of what there is to see, it is necessary to sleep a night at Josselin and to start early next morning and breakfast at St. Jean, more than twelve miles distant. There is a very fine Calvary of the sixteenth century at Guéhenno; it was buried at the time of the Revolution to preserve it from mutilation, but about twenty years ago it was dug up and replaced in its position. The porch of the church of St. Jean is curious; but the attractions of this little town are the menhirs and dolmens in its neighbourhood. One of the dolmens on the lands of Coh-Koët has a capstone about twenty feet long by nearly fourteen broad. About half a mile to the south is to be seen a huge menhir, supposed to weigh 25,000 kilogrammes. Going southward is the chapel of Notre Dame de Kerdroguen-a place of pilgrimageand near this is a large group of about a hundred menhirs, several of which are prostrate, and several have cupmarkings.

One goes on from St. Jean, by a cross-road on the right, to Plumelec, where there is some curious carving on the walls of the church; thence to Plaudren. Here one must stop, for there is a vast lande or moor here on which Monsieur Fouquet says eight lines of prostrate menhirs may be traced, besides broken dolmens and basin-stones, and, towering above all, the huge menhir called Grès de Gargantua. There is another lande to the west covered with remarkable stones, a continuation of the Lande of Lanvaux, and in 1865 excavations were made hereabouts. It is said that beneath one of the menhirs, near a place called Levallon, an ancient horse-shoe was discovered. There are various famous stones still to the west-La Roche des Coupes, La Grèe aux Cerfs, La Roche Bigot,

CHURCH OF ST. AVE.

12)

La Roche Morvan, &c.; but to find these one must take a guide at Kermado, a little village lying near the lande.

From Plaudren we go home to Vannes, and pass the interesting little church of St. Avé, or Bourg d'en Bas, rather more than two miles from the city. In the nave and choir are inscriptions, one dated 1424 and the other 1465. The carving on the wall plates here is most carefully executed. It is rather a long drive from St. Jean to Vannes-about fourteen miles.

K

MORBIHAN.

THE MORBIHAN, OR LITTLE SEA.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Islands-Locmariaker-Gavr' Inis.

THE next expedition we made from Vannes was to the Morbihan, or little sea, as the Celtic word signifies. We had been told that this sea is often dangerous on account of the currents which meet from three different points at a passage called the Jument, and in stormy weather do much damage; but our landlord of the Dauphin assured us that, though the navigation of the sea of the Morbihan is difficult, it is not dangerous with a boatman well acquainted with its perilous rocks and currents, and that the boatman he recommended, Jean Picard, was an experienced sailor and quite to be trusted.

bluff boat

He was a

In the evening came Monsieur Picard, a big man, rather lame, with a frank cheery voice. very picturesque-looking person in his blue and white striped shirt. Unlike most Bretons, he was blue-eyed and fairskinned; he was very tall and broad-chested, with a handsome pleasant face, and white hair. As he stood very erect,

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131

straw hat in hand, talking impressively of the safety of his boat, the Anna Blanche, and of his own assured experience, it seemed impossible to have any doubts. "If Madame will trust herself with me," he said loftily, "she has nothing to fear."

We agreed to go down to the port next morning at halfpast six o'clock. We had been advised to see Locmariaker, &c., by land journey from Auray, but we rejoiced extremely that we had followed out our own plan, for a day on the

Morbihan is one of the special pleasures of Brittany, only that I advise those who may attempt it to take provisions with them in the boat, so as to avoid a tiresome delay at the little inn of Locmariaker,

On the previous evening we had become acquainted with Monsieur Closmadeuc, the learned and intelligent possessor of Gavr' Inis, and a distinguished local antiquary. He had asked us to call on him as we went down to the boat; so on our way in the early morning we went to his house, and

found him up and most kindly ready to tell us all we wanted to know,

Our boat was waiting with a great sullen boy in charge of it. The Anna Blanche looked large and heavy enough to insure safety; the rigging and its sails seemed to us the clumsiest we had ever seen. Monsieur Picard kept us waiting some little time in the sunshine, even at that early hour very intense; but the port and the fishing-boats, and so much of the grey old town to be seen there, looked exquisite in the pure, fresh atmosphere.

As we glided down the river or port of Vannes, it seemed to be very muddy. On the left it is bordered by steep banks, on the right by a quay with avenues of trees; but, spite of the mud, there were plenty of bathers as we got farther from the town. In about a quarter of an hour the river widened and divided, and we saw islands before usone arm of our river went to Vincin and another to Séné, leaving narrow slips of land between.

"We are in the Morbihan now," Picard said; "the land on the right is the Pointe de Roguédas, and on the left is the Ile Bodic."

We asked how many isles there were, for the lovely blue sea, which seemed every moment to be widening before us, was studded with green hills rising from it, covered in some instances with cottages and trees. Monsieur Picard said he tradition is that there are

believed about sixty, though the as many islets in the Morbihan as there are days in the year.

Three communes meet on the mainland to the rightSéné, Arradon, and Baden. The Ile Bodic, on the left, belonged formerly to the monks. Next on the right is Pen Boc'h. Many Roman remains have been found here, and the