On shore all was bustle and preparation. Sir George's head-quarters were
at his cousin's seat, the manor house of S. Owen. The sandy plains to
seaward were held by companies of the island militia; the
lieutenant-governor's own immediate following consisted of a small
squadron of horse, raised and equipped by himself, but mounted on
chargers especially presented to them by the king. Considering the
natural difficulties of the coast, and that the equinox was at hand, the
numerical disparity was not absolutely desperate. Jersey is a strong
place yet. In those days of sailing ships and weak artillery it was a
gigantic fortress, if only held by a wholehearted and determined
garrison. Had that but been now the case, which, however, it was not.
The population in general had no insurmountable feeling of hostility
towards the _de facto_ government of England. On the other hand, the
hearts of the Cavalier party were not high. A rumour had been
spread--not traceable to any distinct source--that Charles had been
taken after the rout of Worcester. The public, ever credulous of ill
tidings, fastened with morbid eagerness on such reports. "Sorrow and
despair," writes a Royalist eye-witness with natural exaggeration,
"could be seen in every face. The more dispirited began to cry out that
it was in vain to contend any longer against powers that, like a
torrent, bore down everything before them."

Carteret, who though ambitious and covetous, was never wanting in
courage, energy, intelligence or versatility, turned the more
obstinately to his task. Concealing his natural anxieties, he rode about
from post to post in morion and buff coat, wearing a resolute
countenance, and doing all that one man could do to keep up the hearts
of his people and prepare a stout defence.

The position of Le Gallais, though humbler, was much more complicated.