this, a rough climb conducts to the Roche Pendante, one of the most magnificent isolated masses of sand-stone rock to be seen. This grand pinnacle rises from a heap of broken fragments of sand-stone, but is itself a part of the cliff. The separation is a narrow gorge, whose walls are absolutely vertical. The rock, having a stratification parallel with that of the cliff, stands—a huge, square block of stone-on a base, whose area is some two or three thousand square feet. It is at least thirty, perhaps forty, feet in height, and there is another similar but smaller block a little below, which again connects with a succession of rocky eminences extending out into the sea. A noble view is obtained from the rocks at the foot of the Roche Pendante, the sand-stone being seen in a succession of stratified plates, dipping away into the sea, and covering the cliffs as far as the cliffs can be seen. Many inlets occur, and each of them presents peculiar and beautiful features, produced by numerous thinly-bedded grey rocks, coated with lichens, projecting beyond the soil. Passing on along the slope of the cliff, the grit-stone may be walked on for more than a mile. It then ceases, and is succeeded by deep hollows, alternating with bold, narrow ridges of hard granitic rock, several of the granitic masses extending out to sea, and forming detached islands. The cliffs are here, without exception, far too steep to render a descent possible; but one can generally perceive the nature of the coast, by going some distance down on the deeply shelving slope, overgrown with broom, heather and grass. At one place a huge arched rock is seen, the light piercing through from the further side. In another, is a small beach, covered with black sand, mixed up with numerous large rounded blocks of granite. Here the rocks descend at once into a deep black pool; there the water is so clear that the rocky bottom is visible from the cliffs above, although their height is nearly 200 feet. Continuing to work our way round the various inlets, we come again, after a time, to the sand-stone, of which there is a second small patch, quarried near the top of the cliff, and seen reaching the sea.* Afterwards there is nothing but naked and rough granite and porphyry. Wonderfully broken and precipitous are the cliffs thus formed. Many of them are quite vertical, either to the sea or to very small bays, where the water is seen foaming and boiling in the most extraordinary manner. From one headland to another-round great hollow depressions, where the granite is soft and decomposing-along parts of the cliff where wide cracks at the surface show the possibility of the ground sinking under his feet, the visitor may pick his way, rewarded occasionally by bursts of unexpected grandeur and beauty. The cliffs are often so vertical, that one may look down to the sea rolling in at one's feet, and across a narrow inlet perceive clearly the geological structure of an opposite cliff. There is one spot in particular, where a wall of rock, a couple of hundred feet deep, displays a beautiful olive-coloured porphyry, crossed by great horizontal veins of flesh-coloured felspar, succeeding one another at intervals down to the sea line.† The scenery of the cliffs varies a good deal, and much of it is almost peculiar to Alderney. In many places depressions of the surface are observable, and one is obliged either to make a wide circuit, or descend a deep hollow. Two or three such scoopings out of the surface are passed on the south-east coast. They correspond to the presence of a peculiarly decomposing rotten material, that alternates with the harder parts of the rock. As there are generally hard walls to these softer hollows, they are often in the highest degree picturesque, for the action of the sea having worn away a deep inlet, the wall of rock on each side allows of the inlet being approached pretty closely without inconvenience. Up one such hollow the telegraph wire This is well shown in a sketch engraved in Chapter X., where its geological meaning is explained. + See illustration in page 1, the title to this part of the work. communicating from Portland, through Alderney, to Guernsey and Jersey, has been brought. It is now unfortunately useless, and must remain so, until by taking advantage of late surveys of the Channel, and making a cable adapted to the amount of wear it is likely to undergo, some rational plan is suggested for re-laying the whole line. Certainly, no one acquainted with the Channel, would have expected that the cable, as laid down, could long resist those numerous destructive agencies to which it was sure to be exposed between England and Alderney. Towards the south-western extremity of the island there is a succession of very bold and grand cliffs, beyond which is a reef of picturesque rocks, some of them of large size. At length we come in sight of Clonque Battery, and the little island beyond, marking the termination of the bold line of coast. The fragments of a magnificent Druidical monument may be traced on the cliff at this point. It is the fashion, and has become almost a tradition, to