the Oceanus Britannicus of the Romans, and La Manche of the French, is that narrow sea or channel which separates the southern shores of England from the northern shores of France. It communicates on the west with the Atlantic Ocean, and on the east with the North Sea. It is narrowest at its eastern extremity where it forms the Strait of Dover, being only 18 miles across between Dover and Cape Gris-Nez. West of this strait it rapidly increases in width; and between Brighton and Havre it is more than 90 miles across. Farther west, however, the peninsula of Cotentin projects from the French coast into the Channel; and between Cape Barfleur, its eastern extremity, and Catherine's Point on the Isle of Wight, the distance is scarcely 60 miles. Between Sidmouth and St Malo it attains its greatest width, being about 130 miles. At its western mouth, between Land's End in Cornwall and the island of Ushant on the French coast, the width is about 100 miles. The general average breadth is about 70 miles; east of Beachy Head it is 38, thence to Portland 67, and west of Portland 83 miles. It is estimated to have an area of 23,900 square miles; and includes the Channel Islands, the Isle of Wight, and the Scilly Islands. The ports on the French coast are shallow, none of them having naturally sufficient depth of water to admit men-of-war, while England, on the contrary, has some of its finest harbours on this part of its coast. To remedy this, the French have, at great expense, constructed at Cherbourg two harbours, a naval and a commercial, the former excavated out of the solid rock, and having a depth of 50 feet at high water. (See CHERBOURG.) The English coast is 390, and the French 370 miles in length. A chalk ridge at the depth generally of from 12 to 30 fathoms crosses the channel at Dover, along which the submarine telegraph is laid. Hence the depth gradually increases, but it is at no part considerable. Westerly winds are prevalent, and render the navigation of the channel at times difficult. In stormy weather the surface is raised two feet or more above that of the North Sea, and the ports have several feet more of water in strong westerly winds than at ordinary occasions. The current, though not perceptible in any part, is generally, if not constantly, running from west to east, as is evident from the eastern tides being stronger than the western, or ebb tides, and their running longer in stormy weather from the west. The channel abounds in fish, and the fisheries give employment to a considerable number of men on both coasts, the most important branch being the pilchard fishery along the coasts of Cornwall and Devonshire, and the oyster fisheries in the bay of Cancale.