The Press.
London, England, 1855-09-08 00:00:00

BLESS.

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tioal and onward system of which he has drawn
the lineaments in his great work. In brief, we
hope to see a new golden age for Christ
Church, when no first-class man shall be forced
to leave because his home sheltered him not,
wbeu confidence shall take place of fear, and
when the largest college in Oxford shall once
more look largest on the clits-list.

A Londoner's Walk to the Land's End ; and a
Trip to the Scilly Isles. By Walter White.

London : Chapman and Hall.
" WHO," exclaims Mr. White, at the conclusion
of his sensible and amusing volume, " who
" would be querulous that, with ten pounds in
" his pocket, and knapsack on shoulder, can
" go forth, wander lovingly over his birthland,
" and live tor a month amid sunshine and
" beauty?" This narrative of his travel through
Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall, with a trip to
the Scilly Isles, shows how economically a
home tour, devoid of neither interest nor
association, novelty nor incident, may be
made. The only requirements to render it
pleasant are, a pair of strong legs, some little
acquaintance with the history of one's own
country, and fair weather.
Mr. White went by rail from London to
Southampton, and from thence started on his
tour, making his first excursion from his di-
rect route to visit Rufus's Stone in the New
Forest. The tree has long since disappeared,
and all that is left is a stone, authenticated by
the Earl of Delaware in 1745 as marking the
spot where be had seen the fatal tree growing;
taut how, or why, or when the tree was cut
down no record tells. It is curious, en passant,
to remark that there is now in London, keep-
ing a publichouse, one Purkis, the direct and
lineal descendant of the man who carried the
body of Rufus in his cart from the spot to
Winchester. Corfe Castle, the scene of young
Edward's murder by Elfrida, was also visited
by Mr. White en route. It is now in ruins,
having been blown up by the Parliamentary
army, and never restored. Round the coast,
towards the famous Bill of Portland, our hardy
traveller plodded his cheerful way. And here
is the curious Chesil Bank to be seen—a long
strip of shingle, about fifty or sixty feet high,
three or four hundred feet wide, and about
ten miles in length—running out from the
mainland, and holding Portland Bill by the
slenderest thread : but the bank is secure, the
drifting shingle is perpetually replaced, and
although, as it happens sometimes in heavy
gales, millions of tons are washed away in a
night, they are replaced in the next day or two,
as deep and as regularly terraced as before.
At Portland there is now constructing a fine
breakwater, and Mr. White's description is
graphic and good :

The mode of construction is ingeniously and eminently
adapted to its purpose. The Plymouth Breakwater, which
is not quite a mile long, and cost a million and a half of
money, was formed by dropping large stones through the
bottom of the boats in which they had been transported
from the quarries; but Mr. Bendel builds a timber stage
running out from the shore into the sea as far as may be
required, and laying down rails, waggons laden with stone
are pushed along the stage by locomotives, and made to
drop their load into the water beneath by a very expedi-
tious process.

Having walked down one of the floored divi-
sions of the stage to the end of the flooring—
My conductor, pointing to the unprotected beam, asked,
" Are you nervous? there's the circular head ;" some sixty
yards farther. I followed along the narrow timber, though
not without apprehension, the height being thirty feet above
the sea, and presently stood looking down on the great
white circle of masonry, that had a strange, unearthly
gleam, seen through the green water. The appearance of
one single block of the outer course a few inches above the
surface, was hailed as an encouraging sign of progress, and
had been made the occasion of a feast far the workmen a
few days previously. The divers were busy with their labours,
too deep down to be visible, supplied with air from the
pumps . kept incessantly going in the boats moored above
the spot. Not once did the men pause in their task, not-
withstanding the uneasy rocking which jerked the boats
about like walnut-shells; and be who held the line fastened
to the diver's arm, failed not to give it the half-minute tug,
which signified—la all well ? A few months ago the air-
pipe burst, and though the diver gave an immediate signal
to be hauled up, he was recovered with difficulty. Another,
not answering the tug, was found to be dead : he had, as
was supposed, stooped too far forward while intent on his
work, and the water running in under the joint of his hel-
met had drowned him. And these divers work fur two-
and•sixpence a tide !

