Belgium, Volume II by James Emerson Tennent

Scenery around Louvain -- _The Belgian railroad system_ -- Peculiar / adaptation of the country -- Policy of Government interference / in their construction -- The average cost per mile -- Causes of / the difference in outlay between Belgium and England -- Cheap / rates of travelling in Belgium -- _Accidents_ -- Success not yet / decided -- Louvain -- Its extent -- THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUVAIN -- Its / former fame -- Its present condition -- The bierre de Louvain -- _The / great brewery_ -- Its processes -- Amazing consumption of beer in / Belgium -- Its different characters -- _The Hôtel de Ville_ -- Its / pictures -- Gallery of M. Vanderschreick -- The collegiate church / of St. Pierre -- _Legend of Saint Margaret of Louvain_ -- Tomb / of Justus Lipsius -- Flight of the "brave Belges," at Louvain / in 1832 -- Singular change in the character of the people for / courage -- The present soldiery -- _Terveuren_ -- The park and palace / of the Prince of Orange -- _The Forest of Soigné_ -- WATERLOO -- The / Belgic Lion -- Its injury to the field -- Irish anecdote -- Bravery of / the Irish troops at Waterloo -- _Hougemont_ -- The orchard -- Relics / of the fight -- The Duke of Wellington's estate -- No monument / to him on the field -- The Duke of Marlborough -- La Belle / Alliance -- _Quatre Bras_ -- The woods cut down -- Beautiful scenery / of the Meuse and the Sambre -- NAMUR -- My Uncle Toby -- The / citadel -- Don John of Austria -- The cathedral -- _The church of / St. Loup_ -- The trade in cutlery -- THE DESCENT OF THE MEUSE -- Its / beauty and its wealth -- Andennes -- _History of Mr. Cockerill_ -- His / influence on the manufactures of Belgium -- _His print-works at / Andennes_ -- Ruined by the revolution -- _The manufacture of paper in / Belgium_ -- Huy.

THE route from Mechlin to Louvain, which we passed this morning, is the first of the line of railroads on which we have perceived any striking inequality of surface; numerous cuttings and embankments occurring as it approaches the latter town. Beyond it the alluvial and sandy plains disappear, and the country assumes the usual hilly and diversified appearance, so much so, that before arriving at Tirlemont, it passes under a tunnel of nearly a thousand yards in length. The scenery, too, along the banks of the Dyle, is most rich and diversified, Louvain, itself, being seated on the skirts of a forest, which has evidently been a portion of that of Soigné, at some distant period. Fuel must be here pretty abundant, not only wood being plentiful, and coal at no great distance, but, in the sunk land, I observed a stratum of turf, under the sandy surface, which had been worked in large quantities, and stacked along the side of the road.