166 



THE BRITISH ISLES. 



London has often been likened to a province covered with houses. If we but 

 enter this hibyrinth of streets, we feel as if steam-power alone were able to extri- 

 cate us. Even the liardiest pedestrian yields to fatigue when traversing this 

 interminable city. Street follows street, and the chance of obtaining a glimpse 

 of the horizon appears to be a remote one. Houses without end, factories, railway 

 stations, villas, gardens, and blind brick walls succeed each other in this huge hive 

 of humanity. Even in the midst of the fields or in the outlying parks we 

 fool that London still surrounds us, for on all sides the houses line the great 



Fig. SS. — Annual Increase of Population in Thirty-one Cities of Europe. 



According to Dunant. 



highways which join the metropolis to its more remote suburbs. Starting 

 from the western extremity of the metropolis, we can walk successively through 

 Hammersmith, Chiswick, Brentford, Isleworth, and Twickenham without ever 

 leaving the houses behind us. A road, parallel to the former, connects Shepherd's 

 Bush with Acton and Ealing. The northern suburbs, Hampstead, Highgate, 

 Homsey, Tottenham, and Edmonton, advance far into the open country like the 

 arms of a gigantic polype. Similarly, when travelling south or south-westward, 

 we reach Dulwich after we have passed through Brixton ; then follow Sydenham, 

 Norwood, and Croydon, and though we extend our walk for a distance of J 2 miles. 



