all fine: as it is made the occasion of a general festivity
by the inhabitants--and resorted to as a holiday by great numbers
from Newport, and the eastern parts of the island.

THE SHORE presents, when the tide is at its lowest ebb, a wide expanse
of sand, stretching for miles both eastward and westward of the Pier,
preserving upon an average the breadth of a mile: here and there
interspersed with ledges of rock, and the banks beautifully feathered
with groves and shrubberies. In some parts the sand has accumulated over
the mud in sufficient quantity to bear wheel-carriages (which is the
case near the Pier): and is found to be gradually increasing both in
depth and extent. The best time to take a walk upon the shore is
directly after the tide has begun to ebb,--for the sand is then firm and
cool to the feet; but after a few hours' powerful sun in calm weather,
it is rendered sufficiently hot to give the flowing sea almost the
temperature of a warm bath, on which account the bathing here is
preferred by many parties to a bolder shore.

That part called the DUVER (now built on,) was remarkable as having
been chosen for interring the crew of the Royal George, a ship of
108 guns, which sank at Spithead on August 29th, 1782, by a sudden
squall, while undergoing a careening of her bottom, when nearly
1000 persons perished.

Near the Pier are the bathing-machines, well attended, and in full
operation; together with hot, tepid, and other baths for invalids.

THE PROSPECT.--As the _amenity_ of every situation depends, we
consider, greatly on the range and beauty of the view which it
commands, we here give a faint sketch of the one obtained from Ryde
and its neighbourhood: by which, however imperfect, it will be seen
by the reader, that few prospects in England can surpass this,
perhaps even in point of pleasing composition--but certainly not as
_a perpetual source of the most amusing observation_.

The foreground of the Pier generally presents a most animated
picture,--crowded with promenading fashionables; and surrounded by
numerous wherries, steam-packets, and other craft, at anchor or
gaily sailing about; a busy scene which forms a striking contrast
to the quiet sylvan charms of the home-coast extending many miles
east and west, and embellished by several delightful villas and
other marine residences, among which are