ìi
strength, and a lion in courage; and, he having
heard of the terror spread by this monster, resolved
to encounter and slay it, or perish in the attempt. In
this expedition, De Hambie was attended by his hitherto
trusty domestic; and the heroic Norman having
found the dragon, encountered and slew it. Some
say, he was suffocated by the pestilential breath of the
monster; others have it, that while he slept, exhausted
with the fight, his servant murdered him. Be that as
it may, De Hambie was no more,—and the servant
returned to Normandy, relating to the bereaved wife
of his master, the fate of her husband, and with many
solemn asseverations, communicating the wish of his
dying lord, that she should bestow her hand upon his
trusty servant. To this she consented ; but conscience
slumbers not, nor sleeps; and the murderer, whether
in sleep, or in a fit of delirium, confessed his crime;
and the whole truth being drawn from him, he suffered
the punishment due to its enormity. The widow, as
a proof of conjugal affection, caused a mound of earth
to be raised on the spot where her lord was murdered;
and on the summit of it, a tower, and chapel, of so
great a height, that she might be enabled to see it
from her own castle at Coutances. There are other
versions of the legend, but this is perhaps as good as
any of them,—and quite as authentic.
The tower, although certainly the most advantageous
spot for commanding a view of the island, is not
the only one from which a view may be obtained;
Fort Regent; Mount Orgueil,—of which I shall
afterwards speak; the heights above St. Aubin; and
a tower on the south-east extremity of the island, on
the manor of Saumarez, all command extensive prospects
; though from none of them, as from Prince’s
tower, is the whole island seen spread out like a map
at your feet.
The view from Prince’s tower, immediately begets
a desire to range over the island ; to penetrate into
the valleys and ravines ; to wander through the fields,
pastures, orchards and gardens ; and to descend to the
bays and creeks, which one pictures full of quiet and
beauty : and for my own part, I was not long in yielding
to this desire.
Every place has its lions; every district in every
travelled country under the sun, has its accustomed
drives; and the traveller who visits Jersey for a few
days, for the purpose of seeing the island, will be
placed in a jaunting car, and carried across the
island,—or taken the great round, and little round,—
and be told he has seen Jersey. But there are many
valleys up which the jaunting car nefer travels,—
many deep dells, where there are no roads for cars,—
many a tiny rivulet that waters into fertility, green
meadows dotted with cattle that seldom raise their
heads to look on the stranger,^—many little coves, inlets
and creeks, to which there is no trodden path ;
and therefore the traveller who seats himself in his
vehicle, gains but a very imperfect knowledge of the
outward aspect, and natural beauties of Jersey.
It is impossible in fact to gain any accurate notion of
the interior of Jersey, by following the great roads only.
In tills island, there are two descriptions of roads,—
the ancient, and the new : the latter are numerous,
wide, and well constructed,—intersecting the island