speak of Alderney as a desolate station, offering no single object of interest, and nothing to occupy any rational person for many hours. But those who are capable of appreciating grand, rocky scenery, and who are able to look at it; persons who would regard Wales, Scotland and Switzerland, as worth visiting for themselves, for their wild beauty, and for the sublimity of their scenery, ought not to complain of this remarkable island. Such persons may, beyond a doubt, find along the coast we have been describing, quite as much grandeur and beauty as they have anywhere seen in a day's ramble. And although there is certainly no extended line of this fine rocky cliff, owing to the smallness of the island, still even a distance of only five miles, where every hundred yards exhibits something worth pausing to admire, will occupy a good deal of time. A considerable drawback exists, owing to the great difficulty, often amounting to impossibility, of getting down safely to the water's edge, and rambling on from point to point, at low tide, as can be done in Sark. THE PARISH CHURCH. 29 To get to the small beaches a boat is necessary; and it is not often, even in weather apparently fine, that boatmen would be found willing to venture so near the shore as to enable one to visit the beaches, and examine closely the naked rocks and the caverns. Although the coast certainly affords the principal objects of interest in Alderney, there are other not trifling matters on the plateau. The town itself is pretty much what might be expected from the circumstances of its origin and growth. A vast multitude of new, small, plain houses, covers the part looking towards the new harbour. There is nothing either in their design or execution, that requires a single remark. There are few public buildings except the new church, and not one of them exhibits anything but the worst style and most vulgar taste, if we except an Independent chapel, now being built, which is creditable, even elegant. The new parish church, however, forms a marked exception. Placed unfortunately in a depression, and not on the top of the high ground, the massive early English style selected prevents it from being favourably seen, except from one or two points, not easily reached. Thus its noble and severe proportions, instead of being felt as elements of strength and beauty, as they would have been, had the building occupied a commanding position on so small an island in an open sea, now communicate an opposite impression, and some of the best parts of the design cannot be at all appreciated. Still it is a remarkable building, and does great credit to its eminent designer, Mr. Gilbert Scott. The walls are of island sand-stone, with quoins of Caen stone-a selection much to be regretted, as this latter stone is eminently ill adapted for outdoor work, in such a climate as that of Alderney. Accordingly, although not constructed more than fifteen years, all the faces of these stones on west and south-west exposures, are scaling and falling away. Except the doors, which want size and importance, and the windows, which, even for the style, seem extremely narrow, the exterior of this fine church must be regarded as satisfactory, if we exclude from consideration the unfortunate want of adaptation of the building to its site. Within, few modern churches could be pointed out, which show better taste and feeling for the sacred purpose of their construction. Everything here harmonises, and even the smallness of the windows is not objectionable, so soft and well arranged is the light. A beautiful circular apse, at the extremity of the choir, forms a proper finish, and is connected with the building by an arch of exquisite proportions. The roof is simple and effective, not at all prominent, rather original and very ingenious, while there reigns throughout a mixture of order and variety that cannot but please the most fastidious taste. The church is a worthy memorial of the family of Le Mesurier, long the hereditary governors of the island; and was erected, with that intention, by the son of the last of the hereditary governors, Lieut. General Le Mesurier. An extremely fine portrait and good picture, said to be by Opie, representing this active and energetic officer, is suspended in the Court house. It is a picture, remarkable as well for its drawing as its colouring; evidently true to nature, and rendering, without flattery, the higher qualities of the intellect; and this in a manner rarely seen in English art. Outside the town, and in the open country, away from the cliff, there is not much in Alderney that is interesting to the general tourist. The geologist will find some remarks that may be worth attention, in the chapter devoted to that subject; and, the antiquarian, if also a geologist, may study to advantage a number of supposed cromlechs, which, in comparatively recent times, seem to have been far more perfect than they now are. In one part of the island, near Fort Touraille, called les Rochers, a common is strewn with a vast multitude of round blocks of granite. These have not really been water-worn, as might be |