Finding all quiet, and that our move hither from Ghent had only been for the purpose of bringing us nearer to the cavalry, whose headquarters were at Ninove, and into a more abundant country for forage, we now gave ourselves up to the amusements our situation afforded, as much as the requisite attention to military duties would allow. Some made excursions to Brussels and Antwerp; some passed their mornings knocking about the balls at a miserable billiard-table upon the rickety floor of an up-stairs room in a neighbouring cabaret; whilst others made a sort of flirting acquaintance with some of the fair damsels of Dendermonde. The time flew quickly, because we were happy. I was anxious to see Antwerp, and proposed going thither; but day after day something occurred to prevent me, and at last I had the mortifying reflection of having passed six idle days within eighteen miles of it, and yet never been there. My only excursion was to Alost, or Aulst, as they call it. On the 28th Leathes and I set off on this expedition. Until within a mile of Alost, the character of the country we traversed was much the same as that about Dendermonde, but the villages and farm-houses were less neat and more poor in their appearance--ragged thatch instead of slates and tiles, &c.--and the streets of the villages or hamlets narrower and dirtier. During the whole ride we saw but one house that appeared the residence of a gentleman, and that was a large heavy-looking brick building, standing in the midst of an old-fashioned garden, ornamented (if so it may be called) with painted statues of men and monsters quite in the Cockney style. _En effet_, this was the _lusthause_ of a wealthy _bourgmestre_ of the Ville de Gand. Approaching Alost, we found the character of the country changing, and having seen nothing but a dead level ever since landing at Ostend, were agreeably surprised at finding ourselves ascending a gentle slope, and surrounded by a gently undulating country, yet so slightly so that we were not aware of it until on it. Passing a sort of advanced barrier, we soon reached the town, and rode into a respectable sort of square, where we dismounted at the Maison d’Autriche. No accommodation for horses here, so we were obliged to resort to a carrier’s in an adjoining street, where we with difficulty got stable-room, all being crowded with horses of Louis XVIII.’s cavalry. Being tired when I returned to Dendermonde, I made no note of my visit to Aulst, and therefore can say little about it. All I remember is a fine broad street of handsome houses running up an ascent; a pretty public walk (_en berceau_) called L’Allée d’Amour (as we should say, _Love Lane_; and what town or village is there in England which has not its Allée d’Amour?); a fine church, in which was a series of paintings (good, I believe) representing the life and adventures of some saint; the canal harbour, full of boats laden with corn and hay for our cavalry,