etracing our steps to La Grande Halte, on the Carhaix road, we turned off
to the left to see the cascade of St. Herbot. We left our carriage, and
walked up a hill covered with underwood, opposite the fall. The cascade is
formed by the little river Elez falling through a mountain gorge about 650
feet in length, filled with granite rocks of every shape and size, the
sides overhung with woods of oak. The height of the fall is 230 feet.

There was no water in the cascade. At the best, it must be only a
succession of small falls. The river tumbles from rock to rock, forming on
some of the ledges pools of water, filled with small trout, some of which
were caught by our party.

According to the legend, a giant of the country, wishing to clear the
fields of his friend, a Druid, from the rocks that encumbered them, rolled
them down the torrent.

We descended the hill to the road where we had left our carriage, and went
to the chapel of St. Herbot, a building of the sixteenth century, on the
side of a rushing brook. It has a high square tower opening into the
church, and a rood-screen of wood beautifully carved in the style of the
Renaissance, which forms three sides round the altar. Two angels are
represented with cups, the "sainte graal" receiving the blood of Christ.
The entrance to the church is up a flight of steps. It has a beautifully
sculptured south porch, with statues of the Apostles, and some fine
painted-glass windows. One part of the church has the windows with iron
bars, as if for defence.

[Illustration: 63. Carved Stalls, St. Herbot.]

Near the altar is the tomb of the anchorite, St. Herbot; his effigy
reposes under a Gothic canopy, upon a granite sarcophagus, represented in
his hermit's gown, the hood thrown back, flowing hair, long beard, his
breviary suspended to his girdle, and his pilgrim's staff by his left arm.
His feet repose on a recumbent lion. St. Herbot is the great patron of
cattle; the three days of the fair and pardon all the bullocks rest; and
when an animal is ill, an offering of his hair is made to the saint. We
saw a heap of horsehair and cows' tails lying on one of the altars. These
are annually sold for the profit of the church, and the proceeds amount to
a considerable sum. Our guide gravely assured us that on the first of May,
day of the Pardon of St. Herbot, the cows "d'elles memes" walk three times
round the church.

[Illustration: 64. Carved Stalls, St. Herbot.]

We returned late