forlorn history, and was pleased to honour me with her patronage. With
this mantle of protection thrown around me, and my generous friend
having undertaken to bear the responsibilities of publishing, the
difficulties were soon swept away, and Le Morvan was written.

I had hoped that I should in this Preface be permitted to mention her
name, which would have been less a compliment to her than an honour to
me; but her modesty has refused this public acknowledgment of my
unbounded gratitude,--a veil of respectful reserve shall therefore
remain suspended over her name. As for me and mine, we shall treasure it
in our thankful hearts--every day shall we pray that the Great Giver of
all good may confer upon her His most precious and gracious blessings.

HENRI DE CRIGNELLE.

LONDON, _August_, 1851.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

English propensity to ramble--Where and how--Le
Morvan--Vezelay--Description of the town--Historical associations
connected with it--Charles IX.--Persecutions of the Protestants--View
from Vezelay--Scenery and wild sports--The Author--Object of the
Work _p._ 1

CHAPTER II.

Le Morvan--Forests--Climate--Patriarchs and Damosels--Peasants of the
plain and the mountains--Jovial Cures--Their love of Burgundy--The
Doctor and the Cure 14

CHAPTER III.

Geology--Fossil shells--Antediluvian salmon--The Druids--Chindonax, the
High Priest--Roman antiquities--Julius Caesar's hunting-box--Lugubrious
village--Carre-les-Tombes--The Inquisitive Andalusian 26

CHAPTER IV.

Le Morvan during the Middle Ages--Legendary horrors--Forest of La
Goulotte--La Croix Chavannes--La Croix Mordienne--Hotel de
Chanty--Chateau de Lomervo--A French Bluebeard--Citadel of Lingou 35

CHAPTER V.

Castle of Bazoche--Marechal de Vauban--Relics of the old
Marshal--Memorials of Philipsburg--Hotel de Bazarne--Madame de
Pompadour's maitre d'hotel--Proof of the _cures'_ grief--Farm of St.
Hibaut--Youthful recollections--Monsieur de Cheribalde--Navarre the
Four-Pounder--His culverin 43

CHAPTER VI.

Bird's-eye view of the forests--The student's visit to his uncle in the
country--Sallies forth in the early morning--Meets a cuckoo--Follows
him--The cuckoo too much for him--Gives up the pursuit--Finds he has
lost his way--Agreeable vespers--Night in the forest--Wolves--Up a beech
tree--A friend in need--The student bids adieu to Le Morvan 55

CHAPTER VII.

Charms of a forest life to