226 DIEPPE, 



foundland, there is in general nothing to be seen but small 

 fishing-vessels, and a police-cutter of the royal marine. 



The " petite peche*' is the grand reliance of the inhabitants ; and 

 it is divided methodically into its seasons ihroughout the year. 

 In the beginning of August the Dieppais set out for the herring 

 fishery, on the coast of England near Yarmouth; in the middle 

 of October they continue the same occupation near the shores of 

 their own country, from Havre to Boulogne; at Lent they re- 

 turn to the English side of the channel; and, towards the end 

 of April, their cares are rewarded by abundance of mackerel. 

 Soles, whiting, and some other fish, are taken at any season. 



The ** lions" of the town are not many. The old chateau, 

 presents some points of picturesque effect — and the Rue Royale 

 is one of the most characteristic in France. The daubs of colour 

 by which the principal effect is produced, together with the height 

 and irregularity of the houses, make a strange impression upon 

 the eye of an Englishman. He feels (perhaps for the first time, 

 if he has come direct from Brighton) that the scene is Jhrcign, 

 and prepares himself unconsciously for new customs and man- 

 ners, and the various excitements of foreign travel. The principal 

 articles of trade displayed in the shops of the Rue Royale are 

 little ornamental works in ivory, which travellers are accustomed 

 to praise: we could see nothing remarkable in them. 



The church of St. Jacques is a gloomy and venerable edifice, 

 witli a good deal to interest the local antiquary. This was, for 

 many a day, the scene of a religious farce, which seems to have 

 taken the place of the still more ancient mysteries. It was called 

 the ceremony of the Confrcrie de la Aout, and was performed 

 every year on the fifteenth of that month. A young girl of that 

 place — the prettiest and most demure, no doubt, in all Dieppe 

 — sustained the character of tha Holy Virgin, and was carried to 

 the church, amidst the lamentations of the inhabitants, laid out 

 in a bier. As the procession entered the door, and passed along 

 the nave, the service of the mass begun ; and, when this was 

 about half-way, something was observed to stir on a glory which 

 hung suspended from the vault of the choir, and which now 

 seemed agitated by the lofty swell of the music proclaiming to 

 the worshippers the actual presence of their God. 



Two small, white, spectral forms detached themselves from 

 the glory, which now swung free under the vault ; and, as they 

 descended in that dim religious light, it was seen that they wcrt 



