Jethou

“ The different kinds of gulls visiting Jethou are very numerous, and some of them very pretty. One of the finest being the swift sea swallow, with its lovely grey feathers, forked tail, and long graceful wings. Another is the sea-pie, a very shapely black and white gull, which makes a noise quite peculiar to itself when hunting among the rocky inlets for its food, thus betraying its presence. ”

“ Sea and sky were vivid vital blue, the sun shone brilliantly, Guernsey, Jethou, and Herm gleamed like jewels, and the white cloud lay between the upper and the nether blue like the white ghost of a new-born island not yet invested with the attributes of earth.
And, as they watched, it crept quickly along the blue-enamelled plain. It swallowed up the southern cliffs of Guernsey. Its creeping nose was level with the tall Doyle column. It crept on and on, till Castle Cornet disappeared and Peter Port was lost to sight. ”

“ And the sea still lay like lead out there, but I began to catch the gleam of white teeth along the sides of Brecqhou, and down below in Havre Gosselin I could hear the long waves growling among the rocks. And now there came a stir in the air like the waking breaths of a sleeper. The shadows behind Herm and Jethou thickened and darkened. The little throb of life behind the banks of cloud in the east quickened and grew. ”

“ As architect I took the head of the table (a wine cask) , and Alec, as engineer, the foot; while "Eddy," the donkey, as contractor, supported me on the right (dining luxuriously on a bunch of carrots and some hay) , and [Pg 180] on my left was dear old "Begum" as clerk of the works, enjoying two whole rabbits as his share of the entertainment.
We drank "Success to Jethou Pier," and trusted it would take every care of the "Anglo-Franc," which we now placed within its encircling arm for the first time. ”

“ Juan Fernandez lies about four hundred miles from the nearest land, and it is therefore very difficult to imagine from whence the savages came who were about to convert Friday into a fricassee. The Friday of our story, y'clept Monday, came to Jethou in a natural if in an exciting manner, and it will be found that everything else in the narrative, if not an exact account of what really did happen, is at least feasible. ”

“ At six a.m. we were again under weigh (after a good breakfast) , and close in with the land, which we hugged right away to Yarmouth, as it was our nearest course.
Speaking of breakfast reminds me of eating, and eating of diet, and diet of health; and this again of my diet on Jethou. Two years ago I used to laugh at vegetarians and call them "pap-eaters," "milk-and-water men," and other pretty names; but while I was in Jethou I had cause to think there was not only something in their theory but much. ”

“ I vowed never to attempt a porcine murder again, and while I was on the island the other pig had a good time of it, for as governor of Jethou I abolished capital punishment, and if a pig's years were as many as Methuselah's, he might enjoy them all before I should again attempt to put a period to them.
From assassination to boat sailing is a long stride but at least a change. ”

“ One trip was to Sark, which lies about six miles south-east of Jethou. I selected a beautiful day in August for this trip, and started at daylight, about four a.m., well provisioned, and with "Begum" to accompany me, for somehow I always felt safer with him beside me. A light south-west wind was blowing, so we reached Sark by six a.m., and mooring the boat at the foot of the Coupée, in a bay called Grand Gréve, I prepared coffee, and had a very leisurely breakfast, wondering at man's capacity for stowage; but that is due to the salt breeze which never yet put a man's liver wrong. ”

“ I climbed to the pole and took a survey, and could just make out Jethou's back above the haze which still rolled silently above the still waters.
Down I scrambled to my boat, eager to push off and reach home, but alas, my craft was high and dry [Pg 87] four feet above the sea, on a ledge which just held her comfortably cradled, in derision to my anxiety. "Begum" lay calmly sleeping in the stern sheets. ”

“ ISLAND of JETHOU By E. R. Suffling
Now I will ask the reader to accompany me on a brief tour round the island. Starting from the house, [Pg 36] [Pg 35] past the pigeon-tower, we pass under some large walnut trees so thickly planted as to make the part very shady, even on a bright day, and on dull days quite gloomy. We take the middle path, which is about four feet wide, and flanked on each side by braken and boulders. Indeed, nearly half the island consists of brakes and granite blocks. ”

