68 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



length discovered a crazy sort of vehicle, which, even 

 before it was loaded, seemed too heavy for the half- 

 starved white pony which was to draw it. I hesi- 

 tated for some time whether or not I should trust 

 myself in this sorry equipage, which would, I feared, 

 break down on the road. The owner declared, how- 

 ever, in the strongest and most impressive manner, 

 that his conveyance would carry me to my destina- 

 tion as fast as any diligence : therefore, as I had no 

 other alternative, I resigned myself to the conviction 

 he endeavoured to force upon me, and I am bound 

 to say that the event justified his assertions. My 

 little horse was of the true Breton breed, and there- 

 fore had descended in a direct line from those ancient 

 Gallic steeds which, even before the conquests of 

 Caesar, were known to the Romans, and esteemed by 

 them as highly as the celebrated racers of Crete. 

 On the first touch of the whip, he started oif on a 

 fast trot, and on the second application he broke 

 into a gallop. The driver, who was as lithe and 

 talkative as a Spanish muleteer, kept up this ardour 

 on the part of his steed by a multitude of en- 

 couraging epithets, half French, half low Breton, 

 while he took good care at the same time to season 

 his remarks with repeated strokes of the whip. The 

 same rapid pace was maintained the whole way, ex- 

 cepting when we ascended or descended the precipi- 

 tous hills by which the road is broken at every turn, 

 yet notwithstanding these interruptions, we passed 

 over the thirty miles, which separate Saint-Brieuc 

 from Paimpol, almost as rapidly as the messageries 

 royales would have done. 



