SOUTHAMPTON BAE IN THE OLDEN TIME.
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE, 
 
 AND 
 
 OBJECTS OF INTEREST DESCRIBED, 
 
 DURING 
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 DESIGNED TO ASSIST AND ENCOURAGE YOUNG PERSONS IN FORMING 
 HABITS OF OBSERVATION. 
 
 BY MRS. LOUDON, 
 
 "THE LADIES' COMPANION TO THE FLOWER GARDEN," 
 " FACTS FROM THE WORLD OF NATURE," ETC. 
 
 *fconD (PBitton 
 WITH ADDITIONS AND FORTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 GRANT AND GRIFFITH, 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO 
 
 JOHN HARRIS, CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD. 
 
 M.DCCC.XLVIII.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 ON the 21st of August, 1843, Mr. Loudon, my 
 little daughter Agnes, and myself, set out, from 
 Bayswater, to make the tour through the Isle of 
 Wight which is recorded in the following pages. 
 
 That tour has since acquired a melancholy 
 importance in my eyes, from being the last I 
 ever took with my poor husband, whose danger I 
 was quite unconscious of when I wrote the book, 
 though his death took place in less than a month 
 from the day of its publication. This circum- 
 stance made the book painful to me, and I never 
 looked at it again till now I have been reading 
 
 2091110
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 it over for revision ; and it is impossible to de- 
 scribe the vivid interest with which I recall every 
 incident that took place, and every word that 
 was uttered. 
 
 In preparing this second edition, I have added 
 a chapter on shells and sea-weed, but in other 
 respects I have made no alteration, save a few 
 verbal corrections ; as the principal object I had 
 in view, in writing down all we saw and heard 
 during this excursion, was to show how much may 
 be observed and learnt while travelling, even 
 through a well-known country and under ordi- 
 nary circumstances. I think it of the utmost 
 importance to cultivate habits of observation in 
 childhood ; as a great deal of the happiness of 
 life depends upon having our attention excited 
 by what passes around us. I remember, when 
 I was a child, reading a tale called "Eyes and 
 No Eyes," which made a deep impression on my
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 mind ; and which has been the means of pro- 
 curing me many sources of enjoyment during 
 my passage through life. That little tale related 
 to two boys, both of whom had been allowed 
 half a day's holiday. The first boy went out to 
 ,take a walk, and he saw a variety of objects 
 that interested him ; and from which he after- 
 wards derived considerable instruction, when he 
 talked about them with his tutor. The second, 
 a little later, took the same walk ; but, when his 
 tutor questioned him as to how he liked it, he 
 said he had thought it very dull, for he had seen 
 nothing ; though the same objects were still there 
 that had delighted his companion. I was so 
 much struck with the contrast between the two 
 boys, that I determined to imitate the first; and 
 I have found so much advantage from this deter- 
 mination, that I can earnestly recommend my 
 young readers to follow my example. The use
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 of travelling is, that it affords us more opportu- 
 nities of observation than we could have at home ; 
 but, if we do not avail ourselves of these oppor- 
 tunities, we may travel over the whole globe 
 without reaping any advantage. I trust the 
 young people who may read these pages will so 
 far profit by them as to notice all they see, and, 
 particularly, to look for objects of natural history 
 in their walks, whether at home or by the sea- 
 side; and, in return, I promise them that they 
 will find a thousand sources of amusement that 
 before they had no idea of. 
 
 J. W. L. 
 
 BAYSWATER, 
 
 March 9, 1848.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. Terminus of the Southampton Railroad at 
 Vauxhall. Truth and Falsehood. Reaping. Flint in 
 Straw. The river Mole. The Wey. Canals and Locks. 
 Poppies and Opium. Limestone and Chalk. Gleaners. 
 Ruins at Basingstoke. Southampton Bar. Sir Bevis and 
 the Giant Ascahart. , . . . .8 
 
 CHAPTER II. Passengers down the River. Sea-nettles. 
 Netley Ahbey and Fort. View of the Isle of Wight. Ad- 
 venture of the Portmanteau. Landing at West Cowes. 
 Crossing the Medina. Salt Works at East Cowes. . 28 
 
 CHAPTER III. Morning Walk through West Cowes. 
 Ride to Newport. Carisbrook Castle. Children of Charles I. 
 Donkey Well. Chapel of St. Nicholas. Boy Bishop. 
 Archery Meeting. History of the Isle of Wight. Bows 
 and Arrows. . ..%>. . .53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. Departure from Carisbrook. Road to 
 Freshwater. Yarmouth. House where Charles II. was 
 entertained by Admiral Sir Robert Holme. Freshwater. 
 Rocks. Roaring of the Sea. Birds. The Razor -bill and 
 Guillemot. Sea-weed. . . . . .75
 
 CHAPTER VI. Management in Household Affairs. Under- 
 cliffe. Alexandrian Pillar. Light-house of St. Catherine. 
 Little Church of St. Lawrence. Churchyard. St. Law- 
 rence's Well. Ventnor. Wishing Well, and Godshill. 
 Beautiful Butterflies. Pulpit Stone. St. Boniface. Arrival 
 atShanklin. ' . . ^ . * . . 135 
 
 CHAPTER VII. Consequences of Carelessness. Beach 
 at Shanklin. Lobster-pots. Planorbis. Marsh Snail. Sea 
 Rocket. Starfish. Crabs and Lobsters. Sea-weed : Mode 
 of drying it. Mussels. Shanklin Chine. The split Shoe. 
 Shops at Shanklin. ..... 155 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. Shanklin continued. Siphonia or Sea- 
 Tulip. Zoophytes. Sponges. Corals. Shells : Anomia ; 
 Scallop-shell ; Cockle-shell ; Whelk ; Solen, or Razor-shell ; 
 Mactra or Kneading Trough; My a. . "- - .177 
 
 CHAPTER IX. Sandown Bay. Culver Cliff. Sandown 
 Fort. High Flood. Girl and Dog. Poultry. Hares. 
 Butterflies. Ichneumon Fly. Myrtles. Brading. Bern- 
 bridge. St. Helen's. Arrival at Ryde. . . .198 
 
 CHAPTER X. Ryde. Handsome Shops. Binstead. 
 Wootton Bridge. Newport. East Cowes. Horse Ferry. 
 Steam Boat. Arms of the German Empire. Return home. 213
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SOUTHAMPTON BAR IN THE OLDEN TIME 25 
 
 CARISBROOK CASTLE s 59 
 
 ARCHED ROCK AT FRESHWATER 84 
 
 GUILLEMOT , 92 
 
 BLACK GANG CHINE 133 
 
 FIG. PAGE 
 
 1. MEDUSA, OR SEA-NETTLE 30 
 
 2. SEA-JELLIES 32 
 
 3. THE PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR 37 
 
 4. TORTOISE 55 
 
 5. CARISBROOK GATE 59 
 
 6. KING CHARLES'S WINDOW 60 
 
 7. GROUND-IVY 83 
 
 8. THE SPOTTED MEDICK 83 
 
 9. WINGED Fucus ; BLADDER Fucus ; TANGLE 88 
 
 10. BURROWING MOLLUSCS 113 
 
 11. SECTION OF ALUM BAY 115 
 
 12. GRAMPUS .. 116
 
 X ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 FIG. *AGE 
 
 13. THE BEE ORCHIS 120 
 
 14. PLANT OF CROSSWORT 124 
 
 15. THE KITTIWAKE GTTLL 146 
 
 16. THE AZURE BLUE BUTTERFLY 152 
 
 17. THE HORNY SNAIL 159 
 
 18. THE MARSH SNAIL 160 
 
 19. THE STAR-FISH, OR FIVE-FINGERS 162 
 
 20. IRISH Moss, OR CARRAGEEN 167 
 
 21. DUCK'S FOOT CONFERVA 168 
 
 22. FRESHWATER MUSSELS : 171 
 
 23. MASS OF FOSSILS CONTAINING THE SIPHONIA, OR SEA- 
 
 TULIP 179 
 
 24. SPONGES 183 
 
 25. CORALS 185 
 
 26. SADDLE-SHAPED ANOMIA 186 
 
 27. SCALLOP SHELL 188 
 
 28. WHELK (BUCCINUM) 190 
 
 29. TRUNCATED GAPER ; SOLEN, OR RAZOR-SHELL ; COMMON 
 
 COCKLE ; THE KNEADING-TROUGH 192 
 
 30. THE MARBLED- WHITE BUTTERFLY, OR MARMORESS ... 203 
 
 31. THE CLOUDED- YELLOW BUTTERFLY 205 
 
 32. ICHNEUMON FLY ON A FLORET OF THE FLOWERING RUSH 206 
 
 33. RYDE-PIER 214 
 
 34. RIBBED MUSSEL 215 
 
 35. TIGER BEETLES 219 
 
 36. HELIX VIRGATA ; BULIMUS ARTICULATUS 222 
 
 37. ARMS OF GERMANY 228
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 AGNES MERTON was one day sitting in rather a 
 melancholy mood on the swing in her garden, with- 
 out swinging, and aparently lost in thought. It 
 was a very odd place for meditation, but little girls 
 do choose strange places sometimes; and Agnes at 
 this moment felt very sad and uncomfortable on va- 
 rious accounts. Her papa had been in a bad state 
 of health for some time, and Mrs. Merton's attention 
 had been so entirely occupied by him, that Agnes 
 had been comparatively neglected by her mother. 
 Her papa also could not be troubled with her, al- 
 though he was very fond of her when he was well ; 
 
 B
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sick people cannot bear the fatigue of children. 
 Agnes had no sisters, and only a daily governess, 
 who stayed with her but a short time, so that during 
 the greater part of the day the poor child was left 
 entirely to her own resources, and children so young 
 as Agnes cannot always be reading. Agnes was at 
 this time particularly unfortunate, as even her fa- 
 vourite cat, Sandy, had gone away about three weeks 
 before, and nobody knew what had become of him. 
 In this state of things every amusement seemed to 
 have lost its zest, and after swinging a short time 
 with the air of a person who was performing a task, 
 rather than one who was enjoying a pleasure, Agnes 
 sat, as we have before said, on her swing, apparently 
 quite lost in thought, and, indeed, so absorbed that 
 she started when her mother laid her hand upon her 
 shoulder, and asked her if she would like to go to 
 the Isle of Wight ! 
 
 It is impossible to describe what a change these 
 few words produced in the feelings of the little girl, 
 and she replied with her countenance beaming with 
 delight, " Oh yes, mamma, very much indeed ! " 
 
 " Your papa," resumed Mrs. Merton, " has been 
 ordered to try change of air for the benefit of his
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 health, and he has determined to go to the Isle of 
 Wight for a week. At first he intended leaving 
 you at home, but at my earnest desire he has con- 
 sented to take you with us, upon condition of your 
 giving no trouble." 
 
 " Oh, mamma," interrupted Agnes, " I will not 
 give any trouble at all." 
 
 " Perhaps you are hardly aware of what you are 
 promising," said Mrs. Merton, smiling ; " your papa 
 has determined on taking no servant with him, so 
 that you must dress and undress yourself, and take 
 care of your own clothes." 
 
 " But, mamma," said Agnes, " shall we not have 
 poor little Susan?" 
 
 " No," replied Mrs. Merton ; " there will only be 
 your papa, besides you and me : and as my time will 
 be principally occupied in attending on him, you must 
 contrive to take care of yourself." 
 
 Agnes laughed ; "I think I am quite old enough 
 to do that," said she. 
 
 " We shall see," replied her mother. " You must 
 also dine and take all your meals with us ; as it will 
 probably not be convenient for us to stay to take any 
 refreshment at the time you have been used to dine."
 
 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This, so far from being a hardship, Agnes thought 
 the most delightful part of the whole, as she had 
 long considered dining at six o'clock as one of the 
 great desiderata of life ; but Mrs. Merton continued : 
 ".You must also never complain of being hungry or 
 thirsty ; but act as much as possible as if you were 
 really a woman, since we are going to treat you like 
 one. 11 
 
 " I am afraid, mamma," said Agnes, " that will be 
 very hard." 
 
 " If you do not think you can undertake to do all 
 I wish, you must stay at home ; and I have no doubt 
 your aunt Jane will be so kind as to take care of you 
 while we are away. But I think you are quite 
 capable of all that will be required of you. You are 
 now ten years old, and you knew how to pack up a 
 trunk when you were only seven. You shall have 
 a pretty little black portmanteau entirely to yourself, 
 and you shall have a list of everything that is put 
 into it, so that you may know when all your things 
 are right." 
 
 Agnes was delighted with the idea of taking care 
 of her own trunk ; particularly as her mamma con- 
 sented, at her earnest request, to leave the choice
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of what clothes she would take entirely to herself. 
 Agnes was very fond of managing, and of giving 
 directions to her maid, Susan, who was called im- 
 mediately ; for as this was Saturday, and they 
 were to set out on Monday, there was no time to be 
 lost. Susan was almost as much delighted as her 
 little mistress with the task ; and both felt of ex- 
 traordinary importance when they found themselves 
 alone with the open portmanteau before them, and 
 close to the wardrobe from which it was to be filled. 
 Both Susan and her young mistress were, however, 
 soon very much puzzled to know what to decide on. 
 Agnes at first had looked out nearly all the clothes 
 she had, but it was soon found that the pretty little 
 black portmanteau would not hold half the things 
 that had been laid out. A fresh selection was there- 
 fore necessary, and several of the pretty frocks were 
 put back into the drawer. 
 
 " Oh, I must have that, Susan," said Agnes, 
 stretching out her hands after her favourite blue, 
 which was being taken away. 
 
 " Very well, miss," said Susan. " Then suppose 
 you take that, and leave this," laying down the blue 
 and taking up an equally favourite pale pink.
 
 6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Oh no," cried Agnes ; " I must have that, it is 
 so prettily made. 11 
 
 " Suppose you take all your coloured frocks," said 
 Susan, " and leave your white ones?" 
 
 " But, mamma says she always likes me best in 
 white," said Agnes. 
 
 " Well, then, we will take the whites," said Susan, 
 " and leave the coloured ones." 
 
 Agnes sighed deeply. " Oh dear," cried she, after 
 a short pause ; "I wish mamma were here to decide 
 for me. I thought it would be so delightful to have 
 everything my own way, but now the time is come I 
 do not like it at all. I see it saves a great deal of 
 trouble to have some one to direct, and to tell one 
 what to do. I am sure I wish mamma would come 
 and tell me, for I am quite tired of being my own 
 mistress ;" and as she spoke Mrs. Merton entered 
 the room ; for she had been in an adjoining apart- 
 ment, and, overhearing the wishes of her little daugh- 
 ter, had come to her assistance. Under Mrs. Mer- 
 ton's directions the box was soon packed, and Agnes 
 was astonished to see how rapidly her difficulties had 
 vanished. 
 
 " I cannot think how it is, mamma," said she,
 
 INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 " that you have been able to arrange in a moment 
 what gave me so much trouble and vexation. You 
 have done everything just as I wished, and as I 
 would have done it myself, if I could have made up 
 my mind ; and yet my governess often tells me that 
 I am self-willed, and like to have my own way ; 
 now, it appears to me that I actually did not know 
 what my own way was, till you came and showed 
 me." 
 
 " The reason you had so much difficulty in de- 
 ciding," said Mrs. Merton, " was that your judg- 
 ment required to be guided by experience, a quality 
 in which young people are necessarily deficient. 
 When you are as old as I am, and have travelled as 
 much, you will be able to decide as rapidly as I did 
 in this matter ; as you will know by experience what 
 things are likely to be most useful."
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Terminus of the Southampton Railroad at Vauxhall. Truth and 
 Falsehood. Reaping flint in straw. The river Mole. The 
 Wey. Canals and Locks. Poppies and Opium. Limestone 
 and Chalk. Gleaners. Ruins at Basingstoke. Southampton. 
 The Bar. Sir Be vis and the Giant Ascabart. 
 
 ON Monday morning Agnes did not fail to awake 
 in time, and after an early breakfast the party pro- 
 ceeded to the railroad. It was a very long ride from 
 Bayswater to the station at Nine Elms, and Agnes 
 thought it longer than it really was. At length, 
 however, they arrived, and Agnes watched with 
 considerable anxiety her black leather portmanteau 
 taken off the carriage with the rest of the luggage. 
 She was once going to tell the porter to take par- 
 ticular care of it, but observing that her mother did 
 not speak she also remained silent, and followed Mrs. 
 Merton into a large room, in which a man stood 
 behind a kind of counter, receiving money and giving
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 tickets. When it was Mrs. Merton's turn, the 
 man fixed his eyes on Agnes, and said abruptly, 
 " How old are you I" 
 
 " I was ten last October, 1 ' replied Agnes, very 
 much surprised at this question. Mrs. Merton then 
 laid three sovereigns on the counter, which the man 
 took up, giving her three tickets in return, with 
 which she walked away in silence, and joining Mr. 
 Merton they both walked to the railway carriages 
 followed by Agnes, who could not at all understand 
 the meaning of what had taken place. She did not 
 like to ask any questions, as she had promised not 
 to be troublesome, but she could not help thinking 
 of the man's strange behaviour; and when her 
 mamma, who saw her puzzled look, asked what she 
 was thinking about, she ventured to inquire what 
 the man meant by speaking to her only, and why 
 he took any interest in knowing her age. " I sup- 
 pose," said she, " he must have some little girls of 
 his own, and that he wanted to know if I were the 
 same age ; but I wonder whether he thought me 
 short or tall." Mrs. Merton smiled, and replied that 
 she really believed the man had never thought about 
 it.
 
 10 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 "Why did he ask my age, then?" inquired 
 Agnes, rather vexed at her mamma's indifference. 
 
 " To know how much you were to pay for your 
 place," replied Mrs. Merton. " If you had been 
 under ten, I should have paid only half price for you." 
 
 " But why did he not ask you such a question as 
 that ?" 
 
 "He was probably afraid that I should not tell 
 him the truth." 
 
 " But surely, mamma," cried Agnes, her face flush- 
 ing, and her eyes sparkling with indignation, " the 
 man could never think you would demean yourself 
 so much as to tell a falsehood for the sake of ten 
 shillings." 
 
 " If he had known me," replied Mrs. Merton 
 quietly, " I hope he would not have suspected me of 
 telling a falsehood for the sake of any sum." 
 
 An old gentleman who was their fellow-traveller, 
 was very much amused at Agnes's indignation, and 
 began to tease her by telling her that her mamma 
 was in the habit of telling stories every day ; and 
 when Agnes indignantly denied his assertion, he 
 asked her if she thought her mamma had never 
 written "your humble servant" at the end of a
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 11 
 
 letter, without meaning that she was ready to act 
 as a servant to the person she addressed; and 
 whether she did not often say she was glad or sorry 
 to hear some particular piece of news, when she did 
 not, in fact, care much about it. Agnes began to 
 look puzzled, and Mrs. Merton, not liking this mock- 
 ing style of conversation, as she knew the necessity 
 of keeping a strict line in a child's mind between 
 truth and falsehood, tried to turn her daughter's at- 
 tention to the objects they were passing. It is very 
 strange that sensible and well-informed men should 
 often take as much pleasure in confusing the thoughts 
 of a poor innocent child, as vicious boys do in tor- 
 menting a harmless dog. This gentleman, whose 
 name they afterwards found was Mr. Bevan, was a 
 well-intentioned, good-hearted man, who would have 
 been shocked at the thought of hurting Agnes by 
 treading on her foot, or pushing her down ; and yet, 
 while he would have shrunk from wilfully inflicting 
 on her a trifling bodily hurt which could only have 
 caused a temporary suffering, he had no hesitation 
 in doing a serious injury to her mind. It is true 
 he only wished to amuse himself by watching the 
 play of her countenance, without thinking of the
 
 1 2 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 consequences ; and that if she had been his child he 
 would have heen the first to correct her for telling 
 a falsehood : but his mocking strain roused the first 
 doubt that had ever crossed the mind of Agnes as 
 to whether it was possible to tell a falsehood without 
 meaning any harm. Hitherto she had been truth 
 itself, and still nothing would have induced her to 
 tell a falsehood wilfully : but she was puzzled, as she 
 was not old enough to distinguish between positive 
 assertions, and mere conventional phrases, to which 
 nobody attaches any precise meaning ; and that per* 
 feet confidence in the holiness and power of truth, 
 which is so beautiful a feature in the youthful mind, 
 was shaken. Mrs. Merton wished to prevent her 
 daughter's mind from dwelling on the subject, and 
 pointing to a corn-field, she asked Agnes, if she knew 
 what corn it was. Before, however, the child could 
 answer, a young man who sat opposite told her with 
 a patronizing air, that it was wheat. 
 
 " You may know it," continued he ; " by its close 
 heads. Barley and rye have long bristles, and oats 
 have loose heads." 
 
 Agnes now began to be interested in the wheat- 
 fields they were passing ; and her mamma made her
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 13 
 
 observe the curious curved knife called a sickle, which 
 is used in reaping corn ; and the manner in which 
 the corn was tied up in sheaves after it was cut, and 
 the sheaves afterwards placed together in shocks, with 
 their heads leaning towards each other, and a sheaf 
 reversed over the top to keep the grain dry. 
 
 " But why do women reap ? " asked Agnes ; " you 
 told me mowing was too difficult for them, and surely 
 it is nobler to cut corn than grass." 
 
 " Reaping requires less strength than mowing, as 
 the sickle is neither so heavy nor so cumbrous as the 
 scythe." 
 
 " What part of the wheat produces the flour ? " 
 
 " Can you not guess ? " 
 
 Agnes hesitated, and then said, timidly and blush- 
 ing, " I am not quite sure, but I think it is the seed."" 
 
 " Right," cried Mr. Merton, who, being an excel- 
 lent botanist himself, was always glad to turn his 
 daughter's attention to the peculiarities of plants. 
 "Now tell me if you know any thing particular about 
 the straw." 
 
 " I believe it is hollow and jointed." 
 
 44 It is ; and, what is more, it is not composed 
 entirely of vegetable matter, but partly of stone ;
 
 14 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 for every wheat straw contains enough flint to make 
 a glass bead." 
 
 " Oh, papa," cried Agnes, " now you must be 
 joking." 
 
 " Indeed I am not. If a wheat straw be held 
 in the flame of a candle, it will first turn to white 
 ashes ; and, if these ashes be still exposed to the 
 flame, they will gradually melt into an imperfect 
 sort of glass. When hay-ricks are burnt, there is 
 always left a mass of dark, flinty matter, which 
 closely resembles the dross sometimes thrown out of 
 a glass-house." 
 
 " How very curious ! " cried Agnes. 
 
 " Did you ever see wheat hi flower, my dear,*' 
 asked Mr. Bevan. 
 
 " Never, sir," replied Agnes ; and then, turning to 
 her father, she said : " I suppose the gentleman 
 wishes to make game of me ; for wheat has no flow- 
 ers, has it papa I " 
 
 " Certainly, it has flowers, for it has perfect seeds ; 
 and all plants that have perfect seeds must have 
 flowers. The flowers of the wheat are, however, 
 inconspicuous, as they have no petals." 
 
 While this conversation was passing, the train had
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 15 
 
 kept whirling on, and Mrs. Merton had remarked 
 two or three things that she thought worthy of the 
 notice of her little daughter : she now called her 
 attention to the windings of the river Mole, which 
 has received its strange name from the manner in 
 which it creeps along, and occasionally appears to 
 bury itself under ground, as its waters, are absorbed 
 by the spongy and porous soil through which it flows. 
 Agnes was very anxious to hear more of this curious 
 river. 
 
 " It is remarkable," said Mrs. Merton, "that it is 
 not navigable in any part of its long course of forty- 
 two miles ; and that occasionally when the weather 
 has been dry a long time, it disappears altogether. 
 At the foot of Box- Hill, near Dorking, with regard 
 to this phenomenon, it is supposed that there are 
 cavities, or hollow places, under ground, which com- 
 municate with the bed of the river, and which are 
 filled with water in ordinary seasons, but, in times of 
 drought, become empty, and absorb the water from 
 the river to refill them. When this is the case, the 
 bed of the river becomes dry, and Burford bridge 
 often presents the odd appearance of a bridge over 
 land dry enough to be walked on. The river, how-
 
 1 6 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 ever, always rises again about Letherhead, and suffers 
 no further interruption in its course." 
 
 While Mrs. Merton was speaking, the train had con- 
 tinued whirling on, and they had long passed the slug- 
 gish Mole, and had caught a glance of the more useful 
 Wey ; a river of about the same length as the Mole, 
 but which has the advantage of being navigable for a 
 great part of its course ; and Agnes had watched the* 
 inhabitants of the little cottages which bordered the 
 line of the railway trimming their gardens, and spread- 
 ing their seeds out to dry in the sun. She had been 
 amused, in one place, observing the careful manner 
 in which a stack of faggots had been thatched, to 
 keep it from the rain ; and, in another, by observing 
 the delight of a number of pigs, which had been 
 turned into a stubble field, from which the corn had 
 just been carried ; and which ran about, grunting and 
 capering, in a manner which none but pigs could ever 
 accomplish. The train now passed another stream ; 
 and Agnes asked what river it was. "It is not a 
 river," said Mrs. Merton, " but the Basingstoke 
 canal/' 
 
 " How do you know it is a canal, mamma ! " asked 
 Agnes.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 17 
 
 " Its banks are straight and regular," said Mrs. 
 Merton, " which shows that they have been formed 
 artificially ; and the water is as deep close to the 
 bank as it is in the centre : whereas, in rivers, the 
 banks are generally irregular, and the water is shal- 
 lower near them. Besides, there can be no doubt 
 about this being a canal, for there, you see, is a lock." 
 
 " Now, mamma," said Agnes, " you have told me 
 a great many things that I do not understand. I 
 thought a canal had been only to supply the place of 
 a river ; and, if that is the case, I do not see why its 
 banks should be different ; and I do not know what 
 you mean by a lock." 
 
 " It is true," said Mrs. Merton, " that a canal is 
 intended to supply the place of a river, in as far as it 
 is useful for carrying boats ; but most rivers are only 
 deep enough in the centre for this purpose, and a 
 great deal of ground is lost on both sides : but, when 
 a canal is dug, it is an object to save as much ground 
 as possible ; and, therefore, the trench that is dug is 
 equally deep in all its parts, and perfectly level at 
 the bottom. Now, when a country is hilly, the only 
 way in which the canal can be kept level at the bot- 
 tom is, by having it in two or more parts, of different 
 
 c
 
 18 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 levels, each one distinct from the other ; as, other- 
 wise, all the water from the high part would run into 
 the low part : and these little canals are joined toge- 
 ther by means of what are called locks. Each lock 
 is a kind of oblong well, with a pair of strong, water- 
 tight gates at each end ; the lock being just the same 
 depth as the difference between the higher and lower 
 parts of the canal. When a boat comes along the 
 higher part of the canal, the gates at that end of the 
 lock are opened, and a sufficient quantity of water 
 flows in, to allow the boat to float in at the same 
 level. As soon as the boat is completely within the 
 lock, the upper gates are closed, and the gates which 
 communicate with the lower level of the canal are 
 opened, when the water flows out, and the boat sinks 
 gradually down to the lower level." 
 
 " See, mamma," cried Agnes, " there is a boat 
 coming close to a lock ; but it is in the lower part of 
 the canal : what will they do now ? " 
 
 " They will open the lower gates of the lock till 
 the water has descended to the level of that part of 
 the canal which contains the boat, which will then 
 float in ; and, I suppose, you can guess what will 
 then take place."
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 19 
 
 " Oh yes," said Agnes, " the lower gates will be 
 closed as soon as the boat is completely within the 
 lock, and the upper ones opened." 
 
 " You are quite right," said her mother : " and, in 
 this way the boat will be raised to the higher level 
 of the canal." 
 
 " I do declare, they are opening the gate now," 
 cried Agnes, leaning out of the window of the rail- 
 way carriage as far as she possibly could. " How I 
 do wish the train would stop a moment, and let me 
 see the boat float in." 
 
 But it was of no use : the train whirled on ; and 
 poor Agnes, instead of watching the machinery of the 
 lock, was obliged to sit down, and listen to a lecture 
 from her mamma, on the impropriety of hanging out 
 at the windows of any carriage, and of those be- 
 longing to rail-roads more particularly. Some time 
 passed almost in silence, till at last Mr. Bevan asked 
 Agnes if she did not admire the pretty flowers in the 
 corn-fields they were passing. 
 
 " Those poppies are very pretty, certainly," said 
 Agnes ; " and I should admire them very much in a 
 garden ; but I do not like them in a corn field, be- 
 cause papa says they are a proof of bad farming."
 
 20 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 The old gentleman laughed at this, and asked 
 Agnes if she knew the use of poppies, and that opium 
 was made from them. 
 
 " Not from that kind, I believe, sir," said Agnes. 
 "It is the white poppy, is it not, mamma, that pro- 
 duces the opium?" 
 
 " Yes," returned Mrs. Merton ; " and it requires 
 a hotter and drier climate than that of England to* 
 produce it in perfection. The best opium," continued 
 Mrs. Merton, "is obtained from Turkey; and, in 
 that country, there are whole fields covered with 
 poppies; and there are people whose principal bu- 
 siness it is to watch when the petals of the flowers 
 are falling, and then to wound the unripe capsule 
 of each flower with a double-bladed lancet, so that 
 the milky juice may exude. This milky juice be- 
 comes candied by the heat of the sun ; and, being 
 scraped off the following morning, forms what is 
 called opium." 
 
 They now passed through a deep cutting of a grey, 
 partially-shining rock, which Mrs. Merton told 
 Agnes was limestone. A little further the rocks 
 became chalky, with narrow rows of flints embedded 
 in them ; which looked as though the high bank had
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 21 
 
 been originally a chalk wall, with a row of broken 
 bottles along the top, on which other chalk walls of 
 a similar description had been built. Farther on, the 
 banks of the cutting were formed of more crumbly 
 materials, and appeared to consist entirely of loose 
 sand and powdered chalk. 
 
 " What a variety of soils we are going through ! " 
 said Agnes. 
 
 " Not so great as you imagine," returned her mo- 
 ther. " Chalk is but another form of limestone, 
 and flint but another form of sand ; and these two 
 earths are almost always found together." 
 
 They had now reached the Basingstoke station ; 
 and, while some of the passengers were getting down, 
 Agnes amused herself in counting the number of 
 gleaners in a field from which the corn had just been 
 carried. 
 
 " There are eighty-two," said she, after a short 
 pause. 
 
 " Eighty-two what 2 " asked her mother. 
 
 " Gleaners, 1 ' said Agnes, directing her mother's 
 attention to the field, which, indeed, was nearly filled 
 with people. The attention of the other passengers 
 was now turned towards the field ; and they all
 
 22 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 agreed that the corn must have been carried in a 
 very careless manner to have left so many ears 
 behind. 
 
