FROM BROCKENHURST TO LYMINGTON AND BOLDRE. 67 



turning when we come to a point where our road 

 divides into two, we catch sight, between the 

 trees, of the waters of the Solent lying away just 

 beyond us. Presently another road crosses the 

 one we are pursuing, but we keep straight on, 

 and by passing through a wicket on our right we 

 can see the mouth of the now broad and winding 

 channel of the river whose estuary as we reach it 

 is uncovered by the tide and exposes a spreading 

 mantle of seaweed, the prevailing dark green of 

 which is contrasted here and there by patches of 

 richer colour reddish brown, orange, and gold, 

 To the south flows the Solent, against a back- 

 ground formed by the long, rolling uplands of the 

 Isle of Wight. 



When Gilpin was writing his Forest Scenery, 

 about the year 1781, Lymington was a forest 

 village, and the country around it was much more 

 wooded than it now is. It is interesting to recall 

 his description of the neighbourhood, part of 

 which description is contained in the opening 

 paragraph of section V. of his second volume, in 

 which he commences the account of his forest 

 itinerary. He says, 'From Vicar's Hill' (his 



E 



