THE ARCHIPELAGO OF BREHAT. 83 



The island of Brehat forms a separate commune, 

 and numbers about fifteen hundred inhabitants. The 

 population, isolated in its own remote corner of the 

 world, combines the niggardly and prying spirit of 

 the inhabitants of small towns with the egotistical 

 and exclusive character of islanders. The Brehatain 

 does not consider himself a Frenchman ; he scarcely 

 regards himself as a Breton ; and every stranger is 

 looked upon as a sort of Pariah, whose society is 

 sedulously shunned alike by the richest proprietor 

 and the poorest clay-labourer. 



The country people extend this kind of interdict 

 to their compatriots of the opposite coast, notwith- 

 standing the community of manners, and more 

 especially of language, by which they are associated. 

 During my stay a young girl from the Continent, 

 who had been engaged as a servant by one of the 

 islanders, refused to remain in service in Brehat, 

 because, according to her statement, there was not 

 a woman who would speak to her when they met 

 at the well, or in coming out of church. This 

 strongly marked spirit of local attachment may 

 perhaps be explained by tracing the origin of the 

 population amongst whom it is so strikingly mani- 

 fested. The Brehatains constitute a perfectly dis- 

 tinct variety of the Breton race. They very rarely 

 exhibit the round head, full face, blue eyes and 

 light or reddish hair, which appear to constitute the 

 characteristic traits of the Breton type. Among 

 the Brehatains, on the contrary, one meets frequently 

 with long and delicately chiselled oval faces, asso- 

 ciated with large expressive black eyes and fine soft 



