xii RIVERSIDE LETTERS 95 



ever having been introduced here. The 

 whole wood is thick with these lilies, and in 

 the spring Mr. Fisher's daughters gather any 

 quantities. 



I am not, as you know, a great admirer of 

 the vast panoramic views that are obtained 

 from our hills and high downs, but that which 

 is seen from High Clere Beacon, near New- 

 bury, is certainly one of the most beautiful I 

 ever saw. Lord Carnarvon's park, with its 

 magnificently wooded undulating grounds and 

 lakes gives the foreground on one side quite 

 a romantic appearance ; the tower of the 

 house looking very like a cathedral one. 



The whole Kennet valley with its water 

 meadows and the downs behind it is on the 

 north, the Surrey hills to the Hind Head on 

 the east, and right away to Winchester on the 

 south ; the intervening spaces being covered 

 by innumerable farmsteads, pasture land, and 

 gentlemen's seats. The whole forms a pano- 

 ramic view of lovely pastoral scenery, peace- 

 ful in character, and rich in historic interest 



