Sept. 12, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



215 



somewhat less than 1,000 miles. He is now at C, and he 

 learns that in all directions beneath the horizon the earth 

 is limited, because he has proved on indisputable evidence 

 that the stars pass round and beneath the earth, and come 

 up again on the opposite side. He cannot as yet be cer- 

 tain what the shape of the unvisited part of the earth may 

 be, and for aught he knows the section he has found uni- 

 formly curved along BC may elsewhere be as irregular as 

 the broken curve shown in the figure. But he is far more 

 likely to believe that in reality this section has a uniform 

 figure either perfectly or very nearly circular. 



Fig. 2. 



Continuing his journey southwards, our observer finds 

 that the north pole of the heavens passes below the horizon, 

 the south pole rising ; and now precisely the same rotations 

 which he had observed respecting the North Pole and the 

 motions of the stars around the polar axis, are jiresented in 

 the southern heavens. As he advances the south pole rises 

 vniformhj — a relation which, as in the case of the North 

 Pole, shows that he is travelling along a circular arc. He 

 sees the apparent stellar motions continuing as uniformly 

 as before. In fact, the only specific difference in the 

 southern skies consists in the fact that the celestial bodies 

 appear to turn in a contrary direction. This circumstance 

 is noticed in the pages of old Herodotus, who mentions 

 (with some doubt whether it may not be a yarn) that 

 seamen who had passed far southward along the shores of 

 Africa, stated that the sun appeared to move from right to 

 left, instead of from left to I'ight, as with us. 



We, of course, who have followed the steps of our 

 observer, as he has progressed southwards, can at once 

 understand why the heavens should seem to move a different 

 way round the pole, and why the suu, as he ascends towards 

 the north, appears to travel from right to left, whereas 

 ■when he ascended from the east towards the south, he 

 appeared to travel from left to right. We know that the 

 observer in the southern hemisphere who faces the sun 

 when that luminary is at his highest, and the observer in 

 the northern hemisphere who does likewise are facing each 

 other, so that a motion which is from right to left, as seen 

 bj one, is from left to right as seen by the other. 



{To he contiiiued.) 



BRITISH SEASIDE RESORTS, 



FKOM AX UKCOXVEXTIOXAL POINT OF VIEW. 



By Percy Russell. 



IV. 



THE Isle of Man is, in some respects, the most remark- 

 able of all the islands of England and Wales, and 

 from Snaefell, the highest of its rugged but majestic moun- 

 taius, there may be had one of the most splendid panoramic 

 views in all the Biitish isles. Thence, indeed, is commanded 



at once a distinct panoramic view of a very considerable 

 extent of the coasts of England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. 

 That noble estuary the Solway, hallowed by so many legen- 

 dary and historic associations — Ailsa Crag, the famous 

 Mull of Galloway, and the wild mountains of the vicinity- 

 are all prominent features, and compose a scene that can 

 hardly be surpassed for beauty and boldness of land and 

 seascape anywhere. The length of the Isle of Man is 33] 

 miles, the breadth about 12.',, thus bringing every portion 

 within easy pedestrian reach of the sea, and the area is 

 generally computed at 145,325 acres, of which full 50,000 

 remain virtually in a stite of nature. The Calf of Man is 

 a small islet at the south-west extremity, containing oidy 

 about 800 acres of surface. A chain of veritaVjle mountains 

 extends from uorth-east to south-west, Snaefell, the highest, 

 being 2,024 ft. above the sea-level. The general scenery is 

 rich in variety, such as most delights the landscape-painter. 

 There are numerous picturesque glens, which seem ex- 

 pressly made for the still life of poetry or romance, and 

 rich undulating tracts of cultivated country, and in fine 

 weather, such a clear atmosphere that the very cornfields 

 when in their full golden glow can be distinctly seen on the 

 adjacent shores. Many beautiful streams rush down from 

 the mountains, and in some of these are excellent salmon- 

 trout, although I am sorry to say that washings from the 

 lead-mines in the interior have in many cases quite 

 destroyed the fish. 



Some parts of the interior are boggy, but the glens 

 separating the numerous hills and mountains are frequently 

 wooded with beautiful beech-trees and elier, and the 

 numerous mountain torrents, ending often in beautiful 

 waterfalls, impart a strange charm to the varied landscape. 

 Most of the villages, farm-houses, and churches are em- 

 bowered in trees, and, for sott rural beauty, the interior of 

 this remarkable island leaves nothing to be desired. The 

 coast is, in many places, of ineffable grandeur, and some of 

 the most formidable precipices are in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of the wild loneliness of harbours, shelving 

 shores, and villages framed in woods, and presenting every- 

 where quite a material presentment of true pastoral poetry. 



Douglas, deriving its name from being at the junction of 

 two streams — the Dhoo (black), and Glass (s^rey; — lies on 

 the edge of a very picturesque bay. Castle Mona, once the 

 residence of a Duke of Athol, is now a good hotel, and 

 another conspicuous landmark is the Tower of Refuge, 

 built on a rock, for the benefit of shipwrecked seamen. The 

 ancient town is interesting in its narrow streets, but there 

 are comparatively modern marine residences in the 

 recently-buUt portion, and not only is the living cheap, but 

 the bathing is remarkably good, and the water is singularly 

 free from mud, seaweed, or even s-hells. The coast north 

 of Douglas is highly precipitous, and what givas beautiful 

 colour in summer to the scenery, is often green with foliage 

 almost to the water's edge. The striking promontory of 

 St. Maughold's Head should be notici-d. Tbe well-known 

 town of Peel, formerly called Holm, is reujarkable, inter 

 alia, for its grotesque and romantic caverns, which re- 

 semble nothing so much as sundry of Victor Hugo's poetic 

 flights into the region of the terrible made visible. A 

 small river enters the sea at Peel, and thence once on a 

 time Manx salmon was exported. South of Peel is Brada 

 Head, a truly stupendous pile of black rocks, somewhat 

 like those which give to Spanish Head, close to the Calf 

 of Man, such an imposing appearance. The lead-mines 

 often run here close to the sea, as in Cornwall. The 

 Spanish Headland is very grand, and the masses of rocks 

 off the coast lo k like piles of huge timbers or regular 

 blocks of masonry all laid ready for rearing some colossal 

 structure, while the prevailing blackness of the cliffs im- 



