18 GAMBLES ROUND FOLKESTONE. 



fact about them ?" Tradition supports us thus far, 

 for the Well is said to have been a stopping place for 

 pilgrims landing on the coast close by on a visit to 

 the shrine of the murdered Becket at Canterbury. 

 Truly the spot seems well suited for such a house ; 

 let us descend, and seating ourselves on that little 

 grassy platform in the middle, indulge our thoughts 

 still further. Here the inmates would be wholly and 

 completely shut out from the busy world, all its 

 traffic, all its disappointments. You can now perhaps 

 see one or two of the mansions at the new West End, 

 but in those days Old Folkestone was out of sight 

 here, snugly hidden beneath the cliffs, not even the 

 smoke of it would be visible. And so, free from all 

 distraction, from all sounds save those sent by GOD 

 Himself the voices of the birds and the trees, and 

 ever and anon the swell of the ocean borne aloft on 

 the breeze above the old forest, they could give them- 

 selves up to that contemplation which finds no con- 

 genial home among the busy haunts of men. 



And now, what have we here in the way of bo- 

 tanical treasures ? Nothing very extraordinary, but 

 much to give pleasure. The slope we have just 

 descended is covered in June with the Spotted and 

 Pyramidal orchids (Orchis maculata and O.pyramidalis), 

 later on we find a few stray specimens of the Bee 

 Orchis (Ophrys apifera), and in the autumn the Lady's 

 Tresses (Spiranthes autumnalisj. The waters them- 

 selves are well nigh hidden by the abundance of 

 Banunculaceas, Pondweeds, Keeds, and Bushes. 

 The banks round about will yield in their season at 

 least three species of violets the Hairy Violet (Viola 

 hirta) and two forms of the Wood Violet ( V. liiviniamc 



