64 



Jersey from Weymouth is 85 miles, from the Isle of Wight 90 

 miles, while the nearest point of France is not more than 16 miles. 



The French call the Islands " les lies Normandes " or " Les 

 Isles de la Manche," while the Jersey people consider their island 

 part of the Duchy of Normandy, and speak of England as 

 " the other side," and always look upon it as a country they con- 

 quered with the aid of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy. 



Jersey slopes from the N. to the S., the Northern shores being 

 lofty and precipitous. The centre of the Island is a table land, 

 well wooded, and much cultivated, and intersected by numerous 

 lovely valleys, each of which has its stream of clear water. The 

 southern shore slopes easily down to the sea, and everywhere 

 vegetation comes quite close to the edges of the bays, which are 

 numerous and most picturesque. 



Botany. 



The most characteristic trees are the Ilex, or evergreen oak, 

 and the Elm. There are no woods properly so called, but a good 

 many small copses, especially alongside the lanes in the interior. 

 A strong prejudice exists in the minds of the farmers against all 

 kinds of ornamental wood, partly from fear of birds harbouring 

 therein, and partly from a notion that the presence of trees is un- 

 favourable to the work of the farmer, and where possible i.hey lop 

 and pollard the trees in the hedgerows and lanes so as to admit 

 sunshine and air to every inch of their small plots of ground. The 

 trees are nowhere very lofty and not so disfigured by prevalent 

 winds as is commonly seen by the sea-side. The beech grows well 

 and is common. There are a few coniferse, but they are not in- 

 digenous. The lime, poplar, aspen, oak, and willow flourish in 

 Jersey, and a characteristic form of dwarf willow, Salix fusca, 

 is abundant in swampy places. None of the wood can be con- 

 sidered as furnishing useful timber. But everything seems to 

 show that in former times there were large tracts of forest that 

 have since been submerged. The timber then grown was larger 

 than can now be found. There is in the Museum part of the trunk 

 of a submerged tree (oak) four feet in diameter. Gorse, heather, 

 bramble and broom are very abundant in the uncultivated parts. 

 The gorse seems to bloom all the year round. The Butcher's broom 

 (Ruscus aculeatus) is very abundant in copses and hedges. 

 Various kinds of wild roses are found, and the sweet briar is found 

 in Jersey only of all the Channel Islands. There are many wild 

 flowers found in Jersey, which are rare or not found in England. 

 Amongst these I might mention the Ixia (Trichonema columna). 

 Orchis laxiflora, Scilla autumnalis , Orchis Morio, Neottia 

 aestivalis, and the only flowering sea-weed, Zostera marina. One 

 plant strikes one as most plentiful everywhere, and that is the 

 navel-wort, Cotyledon Umbilicus, every wall and bank being 

 covered with it. Two rare sedges are found here, Cyperus longus 

 and Cladium Mariscus. Of grasses Jersey has 15 species not 

 found in the other Islands. Lagurus ovatus is a specially pretty 

 grass. 



