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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



actually used, by a very large percentage 

 of the native population. Many of the 

 older Bretons cannot speak French, and 

 in 1902 it was found that the French 

 language was unknown or unused by 

 700,000 of the people. The government 

 now requires the learning of French by 

 the young, so we may expect the gradual 

 disuse and final death of this ancient 

 tongue. 



Taking a brief glance at the history of 

 Brittany, we may note that at a very 



Photo from Hugh M. Smith 

 LITTLE BRETON MAIDS 



remote period this country became 

 thickly settled by a dark-skinned people 

 that, starting a westward migration from 

 some part of Asia, left monuments along 

 their route throughout central and north- 

 ern Europe, and only ceased their wan- 

 derings when stopped by the sea in Scan- 

 dinavia, Ireland, Great Britain, France, 

 Portugal, and Spain. In prehistoric 

 times the Gauls conquered this early 

 race ; and then came the Roman con- 

 quest and the Roman occupation of Gaul 

 until the fourth century, up to which 



time the peculiar religious practices of 

 the aboriginal race appear to have flour- 

 ished unmolested by either Gauls or 

 Romans. 



We read that in 383 Maximilian, son- 

 in-law of Octavius of England, and his 

 nephew, Conan Meriadec, went over to 

 Armorica and endeavored to displace the 

 Romans. This venture cost the lives of 

 some 15,000 soldiers. Then Maximilian 

 took over a huge army and eventually 

 overcame the Romans. Conan became 

 king of the country, which he called Lit- 

 tle Britain, or Bretagne ; and, making 

 his capital at Nantes, he invited his coun- 

 trymen, who were then very hard 

 pressed by the Scots and Picts and 

 Saxons, to come over and join him. 

 Many thousands responded to this and 

 subsequent invitations, and by the time 

 of Conan's death, in 421, Christianity, 

 that had been introduced with the Briton 

 immigrants, had been established and 

 paganism almost abolished over a large 

 part of the country. 



In the middle ages the dukes of Brit- 

 tany exercised semi-royal prerogatives, 

 and the people had a separate parliament 

 for many years preceding the French 

 Revolution. At the outbreak of that 

 momentous struggle the Bretons lived up 

 to their reputation for conservatism and 

 remained loyal to the monarchy, and 

 forcibly resisted the establishment of the 

 republic long after the other parts of 

 France had accepted the new regime. 

 This sanguinary chapter in the history 

 of the country has been vividly por- 

 trayed in Balzac's stirring novel, "The 

 Chouans." 



The Britons, at first the friends and 

 kindred of the Bretons, eventually be- 

 came their hereditary enemies. For cen- 

 turies the British privateers and naval 

 vessels ravaged this coast, blockaded the 

 harbors, bombarded the towns, landed 

 fighting parties, and the long-continued 

 and deep-seated animosity thus engen- 

 dered still abides in this land, where 

 changes in habits and customs and senti- 

 ment occur very slowly. 



The present population of Brittany is 

 about 3,260,000. The principal cities are 



