The Portland daily press., 1881-10-13
Among the Dolmens.
Manners Of the People Of Brittany.

CARNAc, Sept. 20, 1881.
To the Editor of the Press:
1t is said that the phrase "Down East" Is not
infrequently used at Eastport. The heart, or
rather the back, of Brittany has also the pecu-
Harity of vanishing as the traveller approaches
When at length he reaches a wild country,
where there are strange solitudes, long stretch
% Of waste lands covered with dunes. such as
are described in Victor Hugo's Quatre- Vlngt
7reize, where the monosony IS only broken
now and then by cross by the wayside, when
he sees what seems, in the scattering hanlets,
70 be primitive people, wearing their tradi-
tional costume, and speaking language IN
which there is no French except occasionally
word borrowed from the neighboring prov
inces,-theR the gratifsd wanderer says exult-
ingly, "I1is at last Is the real Brittany.
There arc French-speaking psopls in the vii
lagos, to be sure; but even they, in conversing
with each other, quickly relapse into the harsh
Celtic tongue, as mysterious to all but
themselves and rare professional hnguists as
their own meuhirs. This is the laod of the
Druids, OF Merlin and Vivian, tho home of
superstition and Of terror, peopled by ghosts,
rather than men. This is where Perrault found
his Blue Beard and his other heroes tragic or
charming. This, with Vendes, is the country
of the Chouans of 80, and the last stronghold
of royalty in France today" Thus the COM
placent traveller, who is sure to be put down
instantly by anyone who can understand him
with, 20, this is quite modern hereto see
anything really remarkable you should 90 to
the bach of Brittany" But life is too short TO
be employed in chasing this supposititious
black" over the whole American peninsula;
and having 20 stop somewhere, l stop at
cAREAc,
which Is "back" enough for any one but an ex-
plorer. 1t is little town, remote from the
railway, and as far behind the times as one
could wish or imagine. The sole inn Is kept
by dignifed woman in black gown and a
white cap projecting over the face, who looks
like the lady superior Of convent, while her
assistant maidens, clothed in similar garb,
have the appearance and the demeanor OF
nuns. And, strangest of all, the inn itself is
neither the cred Horse" nor the "Black Ea-
gle" nor the Crowned Cow nor the "Ram-
pant Cat" nor even the "Hotel of the Uni
verse; but simply the Travellers Hotel"
famous for its good fare. In fact, the writer
of these memoirs finds in his chamber, written
in pencil on the window casing, the testimoni-
al of 'three French officers driven from Paris
during the reign Of the Commune, who declare
that for one of Mother Pichon's dinners they
would give the whole gov ernmeat actually ex-
listing, the city council NJ Theirs and the dev-
ia proposition which, il seriously made,
was no doubt promptly rejected by "Mother
Pichon," who impresses the guest as severe
Iy practical though sanity woman, who would
inevitably demand an indemnity in good cur
rent coin OF the country instead Of wares so OBJ
yiously perishable aad difficult of delivery. 1t
is doubtful if she believes in the existence of
any Of the proposed merchandise except the
devil, who might almost be said to be native
of the department of Morbihan. Let the skep-
tic read the Breton Tales of Paul Feval, the
clerical romancer, if he thinks that Beel-
zebub is stranger in these parts, and
if he enjoys the sensation of a
cold shivsr running down the back. The
peasants know the evil one as well as they
know their own wooden shoes hewn roughly
out of good beech log Gathered about the
fre-places Of their thatched cottages on cold
Winter evenings, thsy sittill midnight relating
the adventures of bslated travellers on the
heaths, in which not only Satan,
but the blessed saints and