To say that the Channel Islands are not known to the general public would be to say what is in these modern days of advertising untrue; but it may be doubted if they are so well known as they really deserve.  They might very well be called the “Multum in Parvo Islands,” for they contain a very great deal of beauty in a small space; in fact, it would be very difficult, if not quite impossible, to find another place of the same collective area with such a diversity of natural beauty.  Hills, dales, bays, promontories, rocks, trees, lawns, dells, watercourses, and other natural features are here seen in every conceivable variety, and their beauties never pall upon one.

The extent of the islands is roughly as follows:—­

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| Name.     |  Length |     Breadth.     |    Area.  |  Population. |
|           |  Miles. |     Miles.       |   Acres   |              |
|-----------|---------|------------------|-----------|------

--------|
| Jersey    |  121/2    |     5 to 7       |   40,000  |     65,000   |
| Guernsey  |   91/2    |     41/2           |   15,500  |     35,000   |
| Sark      |   3     | 11/2 at widest     |      950  |        600   |
| Alderney  |   2     | 1/2 on average     |      600  |      2,000   |
| Herm      |   11/2    |      1/2           |      300  |      2,000   |
| Jethou    |   1/3   |      1/4           |       50  |   1 family   |
|___________|_________|__________________|___________|______

________|

Total area, 57,400 acres, or about 90 square miles. 
Total population, 102,620.

Everybody appears to agree as to the salubrity of the climate, which is remarkably equable throughout the year.  Cool in summer, compared to the continental towns on the same degree of latitude, and much warmer in the winter.  As a winter residence it is milder and less changeable than even our favoured Devonshire.

Quite a list of plants might here be appended to shew the degree of mildness experienced in the Channel Islands.  Many of them, although of tropical growth, standing out of doors all the winter without taking harm.  Dr. Greenhow, of Edinburgh, while staying in Jersey one winter, remarks in a letter to a friend dated January 21st, “I have now on a table before me in full bloom, the following flowers—­narcissus, jonquils, stocks, wallflowers, rosemary, myrtle, polyanthus, mignonette, and hyacinths.”  To these the worthy doctor might have added several more, as the rose, violet, primrose, etc.

Snow is very rare, and usually the night frost is dispelled in a few hours by the warmth of the sun, and the general balminess of the air.

For health it is difficult to conceive a spot where a more pure air can be discovered, for beside the fact of each island having the benefit of a sea breeze from whichever quarter the wind may blow, there are no manufactories on the islands to poison the atmosphere with fumes deleterious to health, as in many of our large English towns—­even those called country towns.  On the score of climate and air, therefore, the Channel Isles will bear comparison with any English county; not only a favourable comparison, but one that cannot be rivalled by them, even in the south.