xvi Wedgwood 's Journey into Cornwall 185 



Off well, and Honiton celebrated for its lace. No carts 

 or waggons were to be seen here ; everything was 

 carried on horseback. Then Exeter was entered, "a 

 lovely neighbourhood." Passing on through other 

 villages, Wedgwood went to see a potwork at Bovey 

 Tracey. He discusses the difficulty of making pottery 

 at that place, where the coal was bad and the workmen 

 were clumsy. He describes the beauty of the country 

 at Ivy Bridge. At a place called Eidgeway, Wedgwood 

 first saw the Petunse or Growan Stone. 



At Plymouth Wedgwood visited an old friend, Mr. 

 Tolcher, who had sent him some specimens of cobalt. 

 The party visited Mount Edgecumbe, and in a letter to 

 Bentley (1st June 1775) Wedgwood thus describes it : 

 " We were upon the water several hours yesterday 

 afternoon. Have you ever seen Mount Edgecumbe ? 

 If you have not seen Mount Edgecumbe, you have 

 seen nothing. We sailed twice past the terrestrial 

 paradise, and such a sun-setting I have never beheld." 



The travelling party could not long remain at 

 Plymouth, and on the 2nd of June they set out in 

 search of the Growan. They went by Burland Downs 

 and Eubarrow Downs, when Growan Stone was again 

 seen. They crossed the stream of water brought to 

 supply Plymouth by Sir Francis Drake. As they pro- 

 ceeded into Cornwall, they had some difficulty in 

 understanding the dialect of the people. At Kettington 

 they found the farmers ploughing with oxen. Barrows 

 were still plentiful. At Liskeard the landscape views 