 "It is a good thing for the poor people in the 
 neighbourhood," said Mr. Bevan. 
 
 "But," said Mr. Merton, "it is hard for the 
 farmer, who has been at the expense of ploughing and 
 manuring, harrowing and sowing, and who is now* 
 deprived of his just profits by the negligence of his 
 servants." 
 
 The train soon moved on a little, and Agnes's 
 attention being attracted by the ruins of a church 
 which stood on a little eminence near the road, she 
 eagerly asked what it was. 
 
 " Those," said the old gentleman, " are the ruins of 
 a chapel, dedicated to the Holy Ghost, which is said 
 to have been erected in the reign of Edward IV., 
 and to which a school was formerly attached; but 
 the school was shut up during the Civil Wars, and 
 the building reduced to the state in which you now 
 see it." 
 
 " It is a fine ruin," said Mrs. Merton. 
 
 "Yes," returned the old gentleman ; " and there is 
 some fine carving about it, (if you were near enough
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 23 
 
 to see it,) which was added in the reign of Henry 
 VIII." 
 
 " Was it not at Basingstoke," asked Mr. Merton, 
 " that Basing-House stood, so celebrated for its de- 
 fence against Cromwell ? " 
 
 " That was at Old Basing," replied Mr. Bevan, 
 " which was formerly a town, and a larger place than 
 this : the word stoke signifying a hamlet. But things 
 are reversed now; for Old Basing has become a 
 hamlet, and Basingstoke a town." 
 
 Agnes was very much interested in this con- 
 versation ; as she had seen Mr. Charles Landseer's 
 beautiful painting of the taking of Basing house; 
 and she now found how much a little knowledge of 
 the subject adds to the interest you feel in a 
 picture. 
 
 " Is the population of Basingstoke large ?" asked 
 Mr. Merton. 
 
 " There are about four thousand inhabitants, I 
 think," said the old gentleman, " rather less than 
 more." He then added, " I believe we are now only 
 about thirty miles from Southampton." 
 
 " Only thirty ! " The distance is nothing on a 
 rail-road, an affair of about an hour or so ; but how
 
 24 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 different it would be to a feeble mother, carrying a 
 heavy child ! How different to an exhausted wan- 
 derer, struggling to reach his longed-for home ! Then, 
 indeed, a distance of thirty miles would seem an un- 
 dertaking almost heart-breaking, and scarcely to be 
 accomplished ; but time and space are always relative, 
 and, in measuring them, we are apt to judge by our 
 feelings, rather than by the reality. 
 
 After leaving Basingstoke, the train proceeded 
 with great rapidity. Andover was the next station ; 
 and here numerous carriages were waiting to convey 
 passengers to Salisbury, Exeter, and all the interme- 
 diate towns. Winchester next appeared in sight ; 
 and soon that ancient city, with its fine cathedral and 
 antique cross, lay below them. Then they reached, 
 and passed, the river Itchen, which winds backwards 
 and forwards, like a broad riband floating in the 
 wind. They were now within a few miles of South- 
 ampton ; and, as they rapidly advanced, they began 
 to feel the fresh breeze from the water. They still 
 hurried on, and soon the masts of the shipping 
 appeared in sight. The train now stopped, that the 
 passengers might give up their tickets. This was 
 soon done ; and the train whirled on again to South-
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 25 
 
 ampton. They descended at the terminus ; . and 
 having their luggage conveyed to the pier, they had 
 it placed on board one of the steam-packets, which, 
 they were told, would sail in about an hour. Hav- 
 ing finished this business, Mr. Merton sat down on 
 one of the seats on the pier, while Mrs. Merton 
 and Agnes walked back to take a glance at the 
 town. 
 
 The town of Southampton consists principally of 
 one long, broad street, which ascends from the sea 
 up a hill. This street is divided nearly in the middle 
 by a curious old gate, called the bar; and which 
 was, in fact, one of the gates of the ancient town. 
 Towards this monument of antiquity, Mrs. Merton 
 and Agnes bent their steps; and Mrs. Merton ex- 
 plained to her daughter, that bar was the Saxon 
 name of gate. 
 
 " Oh, yes," cried Agnes, " you know we say Tem- 
 ple Bar; and I remember that the gates in York are 
 called bars : but mamma, what are those curious 
 figures in front?" , 
 
 " They are said to be the figures of a knight, re- 
 nowned in romance, called Sir Bevis, of Hampton, 
 and of Ascabart, a giant whom he slew."
 
 26 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 " This giant was mighty, and he was strong, 
 And feet full thirty was he long ; 
 His lips were great, and hung aside ; 
 His eyes were hollow, his mouth was wide : 
 Loathly he was to look upon, 
 And liker a demon than a man : 
 His staff was a young and torn-up oak ; 
 And hard and heavy was his stroke." 
 
 "The giant Ascabart is alluded to in the first 
 canto of Scott's Lady of the Lake ; and many legends 
 are told of his conqueror Sir Bevis, who appears to 
 have resided near Southampton, at a place still called 
 Sir Bevis' s Mount."" 
 
 " 1 suppose these figures below are Sir Be vis's 
 arms," said Agnes; " if there ever was such a 
 person." 11 
 
 " I do not wonder that you have not full faith in 
 Sir Bevis," said Mrs. Merton, smiling ; " but for my 
 own part, I believe that all the heroes of romance 
 we hear about in different places are real personages, 
 though their deeds have been so exaggerated as to 
 make us doubt their existence." 
 
 " But the arms, mamma," repeated Agnes, 
 " whose do you think they are 2"
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 27 
 
 " Most of them are probably those of the persons 
 who have repaired the gate, at different times ; and 
 I think those of Queen Elizabeth are in the centre. 
 The queer-looking animals that sit below, however, 
 most probably belonged to Sir Bevis, as they appear 
 of the same date as his figure." 
 
 They now took a rapid glance at the very hand- 
 some shops which lined the High-street on both sides, 
 and returned to the pier, where they found the steam- 
 packet just ready to start.
 
 28 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OB, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Passengers down the River. Sea-nettles. Netley Abbey and 
 Fort. View of the Isle of Wight. Adventure of the Port- . 
 manteau. Landing at West Cowes. Crossing the Medina. 
 Salt Works at East Cowes. 
 
 THE pier at Southampton has only been erected a 
 few years, and it is called Victoria-pier, because it 
 was opened by her present Majesty, shortly before 
 her accession to the throne. Mrs. Merton and her 
 daughter walked rapidly along it ; for the bell had 
 already rung, and the steam-packet was on the point 
 of starting when they arrived. For a few minutes 
 after they came on deck, they were too much hurried 
 to observe anything particular, but Agnes had the 
 pleasure of seeing that her dear little portmanteau was 
 quite safe among the rest of the luggage. The day 
 was fine, and the water sparkled in the sun-beams, as 
 the steam-boat pursued its way rapidly down the river. 
 
 The first thing that attracted Agnes' s attention, was
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 29 
 
 the appearance of some workmen who were taking up 
 a few of the upright pieces of wood which supported 
 the pier. These piles were bored through in several 
 places ; and Mrs. Merton asked her if she could tell 
 the cause. 
 
 " The cause is the Pholas, or Stone-piercer," said 
 Agnes. " I remember, mamma, you told me all 
 about that curious shell-fish long ago ; and that the 
 piles are now obliged to be covered with nails driven 
 into them, to prevent them from being bored through : 
 but I never saw any of the piles before." She had 
 not much time to look at them now ; as, though the 
 wind was against them, the steam-packet flew on as 
 rapidly as the railway-train had done : and, as Mrs. 
 Merton gave her arm to her husband, who was walk- 
 ing up and down the deck, Agnes knelt on the seat 
 near the side of the vessel, to watch the little billows 
 as they rose up rapidly, and broke against it. But 
 her attention was soon engaged by some curious little 
 animals which were seen in the water, and which 
 appeared like fairy umbrellas, opening and shutting 
 occasionally as they floated along. Some of these 
 curious creatures were rather large, with a kind of 
 fringe round the lower part ; and others had what
 
 30 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 appeared to be a fleshy cross on their summit, which 
 was of a bright purple. They were so numerous 
 that Agnes thought she should like to catch one or 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 MEDUSA, OR SEA-NETTLE. 
 
 two, and she leant over for that purpose ; but her 
 little arms were not long enough to reach the water. 
 A young man who saw her trouble was about to 
 assist her, when the old gentleman who had been 
 their fellow traveller by the rail-road stopped him. 
 " You had better not touch them, 1 ' said he; " they 
 will sting you."
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 31 
 
 " Sting !" cried Agnes, " can such beautiful crea- 
 tures sting ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Mr. Sevan, " if you were to take 
 them into your hand, you would find an unplea- 
 sant tingling, which would be followed by heat and 
 pain, like the smarting produced by the sting of a 
 nettle." 
 
 " The vulgar people here, call them Chopped 
 Ham," said a young man, with a book in his hand ; 
 " and they say that the sting is the mustard that is 
 usually eaten with Ham. In the Legends of the 
 Isle of Wight," continued he, glancing at his book, 
 " this strange name is supposed to allude to a chief- 
 tain of the name of Ham, who was killed and chop- 
 ped in pieces near Netley Abbey, and who has given 
 his name, not only to Southampton, but to Hamp- 
 shire." 
 
 " I should like to get some of these curious 
 creatures in spite of their stinging," cried Agnes ; 
 " they are so beautiful. They look like fairy para- 
 sols, continually opening and shutting, but made of 
 the finest gauze, and trimmed with long fringe ; and 
 see, there are some tinted with all the colours of the 
 rainbow."
 
 32 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 "Yes,"" said Mrs. Merton, " the poet says, 
 
 -' There 's not a gem 
 
 Wrought by man's art to be compared to them ; 
 Soft, brilliant, tender, through the wave they glow, 
 And make the moonbeam brighter where they flow.' " 
 
 " How very pretty, mamma," cried Agnes. 
 
 " These lines are very pretty," said Mr. Merton, 
 " and, moreover, they have a merit not very common 
 in poetry, for they exactly describe the sea-nettles, 
 as they are called, with which you are so much 
 delighted." 
 
 " Sea-nettles ! " cried Agnes, " it seems a pity that 
 they have not a prettier name." 
 
 Fie. 2. 
 
 SEA-JELLIES (Acalephu). 
 
 " They are also called Medusae, or jelly-fish," said 
 Mrs. Merton.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 33 
 
 " Are they alive, mamma?" said Agnes. 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Merton, " and they belong to 
 the humblest class of animated nature, called Zoo- 
 phytes, which form the connecting link between ani- 
 mals and plants. These creatures have no head, but 
 only a mouth, which opens directly into the stomach, 
 and the fringe that you observe consists of nume- 
 rous slender arms with which they seize their prey 
 and which are armed with small hooks, so fine as 
 scarcely to be seen without a microscope. It is these 
 hooks catching the flesh which occasion the pain that 
 is felt when they are touched." 
 
 " If you were to take one up in your hand," said 
 Mr. Bevan addressing Agnes, "you could not keep it 
 long, for these creatures decay, and, in fact, melt into 
 water as soon as they are dead. They are only seen 
 on fine warm days like the present ; for when the 
 weather is cold, they sink to the bottom. They are 
 very beautiful at night, when they become luminous, 
 and appear like a host of small stars, rising to the sur- 
 face, and again disappearing, as though dancing on the 
 sea. There are a great many different kinds, and those 
 of the tropical regions are very large and brilliant." 
 
 They now came in sight of Netley Abbey, and
 
 34 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 there was a great rush to see it. Agnes, however, 
 was very much disappointed, as its appearance from 
 the water was very different from what she had 
 expected. 
 
 " I thought it would be something beautiful like 
 Melrose Abbey," said she, 4< and it is only like a 
 common church." 
 
 " What you see," said Mrs. Merton, " is the Fort/ 
 and you cannot judge of the beautiful effect of the 
 ruins of the Abbey unless you were on shore." 
 
 " That fort, or castle,"' said Mr.Bevan, "was erected 
 by Henry VIII. , after the spoliation of the abbey, 
 which was built about 1238, and the name of Netley 
 is a corruption of its old name of Lettely, which sig- 
 nified a pleasant place." 
 
 " Are there many legends connected with the 
 Abbey 2" asked Agnes. 
 
 " Several," returned the old gentleman. " Among 
 other things it is said, that a carpenter of Southamp- 
 ton, named Taylor, had once bought the ruins, with 
 a view of taking them down, and selling the materials ; 
 but a spirit appeared to him in a dream for three 
 nights in succession, and warned him not to do so. 
 He disregarded the warning, however, and had just
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 35 
 
 taken a person to the Abbey to make a bargain with 
 him for the frame-work of one of the old windows, 
 when a part of the ruin fell upon his head and killed 
 him on the spot." 
 
 " That is a very useful legend," observed Mr. Mer- 
 ton, " as it has probably served to protect the ruins." 
 
 " No doubt it has," returned Mr. Bevan, " as it 
 is firmly believed. There are several other stories of 
 money being buried, and of the guardian spirit of 
 the abbey appearing to protect its treasures when- 
 ever they are in any danger of being found." 
 
 " These stories," said Mr. Merton, " are common 
 to most old monasteries; and they have probably 
 arisen from the popular belief that much greater 
 wealth was possessed by the abbots at the time of the 
 dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry 
 VIII. than was found by the commissioners, and 
 that consequently some of it must have been hidden." 
 
 " The most remarkable story about Netley," said 
 the old gentleman, " I will relate to you if you like 
 to hear it." 
 
 The people all crowded round him eagerly, and he 
 began as follows : " In the ancient times, when Netley 
 was inhabited by a community of monks, there were
 
 36 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OB, 
 
 certain underground passages, the opening to which 
 was only known to the abbot, the prior, and two of 
 the oldest monks. When one of these chanced to 
 die, the entrance to these secret passages was confided 
 to another; but it was never known to more than 
 four at a time, and they took a solemn oath never 
 to reveal it. What was contained in these mysterious 
 passages was never known. Even the rough soldiers of 
 Henry VIII. , when they demolished the monastery, 
 respected its secret ; till, at length, in modern times, 
 a gentleman of the town of Southampton was de- 
 termined to explore the subterranean vaults of Netley, 
 and having with great pain and difficulty cleared an 
 opening, he entered with a lantern in his hand, and 
 a lighted candle fixed at the end of a long stick. He 
 and his light soon disappeared, and those who had 
 followed him to the opening remained a long time 
 watching for his return. At length they began to 
 grow uneasy, and they were just debating whether 
 they should follow him, when suddenly footsteps 
 were heard rattling along the subterraneous passages, 
 and the gentleman rushed out, crying, ' Block up 
 the opening, block up the opening ! ' He gazed wildly 
 for a moment and then fell down, and instantly
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 37 
 
 expired, probably from the 
 effects of the dangerous gas 
 which is generally found in 
 places that have been long 
 closed up." 
 
 Mrs. Merton, who did 
 not like the deep interest 
 with which her little 
 daughter had listened to 
 this tale, now again direct- 
 ed her attention to the 
 Medusae. 
 
 " We call them Portu- 
 guese men-of-war," said one 
 of thesailors ashe passedby. 
 
 " That is curious enough," 
 said the old gentleman, 
 " for there is a kind of Zoo- 
 phyte which is common in 
 the West Indies, the pro- 
 per English name of which 
 is the Portuguese man-of- 
 war ; but it is very different 
 from these. When seen 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 THE PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR.
 
 38 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR. 
 
 floating on the water, it looks like a little weaver's 
 shuttle ; but it is in fact a bladder inflated with air, 
 having a ridge down the back like a cock's comb, 
 beautifully tinted with rose colour, the bladder itself 
 being of a purplish hue at both ends. Below hang a 
 number of thread-like appendages, some of which are 
 straight, and some twisted, and all of which are of a 
 beautiful dark blue or purplish hue. The animal 
 possesses the power of contracting and dilating its 
 bladder, and raising up the narrowest part, so as 
 to make it serve for the purposes of a sail. There 
 is also a little hole in the narrow part of the 
 bladder, only large enough to admit a very fine 
 bristle ; through this the animal appears to squeeze 
 out the air when it wishes to descend." 
 
 " I have often seen the Portuguese men-of-war," 
 said a naval officer who stood near them. u I dare 
 say there are fifty sorts of these creatures in the 
 West Indies, and there are a great many also 
 of the Medusae, which are a thousand times more 
 beautiful than those we have been looking at here/ 1 
 
 " There are many different kinds of sea-jellies, or 
 bubbles," said Mr. Merton, " in the British seas, and 
 it is said that many kinds were found formerly,
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 39 
 
 which now appear to be extinct. It is even sup- 
 posed that the curious marks in the old red sand- 
 stone of Forfarshire, which are called Kelpies 1 feet, 
 are occasioned by sea-jellies having been left by the 
 sea on the sandstone, and lain there till decayed." 
 
 " The Kelpies were supposed to be water-spirits, 
 were they not 2 " said the young man. 
 
 " Yes," replied Mr. Bevan : "I remember, when 
 travelling in the Highlands, hearing many strange 
 stories about them." 
 
 While they were conversing in this manner, the 
 steam-boat made rapid progress, and they now ap- 
 proached Calshot Castle, a fort situated on a small 
 head-land jutting into the sea. 
 
 " That fort," said the old gentleman, " was built 
 in the time of Henry VIII., to protect the entrance 
 to Southampton water ; and it is still used as a gar- 
 rison, though the force it contains is but small. We 
 are now in the Solent Sea, which divides the main- 
 land from the Isle of Wight ; and there," he con- 
 tinued, " is the Island itself." 
 
 They all turned to look ; and Agnes was very 
 much astonished to find it so near. 
 
 " How do you like the Isle of Wight ! " asked her 
 mamma.
 
 40 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 " It looks a pretty mountainous country," said 
 Agnes ; " and more like Scotland than any thing I 
 have before seen in England." 
 
 " You will find it very different," said the old 
 gentleman, turning to Agnes, " when you see it 
 nearer." 
 
 " Every thing is on a much smaller scale," said Mrs. 
 Merton ; " but there is certainly some resemblance." 
 
 At this moment the steam-boat stopped, and the 
 passengers were desired to walk on shore at West 
 Cowes. Agnes was deeply interested in watching 
 the porters, who seized the luggage, and were carry- 
 ing it off without asking where it was to go to ; while 
 several sailors surrounded the steam-boat, crying out, 
 " Want a boat, want a boat, sir, East Cowes, sir." 
 As Mr. Merton was very much fatigued with his 
 journey, Airs. Melton's attention was entirely devoted 
 to him ; and, telling the porter to take their luggage 
 to the Fountain Hotel, she gave her arm to her hus- 
 band, to assist him to leave the vessel. Agnes was 
 preparing to follow them, when, to her great dismay, 
 she saw a man seize her own dear black leather port- 
 manteau, and toss it into a boat going to East Cowes. 
 She positively screamed ; and, running to the edge
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 41 
 
 of the vessel, she cried out, " Oh ! do not take that ! 
 That is mine." 
 
 " Yours," cried a good-natured-looking sailor, who 
 was standing in the boat taking in the luggage ; 
 u and are you not going with this party, then ? " 
 
 " No," said Agnes, trembling and panting for 
 breath, " I am going to West Cowes, to the Foun- 
 tain. My papa and mamma are gone there." 
 
 " Here," cried the sailor ; "I dare say the child is 
 right ; " calling to a young sailor who stood on the 
 deck of the steam-packet ; " Take this portmanteau, 
 and go with that little girl to the Fountain." At 
 this moment the mate of the steam-packet came 
 down to see what was the matter ; and, having heard 
 Agnes's story, he asked what name was on the port- 
 manteau ; and, finding all was right, he told the boy 
 to take it to the Fountain : Agnes following him, in 
 a state of great agitation, but very much pleased at 
 having saved her property. They had scarcely step- 
 ped on shore, when they met Mrs. Merton, who, 
 having seen her husband comfortably placed on a 
 sofa, had become uneasy at Agnes^s not following 
 them, and had returned to the pier in search of her. 
 When Mrs. Merton saw her little girl pale and
 
 42 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR. 
 
 trembling, she was very much alarmed; but, when 
 she heard the story, she praised Agnes for the cou- 
 rage she had displayed, instead of scolding her, as 
 she had been about to do, for her delay. Agnes was, 
 however, too much agitated to feel her usual pleasure 
 at her mother's praises. It was the first time she 
 had ever acted for herself in her life ; and, though 
 she had done right, she felt the bad effect of the over 
 excitement. Mrs. Merton now offered sixpence to 
 the boy who had carried Agnes's portmanteau on 
 shore, but he refused it. " Oh ! no," said he ; " the 
 young lady is quite welcome ; " and, declaring that 
 his father would be very angry with him if he took 
 anything, he hurried into the Fountain : and putting 
 down his burthen in the hall, he ran off, without 
 allowing Mrs. Merton to say another word. As the 
 pier at West Cowes is, indeed, the yard of the Foun- 
 tain Inn, Mrs. Merton and Agnes had not far to go ; 
 but, as Mr. Merton had wished to take some repose 
 after his fatigue, Mrs. Merton satisfied herself with 
 ordering dinner at the bar, and walked out into the 
 little narrow streets of Cowes with her daughter. 
 
 The first object that Mrs. Merton had in view, 
 was to order a carriage, to take them round the Island
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 43 
 
 on the morrow ; and, for this purpose, she went into 
 a fruit-shop nearly opposite the front door of the inn, 
 where she saw a ticket oifering carriages for hire. 
 Mrs. Moore, for that was the name of the green- 
 grocer, was a very nice person ; and Mrs. Merton 
 soon made an arrangement with her, that a little 
 open carriage should be ready for them at nine the 
 following morning. Mrs. Merton then asked Agnes, 
 where she would like to walk ; and Agnes having 
 expressed a strong desire to visit East Cowes, as 
 being the place to which her portmanteau had been 
 so nearly conveyed, Mrs. Merton asked Mrs. Moore, 
 which was the best mode of going. 
 
 " Oh ! there are two ways, ma'am," said Mrs. 
 Moore. " You can either go by the ferry, at a penny 
 a piece, or you can go in a boat from the pier, and 
 pay a shilling." 
 
 4 ' Oh, let us go in the ferry boat," cried Agnes ; 
 " I never was in a ferry-boat in my life." 
 
 Mrs. Merton having ascertained that the ferry- 
 boat was perfectly safe, and that respectable people 
 frequently went by it, determined to indulge her 
 daughter, and they set off in the direction that was 
 pointed out to them. The walk was not a very
 
 44 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 agreeable one ; it was up a narrow street, and a 
 rather steep hill. This appeared very extraordinary 
 both to Agnes and her mamma, as people generally 
 descend to water. At last, however, after a very 
 disagreeable walk, and inquiring their way several 
 times, they began to descend the hill, and soon 
 reached the ferry, where the boat being just ready 
 to go, they took their seats. Agues and her mamma 
 were both very much amused at the old man who 
 rowed them across. 
 
 " I thought ferry-boats had generally a rope to 
 keep them steady," said Mrs. Merton. 
 
 " So they have for the horse-ferries," said the old 
 man ; " but as for this, I can row it as well without 
 a rope as with one. But it is not everybody that 
 can do that, that is true enough." 
 
 As the old man spoke, he gave a vigorous pull, and 
 as he did so, his grey hair blew back from his ruddy 
 and sun-burnt face ; while his whole figure presented 
 a striking picture of the good effect which a life of 
 moderate, but regular, labour in the open air has 
 upon the human frame. 
 
 The ferry-boat was soon across the river ; and 
 when Mrs. Merton and her daughter had landed at
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 45 
 
 East Cowes, and were walking on the terrace in front 
 of the Medina Hotel, Agnes could not help observing 
 to her mother, that she thought the old man very 
 conceited ; " and it is such a ridiculous thing for a 
 man to be proud of, too, 1 ' added she ; " rowing a 
 common ferry-boat." 
 
 " My dear Agnes," said her mother in a serious 
 tone, " I have several times observed in you a ten- 
 dency to look with contempt upon persons and things 
 that you consider beneath you. It is true that you 
 have many advantages which this ferryman has not. 
 Fortunately for you, your parents are rich enough to 
 allow you teachers to instruct you, servants to wait 
 upon you, and a variety of comforts and indulgences 
 which this ferryman can neither enjoy himself, nor 
 give to his children. But these are merely acciden- 
 tal advantages. Circumstances might arise which 
 would reduce you in a moment to a greater degree of 
 poverty than this man, as, in fact, if we were obliged 
 to live by the labour of our hands, he would be far 
 superior to us from his activity and vigour. He is, 
 though an old man, evidently in the enjoyment of 
 robust health and great strength; and I am quite 
 sure if your papa and I were obliged to row a ferry-
 
 46 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 boat for our support, we could neither of us do it 
 half so well as he does. 11 
 
 "Oh! but mamma," said Agnes, ".there is no 
 danger of our being reduced to poverty, is there ? " 
 
 " Not that I am aware of," said Mrs. Merton ; 
 " but it is impossible to say what may happen. As 
 your papa is not in trade he is not liable to those 
 sudden and violent changes which frequently affect 
 the commercial part of the community; but still 
 many things may happen that would occasion a 
 severe reverse. You know in the time of the French 
 Revolution, many persons of a much higher rank 
 than ours were reduced to the greatest distress, and 
 even Louis Philippe, the present King of the French, 
 was obliged to teach in a school for his support." 
 
 They had now reached a part of the beach where 
 the pebbles were very rough, and as Agnes was 
 much interested in what Mrs. Merton was saying, 
 she did not pay proper attention to where she was 
 going, and at this moment she stumbled over a piece 
 of wood. This obliged her to look more carefully 
 at her feet, and as the road was now become very 
 rough, Mrs. Merton thought it better not to proceed 
 any farther along the beach, but to return to the
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 47 
 
 terrace, where the road was smooth. They did so, 
 and had not walked far, when they saw a skate that 
 had just been caught, lying on the beach, panting, 
 and opening and shutting its mouth, which was in the 
 middle of its body on the under side. Agnes shud- 
 dered as she looked at it. " I wish they would 
 throw it back into the water, mamma," said she. 
 
 " We can hardly expect that," returned her mo- 
 ther ; " but I wish the fishermen in this country 
 would stab their fish as soon as they have caught 
 them, as I have heard fishermen do in the east. The 
 skate is a kind of ray, and belongs to the same genus 
 as the Torpedo. The thornback, or maid, belongs 
 also to this genus. Do you remember the little 
 things, that looked like little leather purses, that we 
 used to find among the sea- weed at Brighton ? " 
 
 " Oh yes ! the fishermen called them skate bar- 
 rows ; but you told me they were the eggs of the 
 skate." 
 
 They now walked on in silence for a short time, 
 till Agnes 1 s attention was caught by a building which 
 some men were busily employed in pulling down. 
 
 " What is that, mamma ? " cried she : " and why 
 are those people taking off the roof? "
 
 48 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 Mrs. Merton pointed to a portion of the walls that 
 remained standing, and on which the words " salt- 
 works " might still be read. 
 
 " Salt-works ! " repeated Agnes ; " what is salt 
 made of, mamma ? * 
 
 " Salt," said Mrs. Merton, " can hardly be said to 
 be made, as it is a mineral which is formed naturally, 
 in the earth, and which we procure in three different 
 ways. Sometimes it is dug out of the salt-mines, as 
 at Northwich in Cheshire, and in the Austrian do- 
 minions ; but this kind of salt is coarse and dark- 
 coloured. Another way of procuring it is from salt- 
 springs; that is, from water which has become 
 saturated with salt in its passage through the earth, 
 as at Nantwich and other places in Cheshire, and at 
 Droitwich in Worcestershire ; and this salt is what 
 we have in common use. The last kind of salt is 
 what is made from the sea- water, and most of the 
 works that have been erected for this purpose in 
 England are in Hampshire, particularly in the Isle of 
 Wight." 
 
 " And how do they get the salt out of the salt- 
 water ? " asked Agnes. 
 
 " By boiling it," said her mother, " in large
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 49 
 
 shallow pans, such as that which you see before 
 you." 
 
 While they were examining the pans, Agnes asked 
 her mother a great many questidns respecting the 
 salt-works, and Mrs. Merton told her, that the salt 
 obtained from sea-water is of so much coarser kind 
 than that obtained from the salt-springs, that it is 
 .principally used for curing meat, and for manuring 
 the land. 
 
 " Ah ! " said Agnes, " that reminds me of a ques- 
 tion that I have often wished to ask you, mamma. 
 When I was at Shen stone, my cousin George told me 
 that salt would be excellent manure for my plants, 
 and I put some on my annuals, which were just 
 coming up, and, would you believe it, mamma, it 
 killed them every one." 
 
 " That," said Mrs. Merton, " was because the 
 manure was too strong for them, and you no doubt 
 put a great deal too much. Salt, to do good to 
 plants, should be given to them in very small quan- 
 tities, as, though all plants require some mineral 
 substances to be mixed with their food to keep them 
 in health, it is in such small quantities that in some 
 plants it is only in the proportion of one to four
 
 50 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 thousand ; and where mineral substances are required 
 in the greatest quantity for the nourishment of a 
 plant, it is only in the proportion of about ten to one 
 thousand." 
 
 " I do not think I quite understand that, mamma," 
 said Agnes. 
 
 " Well," returned Mrs. Merton, " at any rate you. 
 will remember, that though a very small quantity of 
 salt may be useful to plants, a large quantity will 
 kill them, and that, consequently, it is much safer for 
 inexperienced gardeners not to give them any." 
 
 " I remember once being told that all the places 
 that produce salt end in wich ; but the name of this 
 place is Cowes." 
 
 " I have heard that the word wich is derived from 
 the Saxon, and that it signifies a salt- spring," said 
 Mrs. Merton, " but of course that does not apply to 
 salt procured from the sea." 
 
 Mrs. Merton and her daughter had now reached 
 the beach, and ordering a boat from one of the boat- 
 men lounging about, they stepped into it to return to 
 West Cowes. 
 
 " But, mamma," said Agnes, who was still think- 
 ing of the salt- works, " is this the water they use
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 51 
 
 for making salt ? This is the Medina, and not the 
 sea, and the Medina is a river, is it not ?" 
 
 " This part of the Medina," said Mrs. Merton, u is 
 what is called an estuary ; that is, an arm of the sea 
 mixed with the waters of a river ; the water of this 
 estuary is salt, and affected by the tides as far as 
 Newport." 
 
 " What makes the waters of the sea salt?" asked 
 Agnes. 
 
 " That is a very difficult question to answer," said 
 her mother, " but it is supposed that rivers carry salt 
 from the earth they run through, into the sea ; and 
 as the water in the sea is continually being evapo- 
 rated by the heat of the sun, the quantity of salt, in 
 proportion to the quantity of water, soon becomes 
 much greater in the sea than in the river, and hence 
 the water becomes much salter." 
 
 " Why, mamma," cried Agnes, "that is just what 
 is done in the salt-pans." 
 
