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THE CHANNEL DU FOUR.

191

Ouessant, or Ushant, off which Keppel engaged the French fleet in 1778, and a host of dark, jagged rocks fringed by foam, appearing like teeth starting from the deep to devour any hapless ships that may come within their reach. This calamity is unfortunately not uncommon, as the passage into the harbour of Brest lies among them, through the much-dreaded Channel du Four, the grave of many a noble ship. So greatly indeed are these islands and channels feared, that the Breton sailor has a proverb-"Celui qui voit Ouessant, voit son sang."

The lighthouse lanterns, which are revolving, emit intense light, so far-reaching that after dark winternights the keepers informed me it was not unusual to find the gallery floor beneath the lanterns strewn by the dead bodies of sea-fowl, which have been killed by striking against the glass.

A small ruined chapel adjoins the abbey; this is regarded with great veneration by the peasantry, but any legends belonging to this building and to the abbey seem, with the spirits of the departed monks, to have vanished before the bright eye of science, which, in the form of Soleil's parabolic reflectors, glare above the ruins. After rambling about these, I scrambled to the most projecting rocks on the Point, on one of which a cross has been erected.

seated

Here,

"In the doorways of the west wind,
In the portals of the sunset,"

I made a sketch of the picturesque scene, and then dined with great zest on a collation which I had prudently brought from Brest. Tourists will do well to act upon this hint, as there is no auberge at the abbey.

The walk back to Le Conquet may be varied by visiting the small village of Lochrist, situated about a couple of miles from the abbey, a short distance inland. My principal object in going there, was to see the tomb of the missionary Michel de Nobletz, who, in the seventeenth century, completed the great work of converting the Bretons from Paganism to Christianity, by carrying the cross into the islands of Ouessant and Molene. The tomb of this remarkable person, who was a worthy disciple of our Saviour, consists of a handsome sarcophagus in the middle of the village church. A kneeling statue of the missionary in his robes surmounts the top; the face wears a benign expression, suggestive of good works, which in his case were performed in strict conformity to the injunction to the disciples to "take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse."

I now returned to Le Conquet, and after partaking of the plain but good fare set before me by the land

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RETURN TO BREST.

193

lord of La Grâce de Dieu,' the name of the inn, drove back to Brest, and entered the town just as the gates were being closed, which the tourist will do well to remember is at nine o'clock during the autumn months. In June and July the gates remain open till ten o'clock, but in winter ingress is not permitted after eight o'clock, and, absurd as it may seem, these military regulations are enforced with great strict

ness.

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FAIR AT BREST.-SAIL UP THE HARBOUR.-DOUBLE MURDER BAY.

-LANDEVISIE.-WILD PEASANTS.QUIMPER.-CATHEDRAL.-ST.
CORENTIN.-KING GRALLON. THE MIRACULOUS FISH.-STRANGE
CEREMONY.-THE VINE IN BRITTANY.-THE PRINCESS DAHUT.-
THE PARDON OF KERDEVOT.-BRETON BEGGARS.-ANTI-CHOLERA
SPECIFIC. QUAINT COSTUMES. ITINERANT TAILORS.
D'AMOUR.-HAIR-FASHIONS.-RELICS OF ST. KERDEVOT.-ABSO-
LUTION. PROCESSION OF THE RELICS.-CUPID'S FIELD-DAYS.-
MAIDS AND WIVES. POPULARITY OF PARDONS. -THE HAIR-

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MERCHANT.-THE ORGY.-RETURN TO QUIMPER.

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GAGES

THE modern character of Brest was made very ap

parent on the day succeeding my excursion to St.

SAIL UP THE HARBOUR.

195

Matthew's Abbey by a large fair in the town, which attracted large crowds of peasants from the surrounding country. They were dressed in the costume of their forefathers, and seemed, among the new buildings, like pictures of ancient figures set in modern frames. I spent the morning among them, and at one o'clock left the town in a steamboat, which departs every day at that hour during summer, and steams up the entire length of the harbour to Port Launay, where navigation ceases. This is a most enjoyable trip, far preferable to the land-journey round the harbour. The steamer is certainly small, and the cabin of narrow dimensions; but unless the sea is in a very perturbed condition-which from its land-locked nature is a rare event-sea-sickness need not be apprehended.

Steaming out of the Port, from the mouth of which a magnificent view of the Castle is obtained, we proceeded directly across the harbour, here about four miles broad, to the Pointe des Espagnols. You will regard this place with interest; for here the gallant Frobisher received his death-wound, fighting at the head of a force sent by Queen Elizabeth to assist Henri IV. in dislodging his enemies from the Pointe. Passing between this and the head of the peninsula of Quélern, we entered Daoulas Bay, a fine expanse of water, confined by high hills wooded to their summits.

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