lately been erected on the shore beneath.) On this bleak and elevated situation is a small stone building, said to be the remains of an ancient chapel, built by Walter-de-Godyton, in 1323, and dedicated to St. Catherine. Certain endowments were annexed to it, for a chantry priest to say mass, and to provide lights for the safety of vessels passing this dangerous coast. Prior to the erection of this chapel, there was a hermitage on the summit of this lofty down; where for many years Walter-de-Langstrell, a solitary recluse, passed away his life in the gloomy austerities of a mistaken devotion. The fragments of the chapel. which are left, serve on a clear day as a landmark, and are known by the name of St. Catherine's

tower.

The prospect here is very fine and extensive. To the west the view stretches along Chale Bay and Atherfield Point, the cliffs at Freshwater, and the Needles, till it falls on St. Alban's Head. The coast in this direction is exceedingly beautiful. It has some fine bays, several small chines, and some cliffs of variegated strata. Chale Bay, formed by a sweep of land nearly three miles in extent, and surrounded by perpendicular cliffs, is a very beautiful object from this point of view. This bay is exceedingly dangerous, the coast abounding with sunken rocks, which lie just beneath the surface of the water.

Chale is a small neat village, standing at a short distance from the shore. In it is an old house, known by the name of Chale Abbey Farm, which will afford an object of interest and gratification to the antiquary, from the architectural remains of former days. At a short distance from this village is the small parish of Kingston. The view from the Bowling Green, on the north side of the church, presents a fine piece of land scenery.

H

In returning from the Chine, if the visitor is not too much fatigued, a walk along the beach to the BlackGang Chine Hotel will repay his curiosity. The shore is covered in some parts with beautiful marine productions: the rocks contain a variety of fossils. In this route we pass the farms of Knowles and Buddle.

After this romantic excursion, which excites in no small degree the animal spirits, it is a very grateful sight to perceive the Royal Sand-Rock Hotel rising before the view. This inn is situated most delightfully before it is the wide-spreading ocean, above it are the dark craggy cliffs, and around it a lovely spot, formed by the wildness of nature and the culture of art. For the elegance of the building, the excellent accommodation, and the polite attentive demeanour of the attendants, the proprietor deserves no small portion of public approbation. Near the Hotel are several respectable lodging houses, commanding delightful sea views, with some fine prospects of the romantic country around.

In prosecuting the country, the road now leads us to that most romantic part of the Island called the Undercliff; which, as it has been well observed, unites, in a singular manner, the pastoral wildness of Scotland, the luxuriant vegetation, verdure, and shade of the middle parts of England, with a bold shore, and an unbounded sea, continually traversed by ships.

The great terrace or platform of the Undercliff rests upon a sub-stratum of blue marl, and is broken above into a succession of smaller terraces, rising irregularly above one another, and diversified with hillocks of all shapes and sizes. Wheat grows exceedingly well on this perturbed soil, and potatoes and all other crops flourish equally. In the lower part are some open pastures, covered with Alderney cows, and flocks of sheep hang on the steep downs in the background.

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The trees that have been planted thrive in a wonderful manner, and with the luxuriant myrtle, form on every side the most delightful shades, from which cottages, villas, churches, and villages peep forth with beautiful effect. This is indeed a favoured nook-an epitome of the regions of the fair South, protected and sheltered by a felicitous arrangement of nature in the regions of the North. It is not less healthy than it is lovely and picturesque. Doctor James Clark, after a careful examination of the places on the English coast best suited to persons threatened with consumption, gives the preference to Torquay, in Devonshire, and the Undercliff, in the Isle of Wight; and he seems to think that many invalids might find those benefits from climate close at home, which they seek in distant countries, and too often separated from all their friends. The whole of the Undercliff," he says, "which presents in many places scenery of the greatest beauty, is dry and free from moist or impure exhalations, and is completely sheltered from the north, north-east, north-west, and west winds, by a range of lofty downs or hills of chalk and sand-stone, which rise boldly from the upper termination of these terraces, in elevations varying from 400 to 600 and 700 feet; leaving Undercliff open only in a direct line to the south-east, and obliquely to the east and south-west winds, which rarely blow here with great force. Indeed, it is matter of surprise to me, after having fully examined this favourite spot, that the advantages it possesses in so eminent a degree, in point of shelter and exposition, should have been so long overlooked in a country like this, whose inhabitants, during the last century, have been traversing half the globe in search of climate. The physical structure of this singular district has been carefully investigated and described by the geologist, and the