JUNE 141 



Martyr's Worthy, Easton, Itchen Abbas, and so to Stoke 

 Charity and Bishop's Sutton. Each of these little villages 

 has its interesting church: St. Martin's of Headbourne 

 Worthy contains some rude work of Edward the Confessor's 

 reign; Martyr's Worthy and Easton have some good 

 Norman details, and so had Itchen Abbas till the hand 

 of the restorer overtook it. 



And ever, as you ride, the sweet river will approach 

 and retire from the roadside, reminding you, if you are 

 an angler, that of all the trout that do swim in English 

 waters, those of Itchen are the most difficult to catch and 

 among the fairest when caught. But you can postpone 

 consideration of these till your return to the old shop 

 behind the Butter Cross, where Gossip Holland will dis- 

 play such delicate duns, such cunning quills, such irre- 

 sistible iron-blues as may hardly be matched by other 

 tyers, tie they never so wisely, and discuss with you the 

 season and sky most suitable for each. And while you 

 are in the saddle let your thoughts wander through the 

 long story of the past, for the name of each hamlet in 

 your way may be found far back in the chronicle of the 

 making of England. 



XX 



The prevailing 'chapparal' or scrub on the Pacific 

 coast of North America is chiefly composed of 



* Ceanothus 



several species of Ceanothus, a shrub all too 

 sparingly cultivated in our gardens. Most of the genus 

 suffer from winter cold in our midland districts, but they 

 are quite at home under the mild influence of the western 

 seaboard. They are nearly all autumn flowerers ; but one 

 kind, Ceanothus rigidus, comes to perfection before mid- 



