iacre, 291
63. Carved Stalls, St. Herbot, 304
64. Carved Stalls, St. Herbot, 305

BRITANNY AND ITS BYWAYS.

A fair wind conveyed us in six hours from Poole to Cherbourg. It was dusk
when we entered the harbour, and so we had no opportunity of seeing its
beauty until the following morning, when we ascended a height behind the
town, called the Mont du Roule. It is reached either on foot or by
carriage, the Emperor having ordered a road to be made up to the fort
which crowns the heights, on the occasion of the visit to Cherbourg, in
1858, of her Majesty Queen Victoria. Some 1500 men were immediately set to
work, and, in a few days, an easy carriage-road was finished, up which the
Emperor drove the Queen at his usual rapid pace. The view from the fort is
lovely, commanding the whole line of the northern point of the Cotentin,
from the low promontory of Cape de la Hogue to Barfleur. The water of the
harbour, owing to its great depth, is of the most intense blue, which we
quite agreed with the guardian of the fort in likening to that of the Bay
of Naples. Across its entrance stretches, for two miles, the long line of
the breakwater, and within were anchored the fleet of our yacht squadron,
which the day before had run a race between Poole and Cherbourg. We took a
boat to visit the breakwater. It is commanded at each end by a fort, with
another in the centre, where the provisions are kept. In stormy weather
the sea washes over the breakwater, and sometimes for days prevents all
communication between the forts, and the supplies consequently are
stopped. Boys offered us for sale the silvery shells of the Venus' ear,
which inhabits the rocks of the breakwater. We afterwards saw them in the
fish-market exposed for sale, and, on expressing some curiosity as to how
they were eaten, the landlord had a dish prepared for us. These fish
resemble the scallop in taste, but are very tough, and require a great
deal of beating with a wooden mallet to make them tender enough to eat.
They are called "ormer," or "gofish." The table d'hote was very
plentifully supplied with fish, and here, as throughout Normandy and
Brittany, cider, the customary beverage of the country, was always placed
upon the table. It varies very much in quality in different districts;
that of Bayeux is most esteemed.

The next morning we set out for the dockyard. To obtain admission, it
first requires a letter from the English Consul, who lives in a charmi