1857.] BOTANICAL SKETCHES. 205 



reaches an inch in height. The wild Carroty which is a taU 

 plant in most situations, flowers here close to the turf, and its 

 little root is six times as long as its stem and umbel of flowers. 



Also the walk along the clifis from the Warren which occupies 

 the declivities on one side of Alum Bay, to the town of Yar- 

 mouth, is very beautiful. The view embraces all the western 

 half of the island, Portsdown Hill, Lymington, Christchurch, 

 and all the New Forest : the spire of Salisbury is rarely seen. 

 To view the rocks or cliffs a boat is necessary. Distant views 

 only are obtainable from land, and the approach to the very edge 

 of these cliffs, almost overhanging the surgy ocean, is perilous 

 even to those who possess strong nerves, for the wind is almost 

 always high, and the turf, though apparently firm, may have 

 been undermined by the action of the weather on the gravelly 

 chalk. 



The sections of the variously-coloured sands of Alum Bay are 

 very striking, and with a few adjuncts, such as a vessel or boat, 

 which artists can introduce with effect, a view of the sands of 

 Alum Bay from the Downs on which the lighthouse is built, 

 would make a very beautiful picture. The various headlands 

 along the cliff from Alum Bay to Yarmouth are furnished each 

 with a flagstaff, and a cottage is always contiguous ; these add 

 much to the interest of the walk along the path, which is mostly 

 on the outskirts of the Downs which bound all the western por- 

 tion of this coast. From Yarmouth eastward, the coast is low 

 and shelving, and possesses little to attract the tourist. The ob- 

 jects of interest and beauty are to be sought for on the south 

 and west, and the tourist, especially if a good pedestrian, will not 

 have to search for them in vain. 



The botanizing on the eastern side of Yarmouth is not so in- 

 teresting as that on the western or Sconce Point side, yet there 

 are a few interesting plants between Yarmouth and New Town. 

 The pastures (it was late in the season when I botanized there) 

 afford Spiranthes autumnalis. There a curious fact was noticed 

 in connection with this plant : on the cow-pastures it was found, 

 not very abundant, it is true ; on the sheep-pasture adjoining, 

 and as likely to produce the plant, not a single plant was to be 

 seen. Do the sheep of the Isle of Wight like this as a piquant 

 relish to their food ? On liiddlc Downs, in Surrey, near Croy- 

 don, this plant is plentiful, and all these Downs are pastured 



