t crowns the summit of
a hill, wooded down to the river's edge, with water-mills and a little
village at the foot, the bright sparkling river running through the deep
wild valley; nothing can exceed the picturesque effect of these ruins when
seen from the opposite bank. Tonquedec has belonged from time immemorial
to the Viscomtes de Coetmen, who held the first rank among the nobles of
Brittany, but one of them espousing the cause of the Constable Clisson
against Duke John IV. saw his fortress demolished. It was restored under
Henry IV., and again dismantled by order of Cardinal Richelieu, who hated
castles and their nobility. The castle is an irregular four-sided figure.
It had an outer enclosure, and was entered by a drawbridge, and furnished
with every imaginable fortification. Three sides were surrounded by
dwellings, among these a fine roofed salle d'armes remains. A flying
bridge led to the keep, which was of four stories, but the entrance on the
first story, so that in case of siege the garrison might retire to the
keep, and hold out till want of provisions or ammunition compelled them to
surrender. The towers and walls remain, the latter are ten feet thick.

On our way to Plouaret we drove up to the chateau of Kergrist, a square
edifice with pepper-box towers at each angle, in good preservation,
occupied by a lady of the name of Douglas. Our driver could not find the
way to the "Chapelle des Sept Saints," built over a dolmen, which lay near
the station at Plouaret, whence we proceeded by rail, and, entering the
department of Finistere, shortly after reached Morlaix over its
magnificent granite viaduct, the most important among the many which occur
between Rennes and Brest. The railway runs parallel to the coast, and
traverses, not far from their mouths, the streams which abound in this
"pays accidente." This gigantic work is one-sixth of a mile (292 yards)
long, and consists of two tiers of arches, fourteen in the upper line and
nine below.

Morlaix is picturesquely built on the sides of three ravines, so steep
that the saying goes, "De la mansarde au jardin, comme on dit a Morlaix."
It is situated on a tidal river, about eight miles from the sea, ascended
by small vessels, which give the place a lively appearance. Few towns have
so many beautiful timbered houses of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
remaining. One of the most curious is that belonging to a miller, No. 19,
in the Rue des Nobles, a street where