INTEODUCTION. 



I. Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands, lies in the Bay of 



St. Malo, off the north-west coast of France, in lat. 49° 15' N. and 



long. 2° 10' W. The distance from the French coast is about 16 



mUes on the east and about 30 on the south. 



The shape is a rough parallelograru, the sides of which are 



indented on the east, south, and west by sandy bays. The length 



(from east to west) is about 11 mUes, and the breadth about 54. 



The longest diagonal (N.W. to S.E.) measm-es about 13 mUes. 



The total land area is about 45 square miles, and the acreage 



28,717 (64,613 vergees). The general character of the surface is a 



flat plateau, sloping gently from north to south, and intersected by a 



niimber of nearly parallel valleys which run right across the 



island, so that almost the whole of the drainage finds its way 



to the south coast. The north coast is harbourless and fringed 



with high cUffs and precipitous rocks. The great sandy waste of 



St. Ouen's Bay occupies almost the whole of the west side. On 



the south and east the sandy bays of St. Brelade's, St. Aubin's, 



St. Clement's, and GrouviUe follow one another in the order 



named. In St. Aubin's, St. Clement's, and Grouville Bays a 



tract of low-lying alluvial land, formerly marshy but now drained 



and cultivated, intervenes between the edge of the plateau and the 



sea. In the south-west there is a remarkable accumulation of 



„ blown sand known as the Quenvais. There is no 

 Noury, p. 156. 



hiU* in Jersey, as distinguished from the cliffs on 



the coast and the sides of the valleys. The streams are neces- 

 sarily mere rivulets, and the only piece of water of any importance 

 is St. Ouen's Pond. 



* The highest points in the Island are Mont Mado and the cKffs to the 

 west of Boiiley Bay, each 473 feet. 



