I never regretted any thing so much, and was near paying severely for my rashness in putting myself into such a wretched conveyance, at such a season of the year; but I had made the agreement with the Courier without inspecting his carriage, and was obliged to adhere to the bargain. It was a vehicle entirely open before; it was a bitter cold, rainy, snowy night; and I had the rain and snow in my face the whole way, and on crossing the Cerdon I was seized with a violent ague fit, and suffered so much from it that on arrival at a village beyond Nantua where we stopped for supper, I determined to proceed no further, but to rest there that night; and I asked the innkeeper if he could furnish me with a bed for the night. He however made so many objections and seemed so unwilling that I should remain, that I was obliged to make up my mind to proceed. I allayed the _frissonnement_ by a large glass of brandy and water, made fiery hot. At eight o'clock next morning I arrived at Lyons, more dead than alive. A warm bath, however, remaining in bed the whole day, buried in blankets, abstaining from all food, a few grains of calomel at night and copious libations of rice gruel the next day restored me completely to health; and after a _séjour_ of four days at Lyons, I was enabled to proceed on my journey to Clermont on the 14th March. We arrived at Roanne in the evening and I stopped there the whole night. Between Lyons and Roanne is the mountain of Tarare where the road is cut right athwart the mountain and is consequently terribly steep; indeed it is the steepest ascent for a carriage I ever beheld. All the passengers were obliged to _bundle out_ and ascend on foot; and even then it is a most arduous _montée_ for such a cumbrous machine as a French diligence. The country between Lyons and Roanne appears diversified; but this is not the season for enjoying the beauties of nature. Roanne consists of one immensely long street, but it is broad, and contains excellently built houses and shops. There is a theatre also and baths. It is situated on the Loire which I now salute for the first time.