoursed upon the subject yesterday morning, is of opinion that these figures are of the time of Louis XI.:  which makes them a little more ancient than the other ornaments of the building.  As to the interior, I could gather nothing with certainty of the original character of the place from the present remains.  The earth is piled up, here and there, in artificial mounds covered with grass:  and an orchard, and rich pasture land (where I saw several women milking cows) form the whole of the interior scenery.  However the Caennois are rather proud of this building.

Leaving you to your own conclusions respecting the date of its erection, and “putting the colophon” to this disquisition respecting the principal public buildings at Caen, it is high time to assure you how faithfully I am always yours.

[96] ["Besides her numerous public schools, Caen possesses two Schools of
    Art—­one for design, the other for Architecture and Ornament—­where
    the Students are gratuitously instructed.”  LICQUET.]

[97] It is called Vin Huet—­and is the last wine which a traveller
    will be disposed to ask for.  When Henry IV. passed through the town,
    he could not conceive why such excellent grapes should produce such
    execrable wine.  I owe this intelligence to Mons. LICQUET.

[98] Somewhere about 150 English acres.

[99] [I had before said twenty—­but Mons. Licquet observes, I might
    have said—­thirty thousand pairs of hands.]

[100] Caen was celebrated for its table linen three centuries ago.  Consult
    BOURGUEVILLE:  Antiquitez de Caen; 1588, 8vo. p. 26.

[101] The fauxbourgs of Caen, in the present day, wear a melancholy
    contrast to what they appear to have done in the middle of the XVIth
    century.  Consult the pleasantly penned description of these fauxbourgs
    by the first topographer of the place, BOURGUEVILLE:  in his
    Antiquitez de Caen, pp. 5, 6, 26.