idea may be formed in passing through it to
Bonchurch,_

* * * * *

Here we enter upon the romantic scenery of the island. The village is
most delightfully rural, and though it has several roomy lodging-houses,
and two large hotels, still, from the bold variety of the ground, and
the many shrubberies and clumps of fine elm and ash trees with which it
is adorned, the dwellings are so hid from one another, that in almost
every point of view it has the pleasing appearance of being but a small
quiet hamlet. Except in the most exposed parts, vegetation flourishes
with uncommon luxuriance,--even choice exotics: we would point to the
Parsonage as an instance, enveloped in myrtles that stand the rigors of
winter without protection: indeed it may well be said, that almost every
cottage in this beautiful spot is surrounded ...

"With fragrant turf, and flowers as wild and fair,
As ever dressed a bank, or scented summer air."

But the crowning feature from which it derives its celebrity as one of
the chief curiosities of the island, is THE CHINE--a term that certainly
does not convey to a stranger any idea of the scene: it is a provincial
expression for a ravine or cleft in the cliffs of the shore, and of
which there are several along the coast, possessing a beauty or
sublimity that renders them highly interesting.

Having reached the beach, the visitor should take a short walk under the
towering sandrock precipices which range to the right and left for
several miles, before he enters the Chine. Nowhere on the coast of the
island is there a more charming stretch of shore,--for the sand is of a
cool dark color, _firm enough for wheel-carriages and horses to be used
by invalids_, and therefore proves equally alluring to the aged as to
the young, to enjoy salubrious exercise and recreation; it extends
northward to Sandown--about two miles; its monotony being broken by
occasional pools of sea-water, and a sprinkling of weed-covered rocks.

* * * * *

THE CHINE.

[Illustration: SHANKLIN CHINE, ISLE OF WIGHT. (_Descent to the Beach._)]

At the foot of the cliff stands a fisherman's cottage, which may attract
our attention from its picturesque situation.

The first view of the Chine from the beach is not the most favorable: as
the eye of the spectator is much too low to comprehend all the deep and
bold windings of the chasm, which contribute so essenti