112 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENER. 
November 11. 
I 
length. IVhon finishecl it vill have cost seventy millions of 
francs, or nearly three millions sterling, ami is not dear at 
the price, if we consider the labour it has cost, and the ser¬ 
vices it renders. It forms a harbonr, and protects a bay 
which would hold almost all the shipping of Europe. It is 
perfectly insulated, and is built entirely of granite. In the 
centre is a lightliouse, with suitable habitations for the 
ofiicers and workmen, five hundred of whom reside upon 
the Digue. Erom this centre two vast granite arms stretch 
light and left, each terminating in a large circular fort about 
half built, but on each of which forts the workmen wlio 
laboiu’ there live and sleep in temporary wooden buildings; 
for when the sea is rough, driven by a strong north wind, the 
arms are impassible ; the waves dash over them, and sweep 
with such violence, that large blocks of gi’anite many tons 
in weight, which happen to be lying there to complete the 
edilice, are born away mto the bay like pebbles, or ^dashed 
together and broken. 
On approaching the Digue in our boat, as the lighthouse 
and centi’al buildings liecame gradually more distinctly 
visilde, I was prepai'ed for their human occupants, but did 
not expect to find any of the brute or the feathered creation 
colonising a more hard bare ivall of granite, without soil 
•and without vegetation. However, let man go where he 
will, he is sure to bo followed by certain companions, atten¬ 
dants, and pm'asites. The natural liistory of tlie Cherbourg 
Digue would bo a curious little anemoir to draw up: it 
would remind one of the Fauna: of those desert islands 
wliich I’rofessor Ilenslow named “ Refuges for the Desti¬ 
tute,” in resj^ect to them zoology and their botany. Even 
before we landed, some cocks and hens came forward to 
disjtlay themselves, and strutted along the sharp, straight 
Ijrink of the Digue. IIow they contrive to amuse themselves 
all day long it is impossible to guess, with no earth to scratch 
in, no dusting holes to bask in, no lawn to ramble over, no 
thicket or hedge in which to steal a nest; nothing but 
granite, at which they may scratch and peck to tlieir hearts’ 
content in vain. Next, a couple of dogs made their appear¬ 
ance, and then a cat stole quietly by; for the Digue abounds 
in rats and mice. The insect world there comprises fleas, 
of course, whatever else; houseflies I saw while eating an 
omelette that was kindly cooked for us. In the summer 
many butterflies make their appearance, and now and then a 
bee. may travel there by mistake. The list of birds is long ; 
I saw swallows, wheatears, and (would yon credit it?) 
a wren. 
The fowls might be luxuries of the gr(^at folks in the centre, 
and would not be looked for among the labourers at either 
end ; but after walking something like two miles on one 
arm of the Digue, and inspecting the immense eirculai' fort, 
which was rising block by block, and battery above battery, 
out of the waves of the sea, I was startled by a familiar 
crow; aird there, down amongst the shivers of stone, and 
the tools, and the heaps of cement, and the wooden sheds, 
pranced a cock and throe or four hens. The men like to 
be waked in the morning by the voice of their old counti'y 
companion; and though the view of the ojiposite coast is 
exceedingly beautiful, it is too distant to permit them to 
enjoy the noises which belong to such a rich extent of hill 
and dale. 
Poultry keeping at the Digue is to bo criticised in one 
respect. Fowls in the centre would no more think of visit¬ 
ing those at either fort, than they would of flying to the 
moon ; so that a better place of keeping breeds distinct, 
than these three localities, canirot be found by industrious 
searching. Birt the fowls here are of no breed, or any 
breed. No one cock resembled any otlier cock, rror any orre 
Iren. It is a eoirrplete set of experiments in mongrelism. 
The forts being at either end, are specially exposed to 
tenrpests. Like the rest of the strarcture, tliey are founded 
on rocks that have been cast into the opeir sea, arrd piled 
up till they rise above the surface. In violent stonrrs, the 
whole Digrro can bo felt to oscillate arrd tremble, thorrgh it 
is lielieved to be perfectly safe now. Every squall orrly 
set ties the .stones nrore turnly in their places, and additional 
blocks of grairite are contiirrrally being thrown iirto the sea, 
jirst before aird orrtside the Digue, weather permitting. 
'I'lie forts are similarly protected arrd supported by large 
oblong rrrasses of artilicial rock, nr concrete, made of bricks, 
stone, cement, and mortar, tossed into the waves when 
sufficiently consolidated. F.ach block costs 1500 francs, 
or €(i0, on arriving at its place, which will give some idea 
of their magnitrrde. As the sea is beautifully clear, these 
gigarrtic heaps of stone can be seen at high-water, and in- 
speotrxl, when the tide is orrt. 
The granite of whicli the Digue is built is of a cold-look¬ 
ing, light grey, and comes frorrr the Isles Cbanscy, iir the 
Grtlf of St. Malo ; the' blocks throwrr in, to support the 
fouirdatiorr, are red, inferior arrd coar’ser, and are brought 
from Fermanville, a few leagues to the east of Cherbourg. 
I saw two vessels arrive thrrs laden, and cotrld rrot think 
what made thenr roll and pitch with srrch a very peerdiar 
heaviness, till they were moored in their reqrrired station, 
rrnder the direction of the commissary. And then the men 
began heaving the great Inmps of stone, each encircled with 
a necklace of chains, oirt of the hold, by meairs of a xmlley 
aird ropes fixed to the toj) of the mast; each heavy mass 
was srvung as near to the outside edge of the deck as jios- 
sible, freed from its iron ornaments, and then hoisted over 
the edge with levers, till it overbalanced itself, and fell into 
the sea uporr the spot intended. It rvas curious to watch 
the boiling of the waters, and the hissing of the air-bubbles 
whicli foamed up afterwards. The whole process was most 
laborious, and not without danger; it was anything but 
child’s play. Nor would it be any joke for the lobster who 
happened to be sporting under water on the exact spot 
where the Titanic lump of granite was about to fall. 
A local egg-story must not be forgotten. A Lieutenant in 
the French Navy told me, that while he was at Cherbourg, 
a conjuror, or cscamoteur, who was jiaying a yirofessional visit 
to the town, went into the Market-xilaee, and while loitering 
there, asked an old woman the price of her eggs. She told 
liim she sold them at six sous a dozen. He said that was a 
great deal too little, and that she did not know the value of 
the eggs which she had in her basket. He then took one of 
them and broke it before her eyes, and showed her that it 
containeil, besides the yolk and the white, a forty franc 
piece—a large gold coin, sometimes called a double Napo¬ 
leon. He then brolce some more of her eggs, and every one 
of them contamed, or seemed to contain, a x>iece of gold. 
AYhile this was gomg on, he offered to buy all her eggs at 
twelve sous a dozen ; if she would sell them, he would take 
every one of them off her hands. Rut !Madame x)urse- 
proudly replied that she was not so foolish as to xm-t with 
such precious eggs as those, with her eyes open, for a mere 
Xialtry otter like that, only double what common eggs were 
worth. Not she, indeed! She should keexi them herself. So 
he went away, affecting great disappointment at her refusal. 
As soon as his back was turned, the silly old woman 
began breaking her eggs, one by one, to make sure of the 
treasures hidden in them. As she went on, she was greatly- 
astonished that she smashed egg after egg withmrt coming 
to one with a forty friuic xhece in it, and so she continued, 
in the ti’ue spirit of gambling, expecting that the next 
venture would draw the piize, till she had not another egg 
loft. She was sitting, beggared and forlorn, in the midst 
of a mess of crushed egg-shells, and syioilt custm'd-meat. 
Of course she then began to ciy, and take on. The other 
market-womeai crowded about her, and only laughed at her 
when she told them of the xu’ice she had refused for her 
eggs, and the reason why she refused it. But the conjuror, 
who had watched the workings of her despair, took pity on 
her sutfei'ings, and soon returned; and after having had 
Ins laugh too, he paid her market-xarice for the eggs which 
he had beguiled her into breaking. And as he gave a 
performance at the theatre that very evening, the trick he 
jdayed the old woman seiwed him as a capital advertisement, 
as he doubtless intended ; and he had a crow'ded house, lots 
of ax)plause, and sacks-full of money. D. 
(To he continued). 
WILD BEES. 
Hi] W. H. Nemnian, Fsi/. 
( Concluded from paeje Hi).) 
ENEMIES 01' THE WII.D BEE. 
I CONSIDER the common field mouse by far the most de¬ 
structive enemy of all wild bees;—wherever it ttnds their 
nests it destroys them. I had a nest of the Apis Terrestris 
