LEE. 273 



some accident, however, the sheep slipped over the 

 wall, and the wretched man, heing off his guard, was 

 not quick enough to prevent the rope from catching 

 him hy the throat, nor could all his efforts then suc- 

 ceed in relaxing the pressure. He was found in the 

 morning in this position quite dead, the providence 

 of God having ordained that thus suddenly he should 

 meet the felon's doom, and that his ill-gotten booty 

 should itself become his executioner. 



As I turned to pursue my walk, another fine 

 example of coast scenery lay before me. The bluff 

 and bleak promontory known as the Bull was there, 

 projecting its abruptly precipitous head far into the 

 blue sea, and between me and it was the little bay of 

 Lee, a lovely spot, whose beauty I have before record- 

 ed. The cliffs on the opposite side, covered with 

 small wood, bushes, fern, and ivy nearly to their foot, 

 and inclosing, as if with lofty walls, on all but the 

 seaward side, little quiet bathing coves with beaches 

 of white sand, attracted my admiration ; surmounted 

 as they were with a pretty villa embosomed in 

 orchards and surrounded by cultivated fields. A 

 flagstaff crowned one of the peaks that rose above 

 this scene, and far beyond all, on the distant 

 horizon, was stretched the lone blue isle of Lundy. 



A steep and rocky lane wound down from my ele- 

 vated position to Lee, where the road runs along the 

 beach at the head of the cove. The tide was already 

 far out, and revealed the weed-covered rocks, inter- 

 sected by narrow channels, through which the little 

 stream that flows down from the valley, was pursuing 

 its meandering way to the sea, after spreading itself 

 over the sandy beach. 



