SARK, one of the smaller Channel Islands, lying 7 m. E. of Guernsey. It is 3 m. long and II m. in extreme breadth. Area, 1,274 ac.; pop. (1921) 611. It is divided into two unequal parts, Great Sark (the more northern) and Little Sark, connected by the Coupee, an isthmus, more than 1 oo yd. long and six ft. wide, with precipices on each side going down 30o ft. to the sea. The coastal scenery, commemorated in art by the painter Toplis, is of sur passing beauty, with fretted crystalline rocks, rocky islets, natural arches, caverns, etc. Creux, the harbour of Sark, on the east side, has its only communication with the interior by two tunnels, one dating from 1588, the other 1868. The fauna of the surrounding seas is rich. The island is highest (375 ft.) about the centre of Great Sark, where stand the church, a few dwellings and a mill. Groups of houses at La Ville, Valette, Collinette, Discart and in Little Sark, suggest much earlier settlements. About the 6th
century the Celtic saint, St. Magloire, founded a monastery here. There is little record of permanent settlement until the 16th cen tury, when Elizabeth granted the lordship to Helier de Cartaret who repeopled the island, dividing the land among 4o farmers in strips from east to west. De Cartaret set up a scheme of gov ernment—partly manorial, partly parochial, which still holds. The island is included in the bailiwick of Guernsey, but has a court of justice of its own, the officers being appointed by the court of Guernsey under recommendation of the seigneur. There is also a court of chief pleas, whose members are the holders of the 4o original properties. Farming and fishing are the chief occupations.