194 TAVISTOCK. 



in which Tavistock is situated, is rich in mingled 

 attractions. The Tavy, fringed with overhanging 

 woods, wanders through its whole extent, rendering 

 fertile every spot of ground within the influence of 

 its liquid stores ; and affording a never-failing supply 

 to the inhabitants of the neighbouring town. On 

 either side of the river arise small eminences, dotted 

 with trees and backed by the noble tors of Dart- 

 moor, frowning in barren grandeur on the quiet 

 beauty of which they are themselves totally destitute. 

 From the marshy waste innumerable little tributaries 

 take their source, and, after dashing and foaming 

 through their rocky channels, precipitate themselves 

 by a thousand mimic cataracts into the larger stream; 

 amongst these the Walla, renowned in song, by the 

 poet Browne, claims our first notice as " bride of 

 the vale.'' Whether some secret converse is carried 

 on, in subterranean caves, between the two rivers, 

 I cannot presume to say, but certain it is that the 

 Walla after visiting the narrow vallies of Kilworthy 

 and Ina's-coombe ; losing itself in the shady haunts 

 of the pixies ; and practising sundry vagaries of a 

 like nature, at length emerges into broad day-light, 

 and is married to the gentle Tavy in the centre of 

 the vale. A gay affair is that never ending wedding, 

 for there resort " the coy beauties of the meadow," 

 displaying their richest bloom and sweetest fra- 

 grance. But alas ! the Tavy is an inconstant lover ; 

 it glides away from the humble Walla, and, after 

 receiving a number of rivulets equally beautiful, 

 unites itself with the Tamar, a stream of noble birth 

 and swelling importance, which, in its turn, flows 

 onwards and joins itself to the mighty sea. 



A great deal more I could say, respecting these 

 wandering rivers, but it is now time to return to the 

 pleasant town whence we first set out. On my 

 way, I must pause for one moment on the beauties 

 of the Abbot's Weir, situated three miles from Tavis- 

 tock, just below the junction of the Tavy and Walk- 

 ham. An excursion to this lovely spot, and an 



