34 Alexander Goodman More. [i853 



Mentha rotundifolia grows along 1 the road and stream in 

 profusion. Festuca arundinacea and Daucus maritimus 

 were also observed. Artemisia absinthium became com- 

 mon as soon as we got to Blackgang, but previously vul- 

 garis had been the only and profuse hedge-plant. Rosa 

 spinosissima, Filago minima, and the long-sought Silene 

 anglica were found along the road through the sandy 

 heath near Kingston." 



Next day Swallows were seen, and several specimens 

 of the large Serotine Bat observed to be on the wing. On 

 Nov. loth, an excursion was made to Alum Bay, where 

 " we dined on the shingle as comfortably as if it had 

 been summer." Among the wild plants, whose blossoms 

 at this season recalled the spring and early summer days, 

 were noticed the marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), dog 

 violet (Viola sylvatica), milkwort (Polygala vulgaris), 

 bird's foot (Ornithopus perpusillus), ragged robin (Lychnis 

 flos-cuculi), meadow-sweet (Spiraea ulmaria), Burnet rose 

 (Rosa spinosissima), germander speedwell (Veronica cha- 

 maedrys), and primrose ; while gems of the middle and 

 later summer were even more numerous. 



Not far from Brighstone lies Brook, whose celebrated 

 '* fossil forest," visible only when left bare by the waves at 

 low water, he several times visited with much interest ; 

 finding, too, in the adjacent cliffs, " plenty of lignite 

 incrusted with pyrites, affording some very pretty speci- 

 mens of weald fossils." Another notable spot, once pre- 

 viously visited from Bembridge, now lay within easy 

 reach. On the i8th he "rode through Calbourne and 

 Swainton to Ape's Down Farm, and from that point through 

 the farm-yard along the Calamintba copse, and past Row- 

 ledge Farm through a number of beautiful copses, from 

 which I at last emerged across the Downs, and descended 

 above Brighstone. This ride was over a very beautiful 

 part of the country, and when surrounded by apparently 

 endless complications of Chalk Downs, I was quite struck 

 with the wildness and solitude, not a person to be seen." 



But his rambles were not all solitary, and among those 

 who shared them at times were his constant ally, Dr. Bell 

 Salter, and the rector of Brighstone, Rev. E. M'All. To 



