in Brittany and Normandy. 225 



and were much delighted with the situation of the town : its 

 boulevards command a most extensive view of the surrounding- 

 country, which is beautifully undulated, well wooded, and appa- 

 rently remarkably fertile. On the walls of the tower of St. 

 Vincent, now used as a prison, we gathered seeds of a beautiful 

 species of Dianthus ; every crevice in the upper part of the 

 walls was brilliant with the gay pink and white flowers of this 

 very pretty plant. I have not yet been able to identify the spe- 

 cies. The wallflower, strawberry spinach, and a species of 

 iS'edum, were also most abundant. Our attempts to gather spe- 

 cimens of these plants, by mounting on each other's shoulders 

 (two of us being six-feet men), attracted the notice of the pri- 

 soners confined in the tower, and caused some mei'riment 

 amongst them. The promenaders on the boulevards, which pass 

 under the walls, seemed also surprised at our earnest endeavours 

 to gather objects to them of such little interest. The boule- 

 vards are planted with elms of some seven or eight years' 

 growth ; these seemed all seedlings of the Cornish elm, and 

 Avere exceedingly interesting in their variations of habit. My 

 attention was drawn to them, more especially as I had never 

 before seen seedlings of this variety of elm, which, I believe, 

 never bears seed in England. Many of the varieties were ex- 

 ceedingly beautiful; and I quite regretted not being able to 

 take home some grafts. The gardens on the south side of the 

 town overlook the boulevards from a height of 30 or 40 feet : 

 they were apparently on the site of the old walls of the town, 

 of which the boulevards on this side formed the fosse. Their 

 situation appeared delightful ; they were thickly planted with 

 Robinz'a inermis (umbraculifera), and laid out in the usual French 

 style. Dinan is the most famous horse market in Brittany. 

 The horses were all a sort of short -legged galloway, about four- 

 teen hands high ; some of them showing marks of good blood, 

 and all in fine condition. They were what we should call in 

 England " useful animals." The dealers were Bas Bretons, with 

 hardy swarthy countenances, and wearing black beaver hats 

 with immense bi'ims. Their swarthy countenances, and their 

 driving their bargains in pistoles, almost inclined us to think 

 they Avere of Spanish origin. Their clamouring in making a 

 bargain, and their hard manner of striking each otlier's hands 

 many times consecutively, before the peculiar concluding slap, 

 were highly amusing. They demanded for some very nice four 

 and five years' old horses twenty and twenty-four pistoles. On 

 enquiry, we found the pistole reckoned at ten francs, so that a 

 very good horse might have been bought for eight pounds : 

 something superior for ten pounds. I must give these rough 

 dealers the credit of not demanding even of me, an Englishman 

 and a stranger, more than the regular price. We found the 



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