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and some still waving with the golden promise of a beautiful autumn. 

 Upwards, the river winds away behind the bold buttresses of Hunt- 

 sham Hill, with its singular crest or coronet of noble rocks, and 

 downwards is lost among the finely-wooded bases of the hills towards 

 Monmouth. The rich plain opening out in the former direction, is 

 ornamented with many genteel villas ; among which Goodrich spire 

 peeps out conspicuously, while the distant prospect comprehends the 

 flat tops of a portion of the chain of the Black Mountain, in Breck- 

 nockshire, the Clee Hills, in Shropshire, and other promontories, 

 wearing an aspect such as one may imagine to belong to the ancient 

 land-marks of the post-Silurian or Devonian sea. In the open spaces 

 among the brushwood on these heights, Gnaphalium rectum was ga- 

 thered in some plenty. We sought in vain for Cuscuta epithymum 

 on the Calluna, which, including the delicate white variety, grows 

 here, in great beauty and profusion. It is curious that not one of this 

 family of parasites should, as far as we know, occur in this district 

 spontaneously. Cuscuta Epilinum appeared upon crops of flax in 

 1847, the only occasion of its culture being attempted in this neigh- 

 bourhood ; but that species has no farther claim to nativity, since its 

 victim, so far from being wild, can hardly maintain its ground as a 

 garden escape. Along the summit of the hill, Gentiana amarella, by 

 no means a common plant in these parts, grows exceedingly fine. A 

 little further is a beautiful patch of Campanula rotundifolia, purely 

 white, which has maintained its permanence for several years. Atropa 

 Belladonna, then past flower, has spread itself by numerous healthy 

 young plants coming up on the broken, rough ground, or among the 

 debris, wherever there was an excavation. Viola hirta is here abun- 

 dant. 



Proceeding along the crest of the hill, and bending southwards, the 

 views, which now include the further windings of the Wye in that 

 direction, and the town of Monmouth, are rich and beautiful in the 

 extreme. The opposite hills, forming the immediate bank of the 

 river, are clothed with fine oak woods coming down to the water's 

 edge. Among them is to be seen the celebrated druidical remain, — 

 a portion of the wood being cut away in order to exhibit it at a dis- 

 tance, — known as the " Buckstone." On descending into the valley 

 between the two Dowards, we come upon an extensive cavern, with 

 several chambers and passages, known as " King Arthur's Hall." It 

 is profusely ornamented with ferns, but all of the commoner species. 



Continuing along the pathway towards the river, Cardamine impa- 

 tiens is found in plenty, principally in spaces on both sides, where 

 Vol. hi. 5 s 



