1 84 WOLF-HUNTING. 



distinguish the ten once regular avenues, with the crescent- 

 shaped row at their head, owing to such spoliation. Verily, if 

 time has wiped out the history of these monuments, man is 

 guilty of a worse desecration by carting away the very monuments 

 themselves. 



In the act of closely inspecting a menhir on the outskirts of 

 this ground, our ichthyological savant, M. Coste, very nearly met 

 with an awkward accident. He had scrambled up to it, and was 

 standing some three feet above the level ground on a point of the 

 projecting rock, when a covey of red-legs sprung up close to him - y 

 and so startled was he by the sudden whirr that he lost his footing, 

 and fell heavily down. But, fortunately, though much shaken, no 

 bones were broken ; and he continued his investigations appa- 

 rently without further inconvenience. The appearance of the 

 birds, however, seemed to act like magic on the drooping spirits 

 of Shafto, who, having sacrificed a long day in making this pilgrim- 

 age to what he persisted in calling the burying-ground of his Celtic 

 ancestors, was getting thoroughly tired with the monotony of the 

 dreary scene but so roused was he by the sight of the. covey, and 

 by marking them down in a piece of genet hard by, that, if he 

 could have procured a gun there and then, we should certainly 

 have seen no more of him for the rest of the day. Indeed, with- 

 out the interesting comments of M. de la Villemarque, and 

 the perpetual discussion carried on between him and M. Coste 

 respecting the extent of area occupied by the Carnac monuments, 

 and details connected therewith, the dismal spectacle was quite 

 sufficient to damp the ardour of our Gourin party, to all of whom, 

 as we quitted the ground, the sight of a couple of charettes waiting 

 for us at the village hostelry brought unquestionable relief. The 

 picture gallery was too sombre, too monotonous, and too long for 

 any man who was neither a philosopher nor an enthusiast in such 

 matters. 



In concluding this subject, it may be as well to add that 



