St. Martin's, population 211 in 1851, is about 6 miles in circum ference. It is chiefly inhabited by pilots and fishermen. The houses form three groups : Higher Town, on a hill rising from a bay on the south shore; Middle Town, in the centre of the island ; and Lower Town, near the south-west point of the island. Higher Town consists of nearly 50 small houses, built of stone and thatched, with a small church. About the middle of the 17th century, the island was unin habited; but there are indications that at an earlier period it was fully peopled. The soil is chiefly waste land, or common pasturage.
On St. Martin's Head, at the eastern end of the island, is a tower 20 feet high, with a conical top, built on an earthen mound, and designed as a landmark for seamen. A day school is maintained by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, and an Infant school by the Society of Friends.
St. Agnes, population 204 in 1851, has a very irregular outline; it is surrounded by rocks, and the shore is rocky and almost inacessible, but the soil is the best cultivated and most productive in the whole group. It consists of two parts—St. Agnes proper and the Gugh, separated from each other at high water, but connected, when the tide is out, by a narrow isthmus of sand. The houses in St. Agnes are scattered about without regard to order or general convenience. There is a small church. The Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge has a day school on the island, and there are two Infant schools. A lighthouse stands on the highest point of the island, about 50 feet above the level of the see jt is 52 feet high, surmounted with a lantern of 20 feet additional height, with a revolving light.
Bryher, population 118 in 1851, extends about a mile and a half from north to south, with an average breadth of scarcely half a mile : it consists of several steep hills conueeted by tracts of low land, a considerable part of which is in cultivation. On the east side of the island, between it and Tresco, is New Grinsey harbour, formed by the shores of the two islands and by the flats, fordable at low water, which in one part conneot them. Some of the houses are grouped in what is called the town of Bryher ; and there is a church. Sampson, population 29 in 1841, and 10 in 1851, lies south of Bryher, with which, as well as with Tresco, it is united by flats fordable at low water. The few inhabitants support themselves by fishing, making
kelp, and occasionally acting as pilots. In St. Helens are the remains of a church, supposed to have been the first ecclesiastical building in Scilly.
The natural produce of the Scilly Islands consists of a thin short grass intermixed with chamomile, heath, and dwarf furze ; fern and moss are found near the shore. The soil is commonly a black peat, mingled with granitic particles; though sandy, it bears in many places good crops of potatoes and barley. Wheat and rye are also grown.
The produce of the islands, which might easily be increased, is barely sufficient for the inhabitants. There are no timber-trees, and no fruit trees, except in a few sheltered spots in St. Mary's. Garlic is much cultivated, and most kinds of vegetables and flowers which grow in England succeed here. The cattle and horses are small and poor : their food consists partly of sea-weed for cattle, and furze for horses. The sheep are of a peculiar breed and small size ; hogs are numerous; poultry scarce and poor ; and rabbits not so numerous as formerly. Wild birds, especially sea-birds, are numerous; but the puffin, once very plentiful, is now seldom seen. Fish are less numerous in the surrounding sea than formerly ; small sharks are sometimes observe in the summer months, and porpoises are frequently seen. The Scilly Islands belong to the duchy of Cornwall, and were Ion held on lease by the lords Godolphin, and after them by the Duke c Leeds; the preeent lessee is Augustus Smith, Esq. The lessee ha usually appointed a council of twelve to exercise a civil jnrisdictioc bat persons charged with capital offences are taken to Penzance to th justices of the county of Cornwall. The council holds a monthl, court at Hugh Town. A military commandant at St. Mary's, and collector of the customs, are appointed by the authorities in Londor Two clergymen, employed by the Society for the Promotion o Christian Knowledge, are stationed here; they reside at St. Mary' and Treece respectively : when they cannot visit the churches on th other islands, the service is performed by the clerks. The society AIM supporta schools on the principal islands; and distributes bibles prayer-books, and other religious books. The Baptists have corm preaching stations in the islands.