 " You are right," returned her mother. " The 
 salt manufacturers observing the process of nature, 
 have imitated it as well as they could, by applying 
 artifical heat to evaporate the water. What is called 
 bay-salt, is formed by the sea-water left in the clefts
 
 52 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR. 
 
 of the rocks by the tide evaporating naturally, and 
 leaving a saline crust behind ; and this salt takes 
 its name from the sea-water being frequently 'thus 
 left in bays. But see, here is the Fountain Inn, 
 where I have no doubt your papa is waiting dinner 
 for us. 11
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 53 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Morning Walk through West Cowes. Ride to Newport. 
 Carisbrook Castle. Children of Charles I. Donkey Well. 
 Chapel of St. Nicholas Boy Bishop. Archery Meeting. 
 History of the Isle of Wight. Bows and Arrows. 
 
 THE next morning Agnes and her mamma both rose 
 early ; and as Mr. Merton felt inclined to take some 
 repose, they went out by themselves to take a walk 
 before breakfast. They were advised to visit the 
 Parade and the Castle ; and, accordingly, they bent 
 their way down the main street of the town, and 
 soon found themselves on the beach. They strolled 
 gently along a terrace, supported by a sea-wall, till 
 they arrived at a part which was semicircular, and 
 which was backed by a small battery, pierced for 
 eleven guns. This wall forms the boundary of the 
 garden of a moderate-sized house, which, they were 
 told, was called the Castle. This building had been 
 formerly a fort, built by Henry VIII. , at the same
 
 54 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 time as Calshot Castle, for the purpose of defending 
 the coast against the attacks of pirates, which were 
 then frequent in this sea ; but it has been so com- 
 pletely modernised, that it now retains nothing of a 
 castle but the name. They saw a great many bath- 
 ing-machines, which are very common here, as the 
 gravelly beach permits the machines to be used at all 
 states of the tide. After satisfying themselves with 
 this walk, Mrs. Merton and her daughter turned up 
 a beautiful lane, which afforded them a most magni- 
 ficent prospect ; commanding the Solent Sea, Calshot 
 Castle, and the tall Tower of Eaglehurst, seated on 
 the neighbouring cliffs. In a small garden that they 
 passed, they saw a tortoise crawling slowly alonsf ; 
 and Agnes, who disliked slow movements exceed- 
 ingly, expressed her pity at its miserable fate. 
 
 " Nothing is destined by the all-merciful Creator 
 to a miserable fate, Agnes," said her mother ; " and 
 I am confident that every creature has a particular 
 kind of happiness allotted to it, though our ignorance 
 may prevent us from seeing in what it consists. The 
 tortoise is also curiously and wonderfully made : as 
 it has neither force to resist its enemies, nor swiftness 
 to fly from them, it has been provided with a shield
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 55 
 
 of amazing strength, under which it can draw its 
 head, and thus remain in perfect safety from the 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 attacks of birds of prey; 
 yet it can, when neces- 
 sary, put forth its head 
 again, so as to see and 
 enjoy all around it." 
 
 Agnes was very much 
 interested in this, and 
 would have willingly 
 staid some time to watch TORTOISE. 
 
 it ; but this Mrs. Merton could not permit, as they 
 had no time to spare : and, on their return to the 
 inn, they found breakfast ready, and Mr. Merton 
 waiting for them. He was, indeed, very impatient 
 to set off; as it was now after eight o'clock, and the 
 carriage was to be at the door at nine. " We shall 
 soon be ready," said Mrs. Merton ; " for everything 
 is packed up, and we shall not be long taking our 
 breakfast." 
 
 " That is, if you can get anything to eat," said 
 Mr. Merton ; " for I never saw waiters so slow as 
 these are." 
 
 Not discouraged by these remarks, Mrs. Merton
 
 OO GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 sat down to table ; and she and Agnes, whose appe- 
 tites were sharpened by their morning walk, soon 
 contrived to make an excellent breakfast ; though 
 Mr. Merton, who was rendered more fastidious by 
 ill health, could scarcely get anything that he could 
 like. At nine exactly the little carriage was at the 
 door; and Agnes, after running up stairs into the - 
 bed-room, to make quite sure that nothing had been 
 left behind, placed herself beside the driver, rejoi- 
 cing that she had taken the precaution of packing 
 up her portmanteau before she went out. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Merton sat behind ; and thus the whole party 
 were enabled to have a distinct view of the country 
 they passed through. 
 
 The ride from West Cowes to Newport does not, 
 however, contain anything very striking ; and, as 
 the distance is only five miles, they were not long in 
 reaching the town of Newport, which is remarkable 
 for its neatness, though it has little else to recommend 
 it. Our party called at the Post-office ; and Mrs. 
 Merton and Agnes visited the church and church- 
 yard, while Mr. Merton was reading his letters. 
 
 The Church at Newport was built in the year 
 1172, in the reign of Henry II., and was dedicated to
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 57 
 
 St. Thomas a Becket. There is nothing remarkable 
 in the Church, excepting the stone which marks the 
 burial-place of Elizabeth, daughter of Charles I., who 
 died at the age of fifteen, while a prisoner in Caris- 
 brook Castle ; and the handsome monument erected 
 to the memory of Sir Edward Horsey, who was go- 
 vernor of the island in the time of Queen Elizabeth. 
 In the church- yard there was pointed out to them 
 a grave containing six persons of the name of Shore, 
 who all died on the same day ; and this having at- 
 tracted the attention of Agnes, Mrs. Merton asked 
 an explanation, when the guide told them, that this 
 unfortunate family were coming from the West 
 Indies, on board the ship Clarendon ; and, as they 
 intended remaining some time in the Isle of Wight, 
 a house had been taken for them at Newport, looking 
 into the church-yard. The Clarendon was wrecked 
 off Blackgang Chine, on the llth of October, 1836 ; 
 and this unfortunate family were among the passen- 
 gers. It is said all was prepared for them in the 
 house ; and even a dinner had been cooked by order 
 of a near relative of theirs, who was anxiously await- 
 ing their arrival when their dead bodies were brought 
 to Newport.
 
 58 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 As soon as Mrs. Merton and Agnes re-entered the 
 carriage, they proceeded to the pretty little village 
 of Carisbrook, catching several views of the Castle 
 on their route. Mr. Merton, who did not feel equal 
 to the fatigue of visiting the Castle, remained at a 
 little public-house, opposite the church, called the 
 Bugle Inn, while Mrs. Merton and Agnes walked to 
 the Castle. The wind had been high all the morning, 
 but it had now increased so much, that, when Mrs. 
 TVlerton and Agnes ascended the Castle hill, it almost 
 blew them back again. At the gate were some old 
 women, sitting at a fruit-stall ; and, though neither 
 Agnes nor her mamma had any inclination to buy 
 fruit, one old woman followed them up the hill, and 
 was so importunate that they could hardly send her 
 away. " Do ask the lady to buy this beautiful fruit 
 for you, Miss," said the old woman, holding up a 
 miserable green peach, that looked as if it had fallen 
 from the tree before it had attained half its proper 
 size. 
 
 " I don't want such a miserable-looking thing as 
 that," said Agnes, wrapping her cloak around her, 
 though it was with great difficulty that she did so, 
 on account of the wind.
 
 CAKISBROOK CASTLE
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 59 
 
 " It 's a peach, and not an apple, Miss, 11 said the 
 woman. Agnes was quite provoked to have it sup- 
 posed that she, a botanist's daughter, did not know a 
 peach from an apple ; and, turning round angrily, 
 told the woman to get away, and not to dare 
 to be so troublesome. Unfortunately, however, 
 while Agnes was scolding the old woman for teasing 
 her, a sudden gust of wind, operating upon the 
 broad surface of the cloak, actually blew her a short 
 way down the hill before she could recover herself. 
 The old woman laughed ; and Agnes, who was quite 
 indignant, declared that 
 Carisbrook Castle was the 
 most disagreeable place she 
 had ever seen in her life. 
 
 " It is rather soon to 
 say that," said Mrs. Mer- 
 ton ; " when you have 
 only yet seen its ancient 
 gate, and a troublesome 
 old woman on the outside 
 of it." 
 
 The man whose office 
 it was to show the castle CARISBROOK GATE-
 
 60 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 now opened the gate, and called their attention to 
 its antiquity. " These towers," said he, " are of 
 the age of Edward IV., and look, ladies, at this an- 
 cient wooden door, it is of equal antiquity." They 
 looked at the wooden door, which was indeed very 
 old and very much dilapidated; but Mrs. Merton 
 could not help suspecting that its workmanship was of 
 more modern date than that which the man assigned 
 to it, particularly as the arms of Elizabeth were em- 
 blazoned over the gateway. She pointed these out 
 to the man, who replied, 
 " The Castle was repaired 
 and fortified in the reign 
 of Elizabeth, when the 
 whole country trembled 
 with dread at the appre- 
 hension of the invasion 
 of the Spanish Armada. 
 Look at those ruins on the 
 left. There is the win- 
 dow at which the unfor- 
 tunate Charles I. attempt- 
 ed to escape, but his most 
 Sacred Majesty being, as 
 
 KING CHARLES'S WINDOW.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 61 
 
 the historians describe him, of portly presence, the 
 window was too small to admit of his passing 
 through it." They now ascended the dilapidated 
 steps of the keep, but Agnes was too cross and too 
 much annoyed by the wind, to admire the beau- 
 tiful prospect that presented itself. They, therefore, 
 descended again, as well as the wind would permit 
 them, the seventy-two stone steps by which they 
 had mounted, and repaired to the well-house, to 
 visit the celebrated donkey. When they first en- 
 tered Agnes was a little disappointed to see the don- 
 key without any bridle or other harness on, standing 
 close to the wall, behind a great wooden wheel. 
 
 " Oh, mamma," cried she, " I suppose the donkey 
 will not work to-day, as he has no harness on?" 
 
 *' I beg your pardon, miss," said the man ; " this 
 poor little fellow does not require to be chained like 
 your London donkeys, he does his work voluntarily. 
 Come, sir," continued he, addressing the donkey ; 
 " show the ladies what you can do." The donkey 
 shook his head in a very sagacious manner, as much 
 as to say, " you may depend upon me," and sprang 
 directly into the interior of the wheel, which was 
 broad and hollow, and furnished in the inside with
 
 6' 2 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 steps, formed of projecting pieces of wood nailed on, 
 the hollow part of the wheel being broad enough to 
 admit of the donkey between its two sets of spokes. 
 The donkey then began walking up the steps of the 
 wheel, in the same manner as the prisoners do on 
 the wheel of the treadmill ; and Agnes noticed that 
 ke kept looking at them frequently, and then at the 
 well, as he went along. The man had no whip, and 
 said nothing to the donkey while he pursued his 
 course ; but as it took some time to wind up the 
 water, the man informed Mrs. Merton and her 
 daughter while they were waiting, that the well 
 was above three hundred feet deep, and that the 
 water could only be drawn up by the exertion of 
 the donkeys that had been kept there ; he added, 
 that three of these patient labourers had been known 
 to have laboured at Carisbrook, the first for fifty 
 years, the second for forty, and the last for thirty. 
 The present donkey, he said, was only a novice in 
 the business, as he had not been employed much 
 above thirteen years ; and he pointed to some writing 
 inside the door, in which the date was marked down. 
 While they were speaking the donkey still continued 
 his labour, and looked so anxiously towards the well.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 63 
 
 that at last Agnes asked what he was looking at. 
 u He is looking for the bucket," said the man ; and 
 in fact, as soon as the bucket made its appearance, 
 the donkey stopped, and very deliberately walked 
 out of the wheel to the place where he had been 
 standing when they entered. 
 
 " Pretty creature," said Agnes ; " how sagacious 
 he is ! " 
 
 " He is very cunning," said the man ; " and he 
 knows when the bucket has come to the top as well 
 as I do." 
 
 The man now threw some water into the well, and 
 Agnes, who had heard that the water made a great 
 noise in falling, after listening attentively for a second 
 or two was just going to express her disappointment 
 at not hearing it, when she was quite startled by a 
 loud report, which seemed to come up from the very 
 bottom of the well. 
 
 " Oh ! surely," cried she, " that never can be the 
 same water that you threw down such a long time 
 ago 2" 
 
 " It is, indeed, miss," said the man ; " the water 
 is five seconds in falling." 
 
 " Five seconds !" cried Agnes ; " why, that is only
 
 64 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 the twelfth part of a minute ; surely it must have 
 been much longer than that ! " 
 
 " Time," said Mrs. Merton, " often appears to us 
 much longer or shorter than it really is, according to 
 the circumstances in which we are placed. Thus, as 
 we are accustomed to hear a splash of water thrown 
 into other water, the very moment we see it fall, the . 
 time that elapsed between your seeing this water fall 
 and hearing it splash, appeared to you much longer 
 than it really was. 1 ' The man then let down a lighted 
 lamp ; and Agnes, who watched its descent, was as- 
 tonished to see how it dwindled away, till at last it 
 appeared like a little star, and she saw its reflection 
 on the water. 
 
 They had now seen all that was interesting in the 
 " Well House ;" and having left it, they were about 
 to cross to the chapel on the opposite side of the 
 court, when they met the old gentleman who had 
 been their fellow-traveller in the railway carriage 
 and in the steam-boat. He seemed very glad to see 
 them again, and was much amused with Agnes^s 
 account of all the wonders that she had seen in the 
 " Well House." 
 
 " And no doubt," said he, " you have also seen
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 65 
 
 the window through which Charles attempted to 
 escape ; but are you aware that two of his children 
 were confined here after their father was beheaded ? " 
 
 They replied that they had seen the tomb of the 
 Princess Elizabeth at Newport. 
 
 " Ay," said the old gentleman ; " she was said 
 to be poisoned, but I believe the poor thing died of 
 grief. She was called Miss Elizabeth Stuart, and 
 her brother Master Harry ; and it is said that the 
 poor things almost broke their hearts when they 
 found nobody knelt to them, or kissed their hands. 
 It was said that the Parliament intended to appren- 
 tice Elizabeth to a mantua-maker ; but she died, and 
 disappointed them, and two years afterwards Crom- 
 well sent the little Duke of Gloucester to the Con- 
 tinent. 11 
 
 " We were going to the chapel," said Mrs. Mer- 
 ton ; " will you walk in with us ?" 
 
 " This chapel," said he, pointing to that to which 
 they were bending their steps, " is dedicated to St. 
 Nicholas, the patron Saint of children, students, 
 sailors, and parish clerks." 
 
 " What an odd mixture !" said Mrs. Merton, 
 smiling.
 
 66 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 " St. Nicholas," continued Mr. Bevan as they 
 entered the chapel, " was a child of extraordinary 
 sanctity; so much so, indeed, that even when a 
 baby at the mother's breast, it was said he refused 
 to suck on the fast days appointed by the Romish 
 Church. As he grew older his devotion became so 
 apparent that he was called the boy bishop ; and it . 
 was in his honour that the curious festival bearing 
 that name was instituted in the Romish Church/' 
 
 " I have often heard of the festival of the boy 
 bishop," said Mrs. Merton ; " but I was not aware 
 that it was instituted in honour of St. Nicholas." 
 
 " What was the ceremony of the boy bishop?" 
 asked Agnes. 
 
 " It was one of those strange festivals in the 
 Romish Church,'" said Mrs. Merton, " in which people 
 were permitted, and even encouraged, to ridicule all 
 the things which, during the rest of the year, they 
 were taught to consider sacred, and to hold in the 
 highest reverence." 
 
 " The festival of the boy bishop," observed Mr. 
 Bevan, "is of remote antiquity, and it is said to 
 have been practised on the Continent long before it 
 was introduced into Britain ; though we find that, in
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 67 
 
 the year 1299, Edward I., on his way to Scotland, 
 heard mass performed by one of the boy bishops, in the 
 little chapel at Heton, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne." 
 
 " And even that is above five hundred years ago," 
 remarked Mrs. Merton. 
 
 "On St, Nicholas's day," resumed Mr. Bevan, "the 
 6th of December, a boy was chosen, at each of our 
 principal cathedrals, from amongst the choristers, to 
 represent a bishop ; and to this boy all the respect 
 and homage was paid that would have been oiFered 
 to a bishop, if he had really been one. His authority 
 lasted until St. Innocent's day, the 28th of December; 
 and during this time he walked about in all the state 
 of a bishop, attired in a bishop's robes, with a crosier 
 in his hand, and a mitre on his head. If one of these 
 boy bishops died within the period of his office, he 
 was buried with all the pomp and form of a real 
 bishop ; and there is, in fact, a monument in Salis- 
 bury Cathedral, representing a boy, about ten or 
 twelve years old, attired in episcopal orders." 
 
 " What a very curious thing ! " said Agnes. 
 
 " This, I suppose then," said Mrs. Merton, " is the 
 reason why St. Nicholas is represented as the patron 
 of children ?"
 
 68 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 " Yes," said the old gentleman, " and he was con- 
 sidered the patron of students, from the following 
 story: St, Nicholas was Bishop of Myra, and an 
 Asiatic gentleman, sending his two sons to be edu- 
 cated at Athens, desired them to call upon St. Nicho- 
 las at Myra to receive his benediction. They in- 
 tended to do so, but unfortunately the landlord of the . 
 Inn where they put up, perceiving that they had 
 plenty of money, murdered them in their sleep, and 
 cutting their bodies into pieces, salted them, and put 
 them into a pickling tub, used for pickling pork. St. 
 Nicholas had a vision of this in a dream ; and going 
 the following morning to the Innkeeper, he desired 
 him to show him the tub where he kept his pickled 
 pork. The Innkeeper at first endeavoured to excuse 
 himself, but, at length, he was compelled to obey ; 
 when St. Nicholas, uttering a prayer, the mangled 
 pieces of the poor young men jumped out of the tub, 
 and re-uniting themselves, fell at the feet of the holy 
 bishop, thanking him for having restored them to life. 
 It is on this account that, in ancient pictures, Saint 
 Nicholas is generally represented with two naked 
 children in a tub." 
 
 " I think I have heard, when on the Continent,"
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 69 
 
 said Mrs. Merton, c< that St. Nicholas was also the 
 patron of young girls ; and that in convents, when 
 the novices had behaved well, it was pretended that 
 he had stuffed their stockings with sugar plums 
 during the night." 
 
 " Yes," returned the old gentleman, " and nearly 
 the same fiction was resorted to by parents ; who, 
 when they wished to make presents to their children, 
 used to tell them that, if they left their windows 
 open at night, and had been quite good, St. Nicholas 
 would come through the open window and leave 
 them something pretty or nice." 
 
 "How very strange!" cried Agnes; "I should 
 have thought the parents would like to give the pre- 
 sents themselves, and see how happy they made 
 their little children. Besides, was it not very wicked 
 to tell falsehoods ?" 
 
 " I consider it so," said Mrs. Merton ; " as I 
 think we should never do what is bad even when we 
 think it will produce good. We are all naturally 
 so prone to do evil, that it is necessary to keep 
 the boundary line between what is right and what 
 is wrong as distinct as possible. This principle was 
 not, however, so clearly understood formerly, as it is
 
 70 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 now ; and thus children of the present day have great 
 advantages over those of the preceding generation." 
 
 While Mrs. Merton was speaking, Agnes was 
 looking at the chapel so earnestly that her mother 
 asked her what she thought of it. 
 
 " I was only thinking," said Agnes, blushing, 
 " how very odd it was that a saint, who was sup- 
 posed to be so fond of giving pretty things to children 
 should have such a very ugly chapel. There is not a 
 single ornament in it, from one end to the other." 
 
 Mrs. Merton smiled, and said she supposed that 
 this chapel had been stripped of its ornaments at the 
 time of the Reformation. 
 
 " The old chapel of Saint Nicholas was stripped in 
 the time of Elizabeth," said Mr. Bevan. " When 
 that Queen repaired, and new fortified Carisbrook 
 Castle, to enable it to resist the invasion of the Spa- 
 nish Armada, she stripped this chapel of its orna- 
 ments, to remove all traces of the festival of the 
 boy bishop, which she had previously suppressed in 
 every part of England. But that does not apply to 
 the present chapel, which was built on the site of the 
 old one, in its present unornamented state, in the 
 time of George II."
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 7l 
 
 They now left the chapel, and proceeded to the 
 outworks, where they found a number of persons 
 assembled in the open space, adjoining the castle, to 
 celebrate an archery meeting. The gay dresses of the 
 ladies, contrasting with the green around, and with 
 the grey walls of the old castle, had a most brilliant 
 and animating effect. Mrs. Merton and Agnes, ac- 
 companied by Mr. Bevan, walked to the open space 
 in the outworks of the castle, where the meeting was 
 to be held. 
 
 " This space, 1 ' said Mr. Bevan, " was formerly the 
 tilt-yard of the castle, where the fetes and tourna- 
 ments were held ; and here the beautiful Isabella de 
 Fortibus, the lady of the Island, in the time of 
 Edward I., used to sit, surrounded by her court, to 
 bestow her prizes on the victors." 
 
 Agnes, who had never seen anything of archery 
 before, was more interested in the preparations for the 
 archery meeting than in what Mr. Bevan was saying 
 of the ancient mistress of the Island ; and her mother 
 perceiving how attentive she was to all she saw, 
 pointed out to her the target with its painted rings 
 of black and white, and the red spot in the centre. 
 
 " And what is this red spot for ?" asked Agnes.
 
 72 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OB, 
 
 " That 's the bull's eye," said a man who was 
 employed in setting up the target, " and them 's the 
 cleverest as hits it, or comes nearest it when they 
 shoots. 1 ' 
 
 Agnes could hardly help laughing at the man's bad 
 grammar : and she looked at her mother, but, to her 
 great surprise, instead of Mrs. Merton seeming in- 
 clined to ridicule the man, she entered into conversa- 
 tion with him, and asked him a great many questions 
 about shooting. The man, thus encouraged, showed 
 them the piece of leather, called the bracer, which is 
 strapped on the left arm to prevent the wrist from 
 being hurt by the rebound of the bow-string when 
 the arrow is let off ; and he told them that a young 
 lady, who had attempted to shoot without a bracer, 
 had had her arm so much injured as to be obliged to 
 have it dressed by a surgeon. " But she wouldn't 
 listen to nobody," continued the man ; " and she 
 would have her own way, and that was the end of it. 
 She was sorry enough, I warrant her, when she saw 
 the blood running down, and felt the smart ; but it 
 was too late then." 
 
 Mrs. Merton and Agnes looked at each other 
 again, but this time it was with a perfect community
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 73 
 
 of feeling. The man then showed them a shooting 
 glove, to save the fingers from being hurt when the 
 archer pulls the string ; and, reaching down the how, 
 he taught Agnes how it should be held. 
 
 " I believe the best bows are made of yew," said 
 Mrs. Merton. 
 
 " Yes," said the man ; " though there 's nothing 
 that is seldomer seen than a yew bow among the 
 gentry that comes down from London. All the bows 
 that they bring with them are some queer kind 
 of fancy wood or other. I don't trouble my head 
 with the names of them, for my part ; but I know a 
 good yew bow will beat them all hollow at any time." 
 
 He then showed them the shaft, or arrow, which 
 was a slender piece of wood, headed with iron and 
 trimmed with feathers. The best arrows, he told 
 them, were made of ash, as that wood was light, and 
 tough at the same time. Agnes was very anxious 
 to stay and see the archers begin to shoot, but her 
 mother was afraid that Mr. Merton would be quite 
 tired of waiting for them; and they therefore left 
 the castle, without visiting the terraces, which are 
 usually shown to strangers, on account both of their 
 own beauty, and the fine views that they command.
 
 74 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 As they walked back to the village Mrs. Merton 
 observed to Agnes how much they should have lost, 
 if they had not entered into conversation with the 
 man who was setting up the target. "He spoke bad 
 grammar," said she, "because he had not had the 
 same advantages of education that you have had ; but 
 you see, in all that he had an opportunity of learning, 
 he was very intelligent, and that he actually knew a 
 great many things that we did not know, and that 
 we were very glad to learn." 
 
 By this time they arrived at the Bugle Inn, where 
 they found the kind hostess had lighted a fire for Mr. 
 Merton as he felt chilly, and had wheeled the sofa 
 round to it, so as to make him as comfortable as 
 possible. Agnes, who had felt some contempt at the 
 humble appearance of the little Inn, when they first 
 entered it, was quite ashamed of having done so; and 
 felt that she had committed another fault of the same 
 kind as that which her mother had just reproved at 
 the castle. Nothing, however, was said on the subject, 
 and as soon as the carriage was ready the whole party 
 entered it, and proceeded on their journey.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 75 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Departure from Carisbrook. Road to Freshwater. Yarmouth. 
 House where Charles II. was entertained by Admiral Sir 
 Robert Holme. Freshwater. Rocks. Roaring of the Sea. 
 Birds. The Razor-bill and Guillemot. Sea-weed. 
 
 MRS. MERTON'S party had not long left Carisbrook, 
 when she began to think that they were not on the 
 right road, and she asked the driver. 
 
 " Oh ! yes, ma'am," said he, " it is all right; all the 
 ladies and gentlemen go this road." 
 
 " That is not what I mean," said Mrs. Merton ; 
 " it is of very little consequence to me what other 
 people do, but I wish to go through Yarmouth." 
 
 " Oh ! nobody goes through Yarmouth now, 
 ma'am," said the man ; "all the ladies and gentle- 
 men go this way." 
 
 Mrs. Merton, though exceedingly provoked, could 
 hardly help laughing at the obstinacy of the man.
 
 76 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 " Well," said she, " you now understand that I 
 wish to go to Yarmouth ; and as I know there is a 
 road which leads to it, and that turns out of this 
 road, I desire you to take us there, as soon as we 
 reach the turning. You understand me now/ 1 con- 
 tinued she. 
 
 " It will be five or six miles out of the way," said . 
 the man muttering. 
 
 " That is of no consequence to you," said Mrs. 
 Merton, "as you know we hired your carriage by the 
 day, to go where we liked ; and the distance we have 
 travelled is not only very short, but you have had a 
 long rest at Carisbrook." 
 
 " It is of no use saying anything more," said Mr. 
 Merton, interposing ; " the man must do as he is 
 bid." 
 
 They now proceeded a long way through narrow 
 lanes, bordered by high hedges, which Agnes declar- 
 ed was the longest and most disagreeable ride she 
 ever had in her life. 
 
 " You may find it tedious," said Mrs. Merton, 
 "but it cannot be very long. The whole island is but 
 twenty-four miles across, from one end to the other, 
 and Newport is, as nearly as possible, in the centre."
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 77 
 
 " It is only nine miles from Carisbrook to Fresh- 
 water, the best way," said the driver ; " but it will 
 be a matter of fourteen miles the way you are going."" 
 
 The rest of the party looked at each other, and 
 smiled; and Mr. Merton asked Agnes, in French, 
 if she did not think obstinacy made a person very 
 disagreeable. 
 
 " But I do not think I ever could have been so 
 obstinate as this man," said the self-convicted Agnes, 
 whose conscience reminded her that she had often 
 been accused of this fault. 
 
 "It is difficult to see our own faults in the same 
 light as they appear to other people," said Mrs. Mer- 
 ton ; " but I do assure you, Agnes, that your obsti- 
 nacy has often appeared as unreasonable, and, I may 
 say, as disagreeable to me, as this man's does to us 
 all. Judge, then, in what a light you must have 
 appeared to your governess, to the servants, and even 
 to your companions, when you would persist in fol- 
 lowing your own way, in spite of all that could be 
 said to the contrary ." 
 
 Agnes was too much ashamed to reply ; and they 
 travelled on in silence, till they reached the little 
 village of Calbourn. They passed through it without
 
 78 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 noticing the turn to Yarmouth, as Mr. and Mrs. 
 Merton happened to be engaged in conversation, and 
 the driver went on his own way. He would also 
 have passed a second turn a few miles farther on the 
 road, if Agnes's quick eye had not caught sight of the 
 finger-post. Mr. Merton then insisted on the man 
 taking them to Yarmouth, which he did, muttering, 
 and grumbling to himself all the way, and looking so 
 disagreeable that Agnes resolved, in her own mind, 
 that nothing should ever tempt her to be obstinate 
 again. 
 
 They had a very pleasant drive, with a fine view 
 of the sea, and of the numerous vessels in Yarmouth 
 Roads, as they advanced. When they passed the 
 turnpike, a fine healthy-looking country-woman came 
 out with a child in her arms, to receive the toll. She 
 no sooner saw Mr. Merton than she cried out, " Poor 
 dear gentleman, how very ill he do look to be sure ! 
 but our fine air will soon set him up again. 1 ' Agnes was 
 inexpressibly shocked at this, and she looked at her 
 papa to see how he bore it. Mr. Merton smiled at 
 her look of anxiety, and said, " Do not suppose, my 
 dear Agnes, that I am hurt at the woman's observa- 
 tion ; for though such a remark would have been
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 79 
 
 exceedingly rude and unfeeling in ordinary life, it was 
 here evidently dictated by kindness of heart. We 
 should never forget," continued he, " when we are 
 judging of the conduct of others, that we ought to 
 estimate their conduct by their opportunities and 
 habits of life, rather than by our own. You, Agnes, 
 are but too apt to forget this, and to fancy that peo- 
 ple who have been brought up in the simplest and 
 rudest manner, should be acquainted with all the 
 refinements and courtesies of life." 
 
 They now entered the pretty little town of Yar- 
 mouth, and had a fine view of the opposite shore of 
 Dorsetshire, with the projecting point of land on 
 which Hurst Castle is erected, stretching far into the 
 sea, and the little town of Lymington in the distance. 
 Mrs. Merton pointed this out to her daughter, and 
 also told her that it was supposed that formerly the 
 Isle of Wight was united to the mainland at this 
 part. " Indeed," continued she, " the sea at one 
 place is, I believe, only one mile across ; and it is 
 said there is a lane in the Isle of Wight leading 
 directly down to this point, which is abruptly cut off 
 by the sea, and which is supposed formerly to have 
 been carried on at the other side."
 
 80 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 " I think, my dear," said Mr. Merton, laughing, 
 " you must not attach too much importance to that 
 lane, as it may have merely led down to the beach. 
 Besides, even if the Isle of Wight was once attached 
 to the mainland, it must have been a long time ago ; 
 as the Romans, who took possession of the Isle of 
 Wight, in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, in the. 
 year 45, describe it as an island. However, 11 he con- 
 tinued, " after all, it is very possible that the Isle of 
 Wight was, at some distant period, united to the 
 mainland, as the soil of which it is composed, being 
 of a chalky nature, is easily soluble in water ; and, 
 indeed, the very name of the strait which separates 
 the island from the mainland, and which is called the 
 Solent or Solvent sea, seems to express that it has 
 dissolved the soil which connected it with the main- 
 land.'" 
 
