80 i On the Stone Avenues of Carnac. 
: 
Carnac, but few, even of those who have visited’ them, have a clear 
notion of their plan. The prevailing idea is, that all these lines of 
granite pillars constitute one monument ; whereas they form several 
groups of lines or avenues, separated and wholly distinct from one 
another. .The number of lines in the several groups varies, and 
each group is separated by a void space of ground. Each group, 
therefore, constitutes a distinct monument. 
I will now describe them, and then say what opinions have been 
put forth as to their destination. 
Near the small town of Carnac, there is an eminence, partly 
natural, and partly artificial, which forms a huge long barrow. On 
the platform of its truncated summit stands a Chapel, dedicated to 
St. Michael, and from this elevation an extensive view is obtained. 
Looking northwards you see vast heaths covering a slightly undul- 
ating country, fir plantations, and, here and there, small villages 
nestling among elm-trees. Turning to the west you catch a glimpseof 
the peninsula of Quiberon, celebrated for the ill-fated expedition of the 
emigrant royalists in 1795, which terminated in the atrocious 
murder of the prisoners. To the south are the blue waves of the 
Atlantic, with the islands of Belle-lle, Houat, and Haedic resting 
on the horizon; and eastwards the eye travels across the peninsula 
of Locmariaker, rich in stone monuments of gigantic size, and 
perceives the great tumuli of Mané-er-H’roek, the Tumiac, and of 
the island of Gavr’ Inis in the enclosed little sea or Morbihan. 
Not far from the base of the north slope of the tumulus which 
now bears the name of Mount St. Michael, stand two of the three 
groups of lines which I propose to describe, stretching from left to 
right across the landscape,—the great army of stones, “silent 
witnesses of thousands of extinct generations,” regarding which 
neither tradition nor history has preserved the slightest record. 
Although composed of hard granite, many of these stones have been 
gnawed by time, and too successfully assailed by the strong and 
destructive hand of man. 
If you descend into the plain, and bend your steps to the village 
of Menec, which lies on the left hand, you find that several of the 
farm-houses and cottages, with their thrashing yards and gardens, 
