WILD SPORT IN BRITTANY. 169 



" If tombs they be," said M. Coste ; " but that at present is an 

 unsolved problem." 



Arrangements were then made for dispatching a mounted 

 messenger to Gourin to proclaim aloud in its streets the post- 

 ponement of the hunting-day ; while Louis Trefarreg was charged, 

 in a letter from the Louvetier, to inform the peasants of Kilvern 

 on the same point : the fixture not having been advertised, this 

 notice was deemed amply sufficient for the chasseurs and peasants 

 of the surrounding district. Matters having been so far settled, we 

 ordered beds at the Lion d'Or j and then, under the guidance of 

 M. Coste, trotted off at once to the Observatory. 



The site of this building is admirably adapted to its wants ; 

 inasmuch as, dependent on a constant supply of fresh sea-water 

 for the sustenance and well-being of its occupants, it is founded on 

 a rock literally overhanging the sea ; the water of which, from the 

 absence of a muddy tidal river and shore, is usually pellucid as 

 the fountain of Blandusia : then, Concarneau being a fishing town 

 and possessing a fleet of small craft numbering at least 400, 

 engaged L in the capture of sardines and all kinds of fish inci- 

 dental to that coast, it offers peculiar advantages for the stocking 

 of the establishment, both as to the variety of the captives and 

 their quick conveyance from the wide sea to their narrow home. 

 Nor are the fishermen uninstructed on this point : the moment an 

 unusual prize is captured, the boat making the capture, if it 

 possess not a suitable kettle, which some of them carry for the 

 purpose, hastens back to port and deposits it with all care and 

 expedition in the tanks of the Aquarium : a service which is 

 liberally requited by M. Coste on behalf of the French Govern- 

 ment. 



The building itself is a long, rectangular, stone edifice what 

 the French call line maisofi carree bearing a terrace on its flat 

 roof and a spacious reservoir, into which, being the topmost of 

 a succession of reservoirs, the water is pumped directly and 



