From this circumftance it is highly improbable that a paffage was ever attempted here.-Befides, we find that Southampton was one of the firft fea ports erected on the western coaft, and that it was, from the earliest times, the mart to which foreign fhips reforted. So that there does not appear to have been any occafion for the Cornish people to bring their tin by fo hazardous a paffage to the Ifle of Wight, in order to export it. It has likewife been thought by fome that this point of land was anciently united to that on which Hurft caftle ftands; but from this opinion I must also beg leave to diffent. -From the depth of the channel, the folidity of the bottom, and the non-appearance of any broken rocks, like the Needles, on either fhore, I think I may venture to fay that the conjecture does not feem to be well founded. If fuch an union ever did exift, it must have been at a very early period ;-but then, as it is most reasonable to fuppofe fuch a feparation to have been occafioned by fome violent concuffion of the earth, it might have been expected that marks of fo fudden a disjunction would ftill have been vifible. Yarmouth road is much frequented by His Majefty's cruizers, that are stationed in the channel for the prevention of fmuggling; and whofe efforts in that point, to the fatisfaction of the fair trader, have lately been attended with great fuccefs. They are peculiarly indebted for this benefit to the commander of the Hebe, whofe courage, prudence, and humanity, are fo confpicuous, as to have gained him not only the esteem of thofe to whom his exertions are ferviceable, but even of the fmugglers themselves. So much celebrated is he for the latter virtue, that happening while there to mention the name of the captain of the Hebe, I was afked by a feaman prefent, whe ther I meant the lenient Thornborough. Yarmouth is alfo well known to the gentlemen of the navy for the hofpitality of a naval officer's house in that town, whofe owner, I believe, feldom wants company while a man of war lies in the road. Leaving the river Yar, or, as it is generally called, Freshwater lake, on our right, we continued to fkirt the coaft; which, for a confiderable diftance, exhibits one of thofe unmeaning features in landfcape that neither attracts nor pleases the fight. The beach is comfortless, with a few infignificant broken maffes and clumps; but it wanted at this time both colouring and verdure. About two miles from Yarmouth it affumes a gayer face, as it here forms the northernmost ridge of mountains; but from the fea they are foon loft to the fight, and appear to fall rather picturefquely. Thefe mountains chiefly encircle the water of Shalflcet, and, when feen from Newtown, are a leading beauty to the lake. A quantity of limestone, and abrupt promontories, conftitute the character of this fhore, and in many parts it is well tinted. In not a few of thefe fcenes there was, however, a want of variety to make them interefting; for we often faw noble maffes of earth in picturesque fhapes, and pleasingly irregular, but, at the fame time, devoid of the principal beauty, that of colouring. One fpot gives you a chill, comfortlefs, gloomy black; another, perhaps, is of an ochre; and these tints of themselves are infipid; but when the former has thrown off its firft furly appearance, and verges towards a grey, collecting about it a few briars and weeds, it then becomes poetical, and gives fatisfaction. Thefe fcenes are very frequent, and they muft be accounted for by fuppofing that Nature has just maffed her dead colouring. The The ochre of itself is likewife hurtful to the eyes when divested of the fra ments of lovely mofs and clinging lichens; and, if any thing, lefs pleafing than the form r;-but, on the other hand, just cast its natural fhrubs upon it, with here and there a finall chafm, and an abrupt piece of limestone, over which the verdure ruggedly falls in pleafing confufion, and it immediately becomes a ftudy. In fhort the sports of Nature are fo various, that I fcarcely remember to have ever feen, in the distance of half a mile, two fpots fo exactly refembling each other. It is but a weary fruitlefs jaunt to endeavour to overtake Nature. Imagination prefents to my view an artist who has arrived at a fcene, where, after having used his utmost efforts, he produces a copy that nearly exceeds the original; -and he thinks him!elf peculiarly happy: but on doubling a fmall cape or promontory, a fresh scene prefents itfelf, that baffles all his fkill, and damps every expectation of being able to out-do it.-Yet ftill the mind of man is Nature; and while he purfues nobler objects than he can defcribe or pourtray, he gives us a faint emblem of Nature attempting to exceed herself. But few novelties are to be feen along this joylefs fhore.-The fea forms feveral fmall bays, which rather alleviate the coarfe lines of the cliffs, and raife the imagination to expect at every curve fome brilliant copfe, or towering hill, to eafe the wearifome lines. Paffing the flat point of Newtown haven, we entered Shalfleet lake, where splendid hills encircle the unfullied ferpentine mirror. From thence we proceeded to Thornefs bay, the fhores of which are more picturesque, and are affifted by the principal beauties of landscape, viz. a profufion of wood and rock. The coaft continues edging towards the north, and forms feveral receffes, where frequent rills rufh down the uncouth cliffs. Weathering another point, we entered Gurnet bay; the repofitory, as before obferved, of the stone with which the fortifications of Portsmouth are conftructed.-We found here two boats loading with the produce of the quarries, which, as likewise obferved, daily attend from that place. The only part of this bay that afforded an agreeable picture of the land, was from the opening which looks towards the Carifbrook hills. The valley is extremely fertile and well wooded, and ranges in pleafing forms till the mountains close the fight. This scene is peculiarly picturefque towards the conclufion of the day, when the fhadows are broad and the colouring chafte; at other times it appears rather crowded and confufed; but when feen with a proper colouring, it is equal to any of the rural fcenes of the island. The time of the day, when we view an object in landscape, and the colouring then on it, prepoffeffes us in its favour, or prejudices us against it. Thus what is all beauty in a morning fun, is obfcurity in the evening.-Therefore if a scene which is grand and noble prefents itself, I always make a point when time will admit, to take a view of it both at the dawn and at the clofe of day; and, from fuch an attention, stronger ideas, I am convinced, may be imbibed even from one fcene, than from many, partially viewed. Stretching now for the Brambles, we tacked, and once more paffed Cowes caftle; when we entered the harbour, having received the highest fatisfaction from an aquatic tour of two days, during which we had encircled the island, and taken a view of the different scenes it exhibited from the fea. We have now finished our account of this pleafant, fertile, and happy fpot; and from the obfervations we had an opportunity of making during our stay there, we were confirmed 14 confirmed in the opinion which had induced us to vifit it,-that for beautiful and picturesque views, felect parts of it are scarcely exceeded by thofe on any other of the coafts. The pleafing variety of hill and dale with which it abounds,—the delightful situation of the gentlemen's feats,-the venerable remains of antiquity, the rich and extensive fea views that every where prefent themselves,-and, above all, the grand and noble craggy cliffs, which at once ferve as a natural fortification to the island, and exhibit the molt magnificent and awful fcenes ;-all thefe combined muft naturally excite the cu riofity of every admirer of the fuperb works of Nature; and, at the fame time, they account for the frequent vifits that are made to the island.-Indeed I know not where a party engaged on a pleasurable scheme could find their expectations more fully gra tified; -to which, I think I might add, the natural civility and hofpitality of the inha bitants at large do not a little contribute. A NA |