 " Is that an old name ! " asked Mrs. Merton. " I 
 thought the Solent sea had been, comparatively, a 
 modern appellation. 1 ' 
 
 " It was the common name of the strait before the 
 time of the Venerable Bede, 11 said Mr. Merton. 
 
 Agnes, who began to get a little tired with this 
 conversation, was glad when the carriage stopped at a
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 81 
 
 curious old house, that looked more like an ancient 
 manor-house than an inn ; and which in fact was 
 the very house in which Charles II. was entertained 
 in the year 1671, by the gallant admiral, Sir Eobert 
 Holme. 
 
 " I remember this house well," said Mrs. Merton ; 
 "for I was here with my aunt about fifteen years ago, 
 at the time when a very melancholy calamity had just 
 happened. A collier's vessel from Newcastle was 
 lying in the roads, when the wife of the captain, who 
 was near her confinement, was taken ill, and sent for 
 a doctor from the town. The only doctor who hap- 
 pened to be at home was an elderly man, very much 
 respected by every body, whose name I have unfor- 
 tunately forgotten, though it well deserves to be re- 
 membered. The evening was dark and inclined to be 
 stormy, and this worthy man was advised not to ven- 
 ture out to sea in such weather. However, he was 
 determined to do his duty, and he went. After the 
 little baby was born, he was about to return, but the 
 storm had become more serious, and he determined 
 to remain in the vessel till morning. Unfortunately, 
 however, a dreadful storm arose, and the ship was 
 lost. My aunt and I arrived at Yarmouth the very
 
 82 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 day after the accident, and we found the whole town 
 in agitation and distress. Every body knew the 
 doctor ; every body respected him ; and every body 
 was of course distressed at his untimely death. In 
 the kitchen of the inn were three or four sailors, who 
 had been saved by clinging to the rigging. I forget 
 how many hours they had been in this state ; but I- 
 remember well that when I saw them, their arms, 
 which were being rubbed to restore circulation, were 
 quite black, and so benumbed that they could not use 
 them." 
 
 " I remember your mentioning the circumstance 
 before," said Mr. Merton, " and I am not surprised 
 at the impression it made on you." 
 
 " Yes,* 1 said Mrs. Merton, " it is one thing to read 
 of shipwrecks, and of sailors clinging to the rigging 
 for hours, and another to see the poor creatures who 
 have undergone such dreadful sufferings." 
 
 Having now satisfied their curiosity with all that 
 was to be seen at Yarmouth, they re-entered the 
 carriage and proceeded to Freshwater. 
 
 On the road they saw so many beautiful wild 
 flowers that Agnes begged permission to walk a little 
 way. that she might gather some. There was the
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 83 
 
 beautiful blue Scabious, the yellow Bagwort, and a 
 bright pink Lychnis. In one place there was a mass 
 of Ground Ivy, growing so luxuriantly as to look 
 like a garden flower ; and when Agnes brought some 
 
 Fig. 7. Fig. 8. 
 
 GROUND-IVY. 
 (Glechoma hederacea.) 
 
 THE SPOTTED MEDICK. 
 (Medicago denticulata.) 
 
 of this to the carriage, her papa told her it belonged 
 to the order of the Labiatse or lipped plants, and 
 made her observe the shape of the flower, and how 
 completely it is double-lipped, the lower lip being
 
 84 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 more than twice the size of the upper one. Then 
 Agnes found a plant with small leaves like the Tre- 
 foil, and curiously coiled-up seed pods, which she 
 said looked like snails, or hedge-hogs. This Mr. 
 Merton told her was called the Spotted Medick, 
 and that its curious pod was, in fact, a legume like 
 that of the pea. 
 
 The part of the island which contains Freshwater, 
 the Needles, and Alum Bay, is almost separated from 
 the rest by the river Yar, which rises behind the rock 
 called Freshwater Gate, and runs into the sea at Yar- 
 mouth. It thus wants only a few yards of going 
 entirely across the island. The geological construc- 
 tion of this part of the Isle of Wight renders it pe- 
 culiarly liable to change ; since, as most of the rocks 
 are composed of chalk and flint, the softer parts of 
 the chalk are frequently washed away by the sea, or 
 heavy rain, leaving the flints and the harder part of 
 the chalk remaining. In this manner the curious 
 isolated rocks at the Needles, and at Freshwater 
 Gate have been formed, and the numerous caverns 
 and chines scooped out ; and in this way, doubtless, 
 numerous other changes will take place, as long as 
 the island continues to exist.
 
 M 
 
 THE ARCHED ROCK AT FRESHWATER
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 85 
 
 Agnes was quite delighted with the appearance of 
 the little inn at Freshwater, which is, in fact, a sum- 
 mer pavilion, with several rooms, all opening by fold- 
 ing doors, on a kind of terrace, shaded by a verandah, 
 and close to the beach. 
 
 " What a delightful place !" cried Agnes. 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Merton, " this little inn has 
 always been a favourite of mine, and I am really 
 sorry that the proprietor is erecting a more magnifi- 
 cent mansion on the cliffs, as I am sure it is impossible 
 that his guests can be more comfortable anywhere 
 than they are here." 
 
 As soon as Mrs. Merton had ordered dinner, the 
 whole party walked on the beach, and never was 
 more beautiful sea-weed than that which lay spread 
 at their feet. Agnes, who had promised to collect 
 some sea-weed to take home to her aunt Jane, was 
 quite embarrassed with the profusion around her; and 
 she soon collected a great deal more than it was pos- 
 sible for her to carry away, as she had only brought a 
 small basket from town with her for the purpose of 
 holding it. At home, she had thought this would be 
 quite sufficient ; but now, alas ! she found that one 
 immense piece of sea-weed that she was dragging
 
 86 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 after her was alone sufficient to fill her basket en- 
 tirely. 
 
 "My dear Agnes!" cried Mrs. Merton, " you never 
 can take that large plant with you to town." 
 
 " No, mamma," said Agnes, sighing, " I am afraid 
 I cannot ; but only look what a splendid thing 
 it is." 
 
 " It is certainly a very fine specimen," said Mrs. 
 Merton ; " but it is of the kind called tangle, which 
 is common everywhere. The frond, or leafy part, 
 has been found in some places twenty feet long, and 
 as broad as the leaf of a plantain, to which, you see, 
 it bears considerable resemblance." 
 
 " Here is a piece of the winged fucus," said Mr. 
 Merton, " which though rare here, is common in 
 Scotland, where we call it Badder-locks or Henware. 
 Look, Agnes," continued he, addressing his daughter, 
 " do you observe the strong projecting rib that runs 
 up the middle of the leaf? that part is frequently 
 eaten in the North ; and in some places the flat part 
 is eaten also." 
 
 " Eaten ! " cried Agnes, very much surprised. 
 
 " Yes," returned her father, " I assure you that 
 this mid-rib, when stripped of its outer covering,
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 87 
 
 affords a very important article of food to the 
 poorer inhabitants of the northern islands of Scot- 
 land." 
 
 Agnes looked at the plant which she held in her 
 hand. " What a curious plant it is ! " said she : 
 " here is its root ; but it seems to have only leaves : 
 has it any flowers?" 
 
 "No," replied Mr. Merton; "this is one of the 
 cryptogamous plants ; that is, one of those plants 
 which have neither flowers nor seeds." 
 
 " No seeds ! " cried Agnes : " how, then, are the 
 young plants produced?" 
 
 " By means of what are called sporules, which 
 serve instead of seeds." 
 
 "And what is the difference," said Agnes, "be- 
 tween these sporules and seeds ?" 
 
 " Every seed," said Mr. Merton, " contains an 
 embryo, that is, a miniature plant, which has 
 one or two leaves, a root, and, generally, an ascend- 
 ing shoot, quite small, and curiously folded up, but 
 still plainly to be distinguished, either by the naked 
 eye, or with a microscope. Now a sporule has no 
 embryo, and no traces of a plant can be discovered 
 in it till it has begun to grow."
 
 88 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 " I am afraid that I do not quite understand you, 
 papa," said Agnes. 
 
 " It can hardly be expected that you should," said 
 Mrs. Merton ; " but it will be sufficient for you to 
 remember that cryptogamous plants have no flowers, 
 and no regularly formed seeds." 
 
 " You will observe, Agnes," said Mr. Merton, 
 " that this sea- weed does not grow in the earth, like 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
 WINGED Fucus. BLADDER Fucus. TANGLE. 
 
 a land plant, but it is merely attached to any stone 
 or other object that it finds in the sea, to which it 
 fixes itself by means of its clasping roots."
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 89 
 
 Agnes now dropped her long plant of tangle, 
 which, it must be confessed, was very troublesome 
 to carry, and which was loaded with the sand that 
 adhered to it as she swept it along the beach ; and, 
 instead of it, she picked up a smaller piece of what 
 she found to be the common Bladder-Fucus. 
 
 " This," said Mr. Merton, " is one of the com- 
 monest of all the kinds of sea- weed ; and its popular 
 name is Sea-wrack. It is very abundant in the 
 western isles of Scotland ; where it is gathered in 
 great quantities for making kelp." 
 
 " And what is kelp, papa ?" Agnes asked. 
 
 " It is the ashes which remain after burning the 
 Sea-wrack," said Mr. Merton ; " and which were 
 formerly constantly used in making glass, and also 
 in making soap. Large quantities of iodine are still 
 obtained from them." 
 
 "Oh, I remember that iodine!" cried Agnes: 
 " that was the medicine that did you so much good 
 when your knee was so dreadfully swollen." 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Merton ; " it is now given in 
 all cases of swollen joints ; and it is said to remove 
 even the goitres." 
 
 Agnes did not ask any explanation of this ; for
 
 90 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 she remembered that the goitres are swellings in the 
 throat, to which the inhabitants of Switzerland, and 
 other mountainous countries, are particularly liable : 
 and her father then informed her that kelp is now 
 little used since the duty has been taken off salt; 
 as that and other forms of soda, and some other 
 alkalies, which now pay but little duty, have been 
 found to be more efficacious, in making both soap 
 and glass, than kelp. " The Sea-wrack, however," 
 he continued, " is still collected, chiefly for manuring 
 the land ; though it is still used as a winter food for 
 cattle, and sometimes for human beings." 
 
 When Agnes heard this, she put a little bit into 
 her mouth ; but she found, though it had a salt taste, 
 it was too tough to be eaten without difficulty, and 
 she therefore amused herself with clapping the air- 
 vessels in the fronds between her hands, as she went 
 along, for she liked to hear them crack. The party 
 now returned home to their dinner, after which Mr. 
 Merton lay down on the sofa, and Mrs. Merton and 
 Agnes walked out again on the beach, to enjoy the 
 roaring of the waves and the delightful breezes from 
 the sea. It was now nearly dark, and nothing could 
 be grander than the manner in which the waves rose
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 91 
 
 up, and foamed, and curled as they beat against the 
 beach, looking, as Agnes said, like Neptune's horses. 
 
 Mrs. Merton and her daughter stood for some time 
 watching the gradual advance of the waves, when they 
 were startled by a large Newfoundland dog which 
 brushed past them, and almost knocked Agnes into 
 the sea. Mrs. Merton was very much alarmed, and in- 
 stantly went farther back to a safer place ; and then 
 they saw a young man in a shooting-jacket, with a gun 
 in his hand, advance and take their former position. 
 The young man was evidently the master of the dog, 
 which he was urging as much as possible to go into 
 the sea; but the dog, in spite of all his efforts, stood 
 still, wagging his tail and looking up in his master's 
 face, but without making any effort to jump into 
 the water; though the gentleman threw several stones 
 in, one after another, crying " Hoy, Neptune, fetch it 
 out my boy ! fetch it out ! " 
 
 " What can be the reason that the dog will not take 
 the water ?" said Mrs. Merton, addressing an old fish- 
 erman who stood by her. " I thought Newfoundland 
 dogs had been particularly fond of the sea. Is it pos- 
 sible that the dog being brought up in a town can 
 make any difference !"
 
 92 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 " The dog," said the old sailor, " knows it 's no use 
 going into the sea when the tide is coming in, with a 
 wind in shore. He would be dashed all to pieces 
 against the rocks in no time. Those dumb creatures 
 have more sense than a Cockney any day." 
 
 The young man, apparently tired of his fruitless 
 exertions, now whistled his dog off, and climbing up 
 the bank went off over the cliffs. 
 
 " What is he going to shoot-?" said Mrs. Merton. 
 
 " Razor-bills and willocks," said the old man. 
 " There 's plenty of them here ; but I have a notion 
 the birds will not mind him any more than the dog 
 did." 
 
 " What queer names for birds," cried Agnes ; " I 
 never heard those names before. How I should like 
 to see the birds ! " 
 
 " Come here, miss," said the old man, " and I '11 
 show them to you;" and giving her his hand he 
 helped her down some of the rocks, and lifted her 
 over others, till he placed her in a situation where 
 she distinctly saw a large guillemot or willock, 
 as the man called it, sitting by itself on the bare 
 ledge of the rocks. 
 
 " Oh ! dear," cried Agnes, " what a curious bird
 
 THE GUILLEMOT
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 93 
 
 that is. I never saw anything like it in all my 
 life." 
 
 " And those are young ones," said the man, point- 
 ing down to some little creatures, looking like young 
 ducks, dabbling in the sea beneath. 
 
 " But how can they ever get there ?" cried Agnes, 
 astonished at the almost immeasurable height at which 
 the old bird appeared to sit above the young ones. 
 
 " The old ones carry them down on their backs," 
 said the old man. 
 
 This appeared perfectly incomprehensible to Agnes; 
 but she had already learnt by her travels not to laugh 
 at things because she did not comprehend them ; and 
 she therefore said nothing, while the man helped her 
 back to the place where her mother was waiting for 
 her. 
 
 " I can't show miss a razor-bill to-night," said the 
 man, " without going a good way ; for every bird 
 keeps its rock to itself." 
 
 Mrs. Merton now gave the man something for his 
 trouble, and they returned to the hotel, where they 
 found Mr. Merton waiting tea for them. 
 
 Agnes was quite delighted to tell her papa what 
 she had seen ; " but I suppose," said she, " what the
 
 94 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 old man said about the old birds carrying down the 
 young ones on their backs, could not be true." 
 
 " It appears very strange, certainly," said Mr. 
 Merton, " but my friend, Mr. Waterton, who I be- 
 lieve knows more about birds than any other man 
 living, has often told me the same thing." 
 
 " Can you tell me anything more about these 
 birds ?" asked Agnes. 
 
 " The bird you saw," said Mr. Merton, " is gene- 
 rally called the foolish guillemot, because it lays its 
 egg on the bare rock, without any nest. I say its 
 egg, for each female bird is said to lay only one; 
 on which she sits, in an upright, and, in what appears 
 to us, a most awkward position, till the egg is 
 hatched; which is generally about a month. The 
 young birds are at first covered with a sort of yellow 
 down, mixed with bristly hair ; and, as they sit on 
 narrow ledges of rock, only a few inches in breadth, 
 it seems wonderful how they can help tumbling into 
 
 " But, if each bird lays only one egg, I wonder 
 there are so many young ones," said Agnes ; "for 
 I should think that a great many eggs must be 
 broken or stolen. "
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 95 
 
 " It is said that, if the female guillemot loses her 
 egg, she lays another ; and, if that goes, another ; 
 so that she always has one egg to sit upon ; just as 
 a spider is enabled to form several new webs, if you 
 destroy its old ones, though it would not have made 
 the first any larger or stronger if it had been left 
 unmolested. Would you like to see a willock's egg, 
 Agnes?" 
 
 " Very much indeed." 
 
 Mr. Merton rang the bell ; and, at his desire, the 
 waiter procured an egg of one of these birds from 
 an old woman who lived in the neighbourhood ; and 
 who, after boiling the eggs to make them keep, had 
 them for sale. This egg Mr. Merton purchased, and 
 gave Agnes. It was very large, and of a pear-shape ; 
 and its colour was a fine bluish green, blotched and 
 streaked with reddish brown and black. 
 
 " I cannot imagine how the people can get these 
 eggs, 11 said Agnes ; " since they are laid on such 
 narrow ledges of rock, and at such a height above 
 the sea." 
 
 " It is indeed astonishing," said Mr. Merton ; 
 " but the young men who are brought up to the sea 
 acquire early, wonderful activity of limbs and steadi-
 
 96 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 ness of nerves ; so that they can climb crags almost 
 as easily as you or I can walk on level ground. Be- 
 sides, as most of them are very poor, they are glad 
 to get a few pence by the sale of these eggs, and do 
 not mind incurring some danger." 
 
 " I am sure I never could accomplish such a feat," 
 said Agnes. 
 
 " Not at once," said her mother ; " but, if it were 
 necessary for you to learn to climb crags, you might 
 easily do so by practising a little every day; as 
 there are very few things, indeed, that patience and 
 perseverance will not accomplish in time."
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 97 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Young Londoner and Neptune. Disobedience of the Young 
 Fisherman. Fossils. Fine Water. Alum Bay. The Nee- 
 dles. Old Couple. Dull Road. Fertility of the Isle of 
 Wight. 
 
 THE next morning Mrs. Merton and Agnes rose early, 
 and, as usual, walked out before breakfast. Almost 
 the first thing they saw was the young man who had 
 attracted their attention the preceding evening ; and 
 who, with his gun in his hand, and followed by Nep- 
 tune, was sauntering over the cliffs. Almost as soon as 
 they saw him, the young man fired his gun ; and in- 
 stantly a thousand birds rose from hidden places in 
 the cliffs, screaming and flapping their wings in such 
 a fearful manner that Agnes was quite terrified, and 
 clung close to her mother's side, as if for protection. 
 The young man was evidently pleased with the effect 
 he had produced ; and, calling Neptune, he threw 
 a stone for him to fetch out of the sea. Neptune 
 
 H
 
 98 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 did not now refuse; for, as his instinct told him 
 there was no longer any danger of his being dashed 
 against the rocks, he gladly indulged his natural 
 fondness for the water, and sprang into the waves 
 after the stone ; though, of course, it had sunk too 
 deep for him to reach it. The young man then 
 threw in a piece of stick, which Neptune brought 
 out in triumph: and his master, sauntering away 
 over the cliffs, again fired off his gun ; at which the 
 sea-birds again rose, but, this time, with a wild 
 scream which seemed like fiendish laughter. Nep- 
 tune had just plunged in again, after something his 
 master had thrown for him, when a young fisherman 
 came up to Mrs. Merton, and asked her if she would 
 not give the young lady a sail. Mrs. Merton, re- 
 membering that she had heard it was a beautiful 
 sail from Freshwater to Alum Bay, hesitated : she 
 wished to show her little daughter as much as possi- 
 ble of the beauties of the island ; and she recollected 
 that Mr. Merton could easily go round in a carriage, 
 if he thought the boat would be too fatiguing. 
 
 " Oh ! do go, mamma," cried Agnes ; " I should 
 so like to see the caverns." 
 
 Mrs. Merton was well aware that the caverns
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 99 
 
 could only be seen to advantage from the sea ; and, 
 as she was never so happy as when gratifying the 
 wishes of her darling, she was half inclined to engage 
 with the man ; but she did not like to do so till she 
 had consulted Mr. Merton : she therefore told the 
 man she would consider of it ; and was just turning 
 away, when the gruff voice of the old fisherman 
 sounded in her ear, bidding her beware, for there 
 would be a storm before night. " If you had set 
 out by day-break," said he, "it would have been a 
 different thing ; but now you will never be able to 
 get near enough the shore to see anything without 
 running on the rocks.' 1 
 
 " Why, now, father !" cried the young man, " did 
 ever any body hear the like ? there 's mother waiting 
 for us at Black Gang Chine ; and here 's a lady that 
 would have paid for the boat half- way, if it had not 
 been for you." 
 
 44 Nonsense, lad," said the father ; " mother had 
 rather we had staid away, than went in such weather 
 as this : she '11 not expect us ; she 's been a fisher- 
 man's wife too long not to know when a storm 's 
 coming on." 
 
 "Never mind, my lad," cried the young Londoner,
 
 1 00 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 coming down the cliffs ; " I 11 go with you, and to 
 Black Gang Chine, too; for that is just where I 
 want to go. Never mind the old fellow's croaking. 
 It is all very well for women and children," continued 
 he, glancing contemptuously at Mrs. Merton and 
 Agnes ; " but we are hearts of oak, my boy : ain't 
 we?" 3;U 
 
 " You had better not go, Jack," said the father 
 to his son. " You know Black Gang Chine of old : 
 and she 's a bad one with a tide setting in shore ; as 
 I know to my cost." 
 
 The young man paid no attention to his father's 
 remonstrance ; but turned aside with the Londoner 
 to settle what was to be paid for the boat. Agnes, 
 who was very fond of dogs, in the meantime began 
 to pat the head of Neptune, who stood beside her, 
 wagging his tail, as though he knew her partiality, 
 and was waiting to be caressed. 
 
 " Look, mamma," cried Agnes, " how singularly 
 he is marked : he has a white throat, with a large, 
 black, heart-shaped mark on the chest." 
 
 Mrs. Merton turned to look at the dog, and per- 
 ceived the mark of which her daughter had spoken ; 
 which was, indeed, very singular, and very distinct.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 101 
 
 The Londoner, having finished his bargain, now 
 whistled off his dog ; and the young fisherman has- 
 tened to the beach to prepare his boat. As he passed, 
 the father repeated his ominous cry of " Jack, you 'd 
 better not go." 
 
 The young man, however, only replied : " Don't 
 be a fool, father. He 's given all I asked ; and I 
 could have had as much more, if I had but known." 
 
 " Oh ! that self-will," said the old man ; " it '11 
 be the ruin of you, Jack." 
 
 " Never mind, if it is," said the young fellow ; and, 
 whistling a tune, he hurried down to the beach. 
 
 Both Mrs. Merton and Agnes were very much 
 shocked at the recklessness and disobedience of the 
 young man ; and Mrs. Merton asked the father, why 
 he had not warned the young Londoner of his danger. 
 
 "And much good it would have done," said the 
 old man ; " and much good it would have done," he 
 repeated. " If my own son won't listen to me, how 
 can I expect that a cockney would ? " 
 
 " But why, then, did you warn us?" asked Agnes. 
 
 "You," said he, looking at her; "oh! that's 
 quite a different thing. It may have done you some 
 good. Besides," muttered he, as he stumped away,
 
 102 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 " I 'd a little girl of my own once, and she was 
 drowned." 
 
 The waiter from the inn now approached, to tell 
 them that Mr. Merton was waiting breakfast ; and 
 Mrs. Merton asked him, if he thought the water 
 was smooth enough for a boat. 
 
 " By no means, ma'am," said the waiter : " there "s 
 a young gentleman from London, who 's gone out 
 shooting, that ordered a boat last night ; and I called 
 him as soon as it was light, but he would not get up 
 then, and now it 's too late." 
 
 Mr. Mertou, who had become tired of waiting, 
 now joined them ; and he made Agnes observe the 
 curious shape of the isolated rocks at Freshwater 
 Gate. One, that stands at some distance from the 
 shore, forms an arch ; and another, which is nearer 
 to the cliffs, is of a conical form, and pointed. This 
 last is called the Deer-bound Bock ; because a deer, 
 pursued by the hounds, is said to have leaped on it 
 from the cliffs, about seventy years ago. 
 
 " And then there 's the caverns, sir" said the 
 waiter. " There are ten or twelve caverns. There 's 
 Lord Holmes's Parlour and Kitchen, Neptune's Cave, 
 the Frenchman's Hole, the Wedge Rock, and the
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 103 
 
 Lady, there you see her, sir, sitting as natural as 
 if she was alive." 
 
 u That is," said Mr. Merton, " I suppose you see 
 a rock that a little imagination may make you fancy 
 a lady in a cavern." 
 
 The man did not seem to like this interpretation ; 
 but he could not contradict it : and they walked 
 back to the inn, where they found breakfast waiting. 
 Agnes had then a glass of the excellent water for 
 which the place is celebrated, and which is so 
 rarely good close to the sea ; and they left Fresh- 
 water, delighted with its little inn, civil waiters, 
 and excellent fare, to visit the Needles and Alum 
 Bay. 
 
 The shape of the Isle of Wight has been compared 
 to that of a turbot ; of which the point called the 
 Needles forms the tail. From this point, which is 
 the extreme west, to Foreland Farm, near Bembridge, 
 which is the extreme east, the whole island measures 
 only twenty-four miles in length; and its greatest 
 breadth, which is from Cowes Castle to Eock End, 
 near Black Gang Chine, is only twelve miles. It 
 is, therefore, extremely creditable to this little island 
 to have made such a noise in the world as it has
 
 104 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 done ; and its celebrity shows that, small as it is, it 
 contains a great many things worth looking at. One 
 of the most remarkable of these curiosities is the 
 point of land towards which our travellers were now 
 advancing. It has a strange effect upon the natives 
 of an inland county to hear the sea roaring on both 
 sides of the tract of land they are passing over ; 
 and, when the point is reached from which the 
 tongue of land springs which forms the promontory 
 called the Needles, and the sea is seen, as well as 
 heard, in this unusual position, the effect is still more 
 striking. The part of the promontory on which the 
 light-house is erected is seven hundred and fifteen 
 feet above the level of the sea ; but the downs slope 
 down towards the cliffs. These, however, are still 
 six hundred and fifty feet above the sea, which roars 
 awfully beneath them. The promontory is of chalk, 
 intermixed with flint ; and the isolated rocks, called 
 the Needles, show that it formerly projected much 
 farther into the sea than it does at present ; as they 
 are evidently the remains of a portion from which 
 the softer parts of the chalk have been washed away, 
 while the flint and the firmer parts have been left. 
 When Mr. Morton's party reached the promontory,
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 105 
 
 they left the carriage ; and Mr. Merton waited at 
 the light-house, while Mrs. Merton and Agnes walked 
 over the downs towards the cliffs. They had not 
 gone far, when they met a man with a small tele- 
 scope in his hand, coming towards them ; and Mrs. 
 Merton asked him if he would go back with them, 
 and help Agnes to climb down part of the cliffs. 
 He willingly consented : and they advanced as well 
 as the wind would permit them ; but this was so 
 violent that Mrs. Merton, who was light, and not 
 very strong, was in great danger of being blown into 
 the sea. The man told them first to turn to the right, 
 that they might descend to the beach, to see the 
 curious stratification of the Bay; but, just as they 
 bad reached a sheltered nook, they observed a young 
 man coming up towards them ; and, to their great 
 surprise, they recognised a friend of theirs residing 
 at Godalming. After the first hurried greeting, they 
 asked him how he came to be there ; and he told 
 them that he was staying with a friend at Fresh- 
 water. He no sooner said this, than Agnes asked 
 him how he had contrived to reach the spot from 
 which they saw him ascending. 
 " I came there in a boat," said he.
 
 106 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 " I thought it was quite dangerous," said Agnes, 
 eagerly. 
 
 " So it would have been," returned Mr. Russell, 
 for that was the name of the young gentleman, 
 " if we had not contrived to pass the Needles when 
 the tide was full." 
 
 " And how did you manage that?" asked Mrs. 
 Merton. 
 
 " By leaving Freshwater Gate at three o'clock in 
 the morning," returned he : " and, I assure you, it 
 was anything but agreeable. The night air blew 
 excessively chill ; and the sea was wrapped in such 
 a thick gloom that it required some courage to plunge 
 into it. However, the fishermen pushed off the boat ; 
 and, though there was such a heavy swell, that we 
 were alternately mounted on the crest of the billows, 
 and lost in the hollows between them, after about an 
 hour's hard pulling, we found ourselves under the 
 highest point of the cliff. The face of the rock is 
 there nearly perpendicular, and it is six hundred and 
 fifteen feet high." 
 
 " But did you see the caverns?" asked Agnes. 
 
 " Oh ! yes ; but I had seen them before. The best 
 is Freshwater Cavern : surely you saw that ?"
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 107 
 
 " No, we did not. Pray tell us all about it." 
 
 " It is an opening in the rocks about a hundred 
 and twenty feet deep ; and the principal entrance is 
 by a bold, rugged arch about thirty feet high. It 
 has a very curious effect when you look through this 
 arch, as it is just like a church-window ; and, when 
 the tide is in, the water looks very beautiful, from 
 the manner in which it seems to tremble in the irre- 
 gular gleams of light which penetrate through the 
 projections of the rocks. Then, there is ScratchelFs 
 Bay, with the grand arch three hundred feet high ; 
 and the Wedge Rock, where there is a great mass 
 of rock detached from the cliff, which looks as though 
 it had lodged between the rocks, just as it was falling 
 down. It is the shape of a wedge ; and, when you 
 look at it, you can't help thinking every moment 
 that it will fall." 
 
 "But the waiter at Freshwater talked of Lord 
 Holmes's Parlour and Kitchen : what can they be I " 
 
 " The first is a cavern in which a certain Lord 
 Holmes, who lived in the island about eighty or a 
 hundred years ago, used to bring his friends to 
 drink their wine in summer; and his kitchen is 
 another cavern, where, it is said, his wine was kept,
 
 108 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; 'OR, 
 
 to cool it ; but I did not pay much attention to the 
 caverns as my object was to find Razor-bills and 
 Willocks ; which I wanted to shoot, that I might 
 stuff some of them for my father's museum. 11 
 
 " I suppose you saw a good many birds near the 
 caverns," said Agnes. 
 
 " A good many," returned he ; " but the most 
 were between the highest cliff, which is marked by a 
 long streak of red ochre, from a stratum of that earth, 
 I suppose, and a place called Sun Corner, where 
 the cliff overhangs the sea. Here there were hun- 
 dreds and thousands of Guillemots and Razor-bills, 
 which were flying about in parties of tens or twen- 
 ties ; and, far above them, the great grey Sea-mews 
 were wheeling round and round, and uttering their 
 loud and piercing cries ; while, in the distance, the 
 Needle rocks were covered with hundreds of Black- 
 headed gulls. When we approached this place, the 
 fisherman pulled right in for the cliff; and, as we 
 drew near it, I never saw such a scene before in my 
 life. The whole surface of the cliff was in ledges, 
 like shelves, one above another ; and these ledges 
 were perforated, like honey-combs, by the Puffins 
 and Razor-bills. Every ledge was crowded with
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 109 
 
 birds, so thickly, that the only wonder was, how 
 they could all find room to sit ; and yet every now 
 and then some fresh birds came popping up through 
 the holes in the ledges, and knocked off those that 
 were sitting on them." 
 
 " How droll ! " cried Agnes, laughing. 
 
