in Somersetshire, Devonshire, and Part of Cornwall. 535 



suggestions may easily be carried into effect, if they should be 

 approved of. We found Seilla verna in flower as well as in 

 seed on the downs, owing to the great heat of the summer 

 and the recent rains ; a circumstance which, we were afterwards 

 informed by Mr. Gullet, the gardener at Woodbine Cottage, 

 was not unusual. 



Torquay. A delightful little sea-port and bathing-place, with 

 cottages, villas, and lodging-houses, from the sea-shore to the 

 summits of the rocky wooded hills with which the bay is sur- 

 rounded. Some of these are in good taste, and almost all of 

 them exhibit marks of care and design, both in the house and 

 grounds, which, being evidence of progress, is suie to lead to 

 good taste in the end. The grounds in several instances have 

 been laid out and planted under the direction of Mr. Gullet, 

 already mentioned. Mrs. Herder's inn is an excellent house, 

 with a piano in every sitting-room, but rather a scarcity of 

 readable books. When speaking to her on this subject, we 

 found she belonged to a German family, and we therefore re- 

 commended to her to add Herder's Philosophy of Man to her 

 library, which she politely promised to do. We believe we 

 also recommended Chambers's Journal, the Penny and Saturday 

 Magazines, and the Athenceam. 



Woodbine Cottage ; Miss Johnes. A description of this place 

 has already appeared in our Volume for 1836, p. 26., so that 

 little is left for us to say, except that we found it still more ro- 

 mantic than the description led us to expect. The whole is 

 kept in excellent order by Mr. Gullet, who is unquestionably, 

 not only an excellent gardener, but a man of genius as a sculptor 

 and mechanic. To be convinced of this, it is only necessary to 

 see the numerous figures which he has cut out in wood with his 

 knife during the winter evenings, some of which are portraits of 

 well known characters at Torquay; and the manner in which 

 he has brought water from a distant hill, across a valley, and 

 over an intervening hill, by a siphon. In the quarry covered 

 by glass, mentioned in Vol. XII. p. 27., we found esperione 

 grapes ripe, and of very superior flavour to the Hamburg. Not 

 only the heat, but the soil, must have some effect in improving 

 the flavour; for, had we not seen the leaves, and the form and 

 close berries of the bunch, we should never have recognised the 

 variety by the taste. A great many Cape, Australian, and 

 Mexican plants flourish in the open air here, without any pro- 

 tection, in winter. The agaves are very large and fine ; and 

 Phormium tenax seems a favourite here and in many other 

 places. The Pittosporum Tobira stands the winter better than 

 the common laurel. Pelargoniums have stood out five years 

 without any protection. Clianthus puniceus has attained a 

 large size ; Phlomis fruticosa has acquired the character of a 



m m 4 



