‘Upon the whole, the evidence goes to show that, whatever the projects of the Saracen leaders, the army itself was composed of indifferent material, probably wild hordes of plunderers from Barbary.... At the same time, it cannot be said that the evidence is decisive. The army was certainly large, and a long course of pillage will demoralize the best of troops, as the campaign of Jena, among others, conclusively showed.... I am, upon the whole, disposed to think that, while for the army in general the campaign was merely a gigantic plundering excursion, the leader himself probably had definite designs of conquest, which were rendered nugatory by the inferior quality of the forces which he had at his command.... I do not believe that the Franks, even under Charles Martel, could have resisted a really serious invasion made by the regular troops of the Caliphate; but they were able, though not without difficulty, to turn back Abderahman’s heterogeneous host.’ An exceedingly interesting change in the architecture of the houses is noticeable in this portion of the route--the pitch of the roofs becomes very low, curved tiles take the place of flat ones, and the stone houses are often not stuccoed. It almost seems to suggest that Charles Martel’s victory prevented the Southern influence in architectural matters from coming farther north than the ground which the Saracens trod! All the way to Poitiers from Châtellerault the River Clain and a railway are below the road on the left. At La Tricherie, a small and picturesque village, the ruins of a twelfth-century castle stand out boldly above the road on the right. There is also a Romanesque church. SECTION VII POITIERS TO ANGOULÊME, 67¼ MILES (108 KILOMETRES) DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE Kil. Miles. =Poitiers= to Croutelle =7= 4½ =Croutelle= to Vivonne =12= 7½ =Vivonne= to Couhé-Vérac =16= 10 =Couhé-Vérac= to Ruffec =31= 19¼ =Ruffec= to Mansle =17= 10½ =Mansle= to Tourriers =9= 5½ =Tourriers= to Angoulême =16= 10 NOTES FOR DRIVERS The road is hilly at first, with descents at =Croutelle= and =Vivonne=. Level on leaving =Couhé-Vérac=, but hilly near =Ruffec=, and hills of a low gradient are frequent on the way to =Mansle=, where there is an easy descent to the Charente. After =Tourriers= the hills are a little steeper. PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE