198 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



for an answer in the silent woods. Those 

 green-coated musicians, the frogs, make holi- 

 day in the neighboring marshes. They, too, 

 belong to the orchestra of nature, whose vast 

 theatre is again opened, though the doors 

 have been so long bolted with icicles, and 

 the scenery hung with snow and frost like 

 cobwebs. This is the prelude which an- 

 nounces the opening of the scene. Already 

 the grass shoots forth. The waters leap 

 with thrilling pulse through the veins of the 

 earth ; the sap through the veins of the 

 plants and trees, and the blood through the 

 veins of man. What a thrill of delight in 

 spring time ! What a joy in being and 

 moving ! Men are at work in gardens ; and 

 in the air there is an odor of the fresh earth. 

 The leaf-buds begin to swell and blush. The 

 white blossoms of the cherry hang upon the 

 boughs like snow-flakes ; and ere long our 

 next-door neighbor will be completely hid 

 den from us by the dense green foliage. The 

 May flowers open their soft blue eyes ; 

 children are let loose in the fields and gar- 

 dens. They hold buttercups under each 

 others' chins, to see " if they love butter." 

 And the little girls adorn themselves with 

 chains and curls of dandelions ; pull out the 

 yellow leaves to see if the schoolboy loves 

 them ; and blow the down from the leafless 

 stalk, to find out if their mothers want them 

 at home ! 



And at night, so cloudless and so still! 

 Not a voice of living thing, — not a whisper 

 of leaf or waving bough. Not a breath of 

 wind — not a sound upon the earth, nor in 

 the air ! And over head bends the blue 

 sky, — dewy, and soft, and radiant with in- 

 numerable stars, like the inverted bell of 

 some blue flower sprinkled with golden dust, 

 and breathing fragrance. Or if the Heavens 

 are overcast, it is no wild storm of wind and 

 rain, but clouds that melt and fall in showers. 

 One does not wish to sleep, but lies awake 

 to hear the pleasing sound of the dropping 

 rain. It was thus the spring began in 

 Heidelberg. 



There is something very lovely in the 

 foregoing,' my dear sir, is there not ? Those 

 who are true lovers of nature will readily ap- 

 preciate it — at this season more particularly, 

 when we can feel all that is here so sweetly 

 described in words. 



AUBEPINE. 



[We thank you, gentle Aubepine, for this 

 proof of friendship ; and we shall ever be 

 glad to receive at your hand any similar 

 tokens of love. What you have sent us is 

 very acceptable. There is a freshness about 

 it that is perfectly delightful. Early spring 

 has charms of peculiar interest to all who 

 love nature ; and when these " blossoms of 

 hope " expand, who shall declare their 

 beauties ?] 



DEVONSHIRE AND ITS ATTRACTIVE 

 BEAUTIES.— No. IV. 



A WALK FROM SALCOMBE TO HOPE. 



{Continued from Page 132.) 



About twenty yards from the copper mine 

 described in our last, is a most admirable and 

 abundant chalybeate spring, moderately im- 

 pregnated, and very pure. In combination 

 with the advantages of marine air, and water, 

 seabathing, the fisheries, climate, scenery, &c. 

 this spring is inestimable ; and ought to be 

 the means of drawing to the vicinity a host of 

 wealthy invalids, valetudinarians, and others, 

 thus making the neighborhood of Hope and 

 Salcombe rich and populous. 



It is to be lamented that in these days of 

 speculation and enterprise, none have been 

 found sufficiently enterprising to avail them- 

 selves of the advantages afforded by this 

 spring, the beautiful scenery, and climate 

 (which is far superior to Torquay, as from the 

 absence of limestone there is none of that 

 intense heat to which Torquay is subject 

 during the summer, and which makes the 

 least change of temperature quickly apparent,) 

 — to form a sort of spa, which might easily be 

 done by means of a company. Stone of an 

 excellent quality, admirably adapted for 

 building purposes, may be raised ad libitum 

 on the spot, and limestone can be brought from 

 Plymouth at a merely nominal cost ; whilst 

 at Hope (about a mile distant) are two 

 large limekilns, from which any amount of 

 lime can be obtained, Thus it is manifest, 

 that the commoner necessaries, for the con- 

 struction of a pump-room, hotel, dwellings, 

 &c, are extremely abundant, and that only 

 one thing is wanting — viz., money. The whole 

 of the property belongs to the Earl of Devon, 

 by whom every reasonable facility would be 

 doubtless afforded to any enterprising specu- 

 lator. 



Resuming our progress, we come to the 

 "Gray Stone," a huge and very lofty rock, 

 rising from twenty to thirty feet above the 

 top of the cliff, and forming a grand and ma- 

 jestic object. Hereabouts, begins " Bolt 

 Down " (or as it is generally called, " The 

 Bolt ") where Kingsbridge races were first 

 held (from 17G8 to 1771). These have now 

 merged into Totnes races, which are held 

 annually at that town. On this down are 

 two barrows, which appear to have been 

 opened. The whole of this land belongs to 

 the Earl of Devon. 



A little distance westward, is " Ramillies 

 Cove" near which is the famous cavern 

 called " Ramillies Hole." These names are 

 derived from the dreadful wreck of H.M.S. 

 Ramillies, of 74 guns, and 734 men, on the 

 15th Feb., 1760, the account of which I have 

 condensed as follows :— In the dreadful hurri- 

 cane of the 15th Feb., 17G0— so disastrous both 



