inclined us to leniency), only to see a
citadel that we do not admire, a lighthouse that did not appeal to us in
the least, and a rampart built by Vauban, of whom we were already
heartily tired? But people had spoken to us of Belle-Isle's rocks. So we
started at once, and taking a short cut across the fields, walked to the
beach.

We saw one grotto, only one (the day was near its close), but it
appeared so beautiful to us (it was draped with sea-weed and decorated
with shells, and water dripped from the top), that we resolved to spend
a day in Belle-Isle, in order to discover more of them, if there were
any, and feast our eyes leisurely upon their beauties.

The following day, at dawn, having filled our flasks and put some
sandwiches in our knapsacks, we decided to go where we pleased; so,
without a guide or information of any sort (this is the best way), we
set out to walk, having resolved that we would go anywhere, provided it
were far, and would return home at any time, provided it were late.

We began by a path which led to the top of a cliff, then followed its
asperities and valleys and continued around the whole island. When we
reached places where landslips had obliterated it, we struck out into
the country and let our eyes roam over the horizon of the sea, the deep
blue line of which touched the sky; then we walked back to the edge of
the rocks, which had suddenly reappeared at our side. The perpendicular
cliff, the top of which we were treading, concealed the flank of the
rocks, and we could only hear the roaring of the breakers below us.

Sometimes the rock was split in its entire length, disclosing its two
almost straight sides, streaked with layers of silica, with tufts of
yellow flowers scattered here and there. If we threw a stone, it
appeared suspended in the air for a time, would then strike the sides of
the cliff, rebound from the one to the other, break into a thousand
bits, scattering earth and pebbles in its course, and finally land at
the bottom of the pit, where it frightened the cormorants, which
shrieked and took flight.

Frequent storms and thaws have pushed a part of the upper grounds into
these gorges, and so their steep slope has grown less abrupt, and one is
able to climb down to the bottom. We attempted to do so by sliding down
like children, holding ourselves back with our hands and feet, and
finally we landed safely on the soft, wet sand.

The tide was going out, but in order to be