terminates in the point called Portland Bill. The isle of Portland is about four miles long, and in the widest part, nearly a mile and a half broad. It is one long continuous rock or bed of free-stone. The highest point in the island is 458 feet above the level of the sea; the cliffs on the western side are very lofty; those at the Bill are not more than 20 or 30 feet high. The bay between Weymouth and Portland Isle is called Portland Road.

Portland Isle furnishes the famous Portland stone. The Portland stone came into repute in the reign of James I., who used it in rebuilding the banqueting-house at Whitehall. After the great fire of London, vast quantities of this stone were used in rebuilding St. Paul's and other public edifices. A considerable portion of Westminster bridge, and the whole of Blackfriars bridge, are built of it. A convict establishment has been formed on Portland Isle, and the convicts are employed in constructing a harbour of refuge off the Isle, by erecting a break-water northward from the north-eastern point of the island for a mile and a quarter, so as to include a large part of Portland Road.

It is said that Portland Isle was once separated from the mainland; but it is now connected with it by the Chesil Bank, one of the longest and most remarkable ridges of pebbles in Europe. This bank runs in a straight line north-west for ten miles, where it unites with the mainland. It then runs six miles along the shore, until it nearly reaches Bridport. It is nowhere more than a quarter of a mile in breadth-in most parts it is much. less. On a base of blue clay, there rises to the height of four, five, or six feet, a ridge of smooth round pebbles, so loose that a horse's legs sink almost knee-deep at every step. This pebbly covering is constantly shifting, in consequence of the action of the wind and the sea. No satisfactory account of the formation of this ridge has ever been given.

Due south from Portland Bill are the Channel Islands, Alderney, Guernsey, and Jersey. These are the only remains of the continental possessions of our Norman kings. The language used by the natives is a rude kind. of French.

LESSON XII.

Portland Bill to Torbay.

FROM Portland Bill the coast sweeps in a grand curve to the north-west, and then to the south-west, until we reach Start Point in Devonshire. The whole coast of Devonshire is famous in the naval annals of England. Almost every creek and bay can boast of some famous sailor, who, in the old days, made the name of England feared and respected all the world over. This was especially the case in the reign of Elizabeth, when it was considered an Englishman's first duty to hate the Spaniard, and to plunder and rob his possessions and ships, whereever they were found. Sir Francis Drake, a native of

Tavistock, and Sir John Hawkins, a native of Plymouth, may be mentioned as two among the many whose names live in the roll of England's worthies.

The whole coast of Devonshire is lined with cliffs. Through these cliffs, there are many breaks to the breezy downs that stretch far inland. Try and realise the picture sketched in the following lines, and you will be able to form a good idea of many parts of the Devonshire coast. The lines occur in "Enoch Arden," a poem written by the Poet Laureate, who for many years has resided in the Isle of Wight, and who is intimately acquainted with the south coast of England :

:

Long lines of cliffs breaking have left a chasm ;
And in the chasm are foam and yellow sand;
Beyond, red roofs about a narrow wharf
In cluster; then a moulder'd church; and higher
A long street climbs to one tall-towered mill;
And high in heaven bebind it a gray down
With Danish barrows; and a hazelwood,
By autumn nutters haunted, flourishes
Green in a cup-like hollow of the down."

There are few places of much importance between Portland Bill and Start Point. Lyme Regis lies on the borders of Dorset and Devon, and possesses a safe harbour, very useful for coasting vessels during rough weather, there being no safe harbour eastward for thirty miles. On the Exe, but inland, though connected with the sea by a canal, is the ancient cathedral city of Exeter, the capital of Devonshire. There are few manufactures in Exeter, the inhabitants being chiefly engaged in retail trade and in handicrafts.

Before reaching Start Point we come to Tor Bay, bounded on the south by Berry Head, having a shelving beach at, the bottom of the bay, and a steep, abrupt coast towards

each extremity. It was here that William, Prince of Orange, landed on the 5th of November, 1688. Lord Macaulay, in his History of England, thus describes it :

When Sunday, the fourth of November, dawned, the cliffs of the Isle of Wight were in full view of the Dutch armament. Tor Bay was the place where the Prince intended to land. But the morning of Monday, the fifth of November was hazy. The pilot of the Brill (the Prince's own ship) could not discern the sea marks, and carried the fleet too far west. The danger was great. To return in the face of the wind was impossible. Plymouth was the next port. But at Plymouth a garrison had been posted under the command of Lord Bath. The landing might be opposed; and a check might produce serious consequences. At that moment, the wind changed; a soft breeze sprung up from the south; the mist dispersed; the sun shone forth; and, under the mild light of an autumnal noon, the fleet turned back, passed round the lofty cape of Berry Head, and rode safe in the harbour of Tor Bay.

"Since William looked on that harbour, its aspect has greatly changed. The amphitheatre which surrounds the spacious basin now exhibits everywhere the signs of prosperity and civilisation. At the north-eastern extremity has sprung up a great watering-place, Torquay, to which strangers are attracted from the most remote parts of our island by the Italian softness of the air; for in that climate the myrtle flourishes unsheltered; and even the winter is milder than the Northumbrian April. The inhabitants are about ten thousand in number. At the opposite end of the bay, sheltered by Berry Head, lies the stirring market town of Brixham, the wealthiest seat of our fishing trade. The population is about six thousand souls. The shipping amounts to more than two hundred sail. But Tor Bay, when the Dutch fleet cast anchor there, was known only as

a haven where ships some times took refuge from the tempests of the Atlantic. Its quiet shores were undisturbed by the bustle either of commerce or of pleasure; and the huts of ploughmen and fishermen were thinly scattered over what is now the site of crowded marts, and of luxurious pavilions.

"The disembarkation instantly commenced. Sixty boats conveyed the troops to the coast. Mackay was sent on shore first with the British regiments. The Prince soon followed. He landed where the quay of Brixham now stands. The whole aspect of the place has been altered; but a fragment of the rock on which the deliverer stepped from his boat has been carefully preserved, and is set up as an object of public veneration in the centre of the busy wharf."

Dartmouth, on the right bank of the river Dart, is a small town, but possesses a harbour capable of containing 500 vessels. It is built on a slope, and the hill on which it stands is so steep that the base of the houses in the upper street is almost on a level with the chimneys in the street below.

LESSON XIII.

Torbay to Plymouth.

AFTER rounding Start Point, the southern point of Devonshire, we come to Plymouth Sound, on the borders of Devon and Cornwall. Plymouth Sound, on which stands the town of Plymouth, the second naval station in England, is a considerable inlet of the English Channel, three miles wide at the entrance, and extending inland about three miles to the town and citadel of Plymouth. The north-west corner of the Sound, called the Hamoaze, formed by the estuary of the Tamar, is the harbour for