72 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



arriving was to secure food and lodging ; and in this 

 I was essentially successful, although I experienced 

 some difficulty in regard to the latter point, for I 

 was compelled to content myself with an unfurnished 

 lodging, and to hire a bed from one person, a table 

 from another, and a bench and shelves from a third. 

 At length my arrangements were sufficiently com- 

 pleted to admit of my unpacking my books, instru- 

 ments, and bottles. These preliminaries so com- 

 pletely occupied the whole day, that I had to defer 

 the commencement of my explorations till the 

 following morning. By break of day I was on foot, 

 searching for some elevated point, from whence I 

 might survey at a glance the whole extent of my 

 island. This I found to be impossible, for Brehat 

 is a perfect little continent, with plains, elevated 

 table-land, and chains of mountains which effectually 

 mask one another, all of course in the miniature 

 style, and on a scale proportioned to the size of the 

 island, which measures about two miles from north 

 to south. I was obliged therefore to examine the 

 whole in detail ; and after briefly consulting the map, 

 I began my excursions. 



Brehat, taken as a whole, may be said to present 

 very nearly the form of the figure eight, deeply 

 indented by innumerable little bays and bristling 

 with a multitude of small capes. It was formerly 

 divided into two distinct islands, which were sepa- 

 rated during high tide by an arm of the sea about 

 twenty yards in width, At the period when Vauban 

 was examining our coast-line with a view of organ- 

 ising the best means of defence against maritime 



