“We were satisfied to have accomplished our first lock, and made fast opposite the house of the ‘Chef du Section,’ of which there are seven on the canal. He and his lady paid us a visit, as did the curé and principal inhabitants of La Reole. Next morning, the 28th, we fairly tackled the business, and accomplished that day eleven locks, stopping at Buzet. It would be tedious to describe our daily routine, and I need only remark that we took advantage of all the daylight—at this season only about 8½ hours—and accomplished some 35 to 40 miles per day, always ascending, till we arrived at Toulouse on the sixth day. This ‘Canal Latéral’ follows much the course of the Garonne. It is a splendid work, and is kept in beautiful order. The grand features are the bridges which carry the canal across the Garonne and other rivers. There are three, but by far the grandest and most interesting is that at Agen, where we found ourselves in mid-air, with the river, the railway, the high road, and part of the town far beneath us. The centre arch is a hundred feet high. After leaving Agen, the scenery became picturesque, and sometimes grand; but to really enjoy this trip it should be taken before the fall of the leaf. The whole length of the canal is lined on either side by poplar, plane, and other trees, many of them of great height, so as almost to shade the vessels passing. The locks are admirably managed, and it is surprising how little delay they cause—always supposing that there is no vessel to take precedence; but whether by chance, or that orders had been sent on to keep the road clear, we were rarely detained, and the average time in passing through was about five minutes. As we approached Toulouse, the air became keen and the nights frosty. Our ‘Chef du Section,’ who always accompanied us, informed me that some years since the canal was frozen up in the middle of December, and we consequently delayed as little as possible, and only spent a couple of days at Toulouse, which I regretted, as, besides being a pretty town, it is especially interesting as being the grand central depot of the canal, and the junction with the old ‘Canal du Midi,’ a name which has outlived the original title of Louis XIV., who christened it ‘Canal de Languedoc.’ Here, or rather a few miles to the eastward, are the numerous reservoirs and alimentary canals which bring the waters from the ‘Montagnes Noires.’ We could not stop to see them in detail, but could trace their outline far away in the distance.