 " But that was not all, 1 ' continued Mr. Russell ; 
 " the birds that had been so unceremoniously tumbled 
 off, soon returned and settled on the heads of those 
 that had taken their places ; slipping down behind 
 them till they gained a footing on the rocks, and 
 obliged those before them to tumble off in their turn. 
 You may easily imagine what a noise all this caused, 
 particularly among the Puffins. These little fellows 
 as they sat upright on the rocks, turned their heads, 
 sharply, first on one side, and then on the other, as 
 if they were scolding and chattering at their dis- 
 turbers ; and, as they have white cheeks with a black 
 hood, which looks as if it was tied under the chin, 
 they had the appearance of a number of old women 
 met to gossip. A few delicately white Kitti wakes, 
 which looked like the young ladies of the party, were 
 perched on some of the projecting crags ; and here 
 and there was a Cormorant standing, stern 'and
 
 110 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 upright, like a black sentinel, and quite alone. These 
 birds were very striking, from their black hue con- 
 trasting with the white cliffs ; but I cannot say that 
 I much admire them. I think the Razor-bills are 
 the handsomest of all the Isle of Wight birds; as 
 they have snow-white breasts, and black heads and 
 backs. But, as to their cries, I really don't know 
 which is the worst. Such a horrible clatter surely 
 never can be heard any where else." 
 
 " I can easily conceive that," said Mrs. Merton, 
 " from what we heard of these birds ourselves." 
 *' Oh ! but that could have been nothing to what 
 we heard," said Mr. Russell. " The fisherman told 
 me to fire : I did so ; and all the previous din was 
 quiet compared to the uproar which ensued. The 
 sky was positively darkened with the multitude of 
 birds that rose from the cliffs ; and their wild screams 
 and cries were hideous beyond description. But the 
 most extraordinary part of the whole was, that 
 though I fired so close that my shot touched the 
 plumage of several of the birds, not one was killed." 
 
 "How could that be?" asked Mrs. Merton. 
 
 "The fact is," replied Mr. Russell, "that the 
 feathers on the necks and breasts of these sea-birds
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. Ill 
 
 are closely matted together, and form a covering, so 
 smooth and compact, that the shots glance off instead 
 of penetrating it. The fisherman laughed at my 
 astonishment when I saw the birds I had hit fly 
 away ; and told me that the only way to shoot a sea- 
 bird was to get behind it. I profited by this advice, 
 and soon contrived to shoot all the birds I wanted, 
 except a Cormorant ; and that I have come on land 
 to shoot." 
 
 " But why did you not shoot one from the water?" 
 asked Mrs. Merton. 
 
 " Because I could not manage it, my dear madam. 
 Just under the cliff, where the Cormorants were sit- 
 ting, there was a narrow slip of beach ; and I landed 
 there with great difficulty, as the swell of the sea 
 was very heavy, and the bottom there is very bad. 
 I was now almost perpendicularly under the birds, 
 and I could plainly see their long necks, and stiff, 
 still heads poked out towards the sea ; and in the 
 same position they continued, without turning their 
 heads to the right or to the left, though I wasted a 
 great quantity of shot upon them, and some excellent 
 powder, which I grudged very much : and so, finding 
 that I could do no good, shooting at them from below,
 
 112 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 I am now come to try a shot from above; but I 
 must not be long, for we shall have hard work to get 
 through the Needles if we let the tide get too low, 
 and we must be back at Freshwater to dinner." 
 
 " Did you see any of the eggs?" asked Agnes. 
 
 " Oh ! yes, plenty of the Guillemots and Razor- 
 bills, which were lying singly on the ledges of the 
 rocks, and shaking with every puff of wind; for* 
 they are only just balanced on the bare rocks on 
 which they lie : but the Puffins lay their eggs in the 
 long holes they hollow out of the chalk. I have 
 seen a man put his arm in almost up to the shoulder, 
 to pull a Puffin's egg out of its hole ; for the birds 
 always contrive to lay them at the very bottom." 
 
 " Well," said Mrs. Merton, " we will not detain 
 you, since you have such important business in 
 hand." 
 
 He thanked her; but before he went he took 
 something out of his pocket, which he gave to Agnes. 
 "Here," said he, "is something curious that I picked 
 up on the rocks where I landed. I also saw a Gram- 
 pus on the shore at the Shingles ;" and, so saying, he 
 wished them good-bye, and ran off. 
 
 " What strange things these are that he has given
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 113 
 
 me, mamma !" cried Agnes. " Do look ! what can 
 they be ?" 
 
 Fie.lO. 
 
 BURROWING MOLLUSCS (Gastrochana Pholodia). 
 
 " They are cases made by a kind of Molluscous 
 animal," said her mother, " that lives like the Pho- 
 las enclosed in a burrow; but instead of taking up 
 its dwelling in rocks, it forms itself a curious covering
 
 114 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OB, 
 
 with broken bits of Corals and Madrepores, mixed 
 with fragments of limestone, sand, gravel, and in 
 short anything it can find. These materials it works 
 up into the form of a flask, as you see ; uniting them 
 by a thick glutinous liquid, which exudes from its 
 own body ; and lining the whole with a kind of limy 
 substance, which makes it quite smooth. Now we^ 
 will open one of the cases, and I will show you what 
 a curious little creature it is that makes this singular 
 case." 
 
 Agnes was quite surprised to see how small the shell 
 was of the little creature that had been working so 
 hard ; but they were not in a situation to stand much 
 longer, and, indeed, they could not have remained so 
 long had they not been in a hollow part of the rock. 
 They then descended to the beach ; and were quite 
 astonished when they looked up to the cliff. The 
 construction of Alum Bay is, indeed, very curious. 
 On one side, it is bounded by high cliffs of chalk, 
 and on the other, by horizontal strata of diluvial 
 soil, which extend to Freshwater; but the most re- 
 markable feature of the place consists of the vertical 
 strata in the centre. At one end of these is the 
 London clay, which is of a bluish grey ; and then
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 115 
 
 follow narrow vertical stripes of red and yellow ochre, 
 fuller's earth, black flints, and grey and white sand : 
 the colours of all the different kinds being so brilliant 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 M11IL! 
 
 SECTION OF ALUM BAY. 
 
 as to be seen distinctly at a little distance. While 
 Mrs. Merton and Agnes stood on the beach, they 
 saw hanging above them a man engaged in taking 
 birds'-eggs. He had driven a large stake into the 
 top of the cliff; to which he had fastened a strong 
 rope, with two sticks placed crossways, at the other 
 end, for him to sit on. It made Agnes giddy to 
 look at this man ; and she gladly turned her head 
 from him, to listen to what their guide was telling her 
 mother about Alum Bay, and the manner in which 
 bottles are filled with the sands. 
 
 " But why is it called AJum Bay 2" asked Agnes. 
 
 " Because alum is frequently picked up on the
 
 116 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 beach," replied her mother ; " and, I believe, cop- 
 peras-stones are also found here. The white sand is 
 used in making china and glass." 
 
 The guide now beckoned Agnes to advance ; and, 
 turning round the projecting rock, she saw the very 
 Grampus Mr. Russell had spoken of lying on the 
 
 GRAMPUS (Delphinus Oreo). 
 
 shingles, which were a mass of stones projecting 
 through the sea, at some distance from the shore. 
 She was most excessively disappointed at first, as she 
 thought the creature so very ugly; but, in a little 
 time, she began to admire its glossy black skin, and 
 the silvery-grey of the lower part. 
 
 "Is it worth any money ?" said Mrs. Merton.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 
 
 117 
 
 " Oh ! yes," said the guide ; " it weighs three tons 
 and a half; and the fisherman that found it has sold 
 it for twenty-three pounds." 
 
 They now began to re-ascend the path they had 
 taken to descend ; and soon reached the summit of 
 the cliff: after which they proceeded along it, till 
 they arrived at the best point of view for seeing the 
 Needles. 
 
 " How dreadfully the wind blows ! " said Agnes, 
 as she wrapped her cloak more closely round her. 
 
 " The wind always blows at the Needles, miss," 
 observed the guide. 
 
 "And are those the Needles 2" cried Agnes, as 
 they descended the down low enough to catch a view 
 of these celebrated rocks. " I declare they look 
 more like thimbles." 
 
 " That remark has been made before," said Mrs. 
 Merton ; "and yet they appear to me as little like 
 thimbles as needles. The fact is, I think that they 
 are more like mile-stones than anything belonging to 
 the work-table ; or, what bears a closer resemblance 
 to them, they are like the awkward stone stiles I 
 have seen, when I was a girl, in Gloucestershire." 
 
 They had now reached the point beyond which
 
 118 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 Mrs. Merton did not wish to go ; and she sat down 
 on the turf, while the guide helped Agnes sufficiently 
 far down the cliffs to enable her to see the birds sitting 
 on their ledges of rock, uttering strange sharp cries, 
 and then chattering, as though they were talking to 
 each other. There were Cormorants, and Gulls, and 
 Puffins, and Guillemots, with several smaller kinds, 
 each sitting on its separate rock, and alternately 
 muttering and shouting, till Agnes's head grew giddy, 
 and she begged the man to take her back to her 
 mamma. 
 
 u Do not most of the birds generally leave you 
 about this season ? " said Mrs. Merton to the guide, 
 when they returned. 
 
 "They are later than usual this year, ma'am," 
 replied the man. " It was a late summer." 
 
 " I thought there had been five Needles, mamma," 
 said Agnes ; " and I can see only three." 
 
 " There are five, miss," said the man, "but you can 
 very seldom see them all at once, unless you ^r on the 
 water." 
 
 " I wonder how these rocks ever came to be called 
 the Needles ?" observed Agnes, " since they are not 
 conical."
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 119 
 
 " There was one formerly,'" replied the man " that 
 was like a needle exactly. It was above one hun- 
 dred feet high, and quite thin and pointed. It used 
 to be called the pillar of Lot's wife ; but it fell down, 
 and some of the cliffs have fallen down since then, 
 and more will go soon I have no doubt of it. These 
 cliffs are always a-falling, I think.* 1 ' 
 
 " I have heard," said Mrs. Merton, " that the 
 name of Needles is a corruption of two Saxon words 
 signifying Undercliffe ; and there appears little doubt 
 that these rocks once formed part of the cliff, as you 
 see they are dotted with rows of flints." 
 
 Agnes here stooped and gathered a flower from the 
 down. It sprang from a little hollow place in the 
 turf, and was thus sheltered from the cold by the 
 higher part of the hollow. " Oh ! do look mamma," 
 cried she, " I declare I thought there was a bee in 
 the flower." 
 
 " It is the Bee Orchis," said Mrs. Merton, " which 
 is common on these chalky downs, though it is rarely 
 found in flower later than July." 
 
 She then showed Agnes the curious construction 
 of the flower, and told her that the pollen of the 
 Orchis tribe, instead of being like fine dust, was in
 
 120 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 wax-like masses. " Here is another flower," con- 
 tinued she, " which is of the same species, but some- 
 
 Fig.IZ. 
 
 THE BEE ORCHIS (Orchis apiferd). 
 
 thing different, for nothing can equal the variety of 
 nature." 
 
 Agnes compared the two, and was astonished to 
 find how different they were, though at first she had 
 supposed them to be the same. 
 
 They now turned back in search of Mr. Merton ; 
 and as they ascended the hill, Agnes began asking 
 her mother some questions about light- houses. 
 
 u They are buildings,* 1 ' said Mrs. Merton, " erected
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 121 
 
 on rocks near the sea-shore, in which lights are exhi- 
 bited all night, for the direction of mariners." 
 
 " They are sometimes called pharos, are they not ?" 
 asked Agnes. 
 
 " That name," said Mrs. Merton, " was given to 
 them from the first light-house of which we have any 
 record having been erected on the island of Pharos, 
 near Alexandria, about two hundred and eighty years 
 before Christ. The principal light-houses in Britain, 
 however, are that on the Bell rock, opposite the Firth 
 of Tay, and that on the Eddystone rocks, opposite to 
 Plymouth Sound." 
 
 "Why are light-houses made so high 2" asked 
 Agnes. 
 
 " In order that the light may be seen at a greater 
 distance," replied her mother; "and for the same 
 reason the light is always placed in the upper part of 
 the building." 
 
 " Of what does the light consist ?" 
 
 " It is an Argand lamp," replied Mrs. Merton, 
 "with a reflector behind it, made of silver strength- 
 ened with copper and highly polished." 
 
 " I wonder," said Agnes, " how the sailors know 
 when it is a light-house. I should think that when
 
 122 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 they are at sea, they must be in danger of mistaking 
 it for the light of a common house. 11 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Merton, " that has been done ; 
 and to prevent the possibility of such a mistake occur- 
 ring again, as it would be a very serious one, con- 
 trivances have been devised for making the lights 
 turn round, or of placing two in the light-house of 
 different colours, so that the light of the light-house 
 can never be mistaken for any other." 
 
 " I suppose that on the Bell rock is one of those 
 that turn round,"' said Agnes, " for I remember when 
 I was in Edinburgh and down at Leith, seeing it- 
 appear, disappear, and then appear again, till I was 
 tired of looking at it." 
 
 They now reached the light-house where they 
 found Mr. Merton, who had been amused during 
 their absence, hearing the history of the old couple 
 who formerly lived there, and who, for nineteen years, 
 had never, either of them, had a single hour's illness. 
 They now resumed their seats in the carriage, and 
 returned in the way they came, till they were within 
 a short distance of Freshwater, when they turned to 
 the left, to take the road to Black Gang Chine. The 
 road was extremely uninteresting, consisting of a
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 123 
 
 series of narrow lanes between high hedges like those 
 of Devonshire ; but without the beautiful views, which 
 in that county delight the eye, whenever a field-gate 
 makes a break in the hedge. 
 
 " What a dull country !" cried Agnes. 
 
 " It is a very fertile one, however," said her father, 
 " as it has been found, on calculation, that the Isle of 
 Wight produces seven times as much corn and other 
 articles of human food as would suffice for the wants 
 of its inhabitants." 
 
 To relieve the monotony of the road, Agnes now 
 began to tell her papa what she had seen at the 
 Needles ; and even their surly driver mingled in the 
 conversation. " Ah ! miss," said he, " the greatest 
 sight that was ever seen near the Needles was a whale 
 that was cast on shore on the Shingles, in the year 
 1814. It was before my time," continued he, "but 
 I have often heard talk of it." 
 
 Agnes yawned ; and her mother advised her to get 
 out of the carriage, and walk a little, as she had been 
 so much amused in gathering wild flowers the pre- 
 vious day. Agnes willingly complied, and soon re- 
 turned with a piece of the weed called Crosswort, 
 with an insect feeding on it. " What can this be?"
 
 124 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 cried she. " It does not look like a common cater- 
 pillar." 
 
 Fig. 14. 
 
 PLANT OF CROSSWORT (Galium cruciatum),v,'ith the larva and 
 perfect insect of the BLOOD Y-NosED BEETLE ( Timarcha tenebricosa).
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 125 
 
 4i It is the larva of the bloody-nosed beetle," said 
 Mrs. Merton. " Its colour is a deep green, and it 
 has six legs near the head, with two other legs at the 
 extremity of the body which assist it in climbing 
 from leaf to leaf." 
 
 " But why has the beetle to which it belongs such 
 a strange name 2" asked Agnes. 
 
 44 Because when attacked it ejects from its mouth 
 some drops of a reddish fluid which look like blood. 
 The eggs of this insect are of a bright orange, and its 
 pupa case is green." 
 
 Agnes now shook the insect off, and was about to 
 tread on it, when her mother stopped her. " Do not 
 hurt it," said she, " it only feeds on weeds ; do you 
 not remember what Cowper, who was pre-eminently 
 the poet of Nature, says : 
 
 ' I would not enter on my list of friends 
 (Though graced with polished manners, and fine sense, 
 Yet wanting sensibility,) the man 
 Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.' 
 
 Yet I would not wish you to show a morbid sensi- 
 bility. As when it is necessary that animals should 
 be killed, even the same poet says :
 
 126 GLIMPSES OF XATURE ; OR, 
 
 'The sum is this : If man's convenience, health, 
 Or safety interfere, his rights and claims 
 Are paramount, and must extinguish theirs. 
 Else they are all the meanest things that are, 
 As free to live, and to enjoy that life, 
 As God was free to form them at the first, 
 Who in his sovereign wisdom made them all.' " 
 
 " Thank you, mamma," cried Agnes, " I am glad 
 I did not kill the caterpillar." 
 
 "Call it a grub," said Mrs Merton, smiling, "if 
 you wish to give it its right name. The larvae of 
 butterflies and moths are called caterpillars ; those of 
 beetles, grubs ; and those of flies, maggots." 
 
 They now entered the little hamlet of Mottis- 
 tone ; a pretty little place, with a very picturesque 
 church, and a curious upright stone, supposed to be 
 part of a temple of the Druids. Then they passed 
 through Brixton, a village containing nothing worth 
 seeing but a donkey that had lain down, with a 
 lady on his back : after which the road made a sharp 
 turn to the right, and they now approached the sea ; 
 though the scene was devoid of beauty, from the 
 barrenness and gloomy hue of the downs. They 
 were, however, tired with their journey, and glad
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 127 
 
 to approach a newly-erected Gothic cottage, which, 
 they found, was the inn. The house was nearly full; 
 and it was some time before they could be accom- 
 modated with a room. They were, however, at last 
 shown into a tolerably large one, with two windows, 
 one of which looked on the downs they had passed, and 
 the other on the gloomy rocks of Black Gang Chine. 
 Mrs. Merton ordered an early dinner; and, while it was 
 preparing, Agnes ran out under the veranda, to play 
 with a large black dog belonging to the people of the 
 house, and Mrs. Merton turned over the leaves of an 
 album which lay on the table. When dinner was over, 
 Mrs. Merton having seen her husband comfortably 
 placed on the sofa, inquired the way to the Chine, 
 and set out, accompanied by her daughter. They 
 first entered a kind of field, by a gate ; and, crossing 
 a small wooden bridge, they arrived at a fanciful- 
 looking cottage, filled with toys ; where they engaged 
 a guide. While waiting for this person, Mrs. Mer- 
 ton bought Agnes a curiously-shaped bottle, filled 
 with sand from Alum Bay, arranged so as to repre- 
 sent the Needle Rocks washed by the sea, and some 
 hideous trees, with some other trifles; and Agnes 
 was amused watching a large Kittiwake Gull, which
 
 128 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 seemed quite taine. The guide at length arrived ; 
 and they proceeded down the steep descent which 
 leads to the Chine ; the gull hopping before them, as 
 though it were helping to show the way. The de- 
 scent was very steep and slippery, and the rocks rose 
 black and stern above them. The night was closing 
 in more rapidly than Mrs. Merton expected ; and, 
 in fact, she began to get alarmed. " Do you not 
 think it is getting dark very soon to night V said 
 she to the guide. 
 
 " Why, yes, it is," returned the man ; " but I 
 think we shall have a storm. 
 
 " A storm ! " cried Mrs. Merton, looking at Agnes 
 with terror. 
 
 " Oh ! you '11 have plenty of time to see the Chine, 
 and get miss back before it begins." 
 
 They continued to descend till they reached the 
 bridge, where they paused for a few moments to look 
 around them ; and a more gloomy scene can scarcely 
 be conceived. They were surrounded by precipitous 
 cliffs, which rose high on every side, and looked as 
 black as night. Not a single sprig, not a blade of 
 grass, not a tuft of moss, was to be seen ; all was 
 dark, save a few bands of a dusky yellow colour,
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 129 
 
 which gleamed on the dark sides of the rocks. But, 
 if the scene was thus dreary when they looked above, 
 what was it when they cast their eyes below? There 
 a fathomless abyss seemed to yawn to receive them. 
 Mrs. Merton shuddered. " I think we had better 
 return," said she ; " for it is getting late.' 1 
 
 " Oh ! mamma," cried Agnes, " don't let us go 
 back without seeing the Chine." 
 
 "We are more than half-way down," said the man; 
 "and the rest of the road is not half so bad as it looks." 
 
 Mrs. Merton suffered herself to be persuaded ; as, 
 indeed, she seldom could refuse anything her darling 
 wished, unless she thought it would be injurious to 
 her; and she recollected that she had never heard 
 of any accident occurring from visiting the Chine. 
 Shipwrecks were, indeed, common on the coast ; but 
 that was another thing. She, therefore, gave her 
 consent to go on ; and they continued their descent. 
 The path now became very steep ; but they advanced 
 more rapidly, and soon reached the point from which 
 the best view of the Chine is obtained. Agnes was, 
 however, excessively disappointed when she saw the 
 small size of the water-fall. 
 
 " What !" cried she ; " is that all ?" 
 
 K
 
 130 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 The man in vain assured her that the cascade was 
 larger in winter ; Agnes would not be pacified. She 
 had seen the falls of the Clyde ; and she could not 
 be persuaded that the little paltry stream that she 
 saw trickling over the ledge of the rocks could ever 
 be worth looking at. Her mother, however, at last 
 turned her attention to the rocks themselves, which, 
 in some places, are five hundred feet high ; and to 
 the vast chasm, called the Chine, which has been 
 scooped out of them, and looks like the crater of an 
 extinct volcano. The cliffs did, indeed, now look 
 awfully grand ; and the wind, which blew from the 
 sea, howled among their recesses. The tide was 
 coming in ; and the high-curling waves broke against 
 the rocks with a deafening roar ; and then retired, 
 murmuring as if they had rushed upon an enemy 
 that they had hoped to overpower by their might, 
 and had been beaten back again. 
 
 " Now, let us go," said Mrs. Merton. 
 
 " Oh ! stay a moment !"' cried Agnes. " There is 
 something in the sea that looks like a man's head." 1 
 
 Mrs. Merton and the man both looked, and saw, 
 though it was now nearly dark, something black and 
 hairy that was beating about by the waves.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 131 
 
 " Bless you ! miss," exclaimed the man : " that 's 
 a dog." 
 
 The next wave carried its burden nearer shore, 
 so near, indeed, that they saw distinctly the large 
 shaggy head and white throat of a Newfoundland 
 dog. The wave retired, carrying its prey with it; 
 but soon, with deafening roar and redoubled fury, 
 it came again ; and again they saw the dog, with its 
 black head and white breast ; and, more, that there 
 was a black heart-shaped mark on its breast, which 
 Agnes instantly recognised. " Oh ! mamma," cried 
 she, turning pale and trembling, " it is Neptune ; but 
 where is his master ?" 
 
 "Where indeed?" exclaimed Mrs. Merton, shud- 
 dering, and turning away her head. 
 
 They now saw distinctly that Neptune was not 
 merely struggling to reach the shore himself: he was 
 dragging something with him that was frequently torn 
 from him by the waves, and that he dived for again 
 and recovered, and then seemed to lose again. They 
 watched his progress with the most intense anxiety; 
 but always, when he seemed just on the point of 
 reaching the shore, something appeared to rise out of 
 the sea, and to dash him back again.
 
 132 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 " It 's the ground swell,"" said the guide ; " there 's 
 few Newfoundland dogs strong enough to stand 
 against it." 
 
 At this moment a large wave carried Neptune and 
 his burden fairly on shore; and though its recoil 
 swept them back again, the effect which a ftill sight 
 of them produced upon the guide was electric. 
 
 "It's a man!" he shouted. "Help, help!" and 
 instantly several persons started from recesses in the 
 cliffs, and ran upon the beach. Agnes saw that 
 one was an old woman, who seemed in an agony of 
 despair ; and then she saw something black dashed 
 against the rocks, and she heard a crash, and a shrill 
 and piercing scream and then she hid her face in 
 her mother's gown, for she could bear no more. 
 Mrs. Merton bent over her and both remained silent 
 for a few minutes. When they looked up, all was 
 bustle on the beach. Lights were flashing to and fro, 
 and numerous voices were heard. The idea suddenly 
 struck Mrs. Merton that her husband would be alarm- 
 ed and might come to seek them, and endanger his 
 life by the descent. " Oh ! let us go," she cried. 
 
 " Stay a moment," said Agnes, softly laying her 
 hands upon her mother's arm. " Let them pass first."
 
 BLACK GANG CHINE
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 133 
 
 Mrs. Merton shrank back, and let four men pass 
 bearing the body of the young fisherman. He was 
 apparently quite dead, his long black hair hung back 
 from his pallid face, which was distinctly seen by the 
 torches carried by some of the men, and his aged 
 mother walked beside him, hiding her face in her 
 apron. The young Londoner still lay on the beach, 
 with his faithful dog panting by his side ; for it 
 seemed that the people had gone to seek for him 
 some more suitable mode of conveyance ; but he was 
 not alone, for several persons crowded round him ; 
 and among them Mrs. Merton was glad to perceive 
 their guide. She beckoned him to approach, and 
 under his guidance they began to retrace their steps. 
 The way was long, and in some places the ascent 
 was frightfully steep. It had become quite dark, and 
 the flame of the torch carried by their guide qui- 
 vered so tremulously in the sudden gusts of wind 
 that howled round them, that they feared every 
 moment it would be extinguished. The rain now 
 began to fall slightly at first, but gradually in thick 
 small drops, that chilled them to the heart, and 
 made the soft clay over which they had to climb, so 
 slippery, that they could scarcely keep their feet.
 
 134 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 At last they reached the bridge ; and they had no 
 sooner done so, than they saw distinctly the figure of 
 Mr. Merton on the cliff above, surrounded by a num- 
 ber of men carrying torches ; and he was waving a 
 handkerchief to them to encourage their exertions. 
 Then two men descended ; one bore a torch ; and the 
 other, as soon as he reached the ascending party, 
 took Agnes in his arms, and Mrs. Merton had soon 
 the happiness of seeing her darling child safe by her 
 father's side. Mrs. Merton now felt new strength, 
 and in a short time she reached the summit of the 
 cliff herself. The men who were assembled round 
 Mr. Merton waited a moment to see she was safe, 
 and then hurried down the rocks to bring up the body 
 of the young Londoner the rapidity of their descent 
 being marked by their torches, which appeared to 
 slide down the different cliffs. The Mertons did not 
 stay to witness the result of their labours, but has- 
 tened to the inn ; and when Mrs. Merton and Agnes 
 offered up their evening prayers, they did not forget 
 to add a fervent thanksgiving for the mercy that had 
 saved them from a dreadful catastrophe similar to 
 that they had beheld.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 135 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Management in Household affairs. Undercliffe. Alexandrian 
 Pillar. Light-house of St. Catherine. Little Church of St. 
 Lawrence. Churchyard. St. Lawrence's Well. Ventnor. 
 Wishing Well, and Godshill. Beautiful Butterflies. Pulpit 
 Stone. St. Boniface. Arrival at Shanklin. 
 
 THE night at Black Gang Chine was dreadful ; the 
 rain came down in torrents ; and the wind rushed by 
 in such furious gusts that the slight fancy building 
 they were in shook to its foundation. The Mertons 
 had a double-bedded room, but none of them slept 
 much ; and once, when the house absolutely rocked, 
 from the violence of the wind, Mrs. Merton rose, and 
 throwing a dressing-gown round her, she knelt by the 
 side of Agnes's little bed, and took the poor child's 
 cold and trembling hand in her own, till Agnes, 
 soothed and comforted by the pressure of her mother's 
 hand, at last fell asleep.
 
 136 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 Mrs. Merton, herself, however, could not sleep, and 
 she lay counting the tedious hours till the break of 
 day, when she arose weary and unrefreshed. 
 
 The morning was extremely beautiful ; and even 
 the dark and gloomy hills of the Chine looked less 
 fearful in the bright rays of the early sun. Mrs. 
 Merton dressed herself, and was just going down 
 stairs, when Agnes woke and begged her to wait for 
 her. Mrs. Merton consented, and as soon as the 
 little girl was ready they went down to the room in 
 which they had sat the night before ; one of the 
 windows was open, but Agnes had no longer any 
 pleasure in running out under the veranda ; and 
 she shuddered at the sight of the rocks, though the 
 sea, which curled gently round them, at a depth of 
 above five hundred feet below the situation of the 
 inn, was now as smooth as glass. She could not 
 even pat the black dog she had been so fond of the 
 day before, and she sat on the sofa with her back to 
 the window, while Mrs. Merton rang the bell to ask 
 the waiter what had become of the sufferers of the 
 night before. The account was unfavourable. The 
 young fisherman was dead ; and the Londoner, though 
 alive, lay in a very enfeebled state, and his complete
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 137 
 
 recovery was considered doubtful. Even the poor 
 dog appeared to have sustained some severe internal 
 injury, for it had refused its food, and seemed in great 
 pain. A doctor had been sent for from Niton ; but 
 the young man had not yet been able to speak to tell 
 where they could write to his friends. Neither Mrs. 
 Merton nor Agnes felt inclined to walk out before 
 breakfast ; though, previously to their unfortunate 
 visit to the Chine, they had intended to visit the 
 medicinal spring, and to taste some of its nauseous 
 waters. Now, however, they were only anxious to 
 quit the place ; and they were quite delighted to see 
 Mr. Merton walk into the room a few minutes after 
 they had finished their inquiries. Breakfast was im- 
 mediately ordered, but not so easily obtained first, 
 there was no milk, and next the butter had to be 
 sent for; then the cook had boiled only one egg, and 
 the others had to be waited for; till, with all this 
 waiting and sending, the coffee became cold, and all 
 the comfort of the breakfast was destroyed. To 
 complete the whole, the waiter, who was a most re- 
 spectable-looking person, and had the air of an old 
 soldier, appeared so anxious to oblige them that it 
 was impossible to scold him ; and even the landlady
 
 138 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 was so civil, and so sorry for the delay, that nobody 
 could blame her. 
 
 " What an uncomfortable breakfast ! " cried Agnes, 
 when they rose from table. 
 
 " And yet every thing was good of its kind," said 
 Mrs. Merton. 
 
 " But something must have been wrong," said 
 Agnes ; " for I never saw so much trouble in getting 
 a breakfast before ; and yet we had nothing different 
 to what we have in general. What can have been 
 wanting?" 
 
 " Management and arrangement," said Mrs. Mer- 
 ton. " When I ordered breakfast, the waiter ought 
 to have told me that there was neither milk nor 
 butter in the house ; and we should then have waited 
 till all was ready, before we sat down, and our coffee 
 would have been kept near the fire till it was wanted. 
 Remember, Agnes, if ever you should have to act as 
 a housekeeper, that you can never make a family 
 comfortable unless you exercise your forethought and 
 judgment, so as to provide every thing that is likely 
 to be wanted beforehand. I do not mean to recom- 
 mend you to have a profusion of anything ; for it 
 is a common fault with young housekeepers to pro-
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 139 
 
 vide too abundantly ; but I hope you will always 
 take care to have a sufficient quantity of the common ' 
 articles of food ready in the house ; as nothing can 
 more decidedly show bad management than to have 
 to send out for anything required for a meal after 
 that meal is served." 
 
