It is a small country town, remarkable only for some remains of a
castle[47], built by Robert de Harcourt, fifth in descent from Bernard
the Dane, chief counsellor, and second in command to Rollo. The blood of
the Dane is in the present earl of Harcourt: he traces his lineage in a
direct line from Robert, the builder of the castle, who accompanied the
Conqueror into England, and fell in battle by his side.
Pont-Audemer is a small, neat, country town, situated upon the Risle,
which here, within ten miles of its junction with the Seine, is enlarged
into a river of considerable magnitude. But its channel, in the
immediate vicinity of the town, divides into several small streams; and
thus it loses much of its dignity, though the change is highly
advantageous to picturesque beauty, and to the conveniences of trade.
Mills stand on some of these streams, but most of them are applied to
the purposes of tanning; for leather is the staple manufacture of the
place, and the hides prepared at Pont-Audemer are thought to be the best
in France.
From Brionne the valley of the Risle preserves a width of about a mile,
or a mile and half: at Pont-Audemer it becomes somewhat narrower, and
the town stretches immediately across it, instead of being built along
the banks of the river.
Pages:
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126