CHANNKL ISLANDS 



rilA.NNKL TINNKL 



101 



'*. The people, especially in Guernsey and 



\, ailli'Ti' tn tln-ir old speech, a dialect of the 

 .t l.onave (foil, which was once a literary 



liige. Its lest known inonuiiient in the Itunutn 



<, a native of Jersey, who wrote in 



tin- I _tli century. In our own days it has been 



I liy the' late Georges Metivier, who has 



I..-. -i i called tin; 'Guernsey Huron.' The late Sir 



i Marett was also tin- author of many poems 



written in the Jersey form of the language. The 



.if tin; loral law is the Cotitumier de Norman- 



. liirh is /ii-iint'i (uric evidence of the common 

 lifsides this, the local states enact statutes 

 u! two kinds their bylaws (called ' ordonnances ' ), 

 Isauiiu' fiirce for three years without royal assent, 

 ami organic statutes, which must le sanctioned by 

 tli>- i-rown. The French language, in its modern 

 shape. i> the official language of the states and of 

 i he law -courts ; and a French service is held in the 

 parish churches. 



The administration, generally speaking, is of 

 tin 1 usual tw.i sorts, the executive and the judicial. 

 Thf principal officer is the general commanding 

 tin 1 troops in each bailiwick, of which Jersey is 

 one, and Guernsey, with its dependencies Sark and 

 Alilerney, the other. He is called lieutenant- 

 governor, and is appointed in that capacity for 

 li\'' years. The chief civil officer is the bailiff', 

 who presides in the executive and legislative 



1 1 lilies, represented when absent by a lieu- 

 it'iiant-hailift'. In judicial matters the bailiff is 

 also the chief, the superior courts being formed by 

 a quorum of the jurats. In matters or legislation 

 tin- states are constituted in Jersey of the twelve 

 junits, twelve rectors, twelve constables, and four- 

 teen deputies; but in Guernsey almost all power 

 lias l>een retained by the royal court. The other 

 rrown officers are the attorney-general, the solici- 

 tor-general, and the viscount or prevdt, who have 

 a rijjht of sitting in the states, but not of voting. 

 The Channel Islands, as already mentioned, are 



, , 



to the diocese of Winchester, but each 

 bailiwick has its own dean. The livings are in 

 tin- gift of the crown, but are of small value. The 

 administration is, to a great extent, gratuitous; 

 such offices as are not so being paid chiefly out of 

 tin- local revenues of the crown. These islands 

 have compulsory military service within their own 

 limits about one-tenth of the population being in 

 the ranks or the reserve of the militia. Their im- 

 munities have been fully and frequently recognised, 

 and much loyalty to England is consequently felt. 

 The industry, thrift, and prosperity of the inhabit- 

 ants have been testified to by recent observers. 

 Thi'ir holdings are small, but the agricultural pop- 

 ulation consists chiefly of yeomen-proprietors who 

 labour with their own hands. The towns are busy 

 and populous, and the houses, both there and on 

 tin- farms, are large, substantial, and well kept. 

 The taxation is tntling, the customs duties being 

 MMV light. Living is very cheap. Communication 

 with the ports of the south of England is regular 

 ami frequent. 



Geology. Most of the islands are composed of 

 primary or granitic rocks. Alderney is a mass of 

 syenite. with hornblende, porphyry, and occasional 

 sandstone. The structure of Guernsey is hard 

 syenite to the north, and gneiss to the south. The 

 -TV of Jersey is more varied, presenting a 

 mixture of metamorphic rocks, conglomerates, and 

 sandstones, with syenites and quartzites. Shale 

 ami blown sand are also prevalent. Sark is com- 

 |Hi>etl of very hard syenite, with veins of greenstone 

 and felspar. Granite is quarried from all the 

 islands, especially from Guernsey, Herm, and 

 Mont Mado in Jersey, both for home use and 

 for exportation. 



The scenery is exquisitely varied and beautiful ; 



robably in no other area of similar M/C could be 



iiid such a combination of navage rock* and 

 pleasing landscapes. 



The climate is agreeable and suitable to invalid*. 

 The prevailing winds are from north to north- 

 u---i. The mean annual rainfall in 35 inches 

 in Guernsey ; but the climate in not over moi-t, 

 the soil being porous, and evaporation rapid. 

 The mean annual temperature of Jersey is 50 - 8 ; 

 of Guernsey, 50'5, or about 2 warmer than 

 Greenwich. The range of temperature i very 

 moderate ; but the climate of Guernsey is rather 

 more equable than that of Jersey. August is the 

 hottest month ; February the coldest. Frost and 

 snow are rare. The autumns are very beautiful; 

 and a second summer, called the Petit fate de Saint 

 Martin, generally sets in about the JOth of October, 

 and lasts till the middle of December. Flowering 

 plants and shrubs are about a fortnight earlier in 

 the spring than in England. The sunshine averages 

 nearly six hours a day throughout the year. 



The produce of the islands is principally agricul- 

 tural ; but horticulture and floriculture are success- 

 fully followed the latter especially in Guernsey. 

 The soil is generally light, deep, and fertile. The 

 system of cultivation is very primitive. The prin- 

 cipal manure is seaweed, which is gathered in 

 vast quantities from the shores at certain seasons 

 under strict regulations. Its annual value to 

 Guernsey alone is estimated at 30,000. A great 

 quantity is burned for the manufacture of kelp and 

 iodine. 



The land is held in small parcels ranging from 

 five to twenty English acres. The principal crops 

 are potatoes, hay, wheat, turnips, mangel-wurzel, 

 parsnips, and carrots. The Channel Islands are 

 famous for excellent breeds of horned cattle, 

 usually known as ' Alderneys,' though each island 

 has its own speciality (see CATTLE). The other 

 main articles of exportation are granite, fruit, and 

 early potatoes. 



There are no good recent books on the Channel Islands. 

 Physical phenomena will be found treated of by Professor 

 Ansted in The Channel Islands (4th ed. 1896). Useful 

 historical information will be found in Le Quesne's 

 Constitutional History of Jersey (1856), and Tupper's 

 History of Guernsey ( 1876 ). See the separate articles on 

 ALDERNEY, JERSEY, GUERNSEY, and SARK. 



Channel Tunnel. The proposed tunnel 

 under the narrow channel dividing England and 

 France, which countries in very early geological 

 times were united, would be 23 miles long, includ- 

 ing land-approaches. It would be made entirely 

 through and within the area of the 'old gray 

 chalk,' or craie de Rotten, as designated by 

 French geologists. This bed of chalk extends 

 from shore to shore. It consists of a mixture of 

 65 per cent, of chalk and 35 per cent, of clay, and 

 is therefore impervious to water ; though the ex- 

 perimental works have shown cracks here and 

 there which exude for a time a fresh or brackish 

 water, apparently imprisoned for ages in these 

 small fissures. While the experimental works have 

 been suspended most of these fissures have run 

 themselves dry. The French Tunnel Company, 

 who possess a concession for making a tunnel to the 

 middle of the Channel, and the English Tunnel 

 Company, associated under ' limited liability,' have 

 made many thousand soundings and experiments, 

 and consider it proved that the 'gray chalk' is not 

 only in the same position and of the same thickness 

 and consistency on each side of the Channel, but 

 that no erosion or fault interfering with continuity 

 exists as between the two coasts. 



The experimental works, already executed by a 

 headway of 7 feet diameter on the English side, have 

 been extended by the using of a ' boring machine,' 

 from the foot of Shakespeare's Cliff, near Dover, 