 The carriage being now ready, they drove along 
 the road which led to the UnderclifFe ; and soon lost 
 sight of the horrible Black Gang Chine. This re- 
 markable part of the Island has been formed by a 
 landslip, or, rather, a succession of landslips ; from 
 the effects of which, a considerable portion of land 
 has slipped or settled down from the lofty cliffs called 
 St. Catherine's Down, so as to form a sort of inter- 
 mediate cliff between the down and the sea. The 
 summit of the UnderclifFe forms a fine terrace about 
 six or eight miles long, and from a quarter of a mile to 
 a mile broad, along which the road is carried, with St. 
 Catherine's Cliffs frowning above, and the remains, 
 into which it was partly shattered by its fall, lying 
 between it and the sea, and assuming a thousand fan- 
 tastic shapes. The terrace is bordered with villas, 
 shaded by trees, which grow with the greatest luxu- 
 riance and beauty ; in some cases even down to the
 
 140 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 water's edge. Many of the cliffs, however, which 
 face the sea rise from sixty to a hundred feet above 
 it, and these are crowned hy the road ; but, in other 
 cases, the road is thrown to some distance back, and 
 villas are erected among the broken rocks between it 
 and the sea. During the whole length of the ter- 
 race, it is sheltered from the north by a bold line of 
 rocks, rising from two hundred to three hundred feet 
 above it ; which, in some places, form a kind of wall 
 composed of horizontal beds of sand-stone, and, in 
 others, a less abrupt slope covered with green sward. 
 Agnes was very much interested in this singular 
 region, and began conversing with her papa on the 
 causes of this remarkable convulsion of nature. " Is 
 it supposed to have been occasioned by an earthquake 
 or a volcano ?" asked she. 
 
 " No, 1 ' replied Mr. Merton ; " the cause is sup- 
 posed to be the numerous beautiful little springs, 
 which you will see presently, meandering among the 
 fallen rocks ; sometimes collecting into little pools, 
 and sometimes forming miniature cascades, in their 
 progress towards the sea. The springs, it is thought, 
 formerly flowed under this sunken cliff, and must 
 have melted some of the softer under strata, which
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 141 
 
 being washed away, the upper part would gradually 
 sink down, as we see it has done." 
 
 " Is it long since the fall took place?" 
 
 " All memory of the first land-slip of this cliff has 
 passed away; but in the year 1779 a large portion of 
 the upper cliff, about eighty or ninety acres, was sud- 
 denly seen sinking, and sliding towards the sea ; the 
 surface cracking in various directions, and chasms 
 opening here and there as it fell. This was near 
 the very spot we are now traversing." 
 
 "But have there been any slips since then?" 
 asked Agnes, looking somewhat frightened. 
 
 " Yes," said the driver, u there was a house swal- 
 lowed up near Niton, not many years ago." 
 
 " There was also a land-slip, in the year 1811, at 
 the other extremity of the under cliff, near Bon- 
 church," said Mr. Merton, u by which about fifty 
 acres were displaced." 
 
 They had stopped the carriage while they were 
 looking at the cliffs, and now when they began to 
 move on again, the driver pointed to what appeared 
 an upright black stick, at the extremity of the hori- 
 zon, and told Agnes that it was the Alexandrian 
 Pillar. Agnes remembered that her mother had told
 
 ]42 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 her that light-houses were sometimes called Pharos, 
 from the name of the island on which the first was 
 erected ; and she thought, as Pharos was near Alex- 
 andria, perhaps the Alexandrian Pillar was another 
 name for a light-house, so she said, u Oh yes, the 
 light-house ; I see it just below us." 
 
 " No," said the man, " I don 't mean the light- 
 house, but the pillar Squire Hoy built on the 
 Downs." 
 
 Mr. Merton now explained to Agnes, that Mr. 
 Hoy, who possessed a good deal of property in that 
 part of the Isle of Wight, had been a Russian mer- 
 chant ; and that he had erected this column, out of 
 gratitude for the kindness he had experienced from 
 the Emperor Alexander, in commemoration of that 
 monarches visit to Great Britain, in 1814. 
 
 St. Catherine's Down," continued Mr. Merton, 
 " is about nine hundred feet above the level of the 
 sea, and is the highest part of the island." 
 
 " Yes, but it is lower now than it used to be," said 
 the driver. " They say it is not above eight hundred 
 feet high now in most parts, and that it is gradually 
 sinking." 
 
 " I wonder they did not put the light-house
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. *143 
 
 on the top of the Down, as it is so high," said 
 Agnes. 
 
 44 There was anciently a chapel," replied Mr. Mer- 
 ton, "which was built in the year 1323, by the lord 
 of the neighbouring manor ; and a certain yearly sum 
 was assigned to it to maintain a monk there, whose 
 duty it was to sing mass, and keep a constant light 
 burning to guide mariners. But at the Reformation 
 the poor monk's revenues were swept away, and his 
 chapel has become a ruin. There was, however, a 
 light-house erected near it about fifty or sixty years 
 ago, but I believe it soon fell into disuse." 
 
 " The sailors could not see the light on account of 
 the fogs," said the driver. 
 
 " What ! are there fogs on the summit of that 
 down?" cried Mrs. Merton. 
 
 " So thick that you could not see your hand before 
 you. It is not very long since the landlord of that 
 very house you stopped at walked over the cliff one 
 foggy night, when he thought he was going home to 
 his own house. So they had no light-house at all 
 here till the loss of the 'Clarendon 5 made such a talk; 
 and then they built the light- house of St. Catherine's, 
 that you see down yonder."
 
 144; GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 They had now just passed a pretty romantic-look- 
 ing Gothic cottage called the Sand-rock Hotel ; on 
 the fine lawn before which were several persons sit- 
 ting, enjoying the cold morning breeze. It was, in 
 fact, a delightful scene : the air was fresh and plea- 
 sant, though the sun shone brightly ; and the sea, 
 instead of the boisterous force which it had shown the 
 preceding night, curled gently round the cliffs, with 
 a snow-white crest mantling on its edge, and seemed 
 as if it were smiling at the mischief it had done. 
 They had now a good view of the light-house which 
 the driver had mentioned. It was an octagon build- 
 ing about one hundred and twenty feet high, standing 
 upon a cliff about fifty feet above the level of the sea. 
 Advancing rapidly, they soon reached the pretty 
 little church of St. Lawrence ; which is said to be 
 the smallest parochial church in Great Britain ; as 
 it is only twenty feet long, twelve feet wide, and six 
 feet high, in the lowest part ; though, from the roof 
 being of a steep slope, it is much higher in the middle 
 of the church. Mrs. Merton and Agnes got out 
 of the carriage, and walked round this curious little 
 building, which appeared to have been constructed 
 for Lilliputians, rather than for human beings of the
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 145 
 
 ordinary size. They walked round the church-yard, 
 and found one of the tomb-stones erected to the 
 memory of a gentleman, upwards of ninety years of 
 age, who had lost his life by falling from the downs 
 just above the church, while travelling through the 
 island. After satisfying their curiosity fey inspecting 
 the church, Mrs. Merton and Agnes returned to the 
 carriage ; and they drove on to St. Lawrence's Well, 
 where the water of a delightfully clear and pure 
 spring is received in a stone-basin, protected by a 
 kind of alcove, which forms an elegant little stone 
 building surrounded by trees. Fortunately the party 
 had a travelling case with them containing a glass ; 
 and they were all, except the driver, very glad to 
 refresh themselves with some of this delicious water, 
 which tasted as cool as if it had flowed through ice. 
 They now approached Steephill, a modern castle, 
 which has been erected on a spot formerly called the 
 Queen of the Undercliffe ; and the grounds of which 
 certainly appeared as pretty as wood and smooth 
 turf could make them. On the road-side, sitting 
 by a little stream of water which gushed out of 
 the broken rocks, sat a large Kittiwake Gull. 
 " Look, mamma," cried Agnes, pointing to the bird,
 
 146 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 "there is the very gull we saw at Black Gang 
 Chine." 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 THE KITTIWAKE GULL (Laws rissa). 
 
 "Not the same, I think," said Mrs. Merton. 
 " There are a great many of these gulls in the neigh- 
 bourhood ; and there was one, some years ago, kept 
 by some cottagers at Bonchurch, which they had 
 had twenty-seven years. EVery spring, when the 
 wild gulls arrived, it used to fly away with them.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 147 
 
 and amuse itself with them all the summer; but, 
 about August, when they desert the island, it used 
 to return to its old quarters, and would remain there 
 all the winter." 
 
 They now passed rapidly on, and soon reached 
 Ventnor, where Mr. Merton had intended to stay for 
 some time. He changed his mind, however, as soon 
 as he saw its hilly situation ; as, though Ventnor is 
 now a fashionable place for consumptive patients, it 
 is impossible to find anywhere a hundred yards of 
 level ground; and every body knows how difficult 
 it is for a person with weak lungs to climb a hill. 
 Besides, new houses were building in every direction, 
 and the smell of lime and mortar, an<J the jarring 
 of stone-cutting, have an unpleasant effect on the 
 senses and nerves of an invalid. He, therefore, de- 
 termined to go on; and, after a short stay, they 
 proceeded to Bonchurch. 
 
 " I have heard," said Agnes, " of two things near 
 Ventnor that I should like to see ; and these are 
 the Wishing Well and the church at Godshill." 
 
 "And why should you like to see these things?" 
 asked Mr. Merton. 
 
 ; ' Because," replied Agnes, blushing, " they say
 
 1 48 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 that if you go up the hill to the well without once 
 looking back, and drink of the water without turning 
 round, you will have three wishes." 
 
 "How can you believe such nonsense?" said Mr. 
 Merton. 
 
 " I don't believe it, papa ; but I should only like 
 to see the well."" 
 
 " And, supposing you could have three wishes 
 granted, what would they be?" asked Mrs. Merton. 
 
 "First," said Agnes, "I would wish papa o^ite 
 well ; then I would wish you plenty of money, mam- 
 ma ; and then I think I should like to be very 
 clever." 
 
 " Your papa and I ought to be very much obliged 
 by your first wishes ; but I think I could put you 
 in the way of getting the last wish fulfilled without 
 a wishing- well." 
 
 "Ah! I know what you mean, mamma. You 
 mean that if I study hard I may make myself as 
 clever as I like." 
 
 " You are quite right, and, if you confess the truth. 
 I think you will allow that I am right also." 
 
 "But, mamma, I want to be clever without 
 without "
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 149 
 
 " Taking any trouble at all ; but that, my dear 
 Agnes, surpasses the lot of humanity. It is true that 
 some persons are more highly gifted than others ; but 
 there is generally some serious drawback that reduces 
 their lot to the level of that of other people ; and, 
 generally speaking, no talents are so useful as those 
 which are in a great measure the result of our own 
 industry." 
 
 " But why did you wish to see the church, 
 Agnes?" said her father. 
 
 " Because, papa, they say the stones of which it is 
 built would not lie still in the valley where the people 
 first wished to build the church ; but ran rolling and 
 tumbling along up hill as though they had been 
 mad." 
 
 " And the people must be mad who could believe 
 so absurd a story." 
 
 " Look, Agnes," said Mrs. Merton, " at that but- 
 terfly ! Is it not beautiful?" 
 
 "Oh, yes!" cried Agnes ; "and there is another 
 more beautiful still. How I should like to catch 
 them." 
 
 " We can admire them without catching them," 
 said her mother ; " for I don 't like to torment poor
 
 150 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 innocent creatures merely because they are beautiful. 
 Besides, that is a butterfly, called the Purple Empe- 
 ror, which it is very difficult to catch, from the great 
 height to which it flies." 
 
 " Even if it were not, mamma," said Agnes, 
 laughing, " I do not think the Undercliffe would be a 
 good place for a butterfly chase ! But see, there is 
 another butterfly of the same kind. No, I see it is 
 not, for it has red upon its wings." 
 
 " That butterfly," said Mrs. Merton, " is called 
 the Alderman, I suppose partly from his gravity, and 
 partly from his scarlet cloak, which you see he wears 
 with great dignity. The caterpillar of this butterfly 
 feeds on the nettle ; and, generally, about July the 
 female butterfly lays a single egg upon each leaf of 
 the plant. The egg to the naked eye is scarcely 
 bigger than the point of a pin ; but when examined 
 in a miscroscope, it is found to be curiously ribbed, 
 almost like a melon cactus. As soon as the cater- 
 pillar is hatched, which it is by the heat of the 
 sun, it begins to spin a kind of web, by means of 
 which it draws the leaf together into a roundish hol- 
 low shape, so as to form a kind of boat, open at both 
 ends. In this boat, or tent, the caterpillar lives;
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 151 
 
 and it feeds on the lower part of the leaf, till, in a 
 little time, it becomes perforated with holes." 
 
 " How very much I should like to see some of 
 these caterpillars, mamma ! " said Agnes, " but no 
 doubt I may some day, as I suppose if ever I find a 
 caterpillar upon a nettle that this will be it." 
 
 " You must not be too sure," said Mrs. Merton, 
 " for there is another caterpillar that feeds upon the 
 nettle, which produces the peacock butterfly; but 
 that caterpillar is black, with small white spots, and 
 red hind legs. The caterpillars of the peacock but- 
 terfly, also, are found several together, while those of 
 aldermen, are always solitary; and there," conti- 
 nued Mrs. Merton, interrupting herself as a butterfly 
 flew past, " is another, whose caterpillar lives on the 
 nettle. It is called the small Tortoise-shell, and 
 it is extremely beautiful from the rich reddish- orange 
 of its wings. This butterfly when it sits on a branch 
 with its wings closed is not beautiful at all, as the 
 inside of the wings is of a dusky brown ; the cater- 
 pillar also is brown." 
 
 " You should tell Agnes," said Mr. Merton, " that 
 it was from the golden hue of the pupa case of the 
 small tortoise-shell butterfly, that the words chry-
 
 152 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 sails and aurelia have been applied to pupa cases ge- 
 nerally. Both words signify golden, though the first 
 is derived from the Greek, and the second from the 
 Latin. Observe, also," continued he, addressing 
 Agnes, " that all the three nettle butterflies your 
 mamma has just been telling you about, belong to 
 the genus Vanessa." 
 
 Fig. 16. 
 
 THE AZURE BLUE BUTTERFLY (Polyommatus Argiolus). 
 
 " But there is a butterfly of another genus," said 
 Mrs. Merton, "that is, the lovely little azure blue. 
 Look, my dear," continued she, addressing her hus- 
 band, " it is just settled on that holly." 
 
 Mr. Merton looked, and expressed his surprise
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 153 
 
 as these butterflies are rarely seen so late in the 
 season. 
 
 They now passed a very pretty villa, called St. 
 Boniface, and very soon after they arrived at Bon- 
 church, which Agnes said she supposed was an ab- 
 breviation of St. Boniface. Just before they reached 
 Bonchurch, however, they passed a curious stone 
 called the Pulpit-rock, and the driver stopped, in 
 order that some of the party might get out of the 
 carriage, and climb up it. Mrs. Merton declined as 
 she did not feel well; but Agnes was delighted to 
 do so, as she was particularly fond of climbing ; just 
 as she got out of the carriage, however, her mother 
 observed that a pretty little pink silk handkerchief, 
 that she wore round her neck, was neither tied nor 
 fastened by a pin. 
 
 " You had better tie your handkerchief, Agnes," 
 said Mrs. Merton, " or give it me to take care of 
 till you come back." 
 
 " Oh ! no, thank you, mamma,'" cried Agnes, " I 
 will fasten it with a pin," and she did, indeed, put 
 a pin into it, but so carelessly that it fell out imme- 
 diately, without her being aware of it. In fact, 
 Agnes's head was so full of the Pulpit-stone, that
 
 154 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 she could not stay to think about her handkerchief, 
 and she ran away as fast as she could, pacing 
 through the narrow entrance, and climbing up be- 
 hind the stone with the greatest agility. The pul- 
 pit-rock commanded a fine view, which Agnes stayed 
 to look at ; and, indeed, the rock itself took rather 
 more time for Agnes to climb up and return than 
 her papa had expected ; so that, as soon as she re- 
 entered the carriage, he desired the driver to go 
 on. They passed through Bonchurch, and by Luc- 
 combe Chine, without stopping, and soon arrived at 
 a very pretty little inn, called Williams 1 Hotel, at 
 Shanklin.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 155 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Consequences of carelessness. Beach at Shanklin. Lobster-pots. 
 Planorbis. Marsh-snail. Sea-rocket. Starfish. Crabs 
 and Lobsters. Seaweed Mode of drying it. Mussels. 
 Shanklin Chine. The split shoe. Shops at Shanklin. 
 
 WHEN the carriage stopped at Williams 1 Hotel at 
 Shanklin, Mrs. Merton asked Agnes what had become 
 of her little pink silk handkerchief. Agnes mechani- 
 cally put her hand to her neck; but, alas ! no handker- 
 chief was there. It was gone ; and, though Agnes 
 knew nothing about it, the probability was, that, at 
 that very moment, it was dangling from one of the 
 rough corners of the pulpit-stone. Agnes was quite 
 in despair when this thought struck her ; and she was 
 most anxious to go back to seek it ; but this Mrs. 
 Merton would not hear of. 
 
 " No," said she ; " I could forgive any loss that 
 happened accidentally ; but this was from downright 
 carelessness."
 
 156 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 Agnes was excessively vexed, and could not help 
 crying ; as the handkerchief had been given to her 
 by her aunt Jane, and was a great favourite : Mrs. 
 Merton, however, paid no attention to her tears, but 
 walked into the inn with her husband, leaving poor 
 Agnes to follow by herself. The little girl felt this 
 neglect bitterly, and she wept so much before she 
 could summon courage to appear again before her 
 mother, that the mistress of the house, who was a 
 very good-natured person, on her return from showing 
 Mr. and Mrs. Merton to a room, began to pity the 
 poor child, and advised her to go into the garden for 
 a few minutes to recover herself. Agnes complied, 
 and sat down, very sorrowfully, under a tree within 
 sight of the window of the room in which her parents 
 were. What appeared to Agnes a tremendously long 
 time passed before they appeared to notice her ; but 
 at last Mrs. Merton, having placed her husband com- 
 fortably on the sofa, opened the glass door of their 
 room, and walked across the lawn to where Agnes 
 sat. The little girl started up immediately, and, 
 meeting her mother, begged to be forgiven. 
 
 " I will not promise never to lose anything 
 again," said she ; " but, if you will but forgive
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 157 
 
 me, mamma, I will never again be inattentive to 
 your advice." 
 
 Mrs. Merton kissed her; and, telling her that 
 was all that could be expected of a child of her 
 age, proposed a walk to the beach. Agnes gladly 
 complied ; and the good-natured landlady seemed 
 quite pleased when Mrs. Merton inquired what 
 road they were to take, to see that the poor little 
 culprit had been forgiven. In compliance with the 
 directions they had received, they walked first up 
 a short lane, till they came to an open shop dig- 
 nified by the name of a bazaar, opposite to which 
 was another lane which led down a steep hill to 
 the beach. 
 
 " What a dreadful hill ! " cried Agnes; " how shall 
 we ever get up it again ? Do look, mamma, at those 
 horses, how they are striving to drag that cart up 
 the hill ; and yet it cannot be very heavy, for it is 
 full of nothing but sea-weed. What can they be 
 going to do with so much sea- weed?" 
 
 " Have you forgotten that I told you sea- weed is 
 often used as manure 1" 
 
 " I had forgotten it, I declare. It seems such a 
 strange thing to use as manure. But look, mamma,
 
 158 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 what a fine view we have of the sea here ? and yet 
 how high we still are above it." 
 
 The descent now became more rapid ; and Agnes 
 ran down the remainder of the road, which, after 
 various windings, at last conducted them to the beach. 
 When they reached it, and looked back at the cliffs, 
 they found the scene very striking. A long, almost 
 perpendicular line of rocks spread along, as far as 
 they could see, occasionally jutting out almost to the 
 sea, and then falling back in deep bays. The face of 
 the cliff was of a pale brown, or yellow ochre colour, 
 streaked with a deeper or red shade. After looking 
 around for a few minutes, Agnes cried, "mamma, 
 do you remember that scene in the Antiquary, 
 where Isabella and her father are surprised by the 
 coming in of the tide, and in great danger of being 
 drowned I I think it must have been in such a place 
 as this." 
 
 Mrs. Merton was about to reply, when Agnes's 
 attention was attracted by some curious-looking 
 wicker-work cages which lay in a heap at the end 
 of the terrace on which they had been walking. 
 " What can these be ?"" cried she. A boy who was 
 lying beside them, and tying them together with
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 159 
 
 pieces of string, looked up in her face, without dis- 
 turbing himself, and answered, " they are lobster- 
 pots." 
 
 u Pots ! " repeated Agnes : " I think they are 
 more like baskets than pots. And why are these 
 snails put in them ?" 
 
 " They are the bait," said the boy, without even 
 looking at her this time. 
 
 " Do look, mamma," said Agnes, " what enormous 
 snails ! And here is a large flat snail like that Susan 
 found for me in the kitchen, only it is such a great 
 deal larger." 
 
 " That shell was placed among the snails by Lin- 
 nseus," said Mrs. Merton; "but 
 it is now called Planorbis, or 
 the coil-shell. Look what a 
 horny, almost transparent, sub- 
 stance it has ; indeed, I believe 
 it is sometimes called the 
 Horny Snail. It does not 
 live in the sea ; but it is found 
 in ditches, or any stagnant 
 water that is nearly dry in 
 summer. When attacked, it emits a dark reddish 
 
 Fig. ]7. 
 
 THE HORNY SNAIL 
 (Planorbis corneus).
 
 160 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 liquid, to hide itself from its enemies, by rendering 
 the water so dark that it cannot be seen." 
 " How clever ! " 
 
 " Instinct teaches many molluscous animals to do 
 the same. The violet snail emits a beautiful lilac- 
 fluid; and the cuttle-fish a liquid as black as ink. 
 But this is not all that I have to tell you about the 
 Planorbis : it lays its eggs upon a leaf, where they look 
 like those of the spider, or of some kind of insect." 
 
 " Look mamma ! Here is another shell, quite 
 different from the Planorbis." 
 
 "It is different in shape, but 
 it is nearly allied in other re- 
 spects, for that is the Marsh-snail, 
 or Lymnea. Some of the species 
 of this genus crawl with their 
 backs downwards along the under 
 surface of the water, if I may 
 so describe it, just as you have 
 seen a snail crawl on a glass; 
 and the species of the genus Phy- 
 
 THE MARSH-SNAIL sa, which is another little black 
 (Lymnea communis). PI -i i 
 
 ' fresh-water-snail, not only creep 
 
 in the manner I have described, but let themselves 
 
 Fig. 18.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 161 
 
 down by a thread in the water, just as you may have 
 seen some kinds of caterpillars do on land." 
 
 As they strolled along the beach they noticed 
 several immense plants of Sea-rocket, which grew 
 close to the cliffs, and some of the fleshy leaves of 
 which Agnes gathered and ate. " I know I am 
 safe in eating this," said she; "because I see by the 
 four opposite petals of the flower that it is one of the 
 Ouciferse, or cabbage-tribe, and I know the plants of 
 that tribe are wholesome." 
 
 " Take care, however, lest you should some day 
 find that though the Cruciferous plants are eatable 
 they are not always agreeable ; for, remember, Horse- 
 radish, and some other pungent plants, belong to that 
 tribe : but I am glad to find that you have remem- 
 bered what I told you about the shape of the flowers, 
 which are called cruciferous, or cross-bearing, from 
 their four petals being arranged in the form of a 
 Greek cross." 
 
 Agnes now found a specimen of the Star-fish, or 
 five-fingers, a species of which she had often seen in 
 Scotland; but she did not attempt to pick it up, 
 as she remembered that one she found at Dunbar 
 began to decay before she could reach the inn. She 
 
 M
 
 162 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 stood, however, looking at it, and her mother, who 
 told her these Star-fishes were usually only caught 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 THE STAB-FISH, OR FIVE-FINGERS (Asterias glacialis). 
 
 in the Northern seas, made her remark its mouth, 
 or rather the opening to its short hag-like stomach, 
 which is placed in the very centre of the rays; and
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 163 
 
 the numerous holes through which the creature could 
 project its feet, having the power of shortening or 
 extending them at pleasure, and also of adhering, 
 by the flat disk at their base, to any substance it 
 might be near; the part which may be called the 
 sole of the foot, acting like a sucker. 
 
 " What poor helpless creatures these Star-fish 
 seem to be !" said Agnes ; " I wonder how they con- 
 trive to live, for they seem to have no means of 
 catching anything." 
 
 " You will be surprised, then, to hear that they 
 are accused of catching oysters; and that it is as- 
 serted in many books on natural history, that there 
 was formerly a penalty inflicted by the Admiralty 
 Court on every dredger who caught a Star-fish and 
 did not kill it." 
 
 "But how could the poor Star-fish, with its soft 
 body, attack an oyster, protected as it is by two 
 strong shells?" 
 
 " It was said to wait till the oyster gaped, and 
 then to thrust one of its rays in between the valves 
 to suck out the oyster." 
 
 "Oh, mamma!" cried Agnes, laughing; "how 
 very stupid the oyster must have been not to shut
 
 1 64* GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 its shell and crush the ray, instead of letting itself be 
 sucked out ! " 
 
 " The story is as old as Aristotle ; and, like many 
 other stories told by the ancients, it has been handed 
 down to our times, without any one, till lately, 
 taking the trouble to examine whether it was true 
 or false. I believe the fact is, that when oysters or 
 any other molluscous animals become sickly, they 
 are attacked by Star-fish and other similar creatures, 
 just as a dying snail is attacked and devoured by 
 slugs ; but I think with you, that if a Star-fish were 
 bold enough to attack a healthy oyster, it would soon 
 have reason to repent it." 
 
 " I have often thought, mamma," said Agnes ; 
 " what miserable lives oysters and other similar 
 creatures must lead in the sea; fixed as they are 
 to rocks, and incapable of hearing or seeing anything 
 around them." 
 
 " You forget," replied her mother, " how often 
 I have told you that our Beneficent Creator has pro- 
 vided not only for the nourishment, but for the enjoy- 
 ments of all his creatures. I think it is Paley who 
 remarks, that when we recollect the happiness we 
 feel when in perfect health and high spirits, without
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 165 
 
 any particular cause, we may easily comprehend the 
 enjoyments of the inferior animals." 
 
 " I can understand that, mamma ; and so I sup- 
 pose that these poor oysters enjoy the warmth of 
 the sun and the flowing of the tide, as much as I 
 do the fresh breeze when it blows against me as 
 I run. 1 ' 
 
 " Exactly so. Every creature has a capability of 
 happiness adapted to the situation in which it is 
 placed; and when we do not perceive how this is 
 effected, we may rest assured that the fault is in 
 ourselves, and not in the system of Nature." 
 
 While they were conversing in this manner, they 
 had strolled to a considerable distance along the 
 beach, and were beginning to think of turning back, 
 as they were going from the Chine, which they in- 
 tended to visit before they returned to the inn, when 
 Agnes's attention was attracted by a splendid mass 
 of tangle, that had been thrown on the beach by 
 the sea ; and catching hold of it, she picked up at 
 the same time a little crab not bigger than the end 
 of her finger. The little crab was of a pale yellow, 
 and as soon as it was caught, it began to run side- 
 ways as fast as possible. Agnes had often heard
 
 1 66 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 of crabs running sideways, but she had never seen 
 one do so before ; and the motions of this little 
 creature struck her as so very odd that she burst 
 into a violent fit of laughter. Mrs. Merton came up 
 to know what was the matter ; and when she saw 
 the little crab running sideways as fast as possible 
 with only half of its legs, and then back with the 
 other half, she could not forbear smiling also. The 
 next moment, however, she checked herself. 
 
 " We ought not to laugh at this little creature," 
 said she, " since there is nothing really ridiculous 
 that is natural ; but it only strikes us as absurd be- 
 cause we are not used to it." 
 
 " What curious creatures crabs are?" cried Agnes. 
 
 " They are called Crustaceous animals," returned 
 her mother, " because they are covered with a crust 
 or shell ; and they are said to be articulated, because 
 their limbs are jointed so that they can throw one off 
 without suffering much inconvenience." 
 
 " Lobsters can do the same thing, can they not?" 
 
 " Yes, they also belong to the Crustacea, and so 
 do shrimps, and prawns, and cray-fish, besides many 
 other creatures you are not acquainted with. All 
 the Crustacea have also the power of throwing off
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 167 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 their shells when they have grown too large for 
 them, and forming new ones, as I think I explained 
 to you some years ago when we were speaking of 
 cray-fish." 
 
 " They must suffer a great 
 deal of pain when they change 
 their shells." 
 
 " They do ; and some are 
 said even to die under the 
 operation ; but I suppose they 
 must also suffer a good deal 
 from the old shell being too 
 tight for them, before they 
 throw it off." 
 
 Agnes now picked up some 
 sea-weed which struck her as 
 being like what her mother IRISH Moss? OR CARRAGEEN . 
 had once taken, boiled with (Fucus crispus.) 
 milk, for a troublesome cough. 
 
 " It is the same," said Mrs. Merton ; " the popular 
 name is Carrageen, or Irish moss, but it is a kind of 
 Fucus." 
 
 " And what is this pale brown?" asked Agnes. 
 
 " That is called Duck's Foot Conferva," said Mrs.
 
 1 68 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 Fig. 21. 
 
 DUCK'S FOOT CONFERVA (Flustra foliacea). 
 
 Merton, " and when burnt it smells like lemons ; but 
 it is not a true Conferva." 
 
 "Do look at this beautiful pink sea-weed, mamma," 
 said Agnes. 
 
 " That is called Delesseria by botanists, 11 said Mrs. 
 Merton, " but I do not know its English name. It 
 is very beautiful from its delicate texture, and its 
 brilliant colour. Its seeds are produced on the back 
 of the leaves, or fronds, as in ferns." 
 
 " I should like to take some of it," said Agnes, 
 " may I ? "
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 169 
 
 " Certainly," said Mrs. Merton, " but take great 
 care in drying it, as it is very apt to adhere to 
 the paper. I think you know how to dry sea- 
 weed." 
 
 " Oh ! yes,"" said Agnes, " Miss Green taught me. 
 You first put the sea-weed in water, and then put a 
 piece of writing paper under it, so as to let the plant 
 lie upon the paper as it did in the water ; and then 
 you take it up carefully, so as to let the water run 
 off without disturbing the plant." 
 
 " You are quite right," said Mrs. Merton; "but 
 you must observe that some sea-weeds are spoiled by 
 putting them into fresh water, and will change their 
 colour, while others will crackle, when taken out, like 
 salt when thrown on a fire. Some kinds, when laid 
 on a plate in fresh water, will start and curl up as if 
 they were alive ; and nearly all sea animals, such as 
 the Star-fish we saw just now, are killed instantly by 
 putting them into fresh water. However, to return 
 to the sea-weed, I am so well pleased at your re- 
 membering what was told you, that I will give you 
 some more paper to dry your sea-weed on, if you 
 should not have enough; and you may gather as 
 much as you like."
 
 170 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 Agnes did not suffer this permission to lie dor- 
 mant ; and she gathered sea-weed of a great variety 
 of shades of pink, brown, green, black, and even 
 white ; as, however, she could not carry half the 
 quantity she had collected, her mother promised to 
 bring her back to the beach the following morning, if 
 the weather should be fine, when she might provide 
 herself with a basket. 
 
