26 
EEEjST combes. 
while the dusky cormorant flaps by, with out¬ 
stretched neck, like a bird of ill omen. 
Then after a mile or two we come to more sands; 
such sands!—miles and miles of bright yellow 
sand, blown into hills, hollowed out into valleys; 
here a lake, there a desert, with not a blade of 
grass to break the even surface. All around strange 
birds, strange insects, strange flowers; while all 
that disturbs the hush is the roar of the breakers 
on the ocean bar, far, far away ; and all that breaks 
the blue of the summer sky, the bright-eyed hawk, 
poised on motionless wing, watching the rabbits 
as they play hide-and-seek among their burrows. 
Beyond the estuary of the Taw and the Torridge, 
whose united waters flow into the sea near Apple- 
dore, the cliffs begin to rise again, till at Buckish, 
Clovelly, and Hartland, they reach the height of 
mountains rising abruptly from the shore. 
Ah! how the coast and sea alter as you pass 
Hartland Point! No gentle wavelets ripple over 
the sand; but sturdy Atlantic billows rolling in 
from the far west, come bounding over the stony 
strand, and leap high into the air as they strike 
against the projecting masses of rock! Wild, 
glorious, and unknown is that part of Devonshire. 
Pew have ever penetrated there, or know any¬ 
thing of the beauties of Milford, Welcomb, and 
