524 FRESHWATER AND YARMOUTH. [AugUSt, 



from Southampton, by Ringwood, Lymington, and Christchurch, 

 is distinctly visible. The high ground in the neighbourhood of 

 Salisbury may be seen, and, as the lighthouse-keeper informed 

 me, the spire of Salisbury cathedral is occasionally, though ob- 

 scurely, seen. The prospects over the island, the Solent, and 

 the sea are, of course, distinct and extensive. The botany of 

 Freshwater does not present any remarkable nor attractive fea- 

 ture, excepting merely its stunted or dwarfish character, and this 

 is characteristic of the botany of all places similarly situated. 

 The wild Carrot, which in the places of its ordinary growth is 

 usually one or two feet high, is here scarcely an inch long, yet 

 it flowers and seeds. The Bellflower [Campanula glomerata) \^ 

 barely an inch high, with only a single flower, or with two at 

 most. There is a variety of the Bitter Gentian [Gentiana Ama- 

 rella) with four segments in the calyx and corolla. This plant 

 in most localities has the calyx and corolla ^five-parted. The 

 cliffs produce Lavatera arborea (Tree Mallow) and Matthiola 

 niaritima (Sea Stock). Fragments of both may be seen among 

 the usual debris of the rocky shores. They are mostly inacces- 

 sible, except to the cliff- men, who gather the eggs of the sea- 

 birds which breed in the crevices of the chalk rocks. 



The distance from Freshwater to Yarmouth is four miles by 

 land and two by water. A scull-boat may be hired from the 

 former to the latter place for a few shillings, and the passage 

 occupies about three-quarters of an hoiir. The sail or row along 

 the water is pleasant enough in fine weather, but possesses no 

 features of interest to the tourist. The ancient borough of Yar- 

 mouth is built entirely on the eastern side of the Yar, on the ex- 

 tremity of a narrow isthmus or tongue of land, which is bounded 

 by the Solent on the north, by the Yar on the west, and by a 

 small brook, which becomes a large lake when the tide is high, 

 on the south. The only land approach is by the east, along a 

 narrow sandy or shingly beach, which at very high tides is co- 

 vered with water, and then the town of Yarmouth is insulated. 

 There is a ferry on the west, affording a communication with 

 Freshwater, Sconce Point, Totland's Bay, etc. 



The harbour is defended by a small fort, with a few guns 

 mounted, under the charge of a master gunner. A few ships 

 are employed in the supply of coals to the inhabitants, and in 

 exporting the Alum Bay sand, which is extensively employed in 



