1.-EFFECTS OF RAILWAYS. While sojourning in Brittany in years gone by, the writer frequently speculated upon the change which must pass over the country, when the iron horse set his foot upon its soil. Brittany had been for centuries such a terra incognita and land of romance, that there was something sadly incongruous in the idea of a Railway, with its practical matterof-fact, business-like characteristics, its bustle and effrontery, its decision and punctuality, making bold to take a straight course over this land of dreams, and take up and set down passengers, irrespective

of traditional feeling or legendary lore.

But the same revulsion of feeling which in England has followed the pristine aversion to railways, has also in Brittany opened the eyes of the natives to the advantages which follow in the wake of "trade's unceasing train."

The noise of pickaxe and shovel, the shrill scream of the engine, "the incessant clinking hammers, grinding wheels," have it is true, broken the sleep of centuries, and perhaps disturbed the slumbers of the old Druids and Saints; but they have also woke up the dormant energies, and exhumed the buried capital of the inhabitants, and Brittany will soon take her place as one of the foremost provinces of France, in manufactures and industry, as she was in olden time in chivalry and song.

Our readers, too, will have reason to bless the march of intellect, which enables them to visit Old Armorica with comfort and despatch, in a roomy well-cushioned first class carriage, instead of a frowsty, lumbering diligence, or a rickety casse-cou of a char-a-banc. They may miss the music of "the bells, bells, bells," and the smacking of the

whip, and the wild "y-oup, y-oup," of the diligence driver; but the snort of the engine will remind them that civilization has at length, though with tardy steps, found her way into Brittany, and that dirt and discomfort will soon be things of the past. The writer is not so sanguine as to suppose that there will soon be seen in the Museum, a specimen labelled "the last Breton flea; " but has every confidence that steam will do much towards the Herculean task of cleansing the country, and that here and there an Hotel may be found on the lines of rail, tolerably free from phlebotomising intruders

on the traveller's rest.

II.-SOURCES OF INFORMATION.

The present Hand-Book being intended for the use of railway travellers, does not profess to give more than a rapid glance at the various interesting topics connected with the country through which the tourist will pass. Volumes might be, and indeed have been,'written both by French and English authors, on the History, the Archæology, the language and literature, the manners and customs, the manufactures, commerce, and agriculture, the costumes, and other peculiarities of the "beau pays de Bretagne," and its inhabitants; but if our HandBook is to answer to its title, and steer clear of the ponderosity of a Guide Book, "gravis sarcina chartæ," we must avoid the temptation to write an encyclopedia in duodecimo, and leave our readers to revel in the stores of knowledge which other writers have provided. The principal English writers who have illustrated Brittany are Young, Costello, Hope, and Trollope, whose works should be read by every intending tourist; and much information may be

gleaned from the more ephemeral writings of Lowth, Weld, Jephson, Kemp, and others, who have written accounts of their little tours and vacation rambles in Brittany. But nearly all go over the same ground, and repeat the same stories, with slight variations. Those who wish to study the history of Brittany should read up the able work of Count Daru, in 3 vols., the old Chronicles of Froissart and Monstrelet, and the learned works of the Abbè Manet, Cambry, or Malte Brun. Archæologists should obtain Cayot Delandre's work on the Monuments of Morbihan, and the tourist pur et simple should make himself acquainted with Emile Souvestre's Derniers Bretons, and the graphic sketches of Isidore Massé, Pitre Chevalier, Hippolyte Violeau, and Alfred de Courcy. But in commending the works of these latter writers to my readers, I must warn them that, delightful and charming as they are, there is rather more romance and sentiment about them than the subject warrants, or the English mind is likely to appreciate. French Guide-Book writers seem to expect that the tourist should go through the country in a kind of trance or delirium. What with the romantic and picturesque "scenes of enchantment," ," "ravishing coups d'œil," "dazzling spectacles," and " "transporting loveliness," the unfortunate tourist is expected to be in turns "plunged in reverie" or "awakened into ecstacy,' "thunderstruck with astonishment," or "dissolved in tears." In this condition of bewilderment and obfuscation, a very little information will go a great way; in fact too large a dose would only increase the tourist's bewilderment; and he is accordingly supplied with the very slightest pabulum in the shape of legends and sensation stories. The writer has too much regard for his readers to desire to subject them to such a course of mental fireworks; his grateful interest in return for their attention makes him wish to keep their heads cool and their tempers unruffled while he endeavours to give them a3 much information as can be compressed into the compass of a Hand-Book.

III-ROUTES TO BRITTANY.

In the old wars of which Brittany had the misfortune to be at once the battlefield and the bone of contention, victory generally inclined to the party which could first seize and hold fast the city of

Rennes; and in deference to ancient custom we should be giving a judicious move to our readers if we could place them per saltum in that ancient town, which would at once introduce them into the heart of the country. But in order to "advance thus far into the bowels of land," certain impediments must be first overpassed.

Imprimis, there is the British Channel, a mere ditch to some tourists, but to others a strip, however narrow, of the inevitabie mal de mer," a strip which goes on widening almost all the way from Dover to Weymouth, which are probably the most easterly and westerly ports from which our readers would care to start. According, then, as a longer, or as a shorter sea voyage may be thought agreeable, and dependent in some measure upon the longitude of the starting point in England, we should recommend the following routes:

1. By one of the great continental lines to Calais or Boulogne, and Paris; thence by rail to Rennes which reduces mal de mer to a minimun.

2. By Littlehampton or Southampton Steamer to Havre and Honfleur; thence by rail to Lisieux, Mezidon, Le Mans, and so to Rennes.

3. By Somerset and Dorset line to Poole, and thence to Cherburg by steamer, from Cherburg to S. Lô by rail, S. Lô to Coutances, Granville, Avranches, Dol, and S. Malo by Diligence, S. Malo to Rennes by rail; a highly interesting route, and short sea passage, but involving considerable delay. 4. By steamer from Southampton, Weymouth, or Dartmouth to Jersey and S. Malo: thence by rail to Rennes, probably the cheapest route, and one which would include a visit to the Channel Islands if desirable, but at the same time involving some twelve or fifteen hours "rolling to starboard and to larboard." If possible, it would be advantageous to vary the route in going and returning, but arrangements to that effect, lie within the province of the mighty "boards of green cloth" in London and Paris. Another route from Paris to Nantes will also be described.

IV.-TOURS OF BRITTANY, WITH THE PRINCIPAL PLACES AND OBJECTS OF INTEREST.

With regard to the line of travel which the tourist had better pursue when fairly arrived in the country, we need scarcely say that the rail offers the