Who among the thousands of travellers in France knows Le Morvan, or could even give an accurate definition of its locality ? The classical reader will probably have a dim idea, that the Pagus Morvinus mentioned in Caesar’s « Commentaries » and Le Morvan are and the same ; and the dweller in Paris during winter may be familiar with its modern name, from the circumstance that the fire which warms him, indifferently as he probably thinks, proceeds from wood the growth of that part of France. The great feature of Le Morvan is indeed its vast forest, which are to Paris what our northern coal mines are to London ; with this difference, however – that while happily the exhaustion of our fossil fuel is, even with the most lavish consumption, very distant, the forests of Le Morvan cannot find Paris with fuel for many generations. Let no one think that he knows Burgundy, if he leave it without seeing Le Morvan.

True, by far the greater part of Le Morvan is not in the province of Burgundy ; but its dark and dense forests clothe a portion of the Burgundian slopes, and from the Burgundian border, looking towards Nevers, a short walk will bring you within the district. Geographically, Le Morvan comprises portions of the departments of the Nièvre and the Yonne, lying between vine-clad Burgundy, and the mountains of the Nivernois. Of great extent, its agricultural productions are very numerous, various cereals being grown as well as the vine, while its deep and rich valleys feed large herds. But, as has been said, the speciality of Le Morvan is its forests rather, for there are several. Taken together, they cover 213,000 acres, and consist, for the most part, of oak, birch, and maple, with, in some places, a dense growth of underwood.

These dark forests appear to excercise an influence over the Burgundian peasants somewhat akin to that felt by Dante, and to which he has given expression in the immortal lines : "Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura Chè la diritta via era smarrita. Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura Questa selva selvaggia ed aspra e forte, Che nel pensier rinnova la paura ! Tanto è amara, che poco è piu morte".