1862.] EAST AiVGLIAN BOTANV. 329 



From Cambridge to Ely, and far beyond it, the country is 

 quite flat, consisting of a part of wliat is called tlie Eastern 

 Lowlands; the soil is uniformly peaty, and the surface is inter- 

 sected by ditches and' huge drains, the former filled with stag- 

 nant wfiter, and the latter, which receive the contents of the 

 former, flow as sluggishly as the Arar, which Caesar describes as 

 moving with incredible smoothness, incredibUi lenitate. 



Ely cathedral is a very noble pile, and the view from the sta- 

 tion, viz. part of the choir and the south aisles, nave, and tran- 

 sept, is sufficiently imposing to satisfy persons who have seen 

 and admired the chief ecclesiastical structures of England. The 

 west front of Ely cathedral is sublime. The breadth, the ele- 

 vation, the towers, the entire fa9ade, the whole and the indi- 

 vidual parts are extremely grand. The examples of the Norman 

 style, in all their vastness, massive strength, and admirable pro- 

 portions, are to be seen in the western front. As aforesaid, we 

 were not, like Dr. Syntax, travelling in search of the picturesque, 

 and therefore were content to admire this majestic specimen of 

 medieval architecture from the window of the carriage in which 

 we sat. Many years ago, a couple of days were spent by the 

 writer of this paper in admiration of this cathedral. He then 

 travelled all the way on foot from Peterborough, about thirty 

 miles, solely to see it. The verger of Peterborough cathedral, 

 from one of the towers, showed him the twin towers of Ely, and 

 he presently started, about midday, across the fens, and reached 

 Chatteris late in the evening. The next day reached Ely; and 

 that and the following he spent in surveying and admiring this 

 ancient pile. 



The cathedral is well situated, better than most : this in Eng- 

 land is the exception, and not the rule. Lincoln is also another 

 very remarkable exception. Winchester and York are extreme 

 examples of the rule, viz. built in hollows overlooked by mean 

 erections. Ely cathedral forms a striking and singular contrast to 

 the meanness of most of the civic buildings here ; about thirty 

 or forty years ago these were little superior to the clay- or mud- 

 wnlled thatched houses of Potton, in Bedfordshire. 



After crossing the North or Little Ouse, the railway enters 

 Norfolk, at or near Brandon station, on the old way of the pil- 

 grims to Walsinghara. Brandon however is not in Norfolk, ])ut 

 in Snffblk, which wedges itself in between Cambridge and Nor- 



N.S. VOL. VI. 2 U 