“ I have seen them in Guernsey, Jethou, Herm and Alderney, all through the summer, but always in flocks on the mud and seaweed below high-water mark, whenever they can be there, searching for food, and quite as wild and wary as in the winter. I have never seen them paired, or in any place the least likely for them to be breeding. I know Mr. Gallienne, in his remarks to Professor Ansted's list, says, "Although I have never heard of the eggs of either the Curlew or Whimbrel being found, I am satisfied they breed here (I think at Herm) , as they stay with us throughout the year." ”

“ As the writer does not pretend to possess what is termed literary style, he would ask the indulgence of the reader in any little slip of the pen which may occur in these pages, as it is not every Crusoe who can command the facile quill, the pure style, or the lively imagination of a Daniel Defoe, to narrate his adventures.
It must be borne in mind that the island of Juan Fernandez possessed many natural features, and a far greater area than Jethou can boast of, and therefore more scope for the development of incidents and descriptive embellishment. ”

“ The second division of islands is also the most westerly; it includes Guernsey with a few islets to the west, and to the east, Sark, Herm, Jethou (inhabited islands) and others. The strait between Guernsey and Herm is called Little Russel, and that between Herm and Sark Great Russel. Sark is famous for its splendid cliffs and caves, while Herm possesses the remarkable phenomenon of a shell-beach, or shore, half-a-mile in length, formed wholly of small shells, which accumulate in a tidal eddy formed at the north of the island. ”

“ Then we had to bake and fish, so as to replenish our stock of food. Fruit had to be gathered, two small kegs filled with water, and finally the treasure and all my little curiosities to be got aboard.
All this took us till long after dark on the 2nd, so that when Graviot, his wife, and daughter landed about five a.m. on the 3rd, we were both fast asleep, [Pg 237] so much so indeed that they had difficulty in finding our whereabouts and awakening us. At last, by rattling at the windows we were aroused, and turned out to bid the old couple and their pretty daughter, Marie, welcome to Jethou. ”

“ In Herm and Jethou there are also a few Choughs, but Jackdaws are the more numerous in both Islands. No Choughs appear to inhabit the small rocky islets to the northward of Herm, though some of them appear to be large enough to afford a breeding-place for either Choughs or Jackdaws, but neither of these birds seem to have taken possession of them; probably want of food is the occasion of this. Mr. Métivier, in his 'Rimes Guernseaise,' gives "Cahouette" as the local Guernsey-French name of the Chough, though I suspect the name is equally applicable to the Jackdaw. ”

“ But on the other hand I should think a good many of the young must be driven off to seek quarters elsewhere by their most pugnacious parents, for of all birds the Robin is by far the most pugnacious with which I am acquainted, and deserves the name of "pugnax" much more than the Ruff, and in a limited space like Jethou and Herm battles between the old and the young would be constant unless some of the young departed altogether from the Island. ”

“ They take care, however, to place their nests in tolerably inaccessible places that cannot well be reached without a rope. The principal breeding-places are—in Guernsey, about the Gull Cliffs, and from there to Petit Bo, and a few, but not so many, on the rocks between there and Fermain, wherever they can find a place; none breed on the north or west side of the Island; in Jethou and Herm, and on the rock called La Fauconnière, a few also breed, but not so many as in Guernsey, and we did not find any breeding on the Amfrocques or the other rocks to the north of Herm. ”

“ Good, faithful fellow!
"What say you to a sail this evening, Crusoe?"
"Just the thing, Monday; it is such a glorious night, and the cool breeze will do us good. What do you say to a drag with the trawl?"
"The very thing; more fish are caught in one night than in two days, so let's set to at once, that is, after a good substantial tea."
The meal being finished, we soon got the trawl and gear aboard the "Anglo-Franc," and away we went in the lovely moonlight, scouring the bottom of the Perchée between the head of Jethou and the tail of Herm. ”

