I 
THE ALDERNEY BREED. 
PLATE XIY. 
COW and CALF, the property of M. Brehaut of Jersey. 
The Breed termed Alderney is derived from the group of beautiful islands pertaining to the British Crown, which lie near the 
shoies of France m the bay formed by the coasts of Normandy and Brittany. Although termed Alderney, the breed, with some dif¬ 
ference of characters, is common to all the islands. The Cows are imported into England in considerable numbers, and are esteemed 
eyond those of any other race for the richness of their milk, and the deep yellow tinge of the butter. Hence they are in demand 
. y the more opuknt classes for the domestic dairy, and regarded as a kind of appendage of the park and rural villa. They are 
introduced likewise into the regular butter dairies, chiefly of Dorsetshire and Hampshire, and they are mingled in blood with the 
native laces, especially the Devon and its varieties. To supply these sources of demand, the importation from the islands is regu- 
lar, and forms a considerable branch of tbeir commerce. 
The cattle of this race are small, and ill-formed when regarded as animals to be fattened. The Cow is greatly below the 
ma e in strength and stature, in which respect she resembles the Cows of the Devon and its kindred breeds. Her neck is thin, 
. er shoulder light, her chest narrow and the belly large. The limbs are slender, the pelvic bones prominent; the lumbar region 
. ee ^’ tIlC Cr0up 1 all(l drooping, and the udder large. The muzzle is narrow, the horns are short, slender, and curving 
T e coloui is usually of a light red or fawn, mixed with white, but frequently individuals are black, mixed with white 
or dun, and sometimes cream coloured. The skin is thin, and of a rich orange-yellow, and the fat, as well as the milk and butter, 
are tinged with the same colour. The animals are gentle, and somewhat delicate in constitution. Being small in size, the milk 
t ey yield is likewise small in quantity, although fully in proportion to their bulk of body ; and it is viscid, and rich in cream. In 
tien native country, the Bullocks are used for labour, to which they are better adapted than, from the slender form of the dam 
might be inferred. 
The islands from which these cattle are derived, are the sole remaining appanage to the English crown of the ancient Duchy of 
Normandy. When the rude Northmen had hewed a passage by the sword to the fair plains of Western France, they subdued 
lovely little islands on its slioies; and after a hundred years of strife,—having ravaged Burgundy and the ad¬ 
jacent provinces, and twice assailed the city of Paris and once reduced it to ashes, these wild invaders were put in possession of 
the conquered lands by a formal investiture. In the year of our Lord 912, Charles the Simple concluded a treaty, from which a 
t ousaud mighty events were to spring, with Rollo the Scandinavian chief, to whom was yielded up the whole of Normandy and 
its dependencies, to be held for ever as a fief of the crown of France, but in truth to be an independent kingdom; for so little did the 
warlike Northman understand or regard the feudal fiction, that he refused to undergo the customary forms. One hundred and fifty 
years later, his great successor, surnamed the Conqueror, added the proud kingdom of England to his Norman inheritance. In the 
memorable course of events, the Duchy of Normandy was severed from the English sway; but the islands on its coasts were pre¬ 
served, and have remained, in all the changes of fortune, to the present hour, a part and dependency of England. The customs and 
language of the people were retained by them, and their laws and ancient privileges have been respected for the long space of 900 years. 
The inhabitants have been treated by England with the favour which their fidelity and peculiar condition seemed to demand. While 
all the privileges of British subjects are accorded to them with respect to their commerce with other countries, they are freed from 
the heavy imposts to which the parent country is necessarily subject. Their corn, their timber, their wine, their sugar, and all 
colonial and foreign merchandize, may be imported by them free of all the customs and restraints which, in England, must be im¬ 
posed for the purposes of revenue and protection, while they may export them again, as well as their own productions and manu¬ 
factures, to all the world. Athough Norman in their origin, and speaking the ancient language of the country from which they have 
been severed, they are English with respect to their interests, their religion, and their feelings as subjects. Insulting, as it were, by 
their contiguity, the proud and warlike nation which regards their country as a natural adjunct of France, they have bravely aided 
in repelling the attempts of repeated armaments to subdue them. But their true defence is the powerful navy of England, with¬ 
out whose incessant vigilance in the time of war, nothing could guard them from surprise and subjugation. 
The islands are four, Alderney, Jersey, Guernsey, and Serk, with their dependent islets. The most northerly, and nearest to 
the coast of France, is Alderney, which is well protected by its rocky shores and dangerous currents. The most westerly is Guern¬ 
sey, which is the least fertile m soil; and the smallest is Serk, which consists of a beautiful table-land, scarcely accessible from 
the sea, and capable of being defended by a handful of men. The largest, richest, and most populous is Jersey, lying about six 
leagues from the coast of France. Its surface, except where it rises into rocky eminences, presents to the eye a rich forest of fruit- 
