1S39] 



FARMKRS' uK(iisri:K 



46l 



(or I'le (liscnvery o( pprings of water in the enrih, 

 hilt the number of these have been low indeed, at 

 nnv period. 



boring a residence of five yenrs in the Island 

 or Jersey, (Enn;kind,) I had continual ©[iporiuni- 

 lies oftesting the truth ol the pretention; lor there 

 Vwed within half a mile of my house, a person 

 who, fvery one admitted, possessed the power to 

 an unlimited decree ; but knowing tliat I could 

 at any time indulge in the experiment, 1 neglected 

 to do so until my removal from thence, when I 

 regretted that [ had allowed the opportunity to 

 pass without convincing myself of the truth or 

 falsehood ol' a phenomenon which has interested 

 the world for so many ages.* 1 had, however, 

 yerj' unexpectedly, an opportunity of re-visiting 

 the island, and then 1 determined lo satisly my- 

 self on the pubjecl. For this purpose, I visited, in 

 company with a friend, f the person above alluded 

 to, and the result is as follows: His name is In- 

 gouville, a resident on his own estate, within a 

 short distance ol the town of St. Hellier's, on the 

 'IVinly Road, and a highly respectable man. He 

 received us in the most friendly manner, professed 

 himsell' ready to accompany us, and to malce us 

 acquainted with every thing relating to, what he 

 himself accounted, a most wonderful circumstance. 

 He began by furnishing himself with an elm twig, 

 the size of a small quill, cut (rom the tree so as to 

 Ibrm a Ibrk, Y, and taking the double twigs, one 

 in eacii hand, will; the sinrrle point forward, he 

 walked into the garden vvLere was a spring of 

 water, not, however, discernihle on the surlace. 

 On afjproaching the spot, he desired me to grasp 

 the twigs, which extended be}ond his hands, and 

 s ly if 1 Ibund them tremble as we walked lor- 

 wards; in a short time I lelf them very sensibly 

 ullected, and saw the single point of the rod ten- 

 ding downwards to the earth ; he then asked if I 

 lelt them twis'ing in my hands, from an inclina- 

 tion to Ibllow the downward tendency of the [loini? 

 which 1 did ; he bade me grasp them tightly, with 

 a view to prevent the single point from turning; but 

 this i could not do, although he held the rod very 

 loosely, lo give me every facility lor so doing. 

 After a few more steps, the point of the rod turned 

 down, in a direct position, towards the earth, in 

 spite of all my endeavors to prevent it. "Tliere," 

 said he, ''is the spring," and as I liberated the 

 en<ls ol the rod l>oni my grasp, they immediately 

 took an upright position, correspondent to the 

 downward position of the point of the rod. He 

 then approached the same spot from tlie opposite 

 sides with precisely the same lesults. At my re- 

 quest, he repeated the experiment several times, 

 until [ was abundantly satisfied of tlte trutli of all 

 that I had heard relating to this curious and won- 

 derful performance. He afierwarils poini.l out 

 other spots, always with the most perfect t^uicess. 

 When I expressed my astonishment at what 1 had 

 vyiinessed, he assured me he was at a loss lo con- 

 ceive of the power which resided in him, and was 

 very desirous of knowing if it could be accounied 

 lor on philosophical principles. He told us, at the 

 lime of the first French revolution, many of the 

 Roman Catholic priests fled for refuge to the 



* I have heard that in Ccesar's Commentaries, men- 

 tion IS made of the divining rod, in use for the pur- 

 pose of discovering wells of water. 



t The Rev. Francis Perrot. 



Island of .Terse}', and amongst them was one who 

 was said to possess the power of discovering 

 spiings of water, by means of the divining rod ; 

 he was then building the house where he now 

 resides, and havrng no water, he thought it a good 

 opportunity 'o put the experiment to the test; he 

 therefore invited the priest lo his house, and re- 

 quested him to try his skill: this he d'd, and dis- 

 covered a spring of water a short distance from the 

 building, "f then," said iie, "desired him lo per- 

 mit me'to try if I also possessed ihe power, and on 

 taking the rod into my hands found that 1 did to a 

 greater degree than himself! The discovery quite 

 overcame me, and I should have fallen, had I not 

 supported myself against the wall. I afterwards, 

 by means of the rod, Ibund a spring immediately 

 under the foundations of the new building, and I 

 did not hesitate to dpg lo it ; but, lo do tliis, it was 

 first necessary to turn an arch in the wall, lo laker 

 otf the weight from the foundation, which I did, 

 and struck the spring within 9 inches of the depth 

 which I had calculated." And there I saw the 

 arch (a standing memorial of the truth of what he 

 had related) stretching across a well, which yields 

 a never-failinir springofllie purest water. He ad- 

 ded, "Since this, I 'have been sent for, far and 

 near, to find springs for my friends, and I have 

 ! never been deceived in my operations, although 

 i more than 2,000 wells have been dug by my direc- 

 ! lions." He is enabled to calculate the depth of 

 : the sprinir, by nieapurinfj the distance between the 

 , spot at which the rod first becomes agitated, and 

 1 that at which it lakes a decitled turn downwards, 

 and has attained a surprising exactness in these 

 i his calculations. He was requested by Sir T. Le 

 Breton, the Lieut. Baillie of the island, lo search 

 1 Ibr a spring at his house at Bagatelle, as the well, 

 j from which water was obtained, was only a land 

 ! drain : singular enough, he could find only one 

 ' spring, and that was at the bottom of Vie well! 

 \ "fjo deeper," said he, slating ihe depth according to 

 : his rule, "and you will find plenty of water." I, 

 j sometimes after, received a letter from my friends, 

 ! Messrs. Jean and lAlarrett, brewers, stating that 

 j Mr. Ingouville had discovered a spring on their 

 ' premises, four feci only from their old ^rell, (a land 

 i drain) which iurnished plenty of llie finest water 

 I for all their purpose. Mr. James Hemery, in- 

 ' tendinff to erect a house in a beautiful field near 

 j St. Hellier's, Mr. Ingouville searched for a spring, 

 ! and pointed out the spot where it misht be found, 

 stating the depth at which it would be struck ; 

 ' and, without hesitation, Mr. Hemery commenced 

 I building in the faith of his prediction, so that Ihe 

 ' well, when dug. might be enclosed by the court 

 i yard wall, and at exactly this spot he Ibund it! 

 j The Island of Jersey is of primitive, or granite 

 ! formation, of an almos't impenetrable character, 

 ! yet no one, in need of a well, hesitates lo dig at 

 "the spot pointed out. and frequently, the price for 

 digging has been fixed before-hand, by means of 

 his rule for judiring of the necessary depth. 



After Mr. Ingouville had satisfied me of the 

 truth of what I had heard on the subject of water 

 finding, he informed me that he had the power of 

 finding money also ; he requested me to bury a 

 silver coin in the garden, walking from me, to 

 show he did not wish to see the spot where it had 

 been deposited ; he fnind it in an instant, and 

 then related a singular circumstance which occur- 

 red during a late search (br a spring of water — 



