Rambles among the Channel Islands / by a Naturalist.

Date:
[1855?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Rambles among the Channel Islands / by a Naturalist. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    81/402 (page 69)
    violence, and receiving the additional impulse of the tidal current, dashes enormous bodies of water over the rocks, striking and often seriously damaging the lights. At such times, birds, unable to contend with the wind, are often dashed against the glasses, which are shivered into fragments, while the poor birds fall dead within the building. The tumult of the elements at such times is grand and terrible, and the keepers must need much self-possession and a well-grounded reliance on Him who is mightier than the roaring sea and howling tempest, to maintain their sense of security undisturbed. And, indeed, at times consider- able cause for alarm exists, for in the month of October, 1823, a violent storm altogether de- stroyed the lights. Each lighthouse is called by its own name; one has that of St. Peter, another that of St. Thomas, and the third is called Donjon. In order to avert the calamity of destruction by fire—of which lighthouse annals present some terrible examples—the platforms of each are sheathed with copper, as is also the staircase. The persons in charge are required to keep a journal of Avind and weather, and of such circumstances as occur deserving of notice, and they receive a salary of about fifty pounds a-year. One Avould suppose that life must be very monotonous on these rocks, and