THE VENUS OF QUIMPILI.

241

tercian Convent of Notre Dame de la Joie, whose female inmates, if tradition be trustworthy, were more disposed to act up to the motto on their banner in the flesh than in the spirit.

Scandalous legends indeed go so far as to associate their doings with a certain curious statue near Baud, a few miles north of Hennebon, called by the peasants Grouec'h Houam, the Iron Woman, but more generally known as the Venus of Quimpili. The figure represents a naked female, rudely sculptured in granite, about seven feet high, which has long been a great puzzle to antiquaries, who are entirely at a loss respecting the origin and history of the strange image. The features and form of the statue are as unlike as possible to that

Yet, like many other statues, remarkable rather for their hideousness than for their grace or beauty, this ugly Venus is an object of great veneration to the Bretons, notwithstanding the obscene ceremonies with which the history of the image is associated. These were so scandalous that about the thirteenth century the Bishop of Vannes ordered the statue to be cast into the adjoining river Evete; but the peasants were

M

greatly enraged, and, having recovered their beloved Iron Woman, set her upon her former pedestal, where she may be seen to this day, displaying the inscription,

and

66 VENERI VICTRICI,"

66 VENVS ARMORICVM ORACULVM."

From Hennebon I drove to Auray (sixteen miles), and took up my quarters at the Pavillon d'en Haut,' which deservedly enjoys the reputation of being not only the best inn in the town, but one of the most comfortable in La Basse Bretagne.

EXCURSION TO CARNAC.-ABUNDANT BREAKFAST. THE STONES OF CARNAC.-LEGEND.-ST. CORNELY.-THE SOLDIERS' SKELETONS. -VARIETY OF DRUIDICAL MONUMENTS.-GIGANTIC STONES OF LE MANAEC.-NATURE OF THE LINES.-GREAT DEPREDATIONS.-ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT.-CELTIC DRUIDESSES.-THEORIES RESPECTING CARNAC.-DRACONTIUM.-SERPENT WORSHIP.-ST. CEDO.

KERMARIO.

-CARNAC CHURCH. RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES. PLOUHARNEL.-VAST DOLMENS.-GOLD COLLARS.-LINES OF ERDEVEN.-RETURN TO AURAY.

AMONG the many objects of interest in Brittany— which, in consequence of the rail-less state of that country, are still comparatively unknown to tourists, who for the most part pursue the beaten track-Carnac holds a foremost place.

To visit this great and mysterious monument of an

ancient people had long been one of my favourite daydreams; and those who have stood on the threshold of the realization of their hopes, will appreciate my feelings of pleasure, when, throwing open my window on the morning after my arrival at Auray, brilliant sunshine "glorified"-as Sydney Smith would have said —my room, and I beheld a cloudless sky. Thus favoured, I made ready to spend the day on the plain of Carnac, one of the preparations, and not the least important, being to breakfast in good old English fashion. And here let me render justice to the cuisine of the Pavillon d'en Haut,' the chef of which, if you tell him that you desire to breakfast well, will astonish you by the multiplicity and excellence of his dishes. I find the entertainment which he set before me most honourably mentioned in my note-book, and that it consisted of delicious oysters, prawns, sardines, mullets, kidneys, mutton and veal cutlets, beefsteaks, and a bewildering variety of vegetables and fruits.

Having fortified the inner man, I started in a light but stout-springed cabriolet for Carnac, nine miles from Auray. About midway the country changed character, and, from being highly cultivated and smiling, became more and more wild. Presently the road en

tered a vast undulating plain,

streaked by the purple

tints of rich heather, and swelling here and there into soft hills, bounded on the south by the ocean.

EXCURSION TO CARNAC.

245

Sweeping the horizon in this direction, the eye is arrested by small protuberances which dot the plain for miles they are the stones of Carnac : scan them well, you will perceive that while they stretch far away to the east and west, a great gap exists before you. The stones which occupied this space have been used, as a quarry, to build the village of Carnac; and the lofty and graceful church-spire, composed of these stones and surmounted by the symbol of Christianity, looks down upon the vast heathen monuments.

About a couple of miles from the village we diverged from the main road, and followed a rough track across the heath to the left. We pursued this until the extreme ruggedness of the plain rendered further advance almost impossible. My honest driver lamented the stoppage; but I was more pleased than otherwise that my drive was at an end, and was not less pleased to find that no garrulous guides pounced on me when I alighted from the carriage. So, when my man departed for the auberge, where he said I should find him, I was happily alone; for Carnac is one of those places where solitude becomes a luxury, and consequently where guides would be more than usually vexatious and troublesome; for what could they tell the visitor respecting the mysterious ranks of obelisks, the purposes of which have baffled speculative investigations and learned inquiries? No