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On the Stone Avenues of Camac. 



Carnac, "but few, even of those who have visited them, have a clear 

 notion of their plan. The prevailing idea is, that all these lines of 

 granite pillars constitute one monument ; whereas they form several 

 groups of lines or avenues, separated and wholly distinct from one 

 another. The number of lines in the several groups varies, and 

 each group is separated by a void space of ground. Each group, 

 therefore, constitutes a distinct monument. 



I will now describe them, and then say what opinions have been 

 put forth as to their destination. 



Near the small town of Carnac, there is an eminence, partly 

 natural, and partly artificial, which forms a huge long barrow. On 

 the platform of its truncated summit stands a Chapel, dedicated to 

 St. Michael, and from this elevation an extensive view is obtained. 

 Looking northwards you see vast heaths covering a slightly undul- 

 ating country, fir plantations, and, here and there, small villages 

 nestling among elm-trees. Turning to the west you catch a glimpse of 

 the peninsula of Quiberon, celebrated for the ill-fated expedition of the 

 emigrant royalists in 1795, which terminated in the atrocious 

 murder of the prisoners. To the south are the blue waves of the 

 Atlantic, with the islands of Belle-Ile, Houat, and Haedic resting 

 on the horizon ; and eastwards the eye travels across the peninsula 

 of Locmariaker, rich in stone monuments of gigantic size, and 

 perceives the great tumuli of Mane-er-H'roek, the Tumiac, and of 

 the island of Gavr' Inis in the enclosed little sea or Morbihan. 



Not far from the base of the north slope of the tumulus which 

 now bears the name of Mount St. Michael, stand two of the three 

 groups of lines which I propose to describe, stretching from left to 

 right across the landscape, — the great army of stones, " silent 

 witnesses of thousands of extinct generations/'' regarding which 

 neither tradition nor history has preserved the slightest record. 

 Although composed of hard granite, many of these stones have been 

 gnawed by time, and too successfully assailed by the strong and 

 destructive hand of man. 



If you descend into the plain, and bend your steps to the village 

 of Menec, which lies on the left hand, you find that several of the 

 farm-houses and cottages, with their thrashing yards and gardens, 



