er, through the trees, we discerned the graceful open spire of the
Church of La Roche, and then, upon rugged height above the railway, the
ruins of the ancient Castle of la Roche-Maurice, called by the Breton
peasants round about, in their broad dialect, "la Ro'ch Morvan." It was
founded by Maurice, King of the Bretons, about the year 800, and was
demolished about 1490, during the war Charles VIII. waged against Anne
of Brittany. Very little of the ruin remains, excepting a square donjon
and a portion of the exterior walls and the four towers.

Finally came Landerneau, and the train continued its way towards Brest
without us.

We found the old town well worth exploring. It is situated on the Elorn,
or the river of Landerneau, as it is more often called. The stream is
fairly broad here, and divides the town into two parts. It is spanned by
an old bridge, bordered by a double row of ancient and gabled houses;
and rising out of the stream, like a small island or a moated grange, is
an old Gothic water mill, remarkably beautiful and picturesque. This
little scene alone is worth a journey to Landerneau. A Gothic
inscription, which has been placed in a house not far off, declares that
the old mill was built by the Rohans in 1510; and was no doubt devoted
to higher uses than the grinding of corn.

There are many old houses, many quaint and curious bits of architecture
in Landerneau. On one of these, bearing the date of 1694, we found two
curious sculptures: a lion rampant and a man armed with a drawn sword;
and, between them, the inscription: TIRE, TVE. We might, indeed, have
gone up and down the street armed with sword, gun, or any other
murderous weapon, with impunity--there was nothing to fight but the air.
We had it all to ourselves, on this side the river. Yet Landerneau is a
flourishing place of some ten thousand inhabitants, with extensive
manufactories, saw mills, and large timber yards. Vessels come up the
river and load and unload; and, on bright days when the sunshine pours
upon the flashing water, and warms the wood lying about in huge stacks,
and a delicious pine-scent goes forth upon the air, it is a very
pleasant scene, and a very fitting spot for a short sojourn.

It also deals extensively in strawberries, exporting to England many
thousand boxes of the delicious fruit that grows so largely in the
neighbourhood. The hotel this morning seemed full of them, and we had
but to ask, and to receive in abundance. T