162 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



unequalled in size. Slough, a growing town close to Eton, has brick-yards and 

 nursery grounds, but is more widely known as tbe place where Sir "William 

 Herschel resided for forty years. Here he constructed his forty-foot telescope, 

 and here he died in 1822. Stoke Poges, a pretty village, is close by. It is the 

 burial-place of Gray, the poet, and the scene of his " Elegy." In a neighbouring 

 park a colossal monument has been raised to Sir Edwin Coke, Lord Chief Justice 

 of England. Amers/iam, a small municipal borough in the valley of the Misbourne, 

 amidst wooded hills, manufactures wooden chairs and straw plait. Near it are 

 Chcshain, in the fertile valley of the Chess, a famous trout stream, with its paper- 

 mills, and the village of Chalfont St. Giles, where stands the house in which 

 Milton wrote " Paradise Regained." 



Crossing the Chiltern Hills, we reach Ayleshunj, on an eminence looking down 

 upon its fertile vale, the county town, where the assizes and quarter sessions are 

 held. It carries on a large business in preserved milk, butter, and straw plait, 

 and sends ducklings and turkeys to London in enormous numbers. Wendover 

 and Prince's Rishorough lie at the northern foot of the Chiltern Hills. The first 

 named manufactures pillow lace, straw plait, and coaches ; the latter is a flourish- 

 ing market town. Hampden House, the home of John Hampden the patriot, lies 

 near it. Brill, on the border of Oxfordshire, had formerly a royal palace, and 

 King Henry II. and Henry III. kept their courts there. A mineral spring rises 

 near it. 



The northern portion of the county is traversed by the Ouse, and nearly all 

 its towns are seated upon that river. Chief amongst these is Buckingham, the 

 former county town. It is an old place, but with few remains of antiquity, 

 having sufiered greatly from a fire in 1724. In its neighbourhood is Stowe, the 

 princely seat of the Duke of Buckingham. The Ouse, in its onward course, flows 

 past Stonij-Stratforci, Wolverton, Newport Pagnel, and Olneij. Pillow lace is made 

 in all these places. At Wolverton there are extensive railway-engine shops ; 

 Newport Pagnel has breweries and paper-mills ; and at Olnej'- the poet Cowper 

 spent most of his days. Fenny- St rat ford is the principal place in the valley of the 

 Ousel, which joins the Ouse at Newport Pagnel. It occupies the site of Magio- 

 rinium, and is traversed by Watling Street. Winsloic is the principal town on the 

 road from Buckingham to Aylesbury. 



Hertfordshire lies almost wholly within the area occupied by the chalky 

 upland extending eastward from the Chiltern Hills. In the north-west this 

 range forms a steep escarpment towards the plain of Bedford, whilst in the 

 opposite direction it slopes gently do^vn to the low counties of Middlesex and Essex. 

 The principal rivers are the Colne and the Lea, both flowing into the Thames. A 

 small portion of the county, along its north-western border, is drained by the Ivel, 

 which is tributary to the Ouse. Agriculture is the leading occupation. 



St. Albans, the principal town in the basin of the Colne, stands on rising 

 ground on the left bank of the Yer, or Mure, which is the main upper branch of 

 that river. For its historical associations it is the most interesting town in the 

 vicinity of London. Of the Roman town of Veridnmium, or Verulam, from which 



