island, and the temperature being equalised by the vicinity of the sea. Frost never continues any length of time. Snow falls but seldom, and melts immediately. Jersey is celebrated for its production of fruits, and Guernsey for its flowers. FRANCE. BRITTANY. St. Malo.-I landed on the shores of la belle France the next morning at nine o'clock. The pilot did not consider it prudent in the state of the wind and tide to attempt the entrance to St. Malo last evening, and decided to remain at St. Helier's until the next tide. At four o'clock in the morning we weighed anchor and steamed out of the port, and about eight o'clock were in sight of the French coast. The approach to St. Malo is very dangerous in certain winds. The tide which floated the 'Vigilant' in the harbour of St. Helier's, afforded her ample water to pass over dangerous reefs of rocks, and we reached this, the principal seaport of Brittany, by a short route. Every islet or rock which shows above high water is, owing to the jealous care of the French Government, crowned with a battery, and a naval depôt is established at Dinan, in the harbour. We reached St. Malo about nine o'clock on Thursday, having sailed from Littlehampton on the English coast at eleven o'clock on the evening of Tuesday. At this rate the passage does not hold out many temptations to those travellers who wish to reach Paris with rapidity, but to those who travel for a different object, the length of time on the water is not thrown away, and the approach to St. Malo. made under circumstances at all similar to those which greeted me, cannot fail to leave an impression not easily effaced. On an islet near the harbour of St. Malo repose the last remains of Chateaubriand, whose tomb can be seen from the deck of the steamer. The morning sun lit up with its gladdening beams the French coast, and as we glided into the harbour and saw the adjacent towns of Dinan, St. Servan, and St. Malo, which rest in a beautiful country, I could not but feel enlivened by the surrounding scenic beauties. St. Malo is rapidly becoming the principal port of Brittany. The opening of the railway from St. Malo to Rennes, about fifty miles, has brought it into more intimate connection with the vast districts which are supplying England with so much food, which used to be shipped from Nantes, an important seaport on the west coast of France. The barley which is grown at Laval, Le Mans, and Mayenne is eagerly purchased by British maltsters. I was introduced to a firm in the grain trade which, on the morning of my visit, had received telegrams from Glasgow, Swansea, and Dublin, all asking for quotations of the price of barley from this district, and witnessed the purchase from that firm, by a maltster from Swansea, who had come to St. Malo for the purpose, of two small cargoes of barley; the vessels taking it were to bring back cargoes of Welsh coals. The quays, which lie outside the walls of the town and are very capacious and handsome, were piled with tubs-tins they are called-of butter, waiting its removal to England. A steamer which sailed last week carried away 300 tons of butter. This article is not produced in the immediate neighbourhood of St. Malo, but comes down from Rennes. The representative of the British Consul, who received me with much courtesy, informed me that the exports from the port of St. Malo last year were very large, and that they were increasing.* The condition of the farmers of this district has been greatly improved within the past twenty years. The opening of the markets of England, which was accomplished by Sir Robert Peel in 1846, offered a market for the dairy produce of this district, which it had not possessed, and thus the cultivation of the soil has been promoted. Land is measured by areas called journois; it means the quantity which may be worked in a day, but includes an area of two and a half English acres. I cannot understand how this extent of culture could be accomplished in one day, as it is considered a fair day's work for a plough and pair of horses to turn up three-quarters of a British acre in a day. A gentleman to whom I was introduced, who is not only an intelligent merchant but an owner of land, informed me that the annual rental of one of his estates had, in consequence of the facilities of the English markets, advanced, and yielded from 2,400 francs, to 3,000 francs per annum increase, and that the condition of the farmers has improved in a similar ratio. The demand for the barley grown in Mayenne is not confined to Great * Exports from St. Malo in 1864. The franc is about 10d., the value of the butter exported was therefore nearly 500,000l. METAYERS IN BRITTANY. 17 Britain; the Dutch are also becoming competitors; inquiries from Rotterdam were that day received asking for quotations of barley. Land here is not so much in the ownership of the occupiers as in Jersey; it is owned in larger quantities, but is farmed by those having small holdings. The owner pays the taxes, in some cases supplies seed, and even furnishes the live farm stock, and receives in return half the produce of the land. This system, introduced simultaneously into parts of France and Italy by the Franks and Burgundians who migrated from Germany in the fourth and fifth centuries, is known as the metayer (from the word metaye, to measure or divide the produce) system. These conquerors, who in the reign of Theodoric overran France and Italy, instead of despoiling the original inhabitants of their entire possessions, left them in possession, and took in exchange from one-half to two-thirds of the produce. Other tribes of invaders took the entire of the land, and reduced the aborigines to serfdom. Wherever feudalism existed, there were two races the conquerors and the conquered, the bond and the free, the lord and the serf. Under the metayer system the farmer was a sort of bailiff to his lord. Whether Brittany gave the name of Britain to England is a question which I do not undertake to solve, but it is very curious to trace the analogy of language between the most ancient British race and the peasants of this district. This was shown some years since in a most striking manner. A joint-stock company was formed for working the mines, and it engaged some Welsh miners. A good deal of trouble and expense was incurred in providing interpreters, who were expected to understand the patois of the C |