80 



THE BRITISH ISLES. 



with it fogs, drizzling rain, or heavy showers. Storms are of frequent occurrence, 

 and the number of shipwrecks is nowhere hirger. The currents which meet at 

 the Scilly Ishmds often carry vessels out of their true course, and during fogs 

 cause them to run upon sunken rocks. It was here that, in 1707, the most disastrous 

 shipwreck of modern times occurred. An entire fleet, commanded by Sir Cloudesley 

 Shovel, was thrown upon the rocks, and two thousand human souls passed together 



FiL'. 13. -Til K StII.I.Y TSLANHS. 



Scale 1 : ITi'jion. 



) W.oPGr 6-25 



6° 15 



I'oiCjiiOie. 



Depth under -JG Fathoms 



2G to 5i i'athoms. 

 _ aililes. 



Over 54 Fathoms. 



into eternity. An old saying will have it that out of every ten natives of the 

 Scilly Islands nine perish in the sea ; but thanks to lighthouses, lightships, fog 

 signals, life-boats, and a change in the mode of life of the inhabitants, this, 

 happily, is no longer true. 



The Cornish peninsula is quite as much a land of mist and rain as are the 

 Scilly Islands. The annual rainfall is nowhere less than 30 inches ; in most 

 localities it exceeds 3 feet, and on the western slopes of Dartmoor it rises to 



