observed in Ushant. 249 



Mol^ne, and we have before us scenes which it would be 

 difficult to match elsewhere in European waters. 



The birds seen on the voyage were Manx Shearwaters^ Cor- 

 morants, ShagSj Herring-Gulls, Lesser and Greater Black- 

 backed Gulls, Sandwich and Lesser Terns ; and among 

 migrants a Common Sandpiper and an Osprey. 



A three hours' run brought us to Ushant, the most Avesterly 

 land of France, and situated twelve miles from the nearest 

 point of the mainland. This island is irregular in outline, 

 for it throws out, as it were, two long parallel arms to the 

 south-west, which enclose the deep Bale de Porspaul ; while 

 there are minor promontories to the north-east, north, and 

 north-west. It is about three and a half square miles in 

 area, and does not present any remarkable physical features 

 excepting the wonderful rock-scenery on the west coast, of 

 which more anon. Cliffs face the sea on all sides except 

 the south-west, and these attain their maximum height of 

 211 feet in the north. The surface of the island has a 

 parched and arid appearance, due to its herbage being 

 closely cropped by the cattle and sheep of the inhabitants. 

 There are, however, several shallow, moist, verdant dej)ressions, 

 down which, no doubt, tiny streams may find their way to 

 the sea during the winter rains. Some corn is grown, and 

 whins flourish in compounds erected for their protection, 

 for these shrubs form an important item of fuel. There are 

 a few trees, of small size, in one or two of the gardens at 

 Lampaul, the chief settlement, at the head of the Bale de 

 Porspaul. 



Geologically, the island is composed of foliated granite. 

 This rock in weathering does not form ledges, and this, 

 in a measure, may account for the absence of breeding- 

 stations of sea-fowl on the sheltered eastern cliffs j those on 

 the north and west are wave-swept even in summer, and are 

 consequently not avaikible. 



The west coast is exposed to the full force of the Atlantic, 

 and by the fury of its waves the numerous stacks and the 

 irregular face of its lower cliffs have been carved and trans- 

 formed into all manner of remarkable and fantastic forms. 



SEK. VII. VOL. v. S 