 They now found the tide coming in so rapidly 
 that they judged it most prudent to return ; though 
 Agnes, who was fond of excitement, would willingly 
 have gone on a little farther, in spite of the danger ; 
 which, indeed, was not very great, as the tide seldom 
 rises very high on the back of the Isle of Wight, 
 and there was a considerable space between the cliffs 
 and the shore. The billows, however, came in with 
 considerable force, and they brought with them a 
 piece of board that looked as if it had belonged to a 
 ship. Agnes picked it up, and found some Mussels 
 sticking to it ; one of which was attached by what 
 looked like a tuft of coarse brown thread ; but, when 
 she asked what it was, her mother smiled, and told 
 her it was the Byssus. 
 
 "The Byssus! 11 cried Agnes: "I thought that
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 171 
 
 was produced by the Pinna, or Sea-wing. Don't 
 you remember, mamma, showing me a pair of gloves 
 made of the Bvssus of the Pinna at the British Mu- 
 seum ! I am sure you said the Pinna." 
 
 Fig. 22. 
 
 FRESH-WATER MUSSELS (Dreissena polymorpha). 
 
 "I remember it perfectly; but other shell-fish 
 produce Byssus besides the Pinna." 
 
 " Indeed ! and are gloves made of it ?"
 
 172 GLIMPSES OP NATURE; OR, 
 
 " I believe not ; because it is not produced in other 
 shell-fish in sufficient quantities." 
 
 "Do not some Mussels produce pearls?" asked 
 Agnes. 
 
 " Those are the River Mussels," said Mrs. Merton. 
 " Remember that there are several kinds of Mussels : 
 as, for example, the River Mussel, or Unio, which 
 produces what are called British pearls, and which 
 is common in njany British rivers, particularly in 
 the Conway, in Wales, and in the Tay, in Scotland ; 
 the Sea Mussel, or Mytilus, the animal of which is 
 eaten, and which produces the Byssus; and the Horse 
 Mussel, or Modiola. The kind you have found, 
 however, belongs to none of these, as it is a fresh- 
 water species generally found in docks ; and it must 
 have adhered to some vessel that has been ship- 
 wrecked here soon after it left the dock in which 
 it had been repaired." 
 
 " Oh ! mamma, don't talk of shipwrecks," cried 
 Agnes, shuddering. 
 
 They had now reached a little terrace, raised to a 
 considerable height above the beach, where there was 
 a little shop, the proprietor of which sold fruit, and 
 also engravings of various kinds, in the manner which
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 1 73 
 
 seems fashionable at Shanklin; as the shops there 
 generally contain articles of the most heterogeneous 
 kinds. Here Mrs. Merton inquired the way to the 
 Chine, and they were directed to apply at a little 
 cottage a good way farther up the beach. They did 
 so ; and a most uncivil person came out, who, unlock- 
 ing a gate, told them to go through there, and then 
 left them to find their way how they could. They 
 went straight on along a narrow path, which was ex- 
 ceedingly slippery and disagreeable from the recent 
 rains, and they soon came to a place where the road 
 divided into two, and they did not know which way 
 to take. As Mrs. Merton was very much fatigued 
 by the want of sleep the previous night, Agnes ran 
 forward along one of the paths, while Mrs. Merton 
 waited her return. She soon came back, saying that 
 the path merely led to a seat ; but, as she descended 
 the hill, Mrs. Merton noticed that her shoe had 
 burst open behind, and that she had great difficulty 
 in keeping it on her foot. 
 
 " My dear Agnes," said her mother, " these shoes 
 were never intended for walking along such roads 
 as these. Why did you not put on your walking- 
 shoes r'
 
 174 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 Agnes looked at her feet in dismay ; for, alas ! 
 the walking-shoes had been left at Black Gang Chine. 
 They had been very wet the preceding evening ; and 
 when they were brought up after being cleaned, they 
 felt so damp that Agnes begged to have them dried, 
 intending to put them on just before she came away ; 
 but this she had forgotten to do ; and her present 
 shoes, being totally unfit for walking on wet clayey 
 soil, had burst open in the manner described. 
 
 " What shall I do, mamma ? " said Agnes : "I 
 think I must try to fasten my shoe together with a 
 pin." 
 
 Mrs. Merton smiled and shook her head ; but, as 
 no better means presented themselves, the pin was 
 obliged to be used. 
 
 They now walked on very uncomfortably ; the pin 
 pricked Agnes every step she took ; and her shoe 
 was so loose that she had the greatest difficulty to 
 prevent it from falling off. She was, besides, en- 
 cumbered with her sea-weed, and some engravings 
 they had purchased at the little shop on the beach 
 for aunt Jane, though of these last her mamma soon 
 relieved her. Mrs. Merton, on her part, did not 
 feel much more inclined to enjoy the beauties of the
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 1 75 
 
 Chine than her poor little daughter, for the path 
 was very narrow, and was not only wet and slippery 
 from the recent rains, but in some places had given 
 way altogether, and been rudely propped up with 
 the branch of a tree, apparently just cut down for 
 the purpose. Several other paths also branched off 
 from that which appeared the principal one, and 
 thus the constant fear of having to retrace their 
 steps was mingled with their other troubles. What 
 is called a Chine in the Isle of Wight, means a 
 cleft in the rocks, which has been produced by the 
 action of a stream running through them, and thus, 
 wherever there is a Chine, there is always a stream 
 of water running into the sea. At Shanklin Chine 
 the cleft has penetrated to a considerable depth into 
 the rocks ; and thus a deep ravine is formed, on one 
 side of which the rock is almost perpendicular, while 
 on the other it shelves gently downward, and is co- 
 vered with trees and bushes, among which are a 
 few cottages very picturesquely placed. The cascade 
 is somewhat larger than that at Black Gang Chine ; 
 but still it possessed very little grandeur, and Mrs. 
 Merton and Agnes were both very glad when they 
 reached it to see a girl approaching with a key in her
 
 176 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OB, 
 
 hand to let them out, as it was a proof that they had 
 nearly reached the end of the Chine. They had 
 still, however, a flight of broken, slippery steps to 
 ascend, after which they found themselves once more 
 on solid ground. Mrs. Merton's object was now to 
 get her little daughter a pair of shoes, or boots ; as, 
 though she generally wished Agnes to suffer a little 
 when she left anything behind from want of care, she 
 considered the melancholy scene they had witnessed 
 at Black Gang Chine was sufficient to excuse a little 
 forgetfulness. They therefore walked into the vil- 
 lage to find a shoe-shop; but this was a very difficult 
 task. They were first directed to a shop where the 
 people sold eggs and bacon, cheese and butter, in- 
 termixed with articles of haberdashery, and boots 
 and shoes ; but, unfortunately, there were none there 
 that fitted Agnes; and they had to walk a long 
 way on the dusty road, and even to pass through a 
 turnpike, before Agnes could obtain a pair of boots 
 to suit her ; but she could not help sighing as they 
 retraced their steps back to the inn, and frequently 
 exclaiming, " How glad I am, mamma, that we do 
 not live at Shanklin !"
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 177 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Shanklin continued. Siphonia, or Sea-Tulip. Zoophytes. 
 Sponges. Corals. Shells Anomia Scallop-shell Cockle- 
 shell Whelk Solen, or Razor-shell Mactra, or Kneading 
 Trough Mya. 
 
 THE first thing Agnes thought of the following 
 morning was her mamma's promise to take her again 
 to the beach to pick up the shells and sea-weed 
 which she had been compelled to leave behind her 
 the preceding day. Mrs. Merton thought it prudent 
 to stay till the tide was in and had begun to turn, in 
 order that they might explore the cliffs as far as they 
 felt inclined without danger ; and it may be easily 
 guessed that Agnes grew rather impatient at the 
 length of time she had to wait. Fortunately, how- 
 ever, there was a beautiful little garden attached to 
 the inn, in which, with the aid of two or three dogs, 
 a kitten, and, what was better than all, a little girl 
 of about her own age, who was also travelling with 
 
 N
 
 178 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 her parents through the island, Agnes contrived to 
 amuse herself till her mamma was ready. Before 
 proceeding to the beach it was necessary to purchase 
 a basket, and for this purpose they entered the bazaar 
 which they had seen the day before. Agnes had 
 some difficulty in finding a basket to suit her, as the 
 pretty ones were all far too small to hold the quan- 
 tity of sea-weed and other things she intended to* 
 bring from the beach ; and it was with the greatest 
 difficulty that her mamma could persuade her to be 
 satisfied with a basket of moderate size, though even 
 that Mrs. Merton feared when full would be much 
 too heavy for the little girl to carry. Just as they 
 were leaving the bazaar the woman showed them a 
 curious specimen of the Siphonia, or Sea- Tulip, 
 which she said had been picked up on the beach. 
 The siphonia was intermixed with various fossil re- 
 mains, and the whole presented so singular an appear- 
 ance that Agnes, who had never seen any thing of 
 the kind before, could talk of nothing else while they 
 were descending to the beach. 
 
 " What a curious thing the sea-tulip is," said 
 she. " Is it a plant, and are there any like it grow- 
 ing now f"
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 179 
 
 " It is not a plant," said Mrs. Merton, " but a 
 zoophyte, and I believe it has only been found in a 
 fossil state." 
 
 Fig. 23. 
 
 MASS OF FOSSILS CONTAINING THE SIPHONIA, or SEA-TULIP. 
 
 " Zoophyte !" said Agnes ; " that is half a plant, 
 and half an animal, is it not, mamma ? " 
 
 " The word zoophyte," returned Mrs. Merton, 
 " signifies literally an animal plant ; and it was for-
 
 180 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 raerly applied only to those singular creatures which 
 grew in the ground like plants, and were yet fur- 
 nished with tentacula or arms which they could 
 extend or contract so as to provide themselves with 
 food. But it is now used in a more enlarged sense, 
 and it includes various kinds of polypes, animalcules 
 and other animals of the lowest class. Some of these 
 creatures seem to consist merely of semitransparenf 
 jelly, and when disturbed they contract themselves 
 into almost shapeless lumps." 
 
 "Have I ever seen any of these animalcules?" 
 asked Agnes. 
 
 " You probably have without being aware of it," 
 returned her mother : " for in summer when the sun 
 is warm they may generally be seen in ponds and 
 slowly running waters, looking like little lumps of 
 transparent jelly, and hanging to plants or any other 
 object that may be in the water." 
 
 " I think I have seen them, then," said Agnes ; 
 " but I had no idea that they were living creatures." 
 
 " And yet," returned her mother, " if you were to 
 take one of these jelly-like lumps, not larger than a 
 small pea, and examine it in a powerful microscope, 
 you would find that it possessed six or more arms,
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OP WIGHT. 181 
 
 which it has the power of stretching out in an extra- 
 ordinary manner, so as to seize any insect that may 
 come in their way, and which they convey to an 
 opening in the centre of the polypus, which serves as 
 its mouth, and which leads directly to the stomach." 
 
 "Ah, mamma!" said Agnes, "then these crea- 
 tures are polypes. I have been frequently going to 
 ask you what kind of creatures they were, ever since 
 papa was reading to us that curious account of the 
 manner in which they form islands in the Australian 
 Seas. But surely,*" continued she, after thinking 
 for a moment, " these soft jelly-like looking animals 
 cannot possibly form any thing so hard as coral ! " 
 
 " It is, indeed," replied Mrs. Merton, " extremely 
 difficult for us to conceive that animals so simple and 
 jelly-like can form solid stone ; but the way in which 
 it is effected is, that the creature has the power of 
 depositing, in a solid form, the earthy matter which 
 is continually floating in the waters of the ocean, 
 and which it swallows with its daily food." 
 
 While Agnes and her mamma were thus speaking 
 they continued descending the cliffs till they came to 
 the part where the road turns, and leaves a little 
 level space before it again descends. Just at this
 
 182 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 place they found an old woman sitting at a kind of 
 stall covered with shells and various kinds of fossils ; 
 and Agnes, whose curiosity was always easily excited, 
 stopped to look at them. 
 
 " I wish we could find any polypes here," said 
 she to her mamma. 
 
 " It is impossible," said Mrs. Merton, " to find 
 any here in a living state ; but you may see some of 
 their labours in these curious specimens of sponge." 
 
 "Sponge, mamma P cried Agnes. "Surely you 
 do not mean to say that the polypes form sponge as 
 well as coral !" 
 
 " Indeed I do," said Mrs. Merton, " for though 
 sponge was once supposed to be a marine plant, it 
 has long since been discovered to be an animal. 
 About the year 1752 a gentleman, named Ellis, was 
 at Brighton forming a collection of marine plants for 
 the instruction of some part of the Royal Family in 
 botany, and amongst other things he collected some 
 curious specimens of sponges, which he examined 
 through a powerful microscope with a view to obtain 
 a knowledge of some peculiarities which he consi- 
 dered necessary to be ascertained before they could 
 be properly classified. By this examination he disco-
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 183 
 
 vered that the sponges possessed a system of vessels 
 through which the sea-water circulated, and which 
 opened by means of innumerable pores. Subsequent 
 
 Fig. 24. 
 
 SPONGES. 
 
 examinations proved that what we call sponge may 
 be compared to the shell of the snail or the oyster, 
 and that it acts as a covering to the jelly-like animal
 
 184 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 or animals which reside in it, being as necessary to 
 them as shells are to the molluscous animals. Mr. 
 Ellis, after making these discoveries, examined dif- 
 ferent kinds of coral, and found that they were also 
 furnished with pores containing animals, the tentacula 
 or feelers of which were continually expanding and 
 contracting as if seeking and seizing prey." 
 
 " How very curious !" cried Agnes ; " and what" 
 do these creatures live upon?" 
 
 " Probably," returned her mamma, u on some ani- 
 malcules contained in the water, the forms of which 
 are too minute to be visible to human eyes even 
 though aided by powerful microscopes." 
 
 " I can easily imagine they must be very small," 
 said Agnes, " as the creatures which feed upon them 
 are so little themselves. But I think I have seen the 
 pores in the coral." 
 
 " I have no doubt you have," said Mrs. Merton ; 
 " the pores in some of the kinds of sponge are also 
 quite large enough to be visible to the naked eye." 
 
 "But where is sponge found, mamma?" asked 
 Agnes. 
 
 "It is generally collected from rocks in the sea," 
 replied Mrs. Merton, "about twenty or thirty feet
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 185 
 
 deep, by divers, who in time become very expert in 
 obtaining it. It grows so rapidly, that it is said 
 rocks have been found covered with it that were com- 
 pletely cleared only two years before." 
 
 " What kinds of coral are these mamma f said 
 Agnes, picking up two or three pieces which lay upon 
 the stall. 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 CORALS. 
 
 " I do not know the names of all of them," said 
 Mrs. Merton ; " but I believe that kind which looks 
 as though it were formed of small beads is called the 
 chain coral, or Catenipora ; and that other kind which
 
 186 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 appears covered with star-like flowers is called 
 Aulopora." 
 
 Agnes's attention was now caught by some shells, 
 
 Fig. 26. 
 
 SADDLE-SHAPED 
 ANOMIA. 
 
 and she begged her mamma to 
 purchase for her a beautiful little 
 Scallop-shell which was streaked 
 with reddish bands, delicately 
 shaded off into white ; and also 
 one of those shells which are 
 called Anomia. They then pro- 
 ceeded on their walk, and as 
 they descended the remaining 
 cliffs Agnes asked her mamma what the use was of 
 the hole in the upper valve of the anomia. 
 
 " It is that," said Mrs. Merton, " which has given 
 rise to the popular English name of the Antique 
 Lamp, by which the shell is generally known, as it re- 
 sembles the opening through which the flame of the 
 ancient lamps used to ascend ; but its real use is to 
 admit the passing through it of a strong muscle, at 
 the end of which is a calcareous mass, by means of 
 which the animal contained in the shell attaches itself 
 to the rocks. Where the creature has fixed itself, it 
 cannot be pulled off without killing it ; but when it
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 187 
 
 wishes, it possesses the power of drawing its muscle 
 into the shell so as to close the hole in the upper 
 valve with the calcareous mass, which exactly fits it." 
 
 Agnes did not reply to this, and after a short silence 
 her mamma asked her if she did not wish to know 
 any particulars respecting the other shell they had 
 purchased. 
 
 " Oh no !" said Agnes, carelessly, " as it is only a 
 common scallop, I suppose I know all that you can 
 tell me about that." 
 
 "Indeed!" said Mrs. Merton, "and pray may I 
 ask how much you do know about it 2" 
 
 Agnes was about to speak, but after considering a 
 moment, she hesitated, stammered, and at last said, 
 " it is such a common shell." 
 
 " But what particulars do you know about it ?" per- 
 sisted Mrs. Merton. 
 
 " Everybody knows a scallop-shell," said Agnes. 
 
 " Everybody may easily know it as well as you do 
 apparently," said Mrs. Merton ; " for the fact is that 
 you appear to know nothing of it but its name ; and 
 yet there are some particulars respecting the animal 
 of the pecten or scallop which are extremely interest- 
 ing. For instance, you are probably not aware that
 
 188 GLIMPSES OP NATURE; OR, 
 
 it possesses the power of leaping ; and that a basket 
 full of scallops just caught, which was set down on the 
 beach, was found speedily emptied 
 of its contents by the pectens 
 springing out of it and returning 
 to the water. The animal of 
 the scallop has also the power of 
 making such frequent and sudden 
 contractions of its muscles as to 
 
 force itself rapidly forward through 
 SCALLOP SHELL. the w&ter; ^ ^^ & recent 
 
 writer on the subject tells us, that it requires con- 
 siderable agility to catch it as it flutters among the 
 corals where it dwells. The name of pecten, which 
 signifies a comb, was given to the scallop-shell from 
 a supposed resemblance in the fluting of the shell to 
 the teeth of a comb. The scallop-shell was formerly 
 .the badge of pilgrims who had been to the Holy 
 Land, and was worn on their caps and cloaks.*" 
 
 They had now reached the beach, and Agnes was 
 in such high spirits, that, though she was encumbered 
 with her large basket, she could not refrain from 
 running backwards and forwards several times, just as 
 we often see little dogs do, who never seem thoroughly
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 189 
 
 to enjoy a walk unless they are permitted to make it 
 twice or three times as long as it ought to be. 
 
 Agnes ran round a projecting cliff so that her 
 mother lost sight of her. She soon, however, came 
 running back with two or three Cockle-shells in her 
 hand. " Look mamma ! " cried she, " what I have 
 found!" 
 
 " Nothing very remarkable, certainly," said Mrs. 
 Merton, smiling ; " for I believe the cockle-shell is 
 common on the sea-beach in every part of the world. 
 Yet something interesting may be told even of this 
 common shell. In the first place it is what is called 
 a bivalve, that is, the shell is in two parts, or valves, 
 like those of the oyster and the scallop, the two parts 
 being united by a hinge, formed by two projecting 
 teeth in the centre, and two side teeth." 
 
 " But what do you call teeth, mamma !" 
 
 " Look, here are two projecting parts with a hollow 
 part between. The projecting parts are called the 
 teeth, and you see they are so placed that the teeth 
 of one valve fit into the hollow part of the other. 
 The creature, which is something like an oyster, and 
 is eaten, can open and shut these valves at pleasure, 
 and it can push out a long elbow-like part of its
 
 190 
 
 GLIMPSES OP NATURE ; OR, 
 
 body and spring forward to a considerable distance 
 when it wishes to leave the sand and return to the 
 sea. Look, too, how delicately this valve that you 
 have found, is ribbed, and observe the form of the 
 shell. You see it bears some resemblance to a heart, 
 and hence the scientific name of the genus is Car- 
 dium, which signifies a heart." 
 
 Fig. 28. 
 
 Agnes now picked up' 
 another shell, and her 
 mother smiled when she 
 discovered that it was a 
 Whelk, or Buckle. "My 
 dear Agnes," said she, 
 " you certainly cannot 
 boast of finding any very 
 
 rare shells in your travels; 
 WHELK ( Buccinum Kurfofe.). for the whdk ig ^^ ^ 
 
 common as the cockle. However, there is a material 
 difference between them, for the whelk, or buccinum, 
 is a univalve, that is, its shell is only in one part, like 
 that of the snail. Look at this shell, and you will 
 perceive a curious little notch at the lower end ; and 
 when there is this mark we know that the animal 
 inhabiting the shell is carnivorous, that is, it lives on
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 191 
 
 other creatures of its own kind. The common 
 garden snail, which, you know, lives on vegetables, 
 has no notch." 
 
 Agnes now saw several shells lying scattered about, 
 but she scarcely condescended to look at them, till at 
 last, one appeared so curious that she could not help 
 calling her mamma's attention to it. It was a long 
 narrow shell, something resembling the handle of a 
 pocket knife. What she picked up, however, was 
 only the half of what was evidently a bivalve-shell, 
 and to Agnes' s great annoyance, it was by no means 
 perfect. Mrs. Merton, however, told her that it was 
 what was called a Solen, or Razor-shell, or, some- 
 times, a Sheath-shell, from its resemblance to the 
 handle, or sheath of a razor. She also showed her 
 the hinge that united the two valves together, and 
 which, though very slight, was curiously formed. 
 
 While Mrs. Merton was speaking, Agnes saw 
 another shell nearly similar to the first, but smaller 
 and prettier, and the little girl ran with great delight 
 to pick it up. Just before she reached it, however, 
 she saw it raise itself on one end, and then instantly 
 disappear in the sand. 
 
 It is scarcely possible to express the astonishment
 
 192 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 and almost terror which seized Agnes at this sight ; 
 and she ran back to her mamma almost too fright- 
 
 Fig. 29. 
 
 TRUNCATED GAPER. 
 
 SOLEN, OR RAZOR-SHELL. 
 
 COMMON COCKLE. THE KNEADING TROUGH. 
 
 ened to ask the cause of what she had seen. Her 
 mamma, however, explained to her that it was the 
 nature of the animals belonging to these shells to
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 193 
 
 bury theselves in the sand when they were alarmed ; 
 and she added, that the disappearance of the shell 
 was a certain proof that it was inhabited. 
 
 " Oh mamma ! " cried Agnes, " how I should like 
 to see the animal. Can^t we get it up out of the 
 sand without hurting it?" 
 
 " I am afraid not," said Mrs. Merton ; " for these 
 animals have been known sometimes to descend to 
 the depth of two feet, and I believe they generally 
 go at least a foot beneath the surface, which is a 
 greater depth than I could possibly dig to, with the 
 point of my parasol, and I have no other instrument 
 at hand." 
 
 " But then," cried Agnes, " how will the poor 
 solen return itself, for I suppose it will not always 
 remain buried in the sand ?" 
 
 " If you will look attentively," said Mrs. Merton, 
 " you will see that the solen has left a little hole, by 
 which he can return to the surface whenever he 
 thinks proper, which no doubt will be as soon as we 
 have disappeared ;" and, in fact, when Agnes looked 
 at the little narrow tube which the solen had left in 
 the sand, she fancied she could see some slight ap- 
 pearance of its shining pinkish shell in the hole. Her
 
 194 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 mamma, however, would not suffer her to attempt to 
 get the shell out, lest she should destroy the tube, and 
 thus convert the poor solen's retreat into its tomb. 
 She, therefore, stood for some time looking at the 
 hole in silence ; and at last asked her mamma if there 
 was not any way of bringing the creature out with- 
 out injuring it. 
 
 " It is said," returned Mrs. Merton, " that when a* 
 fisherman wishes to catch one of these creatures alive, 
 he can bring it to the surface by throwing a little salt 
 down the tube ; but, strange to say, this plan is only 
 successful once, and the fisherman must be on the 
 watch to seize the shell the moment it makes its 
 appearance, as if the animal becomes alarmed and 
 descends a second time, the salt has no longer any 
 effect upon it, and no efforts on the part of the fisher- 
 man can induce it to rise again." 
 
 " How very curious!" said Agnes; " but I do hope 
 we shall find another of these creatures in time to 
 seize it. Are they common on this coast, mamma T 
 
 " Not very, I believe," said Mrs. Merton; "and I 
 think the kind of which you have the half valve is not 
 a British shell at all, but has been washed here from 
 some other country."
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 195 
 
 They now walked on, and Agnes picked up the 
 half of another bivalve shell, which her mother told 
 her was called Mactra, or the Kneading Trough, 
 from some fancied resemblance in the shape of the 
 shell to that utensil. As this shell was not very 
 beautiful, Agnes soon threw it away, but not before 
 her mamma had made her observe that one of the 
 teeth was shaped like the letter V. 
 
 " There are many shells,'" continued Mrs. Merton, 
 " which are of nearly the same outward shape as 
 this, and which can only be distinguished from each 
 other by some peculiarities in the teeth or hinge." 
 
 Agnes now picked up another half of a bivalve 
 shell, which she at first thought was another mactra, 
 as the two shells bore considerable resemblance to 
 each other ; but when Mrs. Merton told her to look 
 at the hinge she found that instead of being in the 
 shape of a V there was a curious projection resem- 
 bling a small spoon, which her mother told her fitted 
 into a corresponding hollow in the other valve. 
 
 " This shell," continued Mrs. Merton, " is one of 
 the kind called Gapers, because the two valves, in- 
 stead of closing, are always open or gaping at one 
 end : they are so far apart, indeed, as to admit of
 
 196 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 a large tube, containing two smaller ones, to pass 
 through the opening. This tube the animal can 
 draw into the shell at pleasure; but generally when 
 the creature buries itself in the sand it allows its tube 
 just to reach the surface in order that it may take 
 its food by means of the small tubes within the 
 large one. In some cases the animal buries itself so 
 deeply in the sand that it is obliged to elongate its * 
 tube to an extraordinary length, in order to make it 
 reach the surface ; but in other cases the tube is very 
 short. The scientific name of this shell is Mya ; and 
 the animal belonging to it is eaten in some parts of 
 the world as an article of food." 
 
 Agnes now began to gather sea-weed and pebbles, 
 and she had soon collected a large quantity of both 
 to put in her basket, which she had placed on the 
 beach while she filled it ; this she did most effectively, 
 for several times when it appeared full she contrived 
 by dint of shaking and pressing to make it hold a 
 little more. At last, however, she seemed satisfied 
 that her basket was full, and she attempted to lift it 
 up and carry it after her mamma, who had now 
 turned, and was walking slowly back towards the 
 village. Mrs. Merton was absorbed in thought, and
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 197 
 
 as her back was turned towards Agnes, she was 
 quite unconscious of the trouble of the little girl, 
 who was trying" in vain with all the strength she 
 could muster to raise the basket. But all her efforts 
 were in vain, the basket was far too heavy for her ; 
 and after a powerful but useless struggle, fearing that 
 her mamma would leave her behind, as she had 
 already lost sight of her behind one of the projecting 
 cliffs, poor Agnes uttered a cry so full of trouble and 
 almost despair that her mamma came running back, 
 terrified lest some dreadful accident had happened to 
 her darling. When she found what was really the 
 matter, she could scarcely help laughing at poor 
 Agnes's dilemma, and she put an end to it by empty- 
 ing the contents of the basket on the beach, and 
 helping Agnes to refill it with only a few of the 
 stones and shells, and the lightest and prettiest of 
 the sea- weed, with which they returned to the inn.
 
 198 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Sandown Bay. Culver Cliff. Sandown Fort. High Flood. 
 Girl and Dog. Poultry. Hares. Butterflies. Ichneumon, 
 Fly. Myrtles. Brading. Bembridge. St. Helen's. Arrival 
 at Ryde. 
 
 THE next morning was rather cooler than any day 
 since the Mertons had been in the Isle of Wight ; 
 and Agnes felt the want of her little pink handker- 
 chief round her neck. She did not like to complain, 
 however, as she was aware it was entirely her own 
 fault that the handkerchief had been lost ; and so she 
 bore the cold as well as she could, without saying a 
 word about it. The road they were travelling com- 
 manded a beautiful view of Sandown Bay and Culver 
 Cliff, on which last, Mr. Merton told Agnes, was 
 formerly erected a beacon to warn the inhabitants 
 when any danger was apprehended of an invasion 
 from France, as this was the part of the Island that 
 approached nearest to that country.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 199 
 
 " The Isle of Wight was once invaded by the 
 French, 11 said Mrs. Merton, " but I believe it was in 
 the reign of Henry V." 
 
 " It was invaded several times previously to that 
 period," said Mr. Merton, " and also, I believe, once 
 or twice in the reign of Henry VI. ; and it was to 
 repel these invasions," continued he, pointing to San- 
 down Fort, " that the fort we see before us was 
 erected in the time of Charles I. ; but we now trust 
 to our shipping as our best protection. The only bed 
 of coal that is worth working in the Isle of Wight, 
 is in Culver Cliff." 
 
 They now approached the river, which flows in- 
 land from Brading Haven, and which had greatly 
 overflowed its banks ; but Agnes was very much 
 amused to see a little robin redbreast sitting on a 
 stone in the middle of the water, looking as saucy 
 and unconcerned as possible. A little farther on they 
 approached the deep part of the water ; and here the 
 driver told Mrs. Merton and Agnes to sit as steadily 
 as possible, for the current was flowing with great vio- 
 lence, and the horse might be carried off his feet. 
 They did as he desired, and soon reached the oppo- 
 site bank in safety. They had scarcely done so,
 
 200 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 when Agnes' attention was attracted by a little girl 
 who was standing on the high bank just beyond the 
 water, weeping bitterly. It was easy to guess the 
 cause of her grief, for in the water lay the body of a 
 little dog, which appeared to have been dashed by 
 the current against some large stones near which it 
 lay. They were all sorry for the poor little girl, and 
 Mrs. Merton, telling the driver to stop, asked the. 
 little girl if it was her dog that she was crying 
 over. 
 
 " No, it was not mine," said the child, " it was 
 master's ; but it loved me, and I have nothing to love 
 me now." 
 
 Mrs. Merton entered into conversation with the 
 girl, and learnt from her that she was an orphan, 
 and had been bound an apprentice by the parish to a 
 neighbouring farmer. The dog that lay dead before 
 them had been her playfellow and companion, and 
 the poor girl's sorrow at its loss was the greater as 
 she had nothing to supply its place in her affections. 
 As, however, it was impossible to restore it to life, 
 Mrs. Merton thought the best thing that could be 
 done was to change the current of the child's ideas, 
 and accordingly gave her a shilling, which effectually
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 201 
 
 answered the purpose intended ; for the little girl, 
 who had never been mistress of so much money 
 before, instantly dried her tears, and ran off, leaving 
 Agnes very indignant at her, for suffering herself to 
 be so easily consoled. 
 
 They now passed a farm-house, which both Mrs. 
 Merton and Agnes thought might possibly belong to 
 the master of the little girl ; and they noticed some 
 remarkably fine poultry feeding at the door of the 
 barn. 
 
