134 
APPENDIX. 
The General Aspect of the District. — In many parts it is highly 
diversified with hill and vale. The town of Godalming stands on 
the high road to Portsmouth, and is pleasantly situated in a beau- 
tiful valley bordered by steep hills, the sides of which, for the most 
part, are richly clothed with ample foliage, rendering the sur- 
rounding scenery highly picturesque. This character extends 
more or less through the adjoining valleys towards Guildford, 
adding much beauty to the general scenery ; and fi:om the dif- 
ferent eminences a series of splendid views is to be obtained. 
The Hog's Back commands a most extensive prospect. The 
view towards the southward presents a magnificent landscape ; 
in the foreground, the undulating ridges of tlie various hills, in- 
terspersed with beautifiil winding valleys, presenting to the vision 
a lovely and rural scene. Further on, the eye wanders over the 
whole extent of the weald of Sussex, rich in foliage, and only 
arrested to the eastward by the bold and mountainous ridge of 
Leith Hill, which rises to an elevation of nearly 1,000 feet above 
the level of the sea. This splendid panorama is backed by the 
lofty outline of the South Downs, which border the English Chan- 
nel and extend into Hampshire. The most fervent pencil of 
picturesque enthusiasm would fail to depict in apposite colours 
the glorious prospects from St. Martha's Hill ; on every side, a 
rich and almost unbounded view presents itself, intermingled 
with every charm which landscape scenery, in all its diversity of 
character, can exhibit. Towards the south the prospect extends 
across the weald of Surrey and Sussex to the South Downs and the 
sea; and on the north, the eye ranges over a portion of the val- 
ley of the Thames as far as the high chalk range of Oxfordshire 
near Nettlebed, from which the summit and chapel of St. Mar- 
tha's are distinctly seen." — ' History of Surrey,' v. 134. From 
other points the views are equally extensive, penetrating into the 
adjoining counties. 
The extensive heaths, "though not unpicturesque, are wild 
and barren in their aspect, destitute of wood ;" yet there are se- 
veral large ponds, formed by the embankments across the valleys, 
the margins of which will afford much pleasure and gratification 
to the ardent botanist. " The surface is, in fact, to this hour, 
