KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



but there are no records or traditions in the 

 neighborhood which can throw any light on 

 the subject. 



On digging about a couple of feet below 

 the surface, the ground appears to be a mass 

 of decomposed vegetable matter ; amongst 

 which are found the small sprays of trees, nuts, 

 acorns, and leaves — sufficiently solid to be 

 preserved, if moderate care be used in taking 

 them up. Some years since, I saw several 

 persons engaged in taking out the trunk of 

 a large oak which they had found about four 

 feet below the surface. It was three feet in 

 diameter and six in length ; and when taken 

 up — a task which it required several men 

 and horses to perform — the heart was found 

 to be as black as ebony, and intensely hard, 

 also capable of taking a fine polish. The 

 outer part was in a soft pulpy state, to a 

 depth of about six inches. I had some of 

 the heart sawn into thin slices, out of which 

 I made several trifles as presents for some of 

 my friends. There is still a large piece of 

 this wood in the grounds of the Moult (to 

 which property the sands belong), the ex- 

 terior of which has become moderately solid 

 by exposure to the air. 



Other parts of this wood, nearer low- water- 

 mark, are perforated by innumerable quan- 

 tities of the Pholas Dactylus, or Prickly 

 Piercer; which are frequently used by the 

 fishermen as bait, under the local name of 

 " sculpins." I have taken them from the 

 wood, considerably exceeding four inches in 

 length, and in a very perfect condition ; 

 which, as the wood near the surface is about 

 the consistence of soft clay, may be easily 

 done. I have no doubt, however, that at a 

 depth of several feet, the wood will be found 

 in good preservation ; and, when dry, 

 capable of being used in cabinet work. From 

 this beach, and from the shores generally, 

 the various species of the marine plants 

 Fucus, Salsola, and Salicornia (commonly 

 called ore weed), of which every tide casts 

 up great quantities,— are taken at will by 

 the occupiers of the different farms in the 

 neighborhood, who use it as a manure. The 

 right is founded upon an unvarying custom, 

 from time immemorial, — undenied, uninter- 

 rupted, so that it cannot now be shaken. 



The Critlimum Maritimum, the true sea or 

 rock samphire, which is used for pickling, 

 grows abundantly in the crevices of the 

 cliffs around this part of the coast. On the 

 sands eastward and westward of the entrance 

 of Salcombe Harbour, is found the Crambe 

 Maritirna, or sea kale, which is indigenous 

 to these sands. As a delicious vegetable, 

 it has been long known in this part of 

 Devonshire, and transplanted into the 

 gardens, where it was usual to blanch it with 

 s ea sand. It was first introduced to the 



London markets in 1795, by the celebrated 

 botanist Curtis, the author of n Flora Lon- 

 dinensis^" 1 and the Botanical Magazine, and 

 who published a separate treatise upon the 

 culture of it. About a quarter of a mile 

 above the old castle just spoken of, stands 

 Woodville, formerly the seat of James Yates, 

 Esq., but now used as a lodging-house. It 

 is a neat house, encompassed with a colon- 

 nade ; and in the gardens may be seen 

 quantities of lemon, citron, and orange trees, 

 an olive tree (entirely unprotected), and some 

 splendid masses of the Phormium Tenax, 

 or New Zealand Flax, which grows most 

 luxuriantly, and flourishes as vigorously as 

 in its native country. 



Three fine aloes have flowered here ; and 

 there are still some fine plants in the grounds. 

 It commands a splendid view of the British 

 Channel and the harbour ; and as the Start 

 Point, a few miles to the eastward, is gene- 

 rally the first land made by homeward-bound 

 ships, there is scarcely any want of interest 

 in the view from the Moult, Woodville, Ring- 

 rone, or Cliff House ; while the spectacle 

 presented by the sea-view during a strong 

 south-west gale is majestic in the highest 

 degree. A few hundred yards nearer Sal- 

 combe, and a short distance above the water's 

 edge, stands Ringrone, the seat of Lord 

 Kingsale. This is a handsome edifice, 

 erected a few years since by the late Lord, 

 in place of a rather incommodious building 

 that occupied the same position. His Lord- 

 ship also constructed a large esplanade, 

 several hundred feet in length, which is taste- 

 fully laid out. 



Adjoining Ringrone, but farther up the 

 hill, stands Cliff House, the residence of Mrs. 

 Walter Prideaux. This is a large and com- 

 fortable mansion, surrounded by productive 

 gardens and ornamental grounds, and fur- 

 nishing all in the way of comfort that one 

 could desire. Below the house, and in a line 

 with the esplanade of Lord Kingsale, Mrs. 

 Prideaux has constructed one of about the 

 same length, which, with that of Lord Kingsale 

 (closely adjoining), forms a great ornament 

 to the harbour. At the end of the esplanade 

 nearest Salcombe, is the Preventive Station, 

 and a ferry to the opposite parish of Ports- 

 mouth ; the harbour, from its entrance to 

 this place, preserves a nearly uniform width 

 of half a mile. 



At the back of this esplanade is a splendid 

 stone wall, about thirty feet in height, and 

 extending nearly the whole of its length, 

 which is to be planted with orange, citron, 

 lemon, and lime trees; and in the course of 

 a few years, this wall will present a remark- 

 able object among the curiosities of the neigh- 

 borhood. In the garden, in front of the 

 drawing-room windows, is the spot where the 



