From Orbec to
Lisieux the road runs by the side of the Touques, which, at Orbec, is no
more than a rivulet. The beautiful green meadows in the valley, appear
to repay the great care which is taken in the draining and irrigating of
them. They are every where intersected by small trenches, in which the
water is confined by means of sluices.--In this part of the country, we
passed several flocks of sheep, the true _moutons du pays_, a large
breed, with red legs and red spotted faces. Their coarse wool serves to
make the ordinary cloth of the country, but is inapplicable to any of a
finer texture. To remedy this deficiency, and, if possible, improve the
local manufactures, some large flocks of Merino sheep were imported at
the time when the French occupied Spain; and they are said to thrive.
But it is only of late years that any attempts, have been made of the
kind.--The Norman farmer, however careful about the breed of his horses,
has altogether neglected his sheep; and this is the more extraordinary,
considering that the prosperity of the province is inseparably connected
with that of the manufactures, and that much of the value of the produce
must of necessity depend upon the excellence of the material. His pigs
are the very perfection of ugliness: it is no hyperbole to say, that, in
their form, they partake as much of a greyhound as of an English
pig.
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