468 REPTILIA, UATTIACIIIA, AND MAMMALIA. 



latitude, and was moro al)lo to ap]n'oacli the borders of the 

 retreating ice-fringe than the lizard. Yet we see it arrived 

 too late for eross-ing, hence we are hound to conchide tliat the 

 green lizard reac^hed (Jncrnsey l)y Innnan agency. 



Befoi'e proceeding furl her with the subject of zoology it 

 Avill be well to consider at souk; lengtli the physical geography 

 of these islands. 



A glance at an ordinary ma]) shows that Guernsey and 

 Alderney lie beyond the horns of the greater bay of St. 

 Michel — the " Golfe Nornianno-breton," — while Jersey is 

 well ensconced within. A brief stiidy of a map showing 

 ancient coast lines in these parts, as in Geikie's Great Ice Ar/e, 

 shows that with the sea advancing from the South-westward 

 during the subsidence of land wliicli has brought about the 

 present configuration, Guernsey must have been cut off fi-om 

 the C'ontinent at an early period in the formation of the 

 English Channel, in fact before the sea had advanced to 

 where now are the straits of Dover ; thus Guernsey must have 

 been an island while England was still continental. Zoology 

 also supports this inference, foi- w^hile Guernsey has fallen 

 short in the number of immigrants, England has received the 

 full complement. How long ago this might be we shall pre- 

 sently seek some data for deciding. 



Guernsey- —with Sark, Herm and Jethou at first united 

 with it — was separated from the nearest continental shore, now 

 Jersey, by a channel of about the same width as at ])resent, 

 that is, some ten miles, but shallow^er by about five fathoms. 

 The channel has not appreciably widened owing to its being- 

 bounded by granite cliffs which yield but slowly to erosion. 



To ascertain as nearly as we can the periods at which the 

 islands parted from one another and from the Continent, it 

 will be best to proceed in inverse order, first considering 

 Jersey, the newest member of the group. 



Kegarding the separation of Jersey from the French 

 coast — a comparatively recent event — we would naturally look 

 for some historical record ; but unha])pily what has, for more 

 than a century and a half, passed as history on this subject is 

 but a collection of legends and traditions said to have been 

 obtained from chronicles in the custody of the monks of St. 

 Michel, and these so-called records are totally unreliable. 



The most popular of these traditions is that of the " Maree 

 Fatale^'' handed down to us by I'Abbe Manet. According to 

 this account there occurred in the month of March in the year 

 709 a storm of terrible and disastrous magnitude, which being 

 accompanied by a high tide, caused the whole forest plain, 



