TRAVEL AND THE FRENCH
Sta,—I am sorry for not agreeing with Mr. Nicolson, saying in his "Marginal Comment," of September 27th, that the French "will seldom undertake foreign travel unless they are compelled." Such a statement might have been accurate some thirty or forty years ago ; it is not nowa- days. Thousands of French people have willingly settled abroad, the greater part in the Colonies, and similar bungalows as can be seen at Delhi or Peshawar stand among the luxurious vegetation at Kanakry in French Guinea. These numerous colonists and civil servants of Africa or Madagascar are nor the only agents of France abroad; a number of engineers, chemists, teachers, missionaries, tradesmen, are living in far- off lands, not seldom bringing to the country they inhabit Western science and civilisation.
I must admit that far more British than French people travel abroad. I can hardly admit that the French (though not belonging to a "seafaring race ") like foreign travel less than the British do. The latter will often go on a journey because they can afford it; the former either are too moneyless to offer themselves such a luxury, or the rate of exchange makes it impossible for those in easier circumstances to be tourists in any country other than their own. Give any able-bodied Frenchman an opportunity and the means of travelling to the land of his own choosing; he will not tarry long till he takes the train or the boat, not, in fact, "to feel the heat of the sun," but to indulge in catching a glimpse of something he has never seen before and improve his knowledge.—Yours faithfully,
4 Rue Vauban, Nantes, Loirg Infitieure. E. BOUDOT.
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