THE ENVIRONS OF LONDON. 



15 



the Thames, and, on the other, a magnificent prospect of a perfect 

 country landscape. Well may the inhabitants be proud of their 

 town and its noble Heath. 



The Heath, indeed, has a national importance, for it has 

 long been a place of healthful and invigorating recreation for 

 the people of London. To compare small things with great, 

 the hill mass of Hampstead with its heath-crowned summit 

 is as markedly prominent in Middlesex as is Switzerland in 

 Continental Europe, and, as a consequence, it may be said 

 that as that land of mountains has become the " playground of 

 Europe " in like manner is Hampstead, so to speak, the 

 playground of the English metropolitan district. But how 

 few of the multitudes of people, who every year visit Hamp- 

 stead and enjoy its breezy Heath, remember that their pleasure 

 and the beauty and characteristics of the place and its surround- 

 ings are due to the internal structure of the hill, and the character 

 of the ground below their feet. 



