Hillside. 1 1 7 



way through them. There, a field shows the dark, vivid 

 hue of mangolds ; yonder, another displays the brighter 

 green of swedes. In the distance is a parched-Looking field, 

 probably of potatoes heavily attacked by disease, whilst an 

 emerald pasture, with kine lazily feeding in it, gives variety 

 to the scene. Through the bottom of the valley flows the 

 broad Medway, slowly wending its way to the Thames. 



Slightly to the left, and on the other side of the river, 

 the ivy-clad keep of Rochester Castle rears its stately head 

 in rugged grandeur, recalling Saxon and Norman strife, 

 whilst by its side, fit emblem of those more peaceful times 

 when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares, and fratri- 

 cidal wars shall be no more, is the peaceful-looking 

 cathedral ; the two stately neighbours, so different in their 

 grandeur, awaken in the mind thoughts reaching far back 

 into the past, still further onward into the future. 



To our right, the gently undulating hills ; cultivated to 

 their very summits, bear heavy crops of grain, the deepening 

 colour of which betokens the near advent of harvest. Here 

 and there a scattered hamlet may be espied, whilst an 

 occasional pleasant-looking, well-kept farmhouse dots the 

 landscape, the whole presenting such a scene of pastoral 

 loveliness that we are reminded almost instinctively that we 

 are in the beautiful and fertile county of Kent, " the garden 

 of England." 



To our left the chalk hills still rise ; windmills in plenty 

 are scattered along their crests ; some are embosomed in 

 trees, while clean white cottages peeping through the foliage 

 add interest to the scene ; others stand out alone, bare and 

 gaunt, with their skeleton arms extended to, I had almost 

 said, the four winds of heaven, and can only by a great 