" Now" said my conductor, after a time, " we'll go out
Mid fett alto drop Olt fitettft." i hk-filtittOd i o; t 9 lrfait I

86i

. .
quarter of a mile further on a single beam, away from all
protection, was, fur one rather timid than adventurous,
perhaps to risk a fall. Seeing this, the other pointed to a
planked gangway on the opposite side of the stage which
hat nut before seen, and retracing our steps we walked
down it to the very extremity. The 'uninterrupted swee
of the sea through the 400 feet gap, which we first passed
over, showed, by contrast with the contiguous calm, how
gteat was the protection afforded by the breakwater even
in its unfinished state. The foundation of the second
circular bead was bring laid, but nothing could be seen ;
then there was the rugged embankment again. dividing the
waters fora space, and beyond it the stage still encroaching
On Neptune's dominion. When we were near the end a
train pushed by the locomotive came up; the speed was
slackened, two men, one on each side the foremost truck,
kumped off, and running along on the edge of the timber,
nocked out the bolts that held the iron ievers, these in
turn striking against the "chocks ," screwed to the beams,
let go their hold, and the bottom of the truck, balanced as
a seesaw, falling suddenly at one end, dropped the whole
load into the water. The shock and splash are tremen-
dous ! Seven tons of stone, lumps from four or five tons'
weight down to a pound, let tall from a height of thirty feet
produce an astounding effect. Sometimes a vast Ocular
jet is thrown up twenty or thirty feet higher than the stage,
giving an uncomfortable shower-bath to all within reach ;
or narrow streams burst out horizontally with a furious
hiss ; or you hear a loud slap, followed by a hoarse rushing
gulp, and a mound of discolored water boils up for a few
seconds. But before you have recovered from your first
surprise, the train, all the while creeping forward, has
advanced a few feet, the two men repeat the operation of
striking out the bolts, and the recond truck drops its load,
then the third, then the fourth, and so on to the sixth, and
all with the same terrific plunge. Not a moment is last ;
for by long practice the " tippers " have become expert and
fearless, and away speeds the panting locomotive, soon to
reappear with another laden train. But immediately the
whiz and rush are behind you, and, looking round, you see
a similar train on the outer line of rails on the opposite
side of the stage, the mighty splashes follow, and befOre
the water has cleared comes a third train down one of the
inner lines, and discharges its load in the same unceremo-
1110118 way. So it goes on all day along the five lines of
rails, first one, then the other ; and every day 2,b00 tone at
stone are thus flung into the engulfing waters.
The stone flung iu is the refuse or " cap " of
the quarries, of which the quarrymen are glad
to be rid, and the mass is left to rind its own
slope by the action of the waves. More than
two million tons of stone have already been
used, and as much more will yet be required
before the work is finished.

In Devonshire our tourist visits all the
famous spots, Torbay and Brixham, where
William 111. landed, and passes up the valley
of the Teign, whore the most lovely scenery is
to be found, wooded slopes, rich meadows,
cottages, homesteads, dank hills, and steep
cliffs, enclosing the cool, clear river as it
ripples down to the sea at Teignmouth.
Chudleigh, with its cider and lanes, and its
magnificent landscape, is searched out and
seen ; and while crossing one of the fields 'he
comes up with a party of haymakers, who cried
to know what he had to sell :
They took my knapsack for a pedlar's pack. If nothing
to sell, perhaps I could tell some news—how was the war
going on ? and so forth. 1 was minded to humour them,
and sat down on a haycock, when they drew round me,
and half a dozen ciderkega were held out fur me to drink
from. One among them, evidently the politician, had
plenty to say, and delivered his opinions with an eloquence
that surprised me. " If the Zar, as people called 'n,
would only come into the field for about half an hour, he'd
show'n what 'twas to go to war. He'd mark 'n. Bread was
dear enough a'ready, and what was poor men to do when 't
got dearer ? I f Austria and Prussia would come too, he'd
rub them down into the bargain : none of 'em was a bit
better 'n they should he ; they was all in the same boat"—
and more to the same purport. The sunburned orator was
warmly applauded by his companions ; and when I told
him there were people in London who thought as he did,
he looked round with an air of triumph. With dear bread
in prospect, they were, however, for the moment in gay
good humour, perhaps owing to the cider•kegs, and made
a show of keeping me prisoner, unless 1 would consent to
" zing a zong."
While in Cornwall Mr. White witnesses a
" wrostling" match, and fairly describes one of
the customs of the country :
Soon each wrestler hail put on a large loose jacket, tying
with strong tapes down the front, and then betiding forwards,
with hands on knees, they slowly came together, each
fixing a keen look on the other's face. Both were abont
the middle height. and of ordinary musenlar development.
One, however, with his shock head of hair and bushy sweep
of whisker, seemed to me as he stooped no unapt resem-
blance to a grisly bear. Now they turned this way, now
that—now a few paces to the right, now to the left, still
with the same fixed stare ; and at last one, stretching out
a hand, gripped the shoulder of his opponent's jacket, and
was in turn seized by the elbow. Another moment, and
the other two hands were fast ; and, keeping their legs as
far as possible out of reach, they wheeled round and round.
a convulsive jerk showing now and then an rffort for a fall
—the two umpires keeping a jealous watch on their move-
ments. Not for an instant did a knee bend. or an arm
slacken ; and when a leg was suddenly advanced, it was as
suddenly withdrawn. So the contest went on for about
h►U' houi. PPP brill; l'eai becsilly *Taunt, sgil