at the present time a superstitious reverence is paid to these mighty menhirs by the peasantry, offerings of fruit and flowers being very often laid at the base, besides the performance of other acts of propitiation. This is evidently a relic of the stone-worship of which traces so markedly occur in other countries; but here, in some instances, to combat the Pagan tendency to venerate these menhirs, it is not unusual to find that some zealous priest has fixed an iron or wooden cross to the top or side of the menhir, so as to convert the custom into, at all events the appearance of, a Christian act of worship.

These menhirs are, on excavation, found to be set up in a dry soil and firmly bedded below the surface with large stones, amongst which at times have been discovered traces of primitive fireplaces, Gallo-Roman bowls, flint arrow-heads, sling-stones, stone hammers, etc.

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Marvellous, however, as these solitary menhirs are, I must confess I was not prepared for the wonderful sight which met my eyes when I beheld them aggregated in the first of those three great series known as the "Alignments of Carnac". These consist, first, of those which are known as "La Mennec", signifying "The Place of Stones", or, in another rendering, "The Place of Remembrance". The next series of alignments are those of Kermario = "The Place of the Dead", and called also to-day the Village des Morts". The third series of alignments are those of "Kerlescant" or "Kerlosquet="The Place of Burning or Incineration". I would call particular attention to the more or less funereal signification of these names, which to my mind have an important signification and bearing on the hypothesis which I shall submit to the reader's consideration as to their origin. There are altogether ten principal alignments: four constituting those of Mennec, three forming the alignments of Kermario, and three those of Kerlescant. Looking at the map of the district, the reader will observe that the alignments are represented by dots which run almost due west to east; and that starting from the road we first of all come to the alignments of Kerlescant, or the "Place of Burning".

At first the stones are few and small, but as one draws nearer to Kerlescant, they take more definite shape, and at last they rise to ranks of stones some ten or twelve feet in height, increasing in number of rows to eleven and then thirteen, ultimately terminating in what is supposed to be a square cromlech called Le Bal, a formation I believe to be very rare, if not unique in megalithic remains. Briefly, there are altogether 579 great stones in the lines, 39 in the cromlech, and to the north there are 43 menhirs, of which six or seven are upright, with outlines of an enormous cromlech. Le Bal, to which I have above referred, covers an area of 250 ft. by 150 ft. The high road then intervenes, and for a distance of some 2,000 ft. the stones are scarcely visible, until, at last, they again appear above the surface in noticeable manner, and again increase in height, until we find ourselves at the second alignment, that of Kermario, "The Village of the Dead", or, as it is also called, "Lann Mané Kermario"="The Moorland Hill of the Town of the Dead". Here the same formation obtains, the stones to the west being small and gradually increasing to 12 ft. or 18 ft. as one goes eastward. Then there is a break of about 1,000 ft. I may mention that the alignments of Kermario contain 989 menhirs in ten lines; the total length is about 1,120 metres, and half along the ten lines of which it is composed, we find a “Dolmen â galèrie" to the south, and also three menhirs standing erect, and in some degree tending to point to a line which once had extended to the south. From here, at this point, there is a break of 1,020 ft. ; and then for the third time we find the same formation, and the most magnificent alignments of any, viz., Mennec, come before us. The unique sensation on first seeing these wonderful lines of majestic stones is hard to express in words, as one contemplates these relics of a mighty past, hitherto almost unrevealed. To enable the mind, however, to aid the eye, I may mention that these alignments contain 1,169 menhirs, of which there are 1,099 in eleven lines and 70 in the cromlech of Mennec, of which a view is shown on page 167. The smallest stones are about 18 ins. in height, and the largest