18 THE GUERNSEY BREED 



some American cities covering the same area. That part of 

 the island surrounding- St. Peter Port harbor is so thickly 

 populated as to be a city, and as one drives out into the 

 country one gets almost to the far side of the island before 

 it looks like anything else but city. 



Many interesting old buildings are seen, Practically 

 nothing has been done to preserve them, and they are usually 

 torn down to make way for modern improvements. In the 

 days of war between France and England, and during the 

 American Revolution, large numbers of privateers and smug- 

 gling vessels made these islands their headquarters, and the 

 foundation fortunes of many families were made in those 

 times. Some of the families of today are proud to claim their 

 descent from these men, who were little short of buccaneers. 

 Many of the old wine cellars, hewn in the solid rock and used 

 in the trade of those early days, can still be seen in the side- 

 hills of the town. 



The island has a monetary system of its own, consisting 

 of bank notes, state notes, and copper coins designated as one, 

 two, four, and eight doubles. The eight-double piece has 

 supposedly the value of the English penny, but actually it 

 passes at a discount. Guernsey money is the basis of price in 

 most business transactions, and if English money is offered in 

 payment, a premium of 5 per cent is allowed. Then, besides the 

 English money and the local currency, the silver coinage of 

 nearly every country of Europe, especially that of France, is 

 in daily circulation. The French franc, valued at about 19. 3c 

 in American money, passes in Guernsey as 10 pence of cur- 

 rency, and is used much more commonly than the British 

 shilling. At least three of the London banks have branches 

 on the island, and there are other local banking institutions. 



In the United States the Channel Islands are known 

 almost altogether because of the breeds of cattle that come 

 from them. If one asks people in England if they know the 

 Channel Islands, they are likely to reply : "Oh yes, I spent 

 my holiday there last summer." An enormous number of 

 tourists visit the islands each summer, more in Jersey prob- 

 ably than in Guernsey. Most excellent hotels abound on all 

 of the islands, and as good accommodations can be secured as 

 one will find in American cities of moderate size. 



Fine public gardens are maintained, and an excellent 

 means of transportation is 'provided by the busses that run 

 from the town market square out to the center of nearly every 



