ings still exist. The house that Raleigh built is now
called the "Castle," and has since had extensive wings added to it, with
a fine lake between it and the old castle-ruins, surrounded by
attractive pleasure-grounds and a park. This famous estate fell into
possession of the Earl of Digby, and is now a home of G. D. Wingfield
Digby, Esq., being a popular resort in the hunting-season.

THE COAST OF DORSET.

The river Avon upon which Salisbury stands--for there are several of
these Avon Rivers in England--flows southward between Dorsetshire and
Hampshire, and falls into the Channel. Westward from its mouth extends a
line of sandy cliffs, broken by occasional ravines or chines, past
Bournemouth to Poole Harbor, a broad estuary surrounded by low hills
which is protected by a high ridge of chalk rocks on its south-western
side running out into the sea. The sleepy town of Poole stands on the
shore, having dim recollections of its ships and commerce of centuries
ago. It was a nursery for privateersmen, and many are the exploits
recorded of them. It was also, from the intricacy of its creeks and the
roving character of its people, a notorious place for smuggling. Poole
is an old-fashioned, brick-built town, with a picturesque gateway yet
remaining as a specimen of its ancient defences. In the vale of the
Stour, which here debouches, is the ancient minster of Wimborne, founded
in the reign of King Ina by his sister, and containing the grave of the
Saxon king AEthelred. It is not remarkable excepting for its age, and for
having had for its dean Reginald Pole before he became a cardinal. The
ancient and shrunken town of Wareham is also near by, having had quite a
military history, but being almost destroyed by fire in 1762, from which
it never recovered. It has now but three churches out of the eight it
originally possessed, and of these only one is in regular use. But the
great memory of this part of the coast is connected with Corfe Castle.

[Illustration: CORFE CASTLE.]

The so-called Isle of Purbeck is near Poole Harbor, and the ruined
castle of Corfe stands in a narrow gap in the hills, guarding the
entrance to the southern part of this island, its name being derived
from _ceorfan_, meaning "to cut," so that it refers to the cut or gap in
the hills. Queen AElfrida in the tenth century had a hunting-lodge here.
According to the legend, her stepson, King Edward, was hunting in the
neighborhood and stopped at the door to a