CHAPTER III. 



THE COENISH PENINSULA. 

 (Cornwall and Devonshiue.) 



HE peninsula formed almost wholly of the counties of Cornwall and 

 Devonshire constitutes a distinct geographical province, which 

 resembles "Wales rather than any other part of England. It is a 

 country of rocks, hills, promontories, and heath-covered ridges. 

 Like the Cambrian mountain region, its rocks belong to the most 

 ancient formations, and a well-marked depression, extending southward from 

 the valley of the Severn, separates it from the rest of England. Cornwall and 

 Wales also resemble each other as respects the origin of their inhabitants, and 

 a like geographical position has resulted in a certain analogy in the historical 

 development of the two peoples. When we speak of the Welsh, our thoughts 

 almost involuntarily turn to the neighbouring people of Cornwall. 



Cornwall, by its geological structure, is a sister-land of French Brittany, from 

 which it is separated by the wide mouth of the English Channel. The land 

 on both sides of that arm of the sea is composed of granite, schists, and palaeozoic 

 rocks ; the shores are indented by deep gulfs and bays, affording facilities for the 

 establishment of great naval stations ; and both peninsulas terminate in promon- 

 tories known as Land's End, or Finistère. Climate, rivers, soil, and inhabitants all 

 resemble each other on these two shores. Cornwall, however, enjoys the advantage 

 of being far richer in mineral wealth than the French peninsula. There is no coal, 

 as in Wales, but rich lodes of copper, zinc, and lead have attracted navigators 

 from the most ancient times, and have proved the principal source of prosperity of 

 the county.* 



A range of hills of Devonian formation rises to the south of the Bristol Channel, 

 and constitutes, as it were, the root of the peninsula. These hiUs are separated b}^ 

 valleys, giving birth to the head-stream of the Exe, and terminate in the west, in 

 the table-land of Exmoor, some of the summits of which exceed a height of 1,500 

 feet. On the north this table-land is intersected by picturesque valleys, and termi- 

 nates in bold cliffs. From its summits we may witness the continuous onslaught 



* Dufrenoy et Élie de Beaumoat, " Voyage métallurgique en Angleterre.' 



