and down which rise above, will amply repay the trouble of descending to it.

We now return. Ascending the steep shoot from the inn, the sea opens at the summit with uncommon boldness. The road winds along through fields and narrow lanes, till we reach the little village of Wroxall; adjacent to which rises the lofty down bearing its name. On leaving this village we pass through the narrow road which conducts to Appuldercombe, the seat of Earl Yarborough. The mansion is situated in the bosom of a beautiful park, about seven miles from Newport, and is perhaps the finest seat in the Island, commanding one of its richest inland views. A fine lofty down forms its back-ground, clothed with a beautiful wood, winding and spreading from the mansion to the summit of the lofty hill, which is adorned with an obelisk of cornish granite, nearly seventy feet in height, erected to the memory of Sir R. Worsley. The back-ground of this mansion, with its beautiful park, forms a contrast to the barren down and the rough road which is adjacent to it; but the eminences which present themselves in the fore-ground add much to its beauty. The hill which rises just at the entrance to the park is richly covered with wood, and is adorned with a castle, called Cook's Castle, which adds much to the picturesque beauty of the spot. The entrance to the park is through a small coppice, conducting to a beautiful gateway of the Ionic order. The mansion is magnificent: it is built of free stone, having four regular fronts of the Corinthian order; the principal of which is adorned with two wings, and a beautiful lawn spreads its velvet surface before it. The interior of the house gratifies the taste as much by its classical elegance, as the grounds do by their ineffable beauty. The spacious hall, which opens to the view on entering at the east front is very imposing.

It is ornamented with eight massy columns of the Ionic order, of a composition resembling porphyry. In passing from room to room, the sight is regaled with an exquisite collection of the finest specimens of art portraits, paintings, busts, Grecian antiquities, all form the elegant variety which adorns this noble mansion. More than a century has elapsed since the erection of the present edifice, at which time it was the property of Sir R. Worsley; but since that period it has been successively in the possession of the Rev. Dr. Holmes, of Redford House; afterwards of Sir H. W. Holmes, Bart.; then of Sir L. T. W. Holmes, Bart., M.P. for Newport, deceased; and after having been again borne by the stream of life into other channels, it has at length come into the possession of the present noble proprietor.*

Newchurch is the next village through which we pass. The church, which is surrounded by a very spacious burial ground, stands in a most lovely spot. Placed on the brow of a very steep hill of soft sandstone, it affords a most delightful prospect. At the base of the cliff, a steep shoot, which forms the main road, shaded by the shrubs and trees which project from the side of a rude precipice, give to this spot a very picturesque appearance. The view from the church-yard is beautiful; and as it is necessary for the visitor to alight and walk through it, while his carriage passes the shoot, he will find the prospect amply repay his observation. A fine view of the white cliffs at the eastern extremity of the Island on the one hand, and on the other a beautifully fertile

*This noble mansion can only be inspected by tickets of admission, which are obtained by application to T. Sewell, Esq. Newport, on Tuesdays and Fridays. The proprietors of sociables and other travelling vehicles, furnish visitors with tickets, if required.

valley, bounded by the lofty downs in the neighbourhood, while immediately beneath him the scattered hamlets, the steep shoot, the silent resting-place of the dead, and the hanging wood, all render it highly imposing.

The church is the parish church of Ryde. It is of considerable antiquity; but has nothing very remarkable in point of ornament or architecture. Its interior strikes by its neatness. It is built in the form of a cross, and has a wooden belfry containing three bells. There are no sepulchral monuments of any importance; the principal are those of the Dillington family, whose remains are interred in the northern extremity of the cross. At a short distance from this village stands Knighton House. This fine old building, now in a dilapidated state, embosomed in the midst of a beautiful valley, is a very imposing object. Its broken walls, mantled with ivy, give it at first sight the appearance of a ruined abbey. The mansion is of considerable antiquity-its precise date is not easy to be ascertained. It had a large elegant gothic window, with its tracery; though this has been partially defaced by a long stone mullioned window of the age of Elizabeth. There was also the arms of Isabella-de-Fortibus, last lady of the Island, painted on one of the windows, but this was not so ancient as her time.

On leaving this, we soon after ascend Ashey Down. On the top of the down is a sea-mark. "It is a triangular truncated pyramid, having the apex obliquely cut off." It was erected in 1735. When ships are unable to obtain a sight of this mark on the southern coast, their situation becomes almost hopeless. Standing near the sea-mark we feel surrounded by an atmosphere of beauty; wherever the eye turns it meets with objects which afford the highest gratification. Hill and vale, wood and water are seen in almost every

direction. The beautiful bay of Sandown appears on one side; with the boundless ocean rolling before it; on the other, the blue waters of the Solent passing like a broad river between the two coasts; while the Island itself spreads out its rich variety of downs, valleys, fertile fields, and dark umbrageous woods, with here and there the village churches, and the elegant seats, enlivening the beauty of the country. At the foot of the down stands Ashey Farm, which was originally a monastery, from the time of Edward I. to Henry VIII. It formed a branch of that at Whorley, near Andover. There was a chapel, burial ground, and fish ponds attached to it. It is reported, that as late as the reign of Elizabeth, an unfortunate woman, of the name of Agnes Porter, was here accused before the lord of the manor as a witch; and such was the superstition of the times, she had the whole of her property sequestrated for her crime. To the west, the eye falls on Mesley Down; which with its steep chalky path, and its sides covered with sheep, is a very picturesque object. This down affords an extensive view of the inland parts of the Island.

The ride from Ashey is through a scene of rural beauty.

This excursion comprises a distance of about twenty-five

miles.

SECTION 2.

To Black-gang Chine, Undercliff, &c.

THE usual route to this part of the Island commences from Ryde to Newport, but some of the drivers take the road lying across Down-End. Should this be the course, the visitor will pass very near the retired village of Arreton; but little of it can be seen. Arreton Down is celebrated as a spot in which some Roman armour was found, and as being the site of two large barrows. Its church is a fine old building: within it is a curious brass plate, with the effigy of a man in armour, his feet resting on a lion. In this church yard are deposited the remains of an humble individual, whose history has become familiar to the world, by the tract entitled, "The Dairyman's Daughter." The narrow cell in which she slumbers, is marked out by a simple grave stone, erected to her memory by subscription in 1822, and adorned with an epitaph from the pen of her biographer. So great is the attraction produced by the elegant sketch, which the late Rev Legh Richmond has given of this pious female, that the cottage in which she resided, situated about a mile and a half from the church, is visited annually by hundreds. In the church is a splendid monument to the memory of Sir L. T. W. Holmes, Bart.