134 APPENDIX. 



The General Aspect of the District. In many ]3arts it is highly 

 diversified with hill and vale. The town of Godalming stands on 

 the high road to Portsmouth, and is pleasantly situated in a beau- 

 tiful valley bordered by steep hills, the sides of which, for the most 

 part, are richly clothed with ample foliage, rendering the sur- 

 rounding scenery highly picturesque. This character extends 

 more or less through the adjoining valleys towards Guildford, 

 adding much beauty to the general scenery ; and from the dif- 

 ferent eminences a series of splendid views is to be obtained. 

 The Hog's Back commands a most extensive prospect. The 

 view towards the southward presents a magnificent landscape ; 

 in the foreground, the undulating ridges of the various hills, in- 

 terspersed with beautiful winding valleys, presenting to the vision 

 a lovely and rural scene. Further on, the eye wanders over the 

 whole extent of the weald of Sussex, rich in foliage, and only 

 arrested to the eastward by the bold and mountainous ridge of 

 Leith Hill, which rises to an elevation of nearly 1,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea. This splendid panorama is backed by the 

 lofty outline of the South Downs, which border the English Chan- 

 nel and extend into Hampshire. " The most fervent pencil of 

 picturesque enthusiasm would fail to depict in apposite colours 

 the glorious prospects from St. Martha's Hill ; on every side, a 

 rich and almost unbounded view presents itself, intermingled 

 with every charm which landscape scenery, in all its diversity of 

 character, can exhibit. Towards the south the prospect extends 

 across the weald of Surrey and Sussex to the South Downs and the 

 sea ; and on the north, the eye ranges over a portion of the val- 

 ley of the Thames as far as the high chalk range of Oxfordshire 

 near Nettlebed, from which the summit and chapel of St. Mar- 

 tha's are distinctly seen." ' History of Surrey,' v. 134. From 

 other points the views are equally extensive, penetrating into the 

 adjoining counties. 



The extensive heaths, "though not unpicturesque, are wild 

 and barren in their aspect, destitute of wood ;" yet there are se- 

 veral large ponds, formed by the embankments across the valleys, 

 the margins of which will afford much pleasure and gratification 

 to the ardent botanist. " The surface is, in fact, to this hour, 



