8 SEA-SIDE STUDIES. 



liant against the hot blue sky, or rows of plum-trees with 

 their puqjle fruit, pleasing the eye and refreshing the palate 

 during the dusty walk, would have made the illusion com- 

 l)lete. 



Let us pass this inn, and turn uj) the steep hill, on the 

 summit of which stands the handsome church ; we then de- 

 scend the slope which leads to the Baths. On the other side 

 of the hedge upon our left rise the soft uplands, and a little 

 behind them the majestic Seven Tors, which with their 

 shaggy heads towards the sea, and their soft-swelling slopes 

 of green towards the land, remind us of some mighty animal 

 which has reared itself on its fore-paws to gaze at the yet 

 mightier ocean. From these uplands you perpetually hear 

 the cry, day and night, of the landrail — just like the creaking 

 of a wicker-basket — so that you begin to wonder wlien that 

 unmusical bird takes its repose. On your right hand, the 

 clear Wilder-stream babbles incessantly to the wild-floAvers 

 nodding over its ripples. Accompanied by this music Ave 

 reach the Baths, and come upon a tunnel, dark, indeed, but 

 Avith a gleam of light at the end — so we enter. How (iool, 

 not to say cold ! The eye is getting familiar Avith the dark- 

 ness when we emerge, and Avhat a thrill runs along all the 

 sentient paths to our souls as the blue of the sea bursts upon 

 us ! We lean upon a parapet of rock to watch the Avaves 

 running up the rugged f\ice of the cliffs, and falling back in 

 spray. An inarticulate gasp does duty for the highest elo- 

 quence. It is enough to drink in Avith our eyes the scene 

 before us ; anything more than an incoherent exclamation 

 Avould be out of place. Another tunnel invites us ; through 