“ I cannot from my observation agree with this supposition of the Curlew breeding in the Islands; nor can I agree with the statement made by a writer in 'Cassel's Magazine' for June or July, 1878, that he found a young Curlew in the down on one of the Islands near Jethou, probably from the description 'La Fauconnière.' The writer of this paper in 'Cassel's Magazine' was evidently no ornithologist, and must, I think, have mistaken a young Oystercatcher, of which several pairs were breeding there at the time, for a young Curlew ”

“ Meantime the Ainu, uncognizant of their irreparable loss, had assembled in the house of the great chief, Cha-cha-kamui, who was present in all his grandeur, wearing the robe of red and white cloth, and on his gigantic head the crown of shavings and gilt. Outside, children played about in a noisy unimaginative way, and the women of the tribe sat on the ground working their distaffs dully. Cha-cha-kamui’s Small Wife passed among them, a little distant and haughty—for it was known that in former days the White Kami had looked with favour upon her. ”

“ Men of law and men of verse, live according to your kind, and call Eocha of the Hasty Mind to reign over you, for I set out to find my kindred.' He then came down among them, and drew out of the hair of first one and then another the feathers of the grey hawk, and, having scattered them over the rushes upon the floor, passed out, and none dared to follow him, for his eyes gleamed like the eyes of the birds of prey ”

“ Certainly, if the men do now and then indulge in this pastime, the little boys cannot be said to abstain from it. Any one can convince himself of their ardent devotion to the sport by taking a walk through Yedo in the month of January. Yedo is called ‘a handsome city of park-like appearance, with a population of 1,500,000 inhabitants.’ Yedo can never have corresponded to such a description, even in its most flourishing days, and there is no reason to suppose that its population ever exceeded a million or twelve hundred thousand at the outside. ”

“ King and Tsuda stood together under some date palms at the edge of a field—a mass of vivid green—white blossoms tossing in the tropical breeze—petals here and there whirling and floating idly. The field was aswarm with bare-legged Ainu labourers in short, rough tunics. They bent dully to their task, an expression of unbroken hopelessness on their sad, hairy faces. “A little experiment in transplanting—h’m?” the Captain called it. When King passed any of the Ainu they would suspend their work and clumsily prostrate themselves. ”

“ The class belongs to the Ikkoshiu sect of Buddhists. Some of the men following this trade are very rich. Teikoya in Osaka and Siroyama in Yedo are both wealthy. The head skinner of the “eight provinces,” Danza yay mong, claims to be descended from Yoritomo. He also is reputed to be very wealthy, exercising great power over his own trade, which is governed by its own laws. Living in a fine house near the Yosiwara in Yedo, he is a despotic ruler, and can punish with death those under him. His private chapel or Bootzu dang is said to be the finest in Yedo. ”

“ Jethro said to Amuba, who, after having his arm dressed on his arrival at the palace, had accompanied the young prince to the walls. “It seems a nation rather than an army. I do not wonder now that we were defeated yesterday, but that we so long held our ground, and that so many escaped from the battle.”
“It is wonderful, truly, Jethro. Look at the long line of chariots moving in as regular order as the footmen. It is well for us that they will now be forced to be inactive. As to the others, although they are countless in numbers, they cannot do much against our walls. ”

“ The images were alternately of white and black marble, and at the extreme end lay a huge recumbent casting of the Messiah of the East. Small lozenge-shaped cuttings in the wall above let in bars of light, which fell on the dim statues and made the polished brass of the recumbent image glow as if it were red-hot. The girl leaned lightly against the arm of the huge figure, and something flashed in her hand as she did so. Bah Hmoay observed it as he pointed to the dagger, and said with a smile, "You are very careful, Ma Mie; too careful for one so beautiful." ”

“ In Yedo, parts of the town are known as “Matchi tsuchee,” street ground, and other parts as “Yashiki tsuchee,” castle ground. Persons living on the former can open shops and trade; in the latter this is not allowed. This last two-sworded class is known as “Samurai” (Ch. Sz) , which may be translated “an officer and a gentleman,” and is an important distinction conferring valuable rights and privileges at the expense of the rest of the community.
This division of the people into two classes is a measure issuing from the executive at Yedo, the Shiogoon’s government, rather than from Miako. ”