72 COUNTRY ESSAYS. 



bunch from the crust, much as the feet of pigeons do in the 

 pies of more civilised regions. The great charm of Penzance, 

 though, is its unrivalled situation, sloping upwards from the 

 centre of the crescent-shaped Mount's Bay, with wooded heights, 

 and pretty villas behind it, while to the west the white-washed 

 cottages of Newlyn nestle under the cliffs ; and on the east, 

 rising grandly from the sea to catch every gleam of sun, every 

 changeful hue that clouds can impart, the visitor finds an endless 

 charm in St. Michael's Mount, 



" The great vision of the guarded mount," 



where Milton fondly dreamt his Lycidas might sleep. No one 

 who has ever visited Penzance can forget the kindly nature of 

 its inhabitants, and the warm welcome they give a stranger. 

 We will apply specially to them the quaint eulogy Borlase 

 bestows upon the whole county : 



" As to the manners of the inhabitants they are generally 

 allowed to be civilised and courteous to strangers, and this is 

 no novel character, but stands recorded as anciently as the 

 times of Augustus Caesar, and is attributed by Diod. Siculus to 

 that frequent intercourse with merchants of foreign countries, 

 which the traffic for their tin could not but occasion." 



Many routes are recommended to travellers in the Land's 

 End district by which its wonders may most easily be seen. 

 Undoubtedly the best plan is to walk round the cliffs from 

 Penzance to St. Ives, resting the first night at the Land's End 

 Inn. Thus the cliff scenery may be thoroughly explored, and 

 a divergence made, when necessary, to any inland object worth 

 notice. Supposing, however, that a visitor takes a carriage and 

 goes " the Madron round " to see its church and ruined baptis- 

 tery, the Lanyon cromlech, the Men an tol, and Chysauster 

 village, which can easily be accomplished in an afternoon, he 

 will have seen crucial specimens of all the land sights of the 

 peninsula. Then he can make another excursion to Botallack, 



