FAREWELL GLATVCE AT PLYMOUTH. 29 



here, nor in any subsequent experiments, exceeded 

 one degree. As the ship lay in the Sound our 

 observations were made on a stone in the break- 

 water marked ^, from whence we took our chro- 

 nometric departure ; it is about one-third of the 

 length from the east end, and had been used for 

 similar purposes by Captains King and Fitz-Roy. 

 We considered it to be west of Greenwich, 

 Oh. ICm. 33s. 4^ 



Hardly any one can visit Plymouth Sound with- 

 out being at once struck with the singular beauty 

 of the surrounding scenery ; nor shall I easily 

 forget the mingled feelings of admiration and regret 

 with which my eye dwelt upon the quiet spot 

 the evening before bidding it a long, long fare- 

 well. The sea had sunk to sleep, and not a single 

 breath disturbed its glassy surface : the silent waters 

 — and yet how eloquently that silence spoke to 

 the heart — glided swiftly past ; into the still air 

 rose the unbroken column of the thin and distant 

 smoke ; through long vistas of far-off trees, which 

 art and nature had combined to group, the magni- 

 ficent building at Mount Edgcumbe, but veiled, to 

 increase its beauty : scenery varying from the soft 

 luxury of the park, to the rude freedom of the 

 wild mountain's side, by turns solicited the eye ; 

 and as I leant against a shattered rock, filled with 

 all those nameless feelings which such an hour was 

 so well fitted to call forth, I felt notwithstanding 

 all the temptations of promised adventure, the full 

 bitterness of the price we pay for its excitements ! 



