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ROUND THE CORNISH COAST. 
(IntustRaTED By THE LanTERN). 
By T. H. HARTLEY. 12th December, 1905. 
Mr. Hartley said this tour was suggested by the reading of 
Miss Muloch’s book, ‘*An unsentimental journey through 
Cornwall.” 
The interior of Cornwall, as seen from the railway,is decidedly 
uninteresting—disused mining heaps and broken shafts disfigure 
the landscape; and there are but few trees to relieve the prospect. 
On the coast all is different—wide river estuaries form splendid 
harbours, narrow ravines give scanty footing for the fishermen’s 
cottages, rocky headlands and bold cliffs culminate in the 
magnificent cliff scenery of the Lizard and Land’s End. 
The town of Looe was a place of some importance in Queen 
Elizabeth’s day. During the Spanish wars, it played an important 
part in fitting out and dispatching privateers to prey on the ship- 
ping of the Dons, but now its inhabitants are limited to the less 
glorious but more reliable business of herring fishing. A drive of 
a few miles and Polperro is reached; of all the narrow little 
ravines in Cornwall which offer to the landsman shelter from 
the sea winds, and for the sailor a few square yards of safe 
anchorage, none is so narrow as Polperro. The town clusters 
round the little harbour, and appears to have been built without 
any regard to plan. It is a labyrinth of winding alleys, often 
ending in a cul-de-sac. The headlands, however, are superb, and 
during a storm the sight would be glorious. 
From Polperro the journey was resumed to Fowey, the home 
of Mr. Quiller-Couch, who has done so much to popularize this 
district by his books. In the reign of Edward [. this town was 
at its greatest importance,and was the first port in the kingdom. 
At the siege of Calais it was represented by forty-seven ships and 
eight hundred men. The harbour and town are very similar to 
Dartmouth. Here is the same deep harbour, a lovely river, a 