 " I have noticed in passing through the Island,' 1 
 said Mrs. Merton, " that the poultry is remarkably 
 fine everywhere, and that it is apparently very abun- 
 dant." 
 
 " One reason," said Mr. Merton, "is no doubt the 
 fact, that there are neither badgers nor pole-cats in 
 the Island, and till lately there were no foxes; but 
 these have been now introduced for the sake of hunt- 
 ing them." 
 
 " The inhabitants of the Isle of Wight," said Mrs. 
 Merton smiling, " appear to have been very badly off 
 with regard to the rural sports, for at one time, I 
 believe, no hares were to be found here. At least I 
 remember reading somewhere, that the same Sir
 
 ZOZ GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 Edward Horsley, whose tomb we saw at Newport, 
 was so anxious to introduce hares here, that he gave 
 a fat lamb for every hare that was brought over from 
 the mainland alive." 
 
 " Oh ! look mamma," cried Agnes, interrupting 
 her mother, " what a beautiful butterfly ! Surely that 
 is quite different from those we saw the other day." 
 
 " You are quite right," said her mother, " it is dif- 
 ferent ; and it is very extraordinary that it should be 
 here at all, as it is generally found only in low marshy 
 places." 
 
 " I have heard, however," said Mr. Merton, " of 
 its being found in the neighbourhood of Dover on the 
 chalk cliffs, and, therefore, it is not very surprising 
 that we should meet with it here." 
 
 " But what is the name of this butterfly, mammal" 
 said Agnes. 
 
 " It is called the Marbled-white, or Marmoress," 
 said Mrs. Merton, " but I think it is a variety a 
 little different from the common kind." 
 
 " Look, mamma !" said Agnes, " there it is again, 
 sitting on that bough with its wings closed. How 
 very odd it is that butterflies should always sit in 
 that queer position !"
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 203 
 
 "It is their attitude of repose," said Mrs. Mer- 
 ton. " They sit in that position when they are 
 asleep, and they are even found in it when they 
 are dead." 
 
 "It is very curious," said Agnes, " that they 
 should be so very fond of displaying the under side of 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 
 THE MARBLED-WHITE BUTTERFLY, or MARMORESS 
 (Hippurchia Galathea). 
 
 their wings ; and it is still more curious that the un- 
 der side should be so very different from the upper
 
 204 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 side. How is it, mamma ? I should have thought 
 in wings so thin as those of the butterfly, that the 
 colours would shine through." 
 
 " The marks on the butterfly's wing," said Mrs. 
 Merton, " are composed of a number of delicate little 
 scales, laid over each other like the feathers of birds ; 
 and there are two different sets of scales for every 
 wing, one covering the upper, and the other the 
 under side. If you lay hold of a butterfly by its 
 wings, you will find that some of these delicate little 
 scales will adhere to your fingers, on which they will 
 look like fine dust, and that the membrane of the 
 wing from which they were brushed will be laid bare ; 
 just as the skin of a bird would be if you were to 
 pluck off its feathers." 
 
 " Ah, mamma," cried Agnes, " there is another 
 butterfly, which appears to me quite different from 
 the other." 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Merton, " that is the Clouded- 
 Yellow, a very common butterfly in every part of 
 England, and, I believe, in almost every part of the 
 world. It is, however, rather capricious in its visits, 
 as every three or four years a season occurs when not 
 one of these butterflies is to be seen ; while, perhaps,
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 205 
 
 the next season they are so abundant as to lie dead 
 under every hedge." 
 
 " Several other kinds of insects," said Mr. Mer- 
 ton, " have the same peculiarity. Some years cock- 
 chafers are so abundant as to be quite a pest, though, 
 
 Fig. 31. 
 
 THE CLOUDED- YELLOW BUTTERFLY (Colias Edusa). 
 
 perhaps, the next season they are rarely to be met 
 with. Entomologists have been puzzled to account 
 for these changes ; but with regard to the butterflies, 
 their abundance or scarcity is said to depend chiefly 
 on the number of ichneumons." 
 
 " Ichneumons !" cried Agnes, " I thought they 
 were only found in Egypt." 
 
 " I do not mean the animal that destroys the eggs
 
 206 
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 of the Crocodile on the banks of the Nile," said Mr. 
 Merton, " but a kind of fly which lays its eggs in the 
 living bodies of caterpillars. " 
 
 " Ah !" said Agnes, " I think you have told me of 
 this fly before, mamma. I remember it now." 
 
 Fig. 32. 
 
 ICHNEUMON FLY ON A FLORET OF THE FLOWERING RUSH. 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Merton, " I remember describ- 
 ing to you the Ichneumon that lays its eggs in the 
 caterpillar of the Cabbage Butterfly ; but there are 
 several kinds, and there, I think, is one quite dis-
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 207 
 
 tinct hovering round the florets of that Flowering 
 Rush." 
 
 She told the driver to stop ; and Agnes distinctly 
 saw the Ichneumon her mother had alluded to. 
 
 They now passed a pretty little cottage with a 
 large myrtle trained against it; and Mrs. Merton 
 remarked how very few similar specimens they had 
 seen of the mildness of the climate. " I remember, 
 when I was a girl," said she, " having heard so much 
 of the myrtles of the Isle of Wight, that I expected 
 to find the whole island a complete green-house ; but, 
 the fact is, we have seen much fewer myrtles here 
 than we did last year in Devonshire." 
 
 Soon after they arrived at the little town of Brad- 
 ing ; and Mrs. Merton and Agnes went to visit the 
 Church, while Mr. Merton rested for an hour or two 
 at the inn. As they entered the church-yard, they 
 saw, to their great joy, their old acquaintance Mr. 
 Bevan, whom they had not seen before since they 
 left Carisbrook Castle. He told them he had been 
 staying at Newport ; but that he had now come to 
 Brading to see the Church, which was the oldest in 
 the island, part of it being said to have been built 
 in the year 704. " It is also large for the Isle of
 
 208 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 Wight, which is remarkable for the smallness of its 
 churches," continued he ; " and it contains some cu- 
 rious old tombs of the Oglanders, the founder of 
 whose family came over with William the Conqueror ; 
 also the original of the epitaph which has been so 
 often quoted, beginning : 4 Forgive, blest shade ! the 
 tributary tear* I do not remember the rest, but the 
 words are doubtless familiar to you." 
 
 As he was speaking, a woman came up, and asked 
 if the party wished to see the church. The old gen- 
 tleman replied that they did. " Because," said she, 
 dropping a curtsy, " my husband, as keeps the key, 
 is gone out with the key in his pocket, and won't 
 be home ""till night." 
 
 Mrs. Merton and Agnes could not help laughing 
 at the woman, who gave this intelligence with the 
 air of one who is communicating something pecu- 
 liarly agreeable, and which she means to be remark- 
 ably civil ; but the old gentleman did not take it so 
 quietly : on the contrary, he went into a passion, 
 and ordered the woman to send for her husband im- 
 mediately. She said she did not know where to 
 find him, and curtsying again, walked off. The 
 rage of the old gentleman was now excessive : his
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 209 
 
 face became quite red; he stamped, and shook his 
 fist at the woman ; till, happening accidentally to 
 cast his eyes on Agnes, he was evidently struck at 
 the expression of her countenance, and felt ashamed 
 of having exposed himself so much before a lady and 
 a child. He stopped, pushed his wig back into its 
 place, as it had been disordered by his vehemence, 
 and began to apologise ; but, as he saw Mrs. Mer- 
 ton looked grave, he stopped suddenly. He then 
 endeavoured to turn their attention to another sub- 
 ject, and began speaking of Brading Haven. 
 
 " The sea here," said he, " spreads over a piece of 
 land eight or nine hundred acres in extent, which, 
 tradition tells us, was formerly partly covered with 
 an extensive oak forest, in which the Druids per- 
 formed their rites. In the centre of the forest was a 
 stone-cased well, in which Merlin, who was a power- 
 ful magician, had confined a troublesome water-spirit; 
 and the exact situation of this well was kept a secret, 
 as it was said, that if ever the lid was raised, ruin to 
 the whole country round would follow. The time of 
 the Druids passed away, and all memory of the well 
 was lost, till the time of William the Conqueror, when 
 the Norman knight, Fitz Osborne, who subdued the
 
 210 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 island and reigned over it as an independent sovereign, 
 gave this tract of land to one of his followers, Robert 
 Okelandro. This knight, being fond of hunting, de- 
 termined to clear away the underwood in the forest, 
 and in doing so he discovered the enchanted well, and 
 ordered its cover to be removed that it might be 
 filled up ; some of the oldest inhabitants of the place 
 remonstrated ; but he would be obeyed ; the cover 
 was taken off, and the waters rushed up with such 
 force as to overwhelm the whole district, and to 
 drown the adventurous knight and several of his 
 attendants." 
 
 Mrs. Merton thanked the old gentleman for re- 
 lating this legend, and asked him if the harbour was 
 not useful for shipping. 
 
 " No," returned he ; " it is too shallow to bear 
 anything but a small boat, even when the tide is 
 in ; and when it is out it is only a mass of mud. 
 In the reign of James I. Sir Hugh Middleton, the 
 same who first supplied London with water, con- 
 tracted with some Dutchmen to embank this spot, 
 and redeem it from the sea ; but after upwards of 
 seven thousand pounds had been expended, a furious 
 tide made a breach in their bank, and the land being
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 211 
 
 again overflowed, they were at length compelled to 
 give up the project in despair." 
 
 The old gentleman now howed and took his leave, 
 and Mrs. Merton returned his salutation very coldly, 
 as she had been disgusted with the violent rage he 
 had displayed, and which was so unbefitting his age 
 and general intelligence. Agnes was also quite hurt 
 to find him so very different from what she had 
 expected. "I never could have believed he would 
 have behaved so ; his appearance was so respectable," 
 said she. 
 
 " My dear Agnes," returned her mother ; " this 
 is your first experience in that important lesson in 
 life that it is always dangerous to place much re- 
 liance on appearances." 
 
 They now returned to the inn, where they found 
 the carriage waiting ; on the road they stayed a mo- 
 ment to look again at Bradiiig Haven, with the little 
 town of Bembridge, forming the southern point of the 
 harbour, and approaching nearly to the pretty village 
 of St. Helenas at its northern point. Mrs. Merton 
 was anxious to pass through St. Helen's, as she 
 wanted to show Agnes the old church-tower which 
 is now washed by the sea, though it is said to have
 
 212 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 been once a mile from it, and the green, round which 
 the houses of the village are built ; but as Mr. Mer- 
 ton was far from well, she thought it advisable to 
 proceed to Ryde as speedily as possible, and after a 
 very dull ride, only varied by the beautiful view from 
 St. John's of the town of Ryde, they arrived at that 
 place, and drove to the Pier Hotel.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 213 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Ryde. Handsome Shops. Binstead. Wootton Bridge. New- 
 port. East Cowes. Horse Ferry. Steam Boat. Anns of 
 the German Empire. Return home. 
 
 RYDE, the Guide-books tell us, was only a few 
 years ago a small fishing village ; but if this really 
 was the case, it seems almost to have rivalled Alad- 
 din^s palace in rapidity of growth, for it is now a 
 large and flourishing town. The streets are wide, 
 and the shops are splendid. The pier is also long 
 and large ; and the view of Portsmouth, with its har- 
 bour full of shipping, and Spithead with its nu- 
 merous men-of-war, is very striking. Agnes was, 
 however, most pleased with the shops full of shells, 
 which she found near the hotel ; the shells being 
 marked at prices so low as to be quite astonishing. 
 Some very nice specimens of Haliotis, or Sea-ear, 
 were marked only a penny each, and others were 
 equally cheap. Above all things, there were mi-
 
 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 Fig. 33. 
 
 RYDE PIER. 
 
 merous specimens of articles from the Royal George, 
 a very large ship, which everybody knows sunk 
 while lying at anchor at Spithead, about sixty years 
 ago, and the remains of the wreck of which have 
 been lately brought up by the exertions of Major- 
 General Pasley. The Bazaar at Ryde reminded 
 Agnes of the Burlington Arcade ; and everything in 
 the town appeared so comfortable, and in such a 
 superior style to any other place they had seen in the 
 island, that Agnes at last said she thought she should
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 215 
 
 like to live at Ryde almost as well as in London. 
 She was also very much delighted with a stroll on 
 the beach, where she picked up some shells, though 
 she found nothing very valuable. At last she found 
 a mussel-shell that she was sure was not common, as 
 it was quite different from anything she had ever 
 seen before ; and, on showing it to her mother, she 
 was delighted to find that it was indeed very rare. 
 
 Fig. 34. 
 
 RIBBED MUSSEL (Myrtilus crenulatus). 
 
 " It is a native of the West Indies," said Mrs. 
 Merton ; " and must have adhered to some ship 
 from that country, which has chanced to come into 
 Portsmouth Harbour."
 
 216 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 Agnes now admired her treasure more than ever, 
 for, like many persons much older than herself, she 
 valued things by their rarity rather than their 
 beauty. 
 
 The party did not leave Ryde till rather a later 
 hour than usual, and when they did they took the 
 road to Newport as Mr. Merton thought it necessary 
 to return to that town for his letters. The first 
 place that attracted their attention on their road 
 was Binstead, where they bestowed a passing glance 
 on a lovely little thatched cottage which stood em- 
 bosomed in a wood, and nestling in the hollow formed 
 by an old stone quarry, from which, it is said, the 
 stone used in building Winchester Cathedral was 
 taken. The church at Binstead is very pretty, but 
 they did not stop to visit it ; and they passed also, 
 without stopping, the turn which led to the ruins of 
 Quarr Abbey, once the richest and largest monastery 
 in the Island, its walls having enclosed a space of 
 thirty acres in extent. They now saw at a distance 
 what appeared to be a very large lake, or rather 
 inland sea, which, when they approached, they found 
 was crossed by a bridge along which lay their road. 
 The lower part of this noble sheet of water forms
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 21 7 
 
 a broad estuary, called Fishbourne Creek, which 
 spreads out from the bridge, gradually widening till 
 it reaches the sea: but the part above the bridge, 
 which is known by the name of the Wootton river, 
 looked like a vast mirror set in a verdant frame. 
 Nothing could be more calm and still than this 
 broad expanse of water, reflecting in its glassy bosom 
 the sloping banks which rose on each side ; here 
 covered with a carpet of smooth turf, and there 
 sprinkled with trees with spreading branches, hang- 
 ing down to the water's edge. The rich verdure 
 of this part of the Isle of Wight affords a striking 
 contrast to the naked and barren rocks at the back 
 of the island ; and Agnes gazed at the present scene 
 with the more pleasure, as she liked naturally the 
 luxuriant and beautiful, better than the wild and 
 grand. 
 
 They had scarcely crossed the bridge when one 
 of the traces broke which fastened the horse to the 
 carriage. The accident was of no great consequence, 
 as the driver had some string with him, with which 
 he told them he could easily contrive to tie the 
 broken parts together ; but as they found the ope- 
 ration would take some time, Mrs. Merton and
 
 218 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 Agnes agreed to walk on. The country they were 
 now passing through looked somewhat barren, as, 
 in fact, it formed part of Wootton Common ; but 
 Agnes did not dislike this, notwithstanding her 
 love for verdant scenery, as it reminded her of the 
 moors of Scotland and their fragrant heather ; and 
 though she was an English girl (having been born at 
 Bayswater) she loved everything Scotch, as she had 
 many dear friends in that country. She therefore 
 ran gaily to and fro, gathering wild flowers and 
 bringing them to her mother, who walked more 
 steadily and slowly along the regular path. In one 
 place Agnes had made rather a longer excursion than 
 usual, and she returned slowly, holding something 
 carefully between her two hands. 
 
 " What have you there?" asked her mother, when 
 she approached near enough to be heard. 
 
 " Oh I mamma," cried Agnes, " I have found some 
 of the most beautiful beetles I ever saw in my life. 
 Do look how brilliantly they are marked with scarlet 
 and white ! They must be something very rare and 
 curious, I should think." 
 
 " No, they are by no means uncommon ; and they 
 are called Tiger beetles, from their savage nature ;
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
 
 219 
 
 for they are carnivorous, and devour all the weaker 
 insects that fall in their way." 
 
 " How sorry I am to hear that ! Who could have 
 thought that such beautiful 
 creatures could be cruel? 
 But may I put them in a 
 piece of paper, mamma, and 
 take them home 2" 
 
 " I am afraid you would 
 then be as cruel as the 
 beetles, and with less ex- 
 cuse ; as they devour other 
 insects for food, and you 
 would torture them for no 
 purpose, but to gratify a 
 passing wish." 
 
 " But, mamma, Aunt 
 Jane and Aunt Mary both 
 have collections of insects ; and I am sure they are 
 not cruel ; and you know I have some moths and 
 butterflies at home that Aunt Mary gave me." 
 
 " Your aunts are both entomologists, and have 
 made collections of insects for scientific purposes ; 
 besides, they know how to kill the insects they take 
 
 TIGER BEETLES (Cicindela).
 
 220 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 without giving them much pain ; but you would only 
 torture these poor beetles by keeping them alive a 
 day or two without food, or, at any rate, in a miser- 
 able place of confinement." 
 
 " Very well, mamma," cried Agnes ; " then I will 
 set them free, and take them back to where I found 
 them ;" and she ran off as fast as possible. When 
 she returned, almost out of breath, her mamma* 
 laughed at her for taking so much trouble. " If you 
 had put the beetles down here," said she, " they 
 would soon have found their way back, if they had 
 wished to do so ; for they are remarkably active, 
 and their legs are so long, in proportion to their 
 bodies, that, I think, they can even run faster than 
 you can. So you have given yourself quite unneces- 
 sary trouble." 
 
 " Oh ! I don^t mind that," cried Agnes ; "I like 
 running." 
 
 " So I perceive," said Mrs. Merton, smiling ; " for 
 you are like a little spaniel, you run two or three 
 times over the same ground." 
 
 Mrs. Merton had scarcely finished speaking when 
 Agnes darted off again, like lightning, and soon 
 came back, bringing with her some shells. " Now,
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 221 
 
 mamma," said she, " I think I have really found 
 something that is rare : you always say the things 
 I find are so common ; but I am sure these snails 
 are very different from any I ever saw before." 
 
 " I am sorry to say, however, that they are found, 
 in great abundance, in many places ; and sometimes 
 they appear so suddenly, and in such immense quan- 
 tities, as to give rise to the idea that they must have 
 fallen from the clouds. I do not know their popular 
 name, but naturalists call them Helix virgata. They 
 are remarkable for the thinness of their shells, and 
 they are so small that two or three have been found 
 adhering to a single blade of grass." 
 
 " Ah ! mamma," cried Agnes, laughing, " one 
 might almost fancy you saw me pick up these very 
 shells ; for I found them both sticking to one blade 
 of grass, and I was quite delighted with their thin, 
 delicate shells. I am only sorry they are so common." 
 
 " To console you, I must add that they are only 
 common in the South of England, in warm, open situa- 
 tions ; and they are generally found in company with 
 the other little shell you have in your hand. That 
 is called Bulimus articulatus : and both kinds are 
 found in such quantities on the downs in the South
 
 222 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 of England, that they are said to give the sheep that 
 feed on the downs their peculiar flavour; as the 
 sheep eat them with every blade of grass they take." 
 " I remember the name of Bulimus" said Agnes. 
 " I think we saw some shells called by that name 
 
 a. b, Helix virgata. c, d. Bulimus urticulatus. 
 
 in the splendid collection of Mr. Cuming, that you 
 told me laid eggs as large as a pigeon's ; and, indeed, 
 we saw some of the eggs. 51 
 
 u That was a species of Bulimus only found in the 
 torrid zone ; but the genus is a very extensive one. 
 and, I believe, contains nearly a hundred and fifty 
 species." 
 
 They now heard the wheels of the carriage, and 
 stood still till it overtook them. They were soon 
 seated, and advanced rapidly over a very fertile
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 223 
 
 country, till they came in sight of the Medina ; 
 which looked like a silver riband, winding through 
 the country in a broad line of shining light. Agnes 
 was delighted to see this river again, as it appeared 
 to her like an old friend. " I am quite satisfied, 
 now," said she, " that we have been all round the 
 island ; for here, I find, we have arrived at the same 
 point from which we set out." 
 
 " The Medina,"" said Mr. Merton, " rises at the 
 foot of St. Catherine's Down, near Black Gang Chine ; 
 and it divides the island so nearly into two equal 
 parts that it is said to derive its name from the Latin 
 word media, which signifies the middle." 
 
 44 And it is very singular," observed Mrs. Merton, 
 " that, as the Medina forms a central line of division 
 across the island from north to south, so there is a 
 central chain of hills which stretches across it from 
 east to west, and cuts off what is called the back of 
 the island from the northern part. Newport is the 
 capital of the whole, and is now the only place in 
 the island which returns members to Parliament ; 
 though formerly Newtown, which is a hamlet, and 
 Yarmouth, which, you know, is only a very small 
 town, returned also two members each."
 
 224 GLIMPSES OF NATURE; OR, 
 
 They now arrived at Newport, and while Mr. 
 Merton was enquiring for his letters, Mrs. Merton 
 informed Agnes that in the school-room of the Free 
 Grammar School of this town, the conferences were 
 held between Charles I. and the Commissioners ap- 
 pointed by Parliament, which lasted forty days, and 
 ended in the determination of the Commissioners to 
 bring that unhappy King to the scaffold. 
 
 " Did the Isle of Wight suffer much during the 
 civil war ? " asked Agnes. 
 
 " No," replied Mrs. Merton, " but it was remark- 
 able at this period for the heroism displayed by the 
 Countess of Portland, whose husband had been 
 Governor of the Island, and who defended the Cas- 
 tle at Carisbrook against the militia of Newport, 
 who were directed by the Parliament to assail it. 1 ' 
 
 As soon as Mr. Merton had finished his business 
 at Newport, they took the road to East Cowes, fol- 
 lowing the course of the Medina, and passing by 
 East Cowes Castle on their route. As soon as they 
 arrived at the ferry at East Cowes, the driver hailed 
 the horseferry boat, and Agnes had an opportunity of 
 seeing the manner in which it was worked by a rope 
 across the river. They drove into the boat without
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 225 
 
 getting out of the carriage, and drove out again in 
 the same manner, when they reached the landing- 
 place at West Cowes, and proceeded immediately to 
 the pier, where they found a steam-boat just ready to 
 start. While Mr. Merton was paying the driver, 
 and Mrs. Merton was superintending the removal 
 of the luggage, Agnes's attention was attracted by 
 the appearance of the young Londoner whom they 
 had first met with at Freshwater, and afterwards 
 seen shipwrecked at Black Gang Chine ; but he was 
 wonderfully changed since they saw him last. He 
 was now pale and exhausted, and sitting on a chair, 
 in which he was carried on board by two men, and 
 immediately taken down into the cabin, where he re- 
 mained during the voyage. He was followed by his 
 Newfoundland dog, who also looked sadly changed 
 since the day Agnes patted his head on the beach at 
 Freshwater, where she had seen him first. Agnes 
 was so deeply interested in watching this young man 
 and his dog, that she did not perceive that her 
 mamma had gone into the packet-boat, and Mrs. 
 Merton, who was afraid lest Mr. Merton would 
 over-fatigue himself, did not perceive that she was 
 standing on the shore ; and thus Agnes was in im- 
 
 Q
 
 226 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 minent danger of being left behind, for the men had 
 actually began to remove the board, when she saw 
 her danger and cried out to them to stay. The men 
 laid down the board again, and Agnes ran hastily 
 down it, but the steam-boat was already in motion ; 
 and Agnes would have been precipitated into the 
 sea, if one of the seamen had not caught her in his 
 arms and lifted her on board. The. wind and tide 
 were both in their favour, and the steam-boat pro- 
 ceeded so rapidly, that when Agnes had sufficiently 
 recovered herself to think of looking for the sea-nettles, 
 she found that the packet was going too fast for her 
 to see one of them. They soon arrived at Calshot 
 Castle and passed it close by ; and, as they now pro- 
 ceeded a little more leisurely up the river, Agnes 
 began to look round at her fellow-passengers. Im- 
 mediately in front of her, sat an old gentleman with 
 a small book in his hand ; and when he opened it, 
 several engravings flew out. Agnes instantly ran to 
 pick them up ; and when she returned them to the 
 old gentleman, he thanked her, and asked her if she 
 knew what one of the engravings represented. 
 
 Agnes answered that she saw it was a coat of 
 arms, but she did not know to whom it belonged.
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 227 
 
 " It represents the arms of Austria," said the old 
 man, " and it is now just a thousand years since the 
 present family ascended the throne." 
 
 " Indeed !" exclaimed Agnes. 
 
 " Yes," said the old gentleman. " The German 
 monarchy dates from the treaty of Verdun, signed in 
 843, by which the dominions of Charlemagne were 
 divided amongst his three sons ; but these arms were 
 not assumed all at once ; on the contrary they con- 
 tain an epitome of the history of the German Empire 
 if understood rightly. Shall I explain them to 
 you 2 " 
 
 Agnes gladly assented, and he continued. " The 
 eagle has been, from the earliest ages, the emblem of 
 the German monarchy ; and there is an old tradition 
 which states that at the battle of Teutoberg, two 
 Roman eagles were taken, one black and the other 
 white. The Germans retained the black eagle in 
 memory of their victory, and gave the white one to 
 their allies the Poles ; and hence the arms of Poland 
 bear the white eagle to this day." 
 
 " But why has the eagle two heads ?" asked 
 Agnes. 
 
 41 That is an emblem that Italy was added to
 
 228 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 Germany, and thus the eagle is represented with 
 two heads and with two crowns. The eagle also 
 bears in one claw a globe, signifying that it wields 
 imperial power, surmounted by a cross, the emblem 
 
 Fig. 37. 
 
 ARMS OF GERMANY. 
 
 of Christianity; and in the other a sceptre headed 
 by a lance-head, the emblem of power and might." 
 
 " But why are there so many coats of arms on the 
 eagle ? "
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 229 
 
 " The German empire was elective, and the arms 
 borne on the eagle are those of the seven electorates 
 out of whom the emperor was to be chosen. Three 
 of them are archbishops who possess regal power in 
 their separate dominions, and their arms are con- 
 tained in one shield; and the other four are counts of 
 the empire, or kings, and their arms are in the other 
 shield. The archbishops are those of Mentz, Treves, 
 and Cologne ; and the temporal lords are the Count 
 of Brandenburg, the King of Saxony, the Elector 
 Palatine, and the King of Bavaria." 
 
 " And what is the meaning of their arms ? " 
 " The first Archbishop of Mentz, whose name was 
 Willige, was the son of a wheelwright ; and one 
 day a person thinking to mortify him, drew a rude 
 picture of a wheel on the door of his palace and 
 wrote under it: 
 
 * Forget not Willige, 
 What thine origin is ! ' 
 
 " 'Forget it,' cried the worthy prelate, 'No, I don't 
 wish to forget it, and what 's more no one else shall ;' 
 and he ordered a white wheel on a black ground to 
 be adopted for his arms ; and this wheel has been
 
 230 GLIMPSES OF NATURE ; OR, 
 
 borne in the arms of the Archbishops of Mentz ever 
 since." 
 
 At this moment Mr. and Mrs. Merton approached, 
 and thanked the gentleman for his kindness to their 
 little daughter. 
 
 " But I have not explained all the coat of arms to 
 her yet," said he ; " and when I have done I will 
 give her one of the engravings to keep that she may 
 remember what I have told her." 
 
 Agnes thanked him, and he continued. " The 
 arms of the Archbishop of Treves exhibit a red 
 cross on a white field, in remembrance of the fiery 
 cross which is said to have fallen from Heaven into 
 the middle of the city of Treves, a representation of 
 which, in stone, still adorns the market-place ; and 
 the arms of Cologne are a black cross on a white 
 field, in commemoration of the first Archbishop of 
 Cologne having come from the East, a black cross 
 being borne by the Eastern priesthood. This finishes 
 the arms of the spiritual lords." 
 
 " That is, the archbishops," said Agnes. 
 
 " Right ; but I am sorry I cannot explain the 
 others so fully : the arms of Brandenburg have a red 
 eagle on a white field ; those of Saxony two crossed
 
 A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 231 
 
 swords on a black and white ground ; those of the 
 Palatinate a red lion on a golden field ; and those of 
 Bavaria chequers of blue and white." 
 
 " What do the two flags mean ! w 
 
 " They are the banners of Germany, and they are 
 black, red, and golden yellow. The red was first 
 adopted by the immediate successors of Charle- 
 magne, whose body-guards were clad in that colour ; 
 the black was added by the House of Saxony, when 
 it attained imperial honours, the family colours of 
 Saxony being black and white; and the golden yellow 
 alludes to the Swabian emperors, whose dynasty has 
 been called the golden age of the German empire." 
 
 The old gentleman here concluded, and Mr. Mer- 
 ton complimented him on the knowledge he possessed 
 of the subject. 
 
 " I am interested in it," said he, " because I am a 
 native of Germany, though I have now lived a long 
 time in England. It is more than thirty years since 
 I saw my native land ; but still my heart warms 
 whenever I hear anything relating to the scenes of 
 my youth." 
 
 " We can sympathize with you," said Mr. Mer- 
 ton, " for Agnes has an uncle and two aunts in
 
 232 GLIMPSES OF NATURE. 
 
 Poland, who no doubt feel the same when they hear 
 anything of Great Britain."" 
 
 They were now interrupted by the arrival of the 
 steam-boat at Southampton, or "Souton," as the sailors 
 called it, and getting a porter to carry their luggage 
 they proceeded directly to the terminus of the rail- 
 way. A train was just going off; so they took their 
 places and in about three hours reached London*. 
 Another half hour carried them to Bayswater, where 
 they found Aunt Jane waiting for them ; and when 
 she heard Agnes recount the various things she had 
 seen, she felt, like her little niece, that it was diffi- 
 cult to believe so much could possibly have happened 
 in so short a space of time. 
 
 PRHTTES by S. & J, BENIXZY, WILSON, and FLI 
 Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
 
 PUBLISHED BV 
 
 GRANT AND GEIFFITH, 
 
 (SUCCESSORS TO JOHN HARRIS,) 
 
 Original Juvenile Library, 
 CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH- YARD, LONDON. 
 
 MRS. LOUDON'S NEW WORK. 
 
 EACTS FROM THE WORLD OE NATURE, 
 
 ANIMATE AND INANIMATE. Part 1. THE EARTH. 
 Part 2. THE WATERS. Part 3. ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. 
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 THE DREAM OE LITTLE TUK, 
 
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 Instructibe anfc amusing SUBlorfes 
 
 LONDON CEIES AND PUBLIC EDIFICES. 
 
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 LONDON : Printed by S. & J. BEXTLEY, WILSON, and FLEY, Bangor House, Sho<
 
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