the mistletoe hangs as the sign of a
cabaret; and if cider is sold, some apples are fastened to the bush. On
the road to Periers we crossed a "lande" or common, where we met numerous
carts carrying sea sand, here used to mix with the heavy soil as manure.

At Periers we slept at the little inn "La Croix Blanche," kept by Madame
Casimir, the widow of a Polish officer, well known for her eccentricity
and good cuisine. The entrance to the apartments in the inns is generally
through the kitchen; in many the box bedstead (_lit clos_) stands in the
corner near the fire, Breton fashion. On a barber's shop we saw painted up
"Ici l'on rajeunit." The church has a tall spire, and is one of the finest
religious edifices in this part of Normandy--painted windows, the capitals
of the columns of varied foliage, and fine groined clustered arches.

We had a most perilous drive to Coutances, the coachman, "en ribote,"
drove us at a fearful pace, and we were thankful when we arrived in
safety. The Norman cathedral is beautiful--so simple, so pure, and elegant;
its tall towers terminating in spires; and the chapels being separated by
open mullioned arches, great lightness is given to the interior. The
Bishop of Coutances was officiating at the consecration of some stones for
a new pavement; each flag was rubbed over and anointed with oil.

[Illustration: 6. Coutances Cathedral.]

The church of St. Pierre has a handsome square tower, pierced gallery, and
apse with a double row of columns. In the church of St. Nicholas we
particularly noticed the fine bosses of the groined arches in the chancel.
The fonts hereabouts have the serpent with the apple, and the cross carved
upon the cover. The church was filled with pots of flowers they were
employed in removing, for the day before had been the Fete of St. Fiacre,
the patron of gardeners. St. Fiacre, or Fiaker, was an Irish monk of the
seventh century, who, according to tradition, obtained from the Bishop of
Meaux a grant of as much ground out of the forest as he could dig a trench
round in one day's labour, for the purpose of making a garden and
cultivating vegetables for travellers. Long time after, the peasants would
show the ditch ten times longer than was expected, and relate how, when
the Irishman took his stick to trace a line upon the soil, the earth dug
itself under the point of the stick, while the forest trees fell right and
left to save him the trouble of cutting them down. Outside