CELBBEATBD TREES. 229 



the water ; and, beyond all, the opening of the 

 river Itching, and the faint streaks of a distant 

 country, stretching away, till it is lost in the high 

 grounds beyond Winchester. In another direction 

 the eye is carried down the bay, along the wooded 

 shores of Netley Abbey, and over a remote dis- 

 tance, till the view is closed by the rising grounds 

 of Portsdown. 



The last tree I shall introduce from New Forest, 

 is remarkable for exhibiting a very uncommon in- 

 stance of the power of vegetation. About ten 

 years ago, among the ruins of the wall which 

 formerly surrounded the Abbey of Beaulieu, stood 

 an Oak, contiguous to a part of the Avail, and 

 extended one of its principal limbs in close con- 

 tact, aloEg the summit of it. This limb, at the 

 distance of about three yards from the parent 

 tree, formed a second stem upon the wall, by 

 shooting a root into some fissure, in which it 

 probably found a deposit of soil. This root, run- 

 ing along the bottom of the wall, and finding 

 some crannies in it, rose twice again through it, 

 and formed a third and a fourth considerable 

 stem, each at the distance of about three yards 



