AMONG THE CHANNEL ISLANDS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12285, 11 July 1914, Page 1

AMONG THE CHANNEL ISLANDS.

In his 1-eCcnth- published book; "As It Is In England/' Albert J3. Osborne devotes one chapter to a- vivid desfcrip* tion of the channel isljjnds; "those beautiful bits of rock and vcrdttio-tl hundred miles from England and bttt twelve from France, where the English (lag is flown and the French toilgtto spoken." liei'e in part is his description : . . Those islands ore alt but independent, with weights, measures, aucl copper coius differing from the standard of all countries; with feudal laws und feudal customs still controlling anon and events of the twentieth century, and where a surviving mediaovalism yet affords the atmosphere for present day romances that seem grotesquely impossible when enacted by mcU .11 pantaloons and derbies and young women in picture liats and hobble skirts, and that, are told to the world by telegraph instead of troubadours. Jersey, Guernsey, Aldcrney, bark. Hern, and Jethou form the inhabited islands and 011 thein a hundred thousand people liavo their homes. There is but.one family 011 Jethou and Jersey's population is over fifty thousand. Alderney j.-; seldom visited and concededlwloes uot present enough of distinctive beauty to compensate lor tno inconveniences of the city there, but Jersey and Guernsey and Sarfe possess a peculiar eliarm of landscape, life and climate that appeal irresistibly to the seeker of places and people- that are different. In the oldest of times there was undoubtedly much the same life as in Britt-anv. and Cornwall, for dolmans still stand 011 the summits of some of the hills. Finally they became Nornian. and politically and ecclesiastically were a part of Normandy. As a result they were exempt' from the IN orman coiuiuest. Norman they lwvo been, and in a restricted sense Norman thev remain. The largest estates.' "fiefs" tliey were called a thousand years ago and "liefs" is _ ■a-thousand years ago and "fiels ' is still their name, wore held directlv Ija grant from- the Dukes of Normandy in return for allegiance and assistance m time oLwilr, coupled with acts of service and of payment, which were never so much iu compensation as of recognition of the dukes' supremacy. These payments are always exacted and are generally paid without delay, thougli a ease reported' in the Guernsey Star for April 26. 1887, shows that sometimes it is necessary to-invoke the lan. In that ease either the fief or the tenancy had become subdivided and suit was brought for the proportional share of the rent, which amounted to '"one fowl', one-half and' one-sixteenth oi a fowl, one-fortieth and one-four hundred and eighth part of a fowl, twentyeight eggs and three-fourths and one-one-eighth of an egg." and judgment, was given to the plaintiff, who must have found much happiness in his oneeighth of an egg. An averages change of eight degrees differentiates' summer and winter, palms grow unprotected in the open gardens of the town, and rose trees, lvavv with August bloom, and fuchsia trees" that blossom through the year, thrive side by side with great- magnolias with creamy buds; and huge bushes of pink and blue hydrangeas are everywhere. . .1 The street names are in French and the square houses of stpue or stucco look very' Continental. A long stone pier runs out into the sea and then, crooking its elbow at right angles', tucks away a little harbor, protected on tlic other side by a causeway built out of the island, where Castle Cornel stands in partial ruin. It is a vr:; animated scene as the boats swing inOld women and pretty-faced boys carry huge wicker trays piled with the purple and white grapes, ripe tigs, yellow peaches and red apples and pears that grow so well 011 the island. From the esplanade by the water a very long, very narrow, and 1 very crooked street climbs up the hill lined by all sorts of little shops. The sidewalks' are less than three feet- wide and the side streets drop simply down to the se«i with a vista of brown -rock, or old fortress, -or the little harbor where, at ebb title, the fishing' boats lie keeled upon the sand. To the right- of the town, as you follow the coast around, a long lofty point braves the Atlantic. About its feet and above the slow heave of the green waters, bare locks lift their seamed bucks and the white foam comes and goes. Not always so peaceful is this coast as 011 this sunny day, for in the village a sign is posted of sinister portent. "It'is requested that any person sighting a wreck will telephone immediate notice to the life-saving station." And evbn so. life-savers and notices are not alwavs ol avail, for hedging round the wliolc great circle of the island is a line of ragged, halfhidden rocks and little isles where only the sea birds live, and when the fog shuts down 110 one can know what tragedies go on in the niul'k. It wa.-> in August! 1912, that thorp was. found upon one of these remoter rocks the battered wreck of a large freighter, the name obliterated^ by the waves, and the crew missing. No one knew what time she' came ashore, no one knew how long she had lain a-brcakiiig there; she-, 'had simply found one of the ports of missing ships, arid all tlic rest was an endless silence.