f old
topographers. The _box_ has also at various times produced the
proprietors of the estate great profit. In 1608, the receipt for
box-trees cut down upon the sheepwalk on the hill was 50_l_.; in an
account taken in 1712, it is supposed that as much had been cut down,
within a few years before, as amounted to 3,000_l_.; and in 1759, a Mr.
Miller lamented that "the trees on Box Hill had been pretty much
destroyed; though many remained of considerable bigness."

An immense quantity of box is annually consumed in this country, in the
revived art of engraving on wood. The English is esteemed inferior to
that which comes from the Levant; and the American box is said to be
preferable to ours. But the ships from the Levant brought such
quantities of it in ballast, that the wood on Box Hill could not find a
purchaser, and not having been cut for sixty-five years, was growing
cankered. The war diminished the influx from the Mediterranean; several
purchasers offered; and in 1795 it was put up to auction at 12,000_l_.
The depredations made on Box Hill, in consequence of this sale, did not
injure its picturesque beauty, as twelve years were allowed for cutting,
which gave each portion a reasonable time to renew. In 1802, forty tons
were cut, but the market being overstocked, it fell in value more than
fifty per cent.; and the foreign wood is now universally preferred for
engravings. The trees on Box Hill are, however, again flourishing,
although their value is rather problematical.

For the information of the home tourist, perhaps, I ought to mention
that Box Hill stands about 22 miles on the left of the road from London
to Worthing, Brighton, and Bognor, and about 2 miles N.E. of the town of
Dorking. The road from Leatherhead hence is a constant succession of
hill and dale, richly clothed with wood, interspersed with elegant
villas in all tastes--from the pillared and plastered mansion, to the
borrowed charm of the _cottage orne_. The whole of this district is
called the Vale of _Norbury_, from the romantic domain of that name,
which extends over a great portion of the hills on the right of the
road. Shortly before you reach Box Hill, stands _Mickleham_, a little
village with an ivy-mantled church, rich in Saxon architecture and other
antiquities. You then descend into a valley, passing some delightful
meadow scenery, and the showy mansion of Sir Lucas Pepys, which rises
from a flourishing plantation on the left. In the valley