the ISLAND OF HERM

hills of gradual ascent and pleasing undulation, and is the favourite retreat during the summer of the ladies of Guernsey, who resort to this romantic spot to collect curious and beautiful shells which are peculiar to it. The air is mild and salubrious, and the soil is fertile and of an average depth of three feet in that part of the island which is devoted to agriculture.

The artificial grasses so much esteemed in England are indigenous to the soil, which yields an abundance of wheat, barley, oats, Lucerne, turnips, and every variety of agricultural produce. There are not less than thirty-three springs of pure water, which afford abundant facilities for irrigating the land in dry seasons.

The principal features of the island are its inexhaustible quarries of granite, the qualities of which have been found by experiment to be superior to any hitherto discovered. Twelve cubic feet of Herm granite are equal in weight to thirteen cubic feet of that of Aberdeen, a proof of its greater solidity; but its chief excellence consists in its wearing down rough and uniform in surface when laid down in carriage roads, and thus affording a softer footing for horses ; it can be raised from the quarries in blocks of any size or form, of which some have been raised exceeding 100 tons in weight. [Text continues...]