FAEEWELL TO WEYMOUTH. 215 



A LAST LOOK AT WEYMOUTH. 



In this changing state, the brightest, like 



the darkest day, 



Live till to-morrow, will have pass'd away ;" 



— the summer, only too swiftly, passes into autumn, 

 and autumn quickly merges into gloomy winter. The 

 sea-side has few charms in December ; reluctantly, we 

 took our last walk upon the now bleak and spongy 

 Nothe, our last stroll along the gusty and deserted 

 Esplanade, and our last look at WeymxOuth. This, 

 however, was a charming one. Just half-way between 

 Weymouth and Dorchester, the hills, which rise 

 gradually on each side, attain their greatest elevation, 

 and the high road passes over the summit of the ridge. 

 Here we made the carriage halt, and for ten minutes 



" cast one longing lingering look behind," 



on a widely- expanded panorama of the scenes with 

 which we had been so familiar. The smi and sky 

 were all that could be wished ; the air more autumnal 

 than wintry; and, as we gazed on the town and 

 harbour, about four miles distant, the long promon- 

 tory of the Nothe, the calm, silvery Bay, the huge 

 mass of Portland, like a sleeping lion, and the 

 boundless expanse of open sea beyond, we could not 

 help feeling that this was by far the finest prospect 

 we had seen in Dorsetshire. 



But even in London, thanks to the Aquarium, the 

 same pleasant studies can be prosecuted that had 

 occupied me on the coast ; and thus, by means of a 

 few specimens that I brought up with me, and by the 

 aid of contributions forwarded to me by the kind 



