New-York tribune., 1908-03-08
THE LIZARD.
Tnsanctifed Barrens Not Out of
Touch srifh Progress.
Eelston, February 25.

, tropical Eden The Lizard crouching at
.be southernmost point Of England is distinctly
,cn-ilian: and its elongatedsbody. with black and
,ax dorsaI streaks. runs into an elastic. conical
- which swishes Cioonhiily Downs
,,va-d Helston and ends nobody knows where
i the saurian habit to lose the tail hare
>. grow again and never TO find out what has
,e,o,,e cf il. Wherever the tip of the Lizards
.a;, may be- the trail is distinctly shown by the
enlarged map Of district which has been
suspt clear Of saints. In every other Cornish
a;s-rict the names Of the villages bear record
- n swarm Of Celtic. Welsh and Breton saints,
,o tasted in caves had unearthly visions
-o-sed miracles, set up crosses and founded
,b,,r,hes There is not trace Of these ghostly
.c,,-es when the coast path is followed from
rzelston through Mullion Cove TO Lizard Point.
:, q c-roup OF ha-rilets TO the east of the main
-ood St Ruans memory is embalmed, but he
-or 2 werewolf little better than a saurian
= Keverne was left in charge of the Manacles
,,5 he saints reswarrled at the Helston River
.o- = long fight TO the Tanar: but these were
outside the trail The true Lizard district
stretching from the famous light Helston. is
,-,ssnc-ified by memories Of saints.
It's not only al unhallowed. but also a dull.
h.--en windswept district. There must be not
little 70 interest botanist and geologist. for it
ras in this wild solitary plateau that Charles
kingsley when schooboy at Helston. raUbled
nth one Of the masters, studied shells and
Masses and developed a strong taste for natural
+,e.o-r: Vet the desolate heath did not make SO
sec, sn impression upon his sensitive mind as
she fsns around Saxon Bernacl or picturesque
rgoveIlv with its herring and rlackerel fleets.
=. the noisy motor omnibus rattles along the
main road 10 Lizard Point there is single
--act Of woodland. and the bare Goonhilly
Downs slope toward the blackened fanks Of the
coss- There is only one village. Mullion. in a
reach % q dozen miles. and in order TO see its
nd stone houses and black and white tower
rne must make q long detour on foot. Before
the lighthouse is passed the saunterer has
hoi-e- opinion Of the practical ability of the
Celtic saints who kept out Of this unpronising
Wilderness They had too good sense TO set up
crosses and shrnes in an uninhabitable waste,
where land could never be cultivated nor clus-
ters Of villages be formed
The coast is as glorious the interior OF the
plateau is depressing From Mullion Cove, with
lis srnueglers' cavern. there is a picturesque
line Of bold headlands and beetling crags, sep
s-ated by rockspits and deep gorges bordered
with ruarshIand. until Kynance Cove, with its
glistening serpentine sides. is passed and the
zhireWashed lighthouse looms UP high upon
the oute-rlost terrace. with the signal station
AMI long row Of stone houses half a mile be-
hird il This is the windy Lizard. where the
saiss Of the Spanish Armada were first deserted
over the darkIing waters and the alarm signal
was Ha-ed Up the coast, 10 be repeated by one
beacon after another until Drake and his fellow
bowlers heard the news at Plymouth
There IS now Z network Of wires TO report an
endless procession OF incoming and outgoing
vessels and when the weather is thick there are
powerful sirens &c sing high and low every two
minutes across the surges: and If the sky be
clear the light in the tower, two hundred feet
above the sea, be seen nearly twenty-five
niles and the reflection Of it In the sky Will be
carried as far again. The Lizard once had two
eyes aAa-ns At night, which could be kept IN
line by navigators. but there is only one,
E beacon on the Wolf Rocks having made the
second tower unnecessary. Yet whether fog
horns are silent or believing and screeching
CT whether one tower the other is creak-
Ing with grating clockwork, II Is not posi-
be 70 identify aloft the exposed terrace with
the Lizard as seen through glass from the
deck % an incoming steamer From the wind
swept crest, with tiny fishing village and a
Iteboat station somewhere in a crevice under
meath, neither head. claws. nor elongated
spine of the scaly monster can be seen One
turns away from the grand prospect Of ocean
highway teeuing with shipping, and suspects
that the Celtic scholars may be right in inter
preting Lizard as lofty court palatial ter
race
Faith n the granite monster is restored when
the parish church Of Landewednack. with its
beautiful Norman porch. has been left behind
End the cliff path toward PoIbarrow and Cadg-
with Is followed The great, sprawling Lizard
is revealed with its dinty snout deep in the sea;
It's eye not q ball OF fire the ridge Of the
spine, but set lower down in a cavernous socket;
its shiny claw a ragged spur OF ruinous black |
rocks; its mighty back scaled with granite and /
streaked with dark fssures. and the under parts !
yellow with shingles OF sand and green with /
seaVeed and moss. It is the veritable monster /
which has swallowed wrecked mariners for ages, /
letI lis trail high upon the barren plateau and /
frightened away the saints A harmless levia /
than i seems when basking in the rich mists /
q sunlight with fringes OF surf curling around /
II; but the hollow eyes are turned toward the |
oute-nost reaches OF the Atlantic and treachery |
turks II them The Lizard is many times /
from the cliffs until the white stones of the |
coast guard path point toward abysnlal /
raTtne and Polbarrow blocks the view south |
ward
II is rough but exharating scramble |
through the cfasrnE and the crests OF these |
gray and black cliffs. The Cornish combes do |
not have the woodland setting and tranquil |
background Of meadow which make Devon |
scenery as peaceful as it is wild. It is sterner,
rockbound coast with more rugged cliffs and \
more precpitous hilsides It is through will
oe-ness OF black crags, desolate moraines and
slippery heath and marsh that one projecting
headleud after another is rounded and the low
rumble OF the long Atlantic swell is heard. Sud
cerly with louder swish the Devils FRYING Pan