Mr. Sutherland’s Account of Jersey. 19 
came on board, we were at least ten miles northward of the island 
of Alderney, the nearest land. 
At-one P. M. tide and wind favouring, we weighed anchor, and 
stood away for the Race of Alderney, which separates that island 
from Cape de la Hogue. In the Race the tide ran with a strength 
and rapidity scarcely paralleled on the coasts of Britain. The fa- 
mous gulf of Coryvreckan in the Hebridean Sea, and some parts of 
the Pentland Firth, are perhaps the only places where the currents 
are equally irresistible. To the latter strait, indeed, the Alderney 
Race bears a great resemblance ; and an Orkney man unexpected- 
ly entering it, would be in danger of mistaking Alderney for Stro- 
ma, and Cape de la Hogue for Dunnet Head. In stormy weather 
the passage of the Race is esteemed by mariners an undertaking of 
some peril,—a fact we felt no disposition to gainsay ; for though 
the day was serene, and the swell from the westward completely 
broken by the intervention of the island, the conflict of counter- 
currents was tremendous. At some places the water appeared in 
a state of fierce ebullition, leaping and foaming as if convulsed by 
the action of submarine fires ; at others it formed powerful eddies, 
which rendered the helm almost of no avail in the guidance of the 
vessel. 
We steered as near to Alderney, or Aurigni as it is frequently 
called, as prudence warranted. It is a high, rugged, bare-looking 
island, encompassed by perilous reefs, but supporting a pretty nu- 
merous population. The only arborescent plants discernible from 
the deck of our vessel, were clumps of brushwood. ‘The grain on 
the cultivated spots was uncut, and several wind-mills on the higher 
grounds, indicated the means by which the islanders, who have very 
little intercourse with the rest of the world, reduce their wheat 
into flour. The southern side of the island is precipitous, and its 
eastern cape terminates in a fantastic rock called the Cloak, which 
our captain consulted as a landmark in steering through the Race. 
There is only one village in Alderney,—a paltry place, named 
St. Anne, or in common parlance La Ville ; and there a detach- 
ment of troops is generally stationed. Small vessels only can enter 
the harbour, which is shelterless, and rendered ditlicult of access by 
a sunken reef. 
At sunset Alderney was far astern, and three of its sister islands, 
Sark, Herm, and Jethau, were in view ahead. It was impossible 
to behold, without a portion of romantic enthusiasm, the dazzling 
radiance of the orb of day, as it went down in splendour beyond 
the gleaming waves. A thousand affecting emotions are liable to 
be excited by the prospect of that mighty sea whose farther boun- 
daries lie in another hemisphere,—whose waters have witnessed the 
noblest feats of maritime enterprise, and the fiercest conflicts of 
hostile fleets. Where shall we find the man to whom science is 
dear, who dreams not of Columbus, when he first feels himself 
rocked by the majestic billows of the Atlantic,—-who regards not 
the golden line of light, which the setting sun casts ever the waste 